Iris Blaire - Dark Frame

I open my mouth to speak, but there’s nothing I can say to top his words. Instead, I cup his jaw and kiss him deeply. Even in the midst of these tacky black sheets and fetish leather and chains—even after exploiting our most intimate moment ever, I still feel completely at home with him.

I have a good feeling that this will never change.

Britain

I never thought I’d ever be this sexually adventurous.

Jaime and I don’t find some bedroom and immediately have sex after shooting Dallas and Evan. Instead, we go down to the miniature theatre on the same floor as the dungeons and watch as Ella and Miguel partake in their shoot. Under A.J.’s instructions, they’re onstage in raunchy Shakespearian garb and going all the way. It’s taking voyeurism to a whole other literal meaning, but not anywhere near as sexy as Dallas and Evan. Maybe because their attraction is so intensely real—it blows all of these phonies out of the water.

And I’m still riding on the waves of witnessing them.

I sit between Jaime’s legs on the balcony stairs. My short knit dress and knee-length boots are entirely immodest to be sitting on the ground, albeit perfect for him. When I’ve given up at believing he’ll eventually keep his hands to himself, I let my legs fall open, hoping that no one on set or in the house will decide to join us up here.

His hand dips beneath the fabric of my panties. “I knew I’d find you soaked,” he murmurs in my ear, slipping a finger into my pussy. “You little voyeur, you.”

“So what?” I gasp as he adds another finger.

He changes the subject. “So you briefly indulged me in some of your teenage fantasies, but never gave me the chance.” He slides his fingers out and back in again. I allow my head to fall back against his shoulder, spreading my legs wider to give him better access.

“You were sixteen, making me—what—twenty? We were at the Alfred’s for Jenny’s pool party, remember?”

“Mmmhmm,” I hum, bucking into his fingers.

“You were in this small red bikini and I thought I was going to hell because you were underage and I couldn’t keep my dick down long enough to get out of the pool.”

My giggle turns into a soft moan as he pulls his fingers out again to circle my clit.

“I must have gotten off five times that night.” His hand cups my breast over my sweater. “Thinking about peeling off that wet bikini, warming your perfect breasts with my mouth.” The pressure on my clit increases. “You writhing beneath me as I tasted your sweet pussy for the first time.”

I release a strangled whimper as I come, bucking against his hand. He claps his free hand over my mouth and holds me roughly against him until my shuddering ceases, and then chuckles against my ear. “Did you like that story?”

“Why did you always act like all you wanted to do was pester and torture me, then?” I gasp.

“Because, Brit, I couldn’t let myself openly toy with the idea of being with you.”

“Because I was young?”

“You were my best friend’s sister and always off limits.” He plants a soft kiss against my throat and pulls his hand from beneath my dress. “Plus, you were too good for me. You’ve always been too good for me.”

I’m about to argue—to tell him how wrong he is—when I see Dallas and Evan walk into the theatre. I snap my legs together and pull down my dress. “I have to tell them.”

“About the pictures?” Jaime sighs and releases his grip on me. “Go on.”

I stumble when I stand, legs still wobbly from just getting off. When I make my way downstairs, I notice that they’ve both been through hair and makeup again and are wearing robes. Evan looks so sexed up that she practically glows. When she sees me, she wrinkles her nose. “Was that weird for you?”

“What?” Then I realize what she means. “Oh.” I wave my hand in front of my face dismissively. “It’s not like I didn’t hear you every day in May… in the shower, in your room, on the couch, in the pool.”

Evan bites her lip, and I swear Dallas blushes. Some AA goon tells us to be quiet in the audience, and I flip him the bird, even though it’s dark and I’m sure he didn’t see me.

“Did the photos turn out good?” she asks me.

I scratch my head. “About that.”

“Oh, no.”

“It’s nothing like that. They turned out great. Fucking amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I’m not ready to give them up to AA when I know how crazy and invasive they are.” I shrug. “Who’s to say they won’t just take the pictures, use the smuttiest ones, and not even give me credit? Or hire me back?”

Evan furrows her eyebrows and whispers, “So what are you going to do? Leave the magazine for good?”

I’m about to respond when A.J. barks, “Rylan! About damn time.” He looks to one of his cronies and points to Evan and Dallas. “Get her and the boy upstairs and prep them on the set. I’ll be up in a few.”

The AA crew member ushers Dallas and Evan upstairs. I follow them reluctantly, watching their clasped hands swing back and forth in front of me.

Jaime joins us when we’re upstairs, along with several other models, including Delilah and Adam. It seems like everyone is antsy to discover what A.J. has planned for the dream couple, or maybe hoping to get a glimpse of the two of them having sex. Evan and I never got to finish our conversation. The photos I took were supposed to relieve her and Dallas from having sex in front of A.J.

I never thought that through. Maybe if I would have realized this earlier, I wouldn’t have made the hasty decision to not give up the pictures.

I hurry to Evan and Dallas and whisper my concerns.

“Don’t worry about it,” Evan tells me confidently. “I have this handled.”

She looks relaxed. Hell, they both look relaxed. Maybe after getting over the initial stage fright of performing in front of an audience, they both realized it wasn’t so bad.

Still, that doesn’t seem like Evan.

My phone buzzes in the pocket of my dress. I pull it out and read the screen.

Cameron?

“Be right back,” I tell Jaime, slipping into the dining room and hitting accept.

“Hey, you,” I say.

“Sweet, I wasn’t sure if you were going to pick up. How are you doing? You’re in Boston right now, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I saw the update online. What did you tell Mom and Dad?”

“Photography convention,” I say coolly.

“And they bought that? Wow.”

“You know they’re going to find out eventually.”

“And you know that when they do, they’ll freeze all of your assets.”

“I don’t use them anyway.” I think about my inheritance that became available to me when I turned eighteen. I haven’t touched a penny of it. Then again, I’ve always had the magazine. If my parents find out after I’ve been fired, I’ll have nothing.

“Anyway, I was calling to let you know that our new photo touch-up software just became available for beta testers. I wanted to send you a copy.”

“Awesome!” Hopefully, after all of this EPE stuff blows over, I’ll have something to photograph. I give him the address of the house, and then I say, “So what was your reaction when Jaime told you he was hired for the magazine?”

There’s silence on the other end for a brief moment before Cameron says, “Excuse me?”

“Jaime,” I repeat. “He told you that he had gotten the gig with my magazine, right?”

“Britain,” Cameron says slowly. “I haven’t spoken to Jaime in years—since you started college.”

“What? Why?”

“No one told you?”

My stomach twists painfully. “Told me what?”

“Dad fired him, Brit. He was embezzling money.”

I lean against the wall to keep myself standing. “What?”