Playing With Fire

++++++++++



Kelly smiled as she woke up, Carrie's arms still wrapped firmly around her. She felt the country singer kiss the top of her head as she stretched.



"Slept good?" Carrie asked curiously.



"Yep. Did you sleep at all?"



"Yea," Carrie laughed softly.



"What are you thinking about?"



"David, and how much I hate him."



"Care, you don't have to hate him cause of me."



"Oh, it's not that, I mean, I do hate him for that, but currently I'm hating him for the fact that he distracted me from all the hot sex we were supposed to have last night."



Kelly laughed, "Aw, I'm sorry."



"You laugh. You're the one missing out. I mean, how long has it been for you?"



"A while," Kelly admitted, pouting.



Carrie smiled, her fingers climbing up the shorter girl's spine.



"I hate him too," Kelly frowned burying her face in Carrie's neck.



Carrie giggled, rubbing her back. She froze at the feeling of Kelly shaking in her arms, her warm tears against her neck. "Kell?"



"I'm sorry," Kelly cried softly.



"Shh," Carrie soothed, holding her close as the events of the night before finally settled on the Texan, combining with all the stress of the past couple weeks, pushing her to her edge. "It's ok. I'm here."



Kelly wrapped her arms around her tightly.



"It's ok," Carrie assured her, kissing her temple as she remembered what Jill and Kate had said the day before about Kelly opening up. She felt guilty as her heart soared in realization that Kelly trusted her enough to be vulnerable with her. "It's ok. You can let it out."



She continued to hold her closely until she could feel the tears lessening. She heard Kelly sniff loudly as she pulled away to look at her, her eyes bloodshot.



"I'm sorry," Kelly apologized.



"It's ok," Carrie repeated, reaching up to brush away a few stray tears. "Everybody needs a good cry every now and then. In fact, I think it's a doctor recommendation or something."



Kelly laughed softly, leaning down to kiss the other girl, "Thank you."



Carrie shook her head, "No thanking. Any time you need a good shoulder, I'm all yours."



Kelly smiled, laying back down with her. Her smile grew at the feeling of Carrie kissing the top of her head, hearing her whisper an 'I love you'.



"I love you too," Kelly replied, kissing her neck gently.



+++++++++++



Kelly sat down on the sofa in the hotel room suite, dropping a small bag of ice on Jason's lap.



He winced, quickly lifting it.



"I figured you'd need that," Kelly smirked.



Jason nodded, placing the ice on his bruised knuckles, "You heard?"



"You know she tells me everything."



"I'm sorry, Kelly, but you know how I feel about that guy. And then when I saw him push Carrie, I just lost it."



"Jay," she said sternly, causing him to look at her. She smiled, pulling him into a hug, "Thank you for watching out for her."



Jason patted her back with his hand that wasn't hurt, "No problem. I've been looking for an excuse to kick his ass, anyway."



Kelly laughed as she pulled back, "So, what the hell was he doing over here anyway?"



"I have no clue. Ashley had mentioned how it was a pretty hot place to be."



"In Missouri?"



"Well, he's not famous enough to get into all the places in L.A.," Jason pointed out.



"Hey..." Kelly grinned in realization. "I'm totally famous enough to get into all the places in L.A."



"Heck yea," Jason nodded, high-fiving her.



There was a knock on the hotel room door, before Jeanne entered, "Good morning."



"Morning Mom," Kelly smiled.



"So, did you kids have fun last night?"



"It was definitely interesting," Kelly nodded.



"Where did you disappear off to?" Jeanne asked curiously as Jason hid the ice bag under the sofa cushion.



"Oh, we went to a bar after the party," Jason explained.



"What about during the party? I only saw you, Kelly, when we first got there, after that you were gone."



"Yea, sorry about that."



"It's not fair for Carrie to hog you like that."



"Carrie didn't hog me, Mom," Kelly informed her politely. "I barely saw her more than I saw you. I was talking with a lot of music people, and Carrie was actually really respectful of that and let me have my space."



"Oh, well, that's nice. I'm glad she realizes how important your career is."



"Of course she realizes," Kelly beamed. "She realizes more so than anyone else in the world. She's going through the exact same thing. That's what makes it so easy with us."



"What's so easy with us?" Carrie asked with a smile, sitting beside her.



"How'd you know I was talking about us?" Kelly asked.



"What other us is there?"



"True," Kelly smiled, accepting a quick kiss.



"Well, I'm going to finish packing," Jeanne stood. "Y'all give me a call when it's time to go to the airport."



"Yes ma'am," Kelly replied.



The three of them watched as Jeanne walked out of the hotel suite before jumping off the sofa.



"Why the heck are the cushions freezing and wet?" Carrie asked.



Kelly laughed, digging in the sofa, retrieving the ice bag that had busted.



"My bad," Jason grinned.



++++++++++



"So what's this about?" Carrie asked as Kelly drove them around the country side on the outskirts of Nashville in the Chevelle.



"Thought you could use some time of quiet to relax."



"Me?"



"Yea, I know things still aren't great between you and my mom, and I know you're probably still hurting a bit about the tour."



"Kell, I think you're the one you should be worried about right now. I know how stressed you are with you're mom and everything."



"I'm fine," Kelly smiled as she drove slowly with the windows down. "Today's nice."



"Yea," Carrie nodded, letting her hand hang out the window, her fingers moving with the passing breeze.



"This looks good," Kelly nodded, coming to a halt as they neared the edge of the small road. "Come on."



Carrie got out, watching as Kelly pulled out a blanket, unfolding it on the hood of the car. "What are you doing?" she asked as Kelly climbed onto the car, stretching out.



"Trust me," Kelly patted the space beside her. "These old cars were made for this. They're like iron."



Carrie smiled, kicking off her shoes before lying next to her.



Kelly kissed her forehead as Carrie rested on her shoulder.



"This is nice."



"I figured we could use some us time."



"I can always use some us time," Carrie agreed, draping an arm over the Texans stomach as she kissed her softly.



Kelly sighed in content, holding her close. "So, what are you thinking about?"



"Nothing, except for how great it is when it's just you and me."



"Yea."



"That cloud looks like cotton candy."



"Wow," Kelly giggled. "Original."



"Well, what do you think it looks like?"



"A giraffe."



Carrie laughed, "You were a special child, weren't you?"



"Care..." Kelly began tentatively.



"What's up baby girl?"



Kelly smiled, "I like when you call me that."



"Yea?"



Kelly nodded.



"I love you," Carrie whispered, kissing the edge of her ear.



"I love you too."



"So, what's going on?"



"If I ask you something, will you be totally honest with me?"



"Of course."



"Have you thought any more about who sent out those pictures?"



Carrie sighed, nodding against the Texan's shoulder.



"You've come up with something else, right?"



"Baby..." Carrie said softly, pulling her closer. "What's got you thinking about that?"



"Care, you know I love my mom. I mean, she was everything to me, growing up."



"I know."



"And I want so bad to trust her and to believe her, but I just have to know. I don't want to get blindsided again. I don't think I can handle that."



Carrie closed her eyes, burying her face in the shorter girl's neck.



"I know you don't want to hurt me," Kelly rubbed her back. "But it'll only hurt me more if I find out the truth later."



"Kell..." Carrie pleaded gently.



"Please?"



Carrie slowly kissed Kelly's neck before taking a deep breath, "No."



"No?"



"No, we haven't come up with something else. Ashley and I, we, um, we are actually more certain it was her."



Kelly swallowed hard as she gazed up at the sky, "W-what makes you say that?"



"I may have made a comment about it to her the other day."



"A comment?"



"I'm sorry," Carrie quickly apologized. "But she just got to me, and I told her that I knew that she sent the pictures in."



"What did she say?"



"She didn't deny it."



"But she didn't admit to it, either, right?"



"Right," Carrie sighed, kissing her neck once more.



"What am I supposed to do?" Kelly whispered.



"What do you wanna do?"



"Forget that it ever happened."



"Is that what you really want?"



"Everything's just been going so good," Kelly bit her bottom lip. "It's like everything is finally where it should be."



"You know, Ashley did have a theory."



"Yea?"



"Yea, she said maybe your mom did send those pictures in, but she immediately regretted it, realizing how wrong she was for it...that's why she called you."



Kelly lay silently, continuing to look up at the sky.



"You ok?"



"I think you were right," Kelly nodded. "It looks like cotton candy."



++++++++++



"Morning sunshine," Ashley teased as Carrie walked into the kitchen, clearly disgruntled.



"Morning."



"Where's your other half?"



"She has some meetings and stuff today. Her mom's taking her."



"Oh yea, I forgot."



"I told her about her mom and the pictures yesterday."



"You what? How'd she take it?"



"Trying to be strong," Carrie shook her head. "She said she wants to just forget that it ever happened because things are finally where she wants them to be."



Ashley nodded, "Do you think that's a good idea?"



"What's the thing about why we have to study history?"



"Because it always repeats itself?"



"Yea," Carrie frowned.



+++++++++++



Carrie couldn't help but laugh as she walked into the bedroom to find Kelly stretched out flat on her stomach on the bed, in nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms. "Kell?"



Kelly grumbled something as Carrie locked the door.



"Rough couple weeks, huh?" Carrie asked, walking to the bed and sitting beside her.



"Yea," Kelly mumbled, her eyes closing as Carrie's fingers ran through her hair.



"You do realize that I could've been your mom who walked in on you like this, right?"



"So?" she asked. "She's seen me nekked before."



"Yea, you were quite the stripper when you were younger from what I hear."



"We prefer the term exotic dancer."



Carrie laughed, rubbing her back gently. "Dang Kell," she applied a little more pressure. "Tense much?"



"It feels like some giant man made me into a human pretzel, and then unwound me, only nobody told my back that it's unwound."



Carrie covered her mouth to hide her giggle.



"Care..."



"Yea?"



"Help?"



"Alright," Carrie nodded, turning, and straddling the Texan's hips as she carefully sat on her. "Too heavy?"



Kelly just laughed in response.



Carrie rolled her eyes, placing both of her hands on the other singer's lower back, slowly pushing upward. "So, what's on your mind that you're so stressed?"



"My mom."



"How'd it go today? She gave you a hard time?"



"No more so than normal."



"Kell, I was thinking about your mom--"



"Mm, Care?"



"Yea?"



"Not that I don't love the sound of your voice...but no talking right now."



"Ok," Carrie laughed softly, pressing her thumbs just below her shoulder blades, making slow circles. "Just tell me if I hurt you."



Kelly nodded, her eyes closing as she took a deep breath.



Carrie pushed lightly on the knot right in between the shorter girl's shoulders.



Kelly winced.



"Shoot, you ok?"



"Yea, just keep doing that."



"Ok."



"And keep talking."



"But you just said not to."



"I meant, don't make me talk. Like I said, I love the sound of your voice."



Carrie laughed, "Alright. So today I had a photoshoot. It was pretty fun. I think they're gonna come out great."



"Mmhmm," Kelly agreed.



"And a couple fans stopped me on the street to tell me how hot my girlfriend is," Carrie smiled as Kelly bit her bottom lip. "I had to tell them that they had no idea, of course," she trailed a finger down the shorter girl's spine before tracing along the waistband of her pajama pants. "I mean, they don't get to see just how sexy you really are like I do. They don't get to feel the softness of your skin, or run a hand over the unbelievable curve of your back that is enough to drive anybody insane." Her hands lightly grazed over Kelly's hips before sliding to her back once more.



"Care..."



Carrie smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek, "Yes?"



"Enough talking."



Carrie grinned, as she started to slowly kiss her way across the back of the Texan's shoulder to the middle of her back. She languidly kissed her way down the shorter girl's spine, her hands smoothing over her sides. She reached the waist band of her pajama pants before kissing her way back up. She could feel Kelly's back arching down, forcing her lower body to push up into Carrie's as she brushed her hair out of the way to allow her lips to graze a trail up the back of her neck.



She looked to find Kelly's eyes closed, her bottom lip in between her teeth as the country singer's hands smoothed back and forth over her hipbones. Carrie kissed her cheek. Kelly's head turned, allowing Carrie to kiss her on the lips while her hand slid into her pajama bottoms, causing Kelly to push into her even more. Carrie moaned softly as she pulled away, kissing the back of the Texan's shoulder again. Her hand slowly made it's way down, causing Kelly to shift beneath her. Carrie smiled, continuing to kiss her way across her back, loving how soft her skin was and how even fresh out of the shower she still smelled like vanilla. She made a mental note to find where she had been hiding the vanilla body wash.



She felt Kelly let out a deep breath as her hand finally reached it's destination. Carrie smiled again, loving that she was the one that got to make her feel this way. Her hand moved in a slow circle as she placed light kisses all over her back, trying to kiss as many places as possible.



Carrie kissed her way back up, looking down at the other girl once more. Her eyes were still closed, her bottom lip in between her teeth once more, the most peaceful look on her face as she kissed her cheek again, her hand moving a little faster. Her free hand trailed up Kelly's stomach, earning a soft gasp as her hand slid up the gentle slope of her chest.



Her other hand moved in a faster circle, pushing a little more into her. Kelly's mouth opened slightly, no longer able to bite her lip as her breath hitched. She pushed more into Carrie, causing her to groan softly in her ear. Carrie's eyes closed as Kelly reached back her hand rubbing the back of the taller blonde's neck soothingly.



Carrie kissed along the edge of her ear, listening as Kelly's breathing became increasingly labored. She moved her hand faster, sucking gently on the side of her neck, earning a throaty moan.



"I missed you," Carrie whispered, kissing the soft spot behind her ear. Her hand moved across to the other side of Kelly's chest. She could feel her body twitch slightly beneath her. "I missed holding you," her other hand pressed into her harder, moving even faster.



"Baby..." Kelly's voice barely came out.



Carrie shivered as she held onto her tightly, her hand moving too fast to really follow the circular pattern it had set out in. "I missed the way you feel," she admitted, kissing along her jaw line as Kelly's body tensed. "I missed making you feel."



"Care..." Kelly whimpered, still holding onto the back of her neck, her eyes closing tightly as her body spasmed.



"Tell me I make you feel good," Carrie whispered in her ear, her pulse racing as Kelly ground into her hips. She felt her muscle's tensing again.



Kelly nodded, unable to make a sound other than her heavy breathing and the moans that flowed from her lips.



Carrie parted her lips on Kelly's shoulder, slowly kissing her skin, allowing her tongue to brush across it. She could feel the muscles in the Texan's shoulder tensing and looked to see her hand clenching a fistful of sheets.



"C-Ca..."



Carrie pulled back, blowing softly on the area she had just kissed.



Kelly's hand on the back of her neck pulled her down as her gasps for air increased, the whimpers coming out louder.



Carrie held her closely as she heard her name cried out, the shorter girl's body shaking in her arms. She continued to move her hand even as Kelly started to relax. She held her closer, hearing her breathing picking up again, her body tensing up even more than before, pushing back into Carrie, hard. Carrie bit down on her shoulder to keep from making a sound. She heard her own name, however, coming from Kelly's lips even louder than before as her entire body shook before she collapsed beneath her, struggling for air.



Carrie fell with her, trying to steady her own breathing as she pulled her hand away, carefully kissing the spot where she had bit the Texan. She reached up kissing her cheek, smiling at the sight of Kelly's eyes still closed as she lay, completely wrapped up in the feelings surrounding her. Carrie wrapped both her arms around the other singer's waist, kissing the top of her shoulder before burying her face there. Kelly rubbed the back of her neck comfortingly.



"Unbelievable..." Kelly finally managed, her voice hoarse. "You make me feel...unbelievable."



Carrie smiled, "You deserve it."



Kelly turned her head, and Carrie reached up, kissing her gently.



"Still stressed?"



"Not in the least bit," she replied, kissing her once more before laying back down.



Carrie moved off of her, allowing Kelly to turn onto her side. She wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close.



"You are so amazing."



"Yea, well, I try," Carrie laughed softly.



"And I seriously love you for that."



"I love you too," Carrie smiled broadly, kissing the tip of her nose.



+++++++++



Kelly rubbed her eyes as she groggily made her way into the kitchen.



"Yea, I bet you're tired," Ashley laughed.



"What?" Kelly mumbled.



"Nothing. Just sounded like Carrie really wore you out last night," she smirked.



Kelly froze, her face falling, "Oh God."



"Might want to work on the whole keeping quiet thing."



"Um, who else was here?"



"Jason wasn't. Be thankful because you know he would've made you pay for his therapy. But..."



"Oh God," Kelly slumped onto a stool, burying her face in her hands as she leaned on the counter.



"Yep, good ol' Jeanne was here," Ashley nodded, patting her back sympathetically as she placed a cup of coffee before her. She tilted her head, touching the part of Kelly's shoulder that was exposed in the simple wife beater she was wearing. "What the hell is up with that girl and biting?"



"She was trying to keep quiet," Kelly replied, turning her head to try and see the bite mark.



"You," Ashley pointed to Carrie as she walked into the kitchen, looking just as tired as Kelly.



"Huh?" she held up her hands in surrender. "I didn't do it."



"Blondie, you know I like you and all, but this biting thing needs to stop. One, what the hell was the point of keeping quiet when big mouth here was already yelling your name? And two, I don't want to know what kinda kinky stuff y'all are into...but you are not allowed to leave a mark on her."



Carrie couldn't help but smile as she sat next to Kelly.



"You think I'm joking? As her best friend, I have the right to kick your ass if you hurt her. As her make up artist, I have the right to kick your ass when you make my job more difficult."



"It's not like it's visible if she wears an actual shirt," Carrie pointed out. "Not like that time I gave her a hickey."



"Which I still haven't kicked your ass for."



Carrie just grinned as she rubbed Kelly's back, "What's her problem?"



"Jeanne was here last night," Ashley replied, fixing two cups of coffee, offering one to Carrie as she sat across from them.



"So?"



"Did you miss me saying that there was no point of you keeping quiet because Kelly was already yelling your name?"



"No...oh," Carrie looked at Kelly guiltily. "Oops?"



"Hey, you were the quiet one," Ashley reminded.



"Well, I mean, hey, your mom is kinda old, Kell..." Carrie pointed out. "Maybe her hearing's not that great."



"My mom's a teacher," Kelly replied. "She could hear a note being passed in a classroom down the hall."



"Well, look on the bright side," Ashley offered.



"The bright side?"



"From the sound of it, you really enjoyed it."



Carrie laughed at the goofy smile on the shorter Texan's face.



"I did," Kelly nodded in agreement.