Birds In Your Garden: Chapter 10
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When he returned from Washington, she was sleeping again, but he knew she had been awake. She was wearing one of his Kentucky jerseys now, there were towels draped over the side of the tub, and the water he'd left on the nightstand with a 'drink me' note had a doodled smiley face on it now.

He sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed the hair out of her eyes gently, leaning over to kiss her temple. She fluttered her eyes open and stretched before pulling herself up and rubbing an eye. "Hi."

"Hi," he said, kissing her again.

"How'd it go?"

"Was good," he said with a nod. "How're you feeling? Tied one on last night, huh?"

"Just a kicking reminder of why I don't get drunk anymore," she grumbled. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Not a problem. I liked you coming home to me all cuddly and sappy."

"Yeah, I get sappy, don't I?" she asked, wrinkling her lip and nodding.

"You're cute, darlin'. Go back to sleep," he ordered gently.

She was still awake when he came back, lying on her side and facing his side of the bed with the covers held against her. He offered her some of the water he brought in with him as he sat down, and she leaned up to take it. "So, what time do you have to be alive and peppy tomorrow?"

"Six a.m. wake up call and we're off to the Today show," he said, leaning back against the headboard and taking the water bottle back from her. "The only thing keeping me going is that it's almost done. I get three weeks off to sleep for two of them."

"What're you going to do for the one week?" she asked, leaning up on her elbows to look at him.

He sipped the water and looked directly at her. "Find you and make sure we don't get out of bed. But we won't be sleeping."

"Oh, he's randy," she giggled in a tease.

He handed the water back to her and slouched down further into the mattress. "Restless. Too tired to sleep, too tired to stay awake. Dehydrated." He motioned to the water. "I never know what to do with myself when I get to this point."

"I could try a massage," she offered. "Leslie works magic when I get my insomnia, and she always manages to put me out. It's just stress keeping you up at this point."

"You think?" he asked sarcastically, dropping his chin to look at her.

"Oh, don't be smart," she chastised, tapping his thigh. "Lay down and roll over." She sat up as he lay down, and then she straddled his thighs. "And if you tell anyone I know how to do this, I'm gonna deny it, for the record."

"It'll be our secret," he said, turning his head to the side and resting it on his flattened hands. She leaned over and started massaging his shoulders, digging in deep to the sore, tense muscles and making his close his eyes with the pressure. "Dang, she taught you well. That's great."

"You're so easy to please," she said cheerfully, placing a quick kiss between his shoulder blades. She moved down his back with direct pressure on either side of his spine and spread her fingers along his torso to the rest of the muscles. "Now, Leslie would be able to tell you which muscles she was working and how they're all inter-related. I don't have a clue. I just know which ones to hit."

"I don't care," he groaned pleasantly. "It just feels good."

"I'm not getting frisky," she warned before she slid down his legs and pressed her hands against his butt. "But I do know you hold a lot of stress in your butt and hips."

"You keep doing that, and there's going to be more pressure," he told her, smiling against the mattress. "Not that that's a bad thing."

"No? I would never have guessed," she teased, moving her hands to either leg and working her way down without further comment. "Roll over," she directed once she worked down to his toes. He did as directed, and she started with his feet again, returning the lazy smile Kevin gave to her as he watched her. "Relaxing a bit?" He nodded as she moved her hands up his calves and made her way to his thighs. She skipped past his hips and moved to his belly and upper chest, and back to his shoulders before working each arm intently, watching him try to keep his eyes open once she got to his hand. "This is the one that I really like," she commented. "When I'm really tense, all she does is take my hand and start working on it, and I chill right out."

"Tha's nice," he admitted in a mumble, nodding against the pillow. She moved back to his shoulders and started working down his chest again. "You going to neglect the mid-section again?" he asked, peering at her with one eye and smirking.

"No, baby-doll," she said with a shake of her head. "But when I'm done with you, you won't be able to keep your eyes open, and I wanted you to at least get the benefit of the rest of your body being worked so you wouldn't be all uneven. Bad for the karma, I think."

"Can't have that," he agreed ironically with a slight shake of his head.

"No, we can't," she agreed in the same tone, letting her hands slide down his torso to the outside of his hips. "Have I mentioned how cool I think your tattoos are?" She kissed each one quickly, lifting her head back up and spreading her fingers inside the edge of his hips before stopping. Taking a sip of water, she leaned back down to kiss his tattoos again, this time, darting a cold tongue out over them. She lifted her head to peer at him through her hair, and he smiled down at her, reaching to smooth the side of her face with his hand. Another sip of water filled her mouth, and without swallowing, she took the tip of his cock into the coldness, causing him to gasp. She swallowed and ran her cold tongue under his hood before taking more of him in her mouth. She slid him out and leaned over to blow gently against his moist skin, and he released a low moan.

Her hands started working his inner thighs to the underside of his balls and he shifted his hips beneath her as she slowly massaged each one in the palm of her hand. Lowering herself down, she licked between them and along his shaft, sucking gently at the tip again before taking him into her mouth again. She held on to his hips as he intertwined his hand into her hair and she started a slow rhythm against him.

"God, I want to be inside of you," he moaned.

"That can be arranged," she said, pulling away from him to slip off her panties. She straddled him again, this time running the tip of his cock along her clit slowly, making him moan again. "You still wanna come inside?" she asked, teasing him with the comment he used on stage. He nodded, opening his eyes to her with a smirk. "Are you sure?" she teased, lowering herself onto him slightly. He lifted his hips up slightly, trying to thrust deeper inside but she pulled herself up and started rubbing him against her clit again, pleasing herself. "Don't be so impatient," she grinned.

"You wanna come first?" he asked, reaching down to rub a finger along her wetness. "That can be arranged, too."

She pulled his wrist away and placed it on the mattress. "I just want you to lay there," she told him. "I'll do all the work."

"You mean I can't touch you?" he asked, reaching his hand up to slide his fingers over the curve of her breast through the Kentucky jersey.

"I don't want you to get all worked up," she feigned innocently. "I just gave you a massage."

"You're doing a great job," he paused and gasped as she lowered herself down again, "at getting me worked up, darlin."

"So, if I do this," she said, slowly letting him deeper inside, "that wouldn't get you more worked up?"

"Oh, God," he groaned, lifting his hips up slightly.

"See?" she asked, sliding him out. "That gets you all worked up. It defeats the purpose, doesn't it? All that stress and pressure in your hips."

"Fuck," he gasped, lifting his hips up again as she slid him against her.

"Am I doing something you like?" she asked, lowering herself again.

"You're makin' me crazy," he told her, trying to breathe.

"Am I?" She leaned over and kissed his belly quickly, plunging him deep inside her again as she sat up. "Is this what you want, baby-doll?"

"A whole lot of that," he said, nodding with a slow, contented smile, closing his eyes with the pleasure.

She was torturing him with the slow, steady pace, and each time he tried to move faster, she pulled away from him slightly to gain back the control. "There won't be a whole lot of that if you try to rush it," she told him, dragging her finger down his chest.

"There won't be a whole lot of that anyway if you keep that up," he informed her, reaching both hands beneath the jersey to cover her breasts and pinch her nipples slightly.

She leaned forward slightly more, letting the pace quicken a bit as she dropped her head back with her own pleasure. "You feel so good," she moaned at the start of her orgasm. She let him thrust faster, moving against him to feel him deep inside as she came, gasping for breath. Seconds later, he was holding her hips down against him with his orgasm and pulled her down to lie against him once his body shuddered with the pleasure.

"So much for a relaxing massage," she teased dryly.

"So much for six hours of sleep," he added with a laugh. "But I think I can sleep at any rate. If that's what you and Leslie do, can I watch next time?" he teased.

"Sorry to disappoint you," she answered. "That's something I usually do after Leslie finishes and I'm on my own."

"Then I'll watch that," he chuckled sleepily.

He could feel her shift and lie next to him, drawing her fingers through his hair gently. "Go to sleep, Kev," she whispered, kissing his cheek. He didn't need to be told twice.

~

"Make it stop," Jana groaned when the phone rang. She rolled over, hitting Kevin's stomach lightly, and he inhaled deeply, reaching over for the phone. He lifted the receiver and mumbled, hanging up shortly. He rolled over, kissed Jana's forehead quickly and sat on the edge of the bed with slumped, tired shoulders. "Only one more day after today," Jana encouraged, running her fingers down his back gently. She could just make out his head nodding in the dark as he sighed deeply. Sitting up, she dropped her chin on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. "You're almost there, baby." He nodded again, lifting a hand to hold onto hers lightly, and then he turned his head and kissed her gently before standing up and shuffling tiredly out of the room.

She sat back, leaning on her palms, not even able to understand how exhausted the boys must be or how they managed to awaken after so little sleep and smile for their public mere minutes after doing so. Sliding across the mattress, she could hear the shower running, and she made her way to the bathroom. Once the water turned off, she lifted the towel and handed it to him with a smile. "Better?" she asked.

He took the towel and weakly smiled, wiping the water from his skin. "Sometimes, you have to wonder," he said with a shake of his head.

"Wonder what?" she asked, sitting on the counter next to the sink.

"Who they think we are," he sighed, wrapping the towel around his waist. "I mean, I know it's the end, and the CD just came out, and we have to do promotion. I don't want it to drag on any longer to spread it out, but…dang.... This is nuts." He leaned against the counter next to her and sighed again.

"I shouldn't have kept you up last night," she said guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"Darlin," he said smirking, "you keeping me up last night or letting me sleep for an extra hour wouldn't make a difference at this point. Personally, I'd prefer to be awake with you than go out and talk about AJ's re-hab another dozen times. Though, I dunno…" He pushed himself up and turned to face the mirror, grimacing at his reflection. "Sesame Street might be fun. My nephew will think I'm the coolest guy on the planet for meeting Elmo."

"Well, you know, Elmo? He's a popular guy," she said ironically. "Not everyone gets to meet him. You just bolstered points with me, that's for sure."

"I might be able to get an autograph for you," he said with a slow, sure nod. "You'll be the coolest chick on your block with the local five year olds."

"Now that's an aspiration," she giggled. "Won't hurt if I start teaching dance though. They might listen to me better if they think I know Elmo."

"I'll see what I can do," he chuckled, looking back into the mirror to assess his beard and how much needed shaving. "Thank God for make-up," he muttered.

"Oh, you look fine," she told him, turning slightly to look at him.

"That's because you love me. I have more critics than adorers."

"You wanna tell that to the kids waiting for you outside?"

"Oh, they're here for Nicky and AJ," he said, waving a hand at her. "I'm the old, married guy."

"You're the sultry, sexy guy, baby," she said with a smile, running her hand down his shoulder and arm. "Trust me on this one, okay? I know sultry and sexy when I see it."

"Speaking of knowing," he said, turning on the electric razor and looking at her in the mirror. "What happed with your 'uh-friend' as Leslie put it?"

"He liked the mini skirt," she said with a shrug. "Told me I should call him after you break my heart."

"Punk-ass," Kevin scoffed, blinking at her in surprise.

"I told you, I know sultry and sexy. Tommy was merely pretty," she said. "He attempted to lure me away with a kiss."

"He what?" Kevin turned off the razor and turned to her.

"I pushed him away," she said. "Chill. He called me a bitch and I left. You have nothing to worry about."

"He kissed you?" Kevin asked again. "What made him think he could kiss you?"

"He's Tommy," she said with a shrug. "Why, you think I led him on?"

"No, just…whatever." He turned back to the mirror and started shaving again.

"Kevin, what are you insinuating?" she asked. "That I led him on?"

"You wore the mini skirt," he said, still looking in the mirror. "And you wanted to go flaunt it. Maybe you were sending out a signal."

"Don't even," she said, hopping off the counter. "Let me guess, if a girl wears a short skirt, it's okay for her to be raped too?" She walked out of the bathroom, shaking her head.

"Jana!" he called after her. "I didn't mean…"

"You think I led him on?" she came back into the doorway, hands on hips and furrowing her eyebrows. "You really think I led him on?"

"No!" he protested. "Well, not intentionally. But you have to admit you had an agenda."

"I wanted to look good to show him what he passed up," she said. "I wasn't asking him to kiss me. I may have flirted - but I flirt with lots of people. None of your friends ever kissed me for flirting."

"You also never dated my friends for them to think it would be welcome," he said.

"Oh, fuck you," she spat. "If you remember correctly, I flirted with you too and when you kissed me, I slapped you."

"And look where we are now."

"Maybe I should call Tommy," she said. "At least he doesn't think I'm a tramp willing to put out for just fucking anybody."

"I don't think you're a tramp! I never said that!"

"You didn't have to," she answered angrily. "Geez, I wish I hadn't said anything! Doesn't matter that I pushed him off and came back to you in the least, does it? Doesn't matter that I didn't want his advances in the least either! You just pissed that someone else touched your property? Is that it?"

"Oh, I am too tired to argue this," he said with a shake of his head, and he lifted his hands up at her as he headed back into the bedroom.

"The least you could do is say you're sorry!" she called after him.

"I'm sorry!"

"Bastard!"

"Jana," he groaned, coming back out of the bedroom in a pair of black jeans. He stopped just outside the door and put his hands on his hips. "I'm jealous, okay?"

"You're jealous?" she scoffed.

"I'm jealous," he said again with a shrug. "I don't think you asked for it, but I hate thinking that someone else might lure you away from me. Especially some old boyfriend you wanted to go meet, looking as hot as you did. I can't help it. I'm sorry…really."

"I said I loved you," she said firmly. "I came home to you. What am I supposed to do? Lock myself in a bubble?"

"I'll work on it, okay?" he said, dropping his hands. "I never said it made sense."

"Well, fuckin' don't..." She sighed heavily. "Don't claim me, Kevin."

"Like anyone could?" he asked, smiling hopefully at her. "I'll work on it."

"Finish getting ready." She waved him away and turned to flick the TV on.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning over her to press his cheek next to her. "Forgive me?" he whispered.

"Don't claim me, Kevin," she answered.

"I won't," he said, kissing her cheek.

She turned to face him and tilted her head to the side, looking up at him. He lifted his eyebrows and returned the look, keeping his arms around her waist. "I swear, God gave you those eyes to melt away any misgivings I might have."

"Everyone needs a saving grace."

She kissed him quickly and shook her head. "You should thank your stars you have so much of it," she told him. "Go get ready before they blame me for you being late instead of you being pig-headed."

"Oh, please, darlin'. They know me better than that. They'll just think I overslept."

~

Jana looked up, hearing the door open, but all she saw was an Elmo puppet sticking through the crack of the opening. "Nothing says 'I'm sorry' better than Elmo," a high-pitched voice came from behind the door. "Um, Jana? My friend Kevy says he's sorry for, um, being a big meanie this morning. Please forgive him? Please? Please? Please?" Elmo jumped up and down quickly.

"You are such a freak!" she howled, laughing.

"It isn't nice to call people names," Elmo replied, shaking his head.

"Dawg, you're way too attached to that thing!" AJ could be heard from the hallway. "Put down the puppet, step away slowly, dude, and no one will be hurt!"

"No!" Kevin yelled, bursting into the room, clutching the Elmo puppet to his chest with AJ following him. "He's mine, damn it!" He stopped and looked to the puppet. "What was that? Oh, sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to curse." He turned on his heel and shoved the puppet out in front of AJ. "Give Elmo a hug, dude!" he teased. "Elmo loves you, man! Give 'im a hug!" AJ wrapped his hands around the puppet's neck and started strangling it as Kevin made choking noises, finally letting its head tilt to the side. "Aw, man, I'm gonna tell my nephew you killed Elmo! Ya big meanie!"

AJ turned to Jana and lifted his eyebrows with a drop of his chin. "Do something with him, would you?"

"Me?" she asked, trying to stop laughing. "I think he's too far gone."

"Look!" Kevin announced happily, making Elmo dance. "Jam on cuz Backstreet's got it…come on, now everybody!" He sang in his Elmo voice. "He can take my place!"

"That's it!" AJ said. He ripped the puppet from Kevin's hand, dropped it the floor and started pounding his foot on its head. "I've had it with the damn puppet!"

"Poor Elmo!" Jana squealed, jumping up and pulling AJ's arm.

"Poor Elmo, my ass!" AJ said as Kevin tried holding back a laugh and pouted, pointing a finger to the floor. "He's been talking through this damn thing all fucking day."

"Elmo says it's not nice to curse!" Kevin said, failing not to laugh.

"Dude, you've been on the road too long," AJ said calmly, shaking his head with a plastered smile. "Elmo doesn't live with you, Kevy. Elmo lives with his friends on Sesame Street, okay?"

"Oh, nice!" Kevin yelled. "Next you're gonna tell me there's no Santa Claus! Or an Easter Bunny!"

"Maybe Kevy needs a nap?" Jana asked, looking to AJ.

"Oh, no, not with you!" AJ pointed to her. "You don't nap very well now, do you? Hummm?"

"Hey, she naps great," Kevin defended, pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He pulled back, looking her up and down and put his hand on top of her head. "Jana says…" he started, talking in a girlie voice but Jana turned around and slapped him in the stomach as he backed away laughing.

"See? Now do you understand why Elmo had to die?" AJ asked, motioning to the puppet lying lifeless on the floor.

"I think Kevy needs a nap," Jana laughed, bending down to pick up the Elmo doll. "Come on, Kevy…" She stepped backwards, holding out the puppet to lure him.

Kevin lurched forward and wrapped his arms around Jana's waist and picked her up over his shoulder, carrying her off into the bedroom.

"Oh, man, now, that's just wrong! That's just sick and wrong!" AJ called after them as Jana made Elmo wave to him. "Not even Elmo needs to observe that!" She tossed the puppet to AJ just in time before Kevin kicked the bedroom door closed with his heel. "All right, buddy, looks like it's just you and me," AJ continued, slipping his hand into the puppet and making it nod at him. Quickly realizing what he was doing, he shook it off his hand. "Demon! You devil!" He made the sign of the cross over the puppet and arranged him sitting on the couch with the remote in one hand and a can of soda in the other, placing his sunglasses over its eyes. "Enjoy the show, dude."

~

Kevin came out of the bedroom on his way to the shower the next morning, seeing the TV on the porno channel, Elmo still happily sitting on the couch with his soda and his remote and burst into laughter. Jana came out of the room and blinked sleepily at him, looking to where he was pointing and cracked up. "And he said we were sick and wrong?"

Kevin leaned over and picked up his video camera, filming the scene for posterity. Jana went over to Elmo and picked him up, covering his eyes and gasping at the "horror" of his actions. "You just can't trust anything these days! I can see the headlines now - Backstreet Boys Corrupt Sesame Street!"

"Not all of us, darlin'," Kevin said from behind the camera. "That's all AJ. And he's paying the cable bill too!"

Jana hugged the puppet, caressing the back of its head. "Poor Elmo," she cooed. "He's warped for life now."

"Hand him over," Kevin said, putting the camera down. "We've got to come up with something to get him back."

Jana turned her shoulder towards him, protecting the puppet. "No. You've all done your damage. Elmo is mine. You've proven you just can't be trusted with the responsibility." She walked around the other side of the couch and headed back to the bedroom as Kevin laughed, and then she turned and stuck her tongue out at him before flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Hey, does Elmo know where that tongue's been?" he called after her as she closed the door.

When he went in to kiss her good-bye, she was back on her side of the bed asleep, and Elmo was lying on his side. Its head was on his pillow, the blankets pulled up with his arms neatly folded over the end of the blankets. "Lucky puppet," he whispered, leaning over to kiss Jana gently.

Birds In Your Garden: Chapter 10
Page 40 | Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43

Birds In Your Garden Disclaimer | Email Coriander

Read the companion story:
Oreos for Breakfast (Nick Fanfic)
by The Pumpkin Coach & Paperbag Princess

c. 2001, 2002 by Coriander
Some content not suitable for children. You have been warned.