Anything but Vanilla (16 page)

‘Won’t he get cross?’ She glanced over her shoulder at Ric perched on a swivel stool by the computer.

Zach shrugged in a loose-limbed way that initially seemed to imply he didn’t care, but on further thought perhaps screamed malice with intent. ‘He won’t bat an eyelid.’

‘Yes, but he did tell me to stay out of the way.’

‘Hmm.’ Zach jerked one of his thick eyebrows upwards. ‘And do you always do as you’re told?’

‘No.’ No, she did not. Not any more. After the whole Gavin debacle she was absolutely determined to rule her own destiny, not have it dictated by anyone else.

‘Didn’t think so.’

‘Time’s up.’ Ric bustled up, camera in hand.

Zach remained where he was and hung on to his drink in order to gulp down the whole cupful.

‘That’s enough.’ Ric snatched the mug away, causing a mocha-coloured dribble to run over Zach’s chin, which Kara longed to catch with her lips. ‘Kara, take the mug. Get out of the way.’

‘I think I should stay in the shot,’ she huffed, not appreciating his tone.

Zach’s eyes lit with glee.

Ric turned to her. His blond hair settled around his face so that several long strands fell across it. His eyes narrowed. ‘In order to do what exactly?’

Kara shrugged. She hadn’t thought it out that thoroughly. And she wasn’t about to blurt, ‘So I can shag Zach.’ Somehow she knew that wouldn’t get a good response. ‘Well, you keep promising me naked butts.’ She gave Ric one of her best smiles, all sweetness and tease wrapped into one. ‘Maybe I could help undress him.’

‘Did I promise you that?’ Ric dragged his teeth over his lower lip. He looked thoughtfully between the two of them. ‘Actually, I think Zach’s perfectly able to undress himself.’

‘I’m so-o not,’ Zach said, earning him a hard glare from Ric, whose blue eyes flashed. ‘Come on, Ric. What’s the problem, why not let us have some fun?’

Ric snapped the lens cover on to the camera. ‘Because this isn’t about fun. It’s about art and fulfilling a contract.’

‘The exhibition shots aren’t. You always claim things turn out better when they’re not faked. I can promise you this will be genuine.’ Zach snatched a look at Kara’s chest, and then waggled his wing-like eyebrows at Ric. ‘I certainly won’t have any problems getting hard, not like with the scrawny models you normally bus in.’

‘Not interested,’ Ric snapped.

‘Oh! And why is that?’ Zach rested his chin in a V he made with his forefinger and thumb.

‘Because.’ Ric turned his back on them and began fussing with papers strewn across the computer desk. ‘I don’t have to explain my reasons. Now can we get on? Back to where we left off. You were undressing.’

Zach bent to whisper in Ric’s ear as he swept past to resume his position. ‘Spoilsport. You’ve had her. What’s the problem with me having her too? It’s not like you care about either of us.’

‘Fine. Whatever,’ Ric snarled through gritted teeth. His capitulation took Kara by surprise.

He snatched the lens cap off again and advanced, holding the camera like a lethal weapon. ‘We still start from where we were at. Kara, stay the hell out of the way until I tell you.’

They began again, with Zach expertly nibbling the very tip of one index finger, while he coyly hooked one thumb into the waistband of his jeans. ‘That’s it. Hold it.’ Ric began to jig about, filling up the SD card again. For a moment, her promised involvement was forgotten. ‘Now move. Come on, move. Give me something else to work with. Didn’t I tell you to lose that shirt?’

Zach had only got as far as loosening the cuffs before breaking off for his coffee. Now, he eased the slate-grey shirt off his shoulders, whereupon it slid slowly down his muscular arms until it hung on to only one wrist. Zach held on to the cuff for half a second before letting it fall and form a shadowy puddle at his feet.

Beautiful. Kara had no other word for how he appeared in that moment. The light, the pose, his expression, everything came together perfectly. Maybe it was better if she stayed out of view and they left this as a study of Zachary Blackwater rather than turning it into some x-rated porno.

‘Do it,’ Ric said. ‘Back on the chair.’

Zach’s breath caught so that he made a tiny sound. Without waiting for further elaboration, he planted his bottom on the edge of the wooden chair. His back arched so that his shoulders hit the back rest. The pose, while not perhaps the most comfortable one, did thrust his hips forward and allow him to stretch out his long legs. Zach opened the metal fastening at his waist and let the zipper slide.

Oh, my God, was he going to … With one palm tucked inside his fly, what in the world else could Zach be doing, besides stroking himself? Was this where she came in? Kara stared at Ric, but he had his back to her.

She knew the moment Zach’s glans poked above the line of his underwear because Ric’s spine straightened for a second before he became a dervish-like whirl. Kara began inching forward. It wasn’t that she meant to intrude upon the shots; she just needed a better look. She hadn’t seen all that many men masturbate, at least not as close up as this, and definitely not while someone voyeuristically photographed them. If only her careers adviser had suggested Ric’s line of work. She’d have been good at it, for sure, and job satisfaction would never have been an issue. Sadly, she barely knew one end of a camera from the other. Even her family snapshots inevitably suffered from glaring red-eye and cropped heads. The digital revolution couldn’t entirely counter ineptitude.

Kara hadn’t realised how close she’d got in her quest for substantiating visuals, until Ric backed into her. He clamped his mouth shut over a bark of irritation, then stood, the camera held at waist level, and gave her an appraising look.

‘So this is what you want, is it?’

‘I just …’

He snapped an image of her with her mouth hanging open, and then another of her blinking because of the first flash.

‘Hey!’

He kept on taking pictures.

‘You said we weren’t serious.’

‘And we’re not.’

‘You said I should come in some time for you to photograph.’

‘That’s what I’m doing.’

It was. He was still mad at her, though, even if she didn’t really understand why. ‘Come on, then. Look at him.’ Ric dragged her closer to Zach, until she stood right before him. ‘Work with me, Kara, if this is what you want. See him. Drink him down. Be my extension. Rough him up a little.’ He paused before adding, ‘But no actual bruises.’

There wasn’t any way on God’s earth she could resist a command like that, not when Zach looked so utterly delectable.

‘What will you do with the pictures?’

‘That depends how they come out. I don’t know how well you photograph yet, and you’ve yet to prove there’s any chemistry between you.’

There was plenty of that. She didn’t think convincing him would prove much of an issue.

Zach didn’t move at all, unless you counted the muscle in his thigh jumping as she approached. Facing him square on, Kara found her viewing angle much improved. She no longer needed to strain in order to see what he was doing. All the explicit detail she could wish for lay right before her. Zach’s broad-tipped fingers were splayed over the long thick shaft, while his thumb curved over the tip, where it drew concentric circles in the shiny film of pre-come leaking from the slit.

‘Think about what he’s doing, Kara. Why’s he doing it? Are you demanding it? Who is in control?’ Ric filled her head with questions.

Who was in control? Not her at this moment. Possibly Zach. He was certainly the centre of attention, given the way he was slowly circling his thumb. Yet she was also raring to see him do so much more. Like squeezing tight his erection and working himself into an absolute frenzy as if it were a race he was desperate to win.

For whatever reason, Zach didn’t rush, even when she bent over him, getting as close as she could without making contact.

‘Don’t touch him,’ Ric commanded, only to rescind the instruction immediately. ‘OK, one finger, and you’d better sign a fucking release form afterwards.’

Uncertain whether Ric would change his mind again, Kara immediately reached out. She placed the tip of her index finger halfway down Zach’s shaft in a space between his splayed fingers.

Zach made a soft sound in the back of his throat. This time it was more than a simple catch in his breath. It constituted a full-on moan. He looked up at her immediately, his brown eyes wide, his mouth too. There was such need, such desperate urgency in his expression. His hand wrapped around her. He carefully brought her whole hand in contact with his shaft.

She’d done daring things and stupid things, but she’d never before been watched like this. Kara’s cheeks burned. She snapped at Ric to keep the camera pointed downwards and not at her face. He took no notice.

‘You’re the model, I’m directing. I’ll snap whatever I see fit.’

The heat of Zach’s cock filled her hand, causing a corresponding fire to awaken in her cunt. Mingled with that first flush of arousal was an intense buzz of nerves. She wasn’t camera-shy, but this was still a first, and lord knows where it would lead.

Zach guided her, his large hand clamped tight over her smaller one. Up slid her grip until his glans brushed the centre of her palm, then down, right to the base, so that his pubic hair tickled her fingers. Around them Ric buzzed like an irate bee. Only the sharp sound of their breathing competed on a noise level. She stared at Zach, knowing without explicitly being told that this is what he’d hoped to provoke, this weird situation where they were all linked and tension flirted close to breaking point … but they weren’t quite in it together. They weren’t yet a threesome.

Ric had taunted her with that possibility. He knew what she wanted, what she liked. How far would he let this go? Had he realised yet? Did he know that she and Zach had prior knowledge of one another? It was possible the men had talked. Well, if they had, they were obviously cool with it, because otherwise this just wouldn’t be happening.

Zach wouldn’t let go of her hand. That was probably a good thing, because if she was free to move, she’d probably end up astride him, or sucking him. If only Ric would give her an instruction.

‘Kara.’ She continued to work Zach’s shaft with firm sure strokes, while looking him in the eye. He only blushed when he started to glow. Then as his breathing slowed to a tremulous pant, he also dug his teeth deep into his lower lip. Too slow – she was reining him in, drawing things out when he wanted to race. Ric couldn’t help lapping up the struggle, even though his shoulders were lifted up around his ears and his face had become narrowed and serious.

‘Kara.’ Zach’s plea tore up his throat, sounding so husky that it must have come from somewhere down near his belly. ‘I need … Will you let me?’

She didn’t really want to let him come. In her thoughts, she straddled his lap and sank down on to his cock. Ric didn’t have a camera either. Instead he was even more naked than Zach and nuzzled up against her back as she bounced astride Zach’s cock. He took possession of her breasts, rolling them in his palms as he kissed the side of her neck, and when Zach came Ric claimed her for himself. Entering her when she was slippery and wet, yet still making her groan.

‘God! Kara, please.’

Ric captured Zach’s plea in close up. Its weakness was pitiful, yet it still had enough power to tie Kara’s stomach up in knots. Everything came down to her actions. If she let go and backed away, would Zach finish things off himself or beg Ric for a helping hand? Should she kneel down and suck him? What?’

‘What should I do?’

Zach groaned. His eyelids fluttered closed only to open again at once.

Kara sank into those two molten chocolate pools as she pumped her fist. There was little grace in the motion. She sensed what he wanted, could feel the strain in his muscles, in both his thighs and his stomach. The fact that she knew he was straining towards that goal increased the feeling of slickness between her own thighs, so that she jigged her hips as she stroked him, bringing her pussy lips together and giving her clit some welcome relief.

Oh, God! She needed him so badly.

Kara lifted the skirt of her sundress so that Zach could see what lay beneath. She had on the prettiest pair of panties in her possession. Just a tiny triangle of silk held on with ribbons that he took no time at all to undo. Kara shimmied forward. Their mouths met as she straddled his lap. Zach’s cock felt so smooth against the silk of her pussy. Her clit damn near burned with eagerness. Ric was in the way, though. He was damn well in her face and between her thighs with that camera. His instructions having completely dried up, he was sucking down sharp anxious breaths.

Any moment … any moment, she swore, he was going to join them. Then when Ric’s fist did wrap around Zach’s cock, effectively stopping her from sliding down on to him, she damn well nearly screamed with rage.

Stuck between them, unable to see what Ric was doing yet perfectly able to feel it, Kara ground her teeth in frustration. To the side of her she could just make out their reflection in the glass-covered line of mounted prints. Ric was jerking Zach’s cock. No. Hellfire! He was on his knees sucking Zach, and still taking pictures.

That was so unfair. She strained her neck, trying to look over her shoulder at him. No use, she could just see the back of his blond head.

Zach broke eye-contact with her as he came. His chin tilted up, his head rested on the back of the chair so that he gazed up at the whitewashed ceiling, ecstasy stretching the tendons in his neck and adding a layer of savageness to his face. His body spasmed a millisecond after each jerk of his cock.

‘Fuck!’

As for his cry, it seemed that each note was torn from the bottom of his soul, as if he were a wounded animal and not a man at all. Either way, he was undone, and Ric, not she, had got him there.

Ric’s camera had finally fallen silent. He placed it on the stand beside his open laptop.

‘Why? What the hell did you do that for?’ she asked as she removed herself from Zach’s lap. There had to be a reason beyond the fact that he could.