AN:  So, feedback for this should be interesting. :)

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************* Curiosity Killed... Chapter Thirty-Two **************


I’m waiting for Kevin in his dressing room after the show, delivered by 
my own silent mind tricked bodyguard.  I’m perched on the flashy table 
where the stage makeup is applied, swinging my booted feet absently.  

I can hear the roar of applause die down as the Boys finish their encore, 
and the following treads of tired but wired pop stars.  I know that they 
won’t burst through the door though.  Know that the only one who will be 
walking through it will have eyes that bleed black with desire.  

Desire for me even.  Go figure.  

Only Kevin never does stuff by half measure.  I jump as the door is flung 
open like a gunshot, revealing a disheveled, sweaty, and aroused Kevin 
Richardson.  I start to make a smart ass remark because, well, that’s what 
I do, but those darn Vampire reflexes are a lot faster than my witty remarks.  

I haven’t even drawn a breath before he’s looming over me, hands splayed on 
either side of my legs as he steps between my thighs.  A small squeak of 
surprise, yes, a squeak, tries to slip past my startled lips but before I 
manage to mortify myself he’s kissing me and I remember what its like to 
want the darkness touch my soul.  

Hands reach up to bury themselves in the ash blonde of my hair and his 
fingers trail through, petting me like a cat, or a lion.  He skims my lips 
with his tongue and I open, eager now that I know my decision.  Now that 
I’ve accepted the consequences this night will bring.

Kevin moans and I don’t have to see him to know that jade has melted to a 
perfect, frightening obsidian.  "I want you," he growls, and the sound 
is desperate with its need.  

I draw back enough to whisper my reply, "Then take me."

He jumps like I’ve hit him and stops the kiss, much to my dismay.  He rears 
up and stares down at me, the desire dwindling to pale, suspicious green.  
"You don’t know what you’re asking."  

I raise my chin in subtle challenge, as stubborn as always.  "I know better 
than you ever will."  I daringly place my small, white hands against the 
broad expanse of his heaving chest.  

Kevin swallows once and I can feel every muscle beneath, around me, 
tightening with absolute control.  "Cat..."

I lean up and kiss the corner of his mouth, feeling very much like Santa 
Clause.  "I know what I’m doing.  One of us have to."  

He snorts but is smiling as he picks me up and sets me gently down so 
that I’m standing on the ground.  

I blink and tug on the sleeve of his final stage costume.  Something 
I’m pleased to see he didn’t bother to change out of.  I like the leather 
pants.  "Umm, you do know that I said yes, right?"  

"We’re not doing anything more here."  

I pout.  "Why not?"

"Because I want a bed."  

I blink again.  "Why do we have to have a bed?  I mean it’s not as if 
I’ve never done this before and well, trust me, you really don’t need a 
bed..."

The absent glance he spares me is laced with so much promise I can feel 
my toes curl.  "Trust me Cat, we need a bed."  

Never mind.  Sometimes you just have to take someone’s word at face value. 

************************************************************************

It’s amazing how fast Kevin can move when he’s motivated.  It takes him 
all of two minutes to haul me off and hail a cab.  Thanks to the ever 
nifty mind tricks he has up his sleeves we aren’t stopped by band mates, 
security, or screaming fans.  The cab driver doesn’t give us a second 
glance and I’m settled, somewhat bemused, next to Kevin in the backseat.    

I tug on one sleeve again.  "What are we doing now?" I manage to ask in all 
seriousness.  

He stares down at me and my toes, already curled, unfurl.  I resist the 
urge to throw myself at him, barely, attracted by the barely restrained 
lust on his face.  His lips twitch.  "Waiting."  

"For a bed?" I venture.  

A muscle jumps like a tic in his cheek and I watch, fascinated and somewhat 
amazed by the control he’s keeping himself under.  He may want a bed but 
something tells me that it wouldn’t take much to make the backseat of a 
cab work too.  "Yes," he replies through suddenly ground teeth, "we’re 
waiting for a bed."  

I smile, the picture of perfect innocence, and snuggle a little closer for 
the ride back to the hotel as Mr. Dumb Pants swallows a curse and shifts 
uncomfortably at my side.  Thank you and hallelujah for leather pants.        

************************************************************************

It takes all of three seconds to pay the cab driver and drag me upstairs.  
I know logically that we took the stairs, but I don’t remember any of it.  
Our hotel door is flung open and I’m crushed against the wall, Kevin’s 
strength pinning me there as my legs wrap around leather pants and my hands 
clutch at the short hairs at the base of his nape.  

He growls and devours my lips, eager and wanting, demanding that I need him 
the same way that he needs me.  Lucky for him, I do.  "If you want me to 
stop, you have to tell me, now."  He murmurs the words a breath away from 
my lips and I know what they cost him.  For all that he has lost; Kevin 
Richardson is still a proud man.  It means more than it should that he 
asks, makes me feel more like a woman than a bid for power in the 
Council, and his hot hands brand me like a man who already knows the answer 
to his question.  

I still have my doubts, my fears, and a rather sincere wish to live to 
old age, but I made my choice, in some form or fashion, that first night I 
snuck into the Backstreet Boy’ hotel room.  I feel free in his arms, more 
free than I’ve been since before I could remember.  Free enough to loose 
myself with this man, in this man, if only for tonight.  

I arch against the unyielding line of his body, shudder at the heat that 
shouldn’t be possible, and marvel at the velvet steel that is his skin.  
I can feel his muscles bunch as he lifts me to him again with a wordless 
groan, matches his mouth to mine, and even if I was going to say no, I 
wouldn’t have the breath.  He calls me home with the dark promise of his kiss 
and it’s my turn to groan as my tongue touches his extended fangs as his 
hands move from my hips to reach beneath my shirt to caress the small of my 
back as his tongue finally tangles with mine.

"You’re overdressed," he growls as he moves to nuzzle my neck.  I should be 
afraid, I usually am, but not now, not here.  

"I couldn’t agree more, for once."

Kevin laughs, carefree in a way that I’ve never heard before as his clever 
hands rid me of my suddenly cumbersome clothing, pausing to linger over 
places, bringing my own heat to the surface.  I’m not used to thinking of 
myself as particularly pretty but the gratifying, appreciative desire in 
Kevin’s bold stare makes me feel beautiful despite my scars.  The emerald of 
his gaze pools to a starless night but his hands are gentle as they run 
through my ash blonde hair before cupping my face.  

The lips he touches to mine are even gentler, despite their need.  "Are you 
ready for bed?" he asks, voice a low purr that crawls up my arched spine.  

I shiver and let my own hands, which have been resting passively on his 
shoulders, unbutton the shirt to bare a broad expanse of perfectly muscled 
chest.  I slide my wondering, wandering hands down to his tapering waist 
as he sucks in a deep, sudden breath through extended fangs.  My fingers 
play at the edge of his pant’s waistband.  "You’re overdressed for bed."

Kevin laughs again and presses himself to me, overwhelming me with the 
sheer magnetic power of his presence.  "I couldn’t agree more, for once."

I’d laugh if I was allowed the breath but Kevin’s lips have claimed my own 
again as he turns and backs me towards the bed, one hand lighting dark 
trails of fire along my body as the other works on unbuckling his pants.  
We fall into bed together and his weight on top of mine is exciting, right 
in a way that little else has been in my life.

"I’ll never let anything happen to you."

I swallow the lie with a smile, just this once, and let myself be lost.  

************************************************************************

I’ve woken up in Kevin’s arms before, but trust me, there’s something vastly 
more intimate about waking up buck naked.  I’m cold again, like always, and 
am shivering.  I jump when Kevin’s hands bring me close to him.  He rumbles 
with laughter and kisses one of my bare shoulders like a molten butterfly.  

"Go back to sleep," he rumbles.

I squirm.  "But..."

His hands soothe me into complacency.  "Sleep."

"Have you eaten?" I can’t help asking out of nervousness.  

Kevin laughs out loud and muffles the sound in the tangled silk of my hair.  
It might look like a bird’s nest but it’s a soft bird’s nest.  "Sleep," he 
murmurs firmly as one hand presses possessively against my stomach.

And with a sigh, I do.