Christmas Delights 3 (18 page)

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Jackson heard the front door of his apartment open but
ignored it as he finished getting ready. His client was early, which he liked,
but not so much when he'd been running late. He threw a light t-shirt on over
his loose jeans. He'd recently dropped some weight so most of his clothes were
baggy, but these were especially so. His sister complained that he needed to go
clothes shopping to stop looking like such a bum. He might agree, someday, when
his clients started to complain about his state fashion sense or lack thereof.
After all, he was a photographer, he was supposed to look good most of the
time. Or so his nagging sister kept saying.

He stepped out of his bedroom, eager to get started taking
pictures of big cats for his latest project, but stopped as soon as he saw the
shirtless blonde man currently standing in his kitchen. "Uh. Hi. I thought
Tonya would be coming by this morning," Jackson said, shifting his weight
on his bare feet uncomfortably.

The guy came around the counter and Jackson got his second
surprise of the morning. Blondie was not only shirtless, he was completely
naked. Jackson tried to remain professional as he looked anywhere but at the
man's thick length. Not that he didn't want to of course, he was plenty
interested in hot guys as a general rule. But naked strangers in his kitchen at
seven in the morning? Not quite. "Mind telling me why you're naked?"
he asked in clipped, even tones.

The man blushed and came forward, extending his hand.
Jackson shook his hand but took his own back as quickly as he could.
"Sorry, Tonya was going to come up but as she was finding a place to park
she started to feel a bit sick. I don't know why they call it morning sickness
since she gets it all the time."

Jackson nodded. He'd known that Tonya, a leading agent from
one of the nearby modeling firms, was pregnant. She'd talked about it
incessantly the last time he'd been in her office. But that didn't explain who
the naked man was. "My appointment today was with a jaguar. So who are
you?"

"Peter," he said, stepping back and swinging his
arms over his head. "Sorry, stiff muscles. I'll be ready in a minute. And
you're out of deli meat. I ate it. Needed the calories. Tonya will cover it for
you."

Jackson blinked dumbly at him as questions raced through his
mind. "Uh...Ready for what?"

Smiling, Peter continued to stretch. "Shifting of
course. I'm your jaguar."

"Ohhh." Well that explained something at least.
Instinctively Jackson took a step back. He'd known that some of the agencies
were starting to use weres as models. That had been the hot thing once they'd
started coming out a few years ago. He just hadn't ever thought he'd be working
with one. "So, you're a...and you can...ohhh." He needed to sit down
and quickly sank into his overstuffed lounge chair before he fell down.

Peter stepped close. "You okay there, boss?"

Jackson pinched his nose and shook his head. "I am a
professional. And I can do this," he mumbled, feeling faint as he tried to
breathe through the excitement.

"Sure you can. Watch this. It'll be easy," Peter
replied, taking a few steps back. Jackson had the clarity to realize that Peter
moved like a dancer on the balls of his feet before suddenly Peter was gone and
a large spotted cat was in his place. They looked at each other for a long
moment before Jackson finally moved again. Even then it was only to sit up a
bit straighter in the chair.

"And can you understand me? Right now, I mean?"
Jackson asked the jaguar who nodded and twitched his tail. Well that settled
something at least.

Getting to his feet, Jackson made sure to keep his gaze on
the big cat who appeared to watch him back just as intently as he went to his
bookshelf and pulled down his only book on big cats. He propped his shoulder up
against the wall as he flipped to the section on jaguars. After comparing the
cat in front of him to the pictures the book, he decided that the were in front
of him would pass. In fact, he couldn't see any difference. And he'd looked
pretty closely. Shutting the book and putting it away, he tried to come up with
a game plan.

"First, there are rules," Jackson began, coming
forward and picking up his camera. "I'm the boss, being whiny doesn't
really work with me. There are snacks and drinks available if you need them but
we won't be breaking every fifteen minutes. Phones aren't allowed in my studio
and neither are overbearing boyfriends, husbands, parents or whoever else you
have that would get in my way. I have one goal--to get the best shot possible.
Make that happen and you're a gem. Nod if you understand."

The jaguar nodded and Jackson nodded too, feeling far more
in control now that they'd established those guidelines. He checked his camera
for a full battery, grabbed an extra fully charged battery just in case this
one ran out and opened the door to what would have been the second bedroom if
he hadn't converted the empty space in his condo to accommodate his career. The
jaguar trotted in without him having to say anything and stood in the center of
the room, appearing ready to take direction. Jackson shook his head in
surprise. No wonder people were starting to employ weres for roles that animals
had traditionally been in if they were all this easy to work with. He
remembered the first time he'd been to a movie about African elephants and been
surprised, as had the rest of the audience, to see an actor's name next to the
name of one of the elephants in the credits. Looking at Peter though it was
starting to make sense why people would choose to go with this route.

"Alright. I don't know how much Tonya told you about
this project, but I'm shooting a calendar series of big cats. Its for a
fundraising event to come out in the fall of next year. You're the first cat I
chose, or rather the first species. January and jaguar made sense to me. I'll
have to find another species that starts with F if I'm going to continue this
line of thought but for right now, you've got the January spot," Jackson
took a few test pictures as he walked around the cat. Peter watched him, his
tail twitching but otherwise he stayed fairly motionless.

Once he was done with the test pictures he looked around the
room, wondering what would be best for this theme. The event's coordinator had
asked him to make big cats more personal, more accessible to people. So that
they could relate to them and want to support their conservation. Well, what
would be more personal than having a cat on the bed? "Go on up there. Get
comfortable," Jackson instructed. Peter moved easily and seconds later he
was spread out on the bed, looking completely relaxed as he lay on his side. He
stretched his big paws and yawned.

Chuckling, Jackson started shooting. He moved around the
bed, even getting on it at times, as he tried to get the perfect shot. After a
dozen or so shots of the cat laying on the bed, he moved back. "Do something
else for me now," Jackson instructed. The jaguar slowly sat up and Jackson
took a few pictures of him standing. He jumped down from the bed and Jackson
followed him around the room, not giving direction, only observing through his
lens as the cat explored the large space. They were all props, each corner of
the room set up as a different scene to give him something to instantly work
with for either inspiration or a quick shot when he was pressed for time.

Nearly one hundred shots and an hour later, Jackson turned
his camera off and put it on a nearby table. "You did well. I think
there's some great material here," he said, looking away to adjust a vase
that had been moved when Peter had been in the scene.

"Thanks."

Jackson nodded and looked back at him, not surprised to see
the man still naked, after all that made sense now. But that he was still
mostly hard got his attention in a hurry. "Need any other shots?" he
asked Peter, moving his gaze quickly from the man's groin. "I booked this
shoot for at least another hour and the organization that wants this calendar
already pre-paid for it so if you need a headshot or something for your
portfolio..." he let the suggestion linger between them. He usually didn't
give free shots to models. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had.
Whether it was because Peter was the first were he'd worked with or because he
was a hot guy, Jackson couldn't say why he'd made the offer.

"You don't have to go do Christmas shopping or anything
like that instead of spending the time with me?" Peter asked him.

Jackson shook his head and watched Peter take a seat on the
bed. He pulled his legs under him and rested his elbows on his knees, looking
completely at ease with his casual nudity. Perhaps that came from being a model,
or a were. Jackson didn't know and wasn't sure how to even begin to ask such a
personal question. "I don't really do Christmas," Jackson replied,
answering him. He added a shrug along with his words, hoping to deflect some of
the pain that statement held.

Peter frowned at him. "Why not? Its a fantastic time of
year. The presents, the snow...”

Jackson managed to give him a small smile. "Yeah. If
that's all it was that would be pretty great. But I haven't really celebrated
it since I was twenty."

"What happened then?"

Alright, well if he was going to get into it with this man
he figured he might as well be comfortable. He got on the bed as well, the
stiff mattress giving very little comfort until he laid down on his side next
to Peter. "On my last winter break in college I brought my boyfriend home
from college. My parents reacted badly and since then Christmas hasn't been all
that much fun for me. I've got a sister and she's not a hateful, cruel beast
like our mother is. But she has kids and a husband now and the holiday is
important to them so she and I get together after the first and do a bit of
celebrating."

Peter lay back on the bed and faced him. Jackson tried to
pretend the other man wasn’t naked, that they were just having a conversation.
Just a couple of guys. Not anything at all like he was lying next to a naked
man that could turn into a jaguar at any second. No, nothing at all like that.
That would just be weird.

"Sounds harsh," Peter said quietly.

Jackson shrugged. "I was afraid of how they'd react.
But I'm glad that I did it."

"Why?"

Smiling, Jackson propped his head up on his fist.
"Because if I hadn't I would have still been lying to them. I didn't plan
to spend the rest of my life with that boyfriend. We had fun but I wasn't
bringing him home to introduce him to my parents as if he was the one man in
the world for me. I was just too tired of pretending to be something that I
wasn't. I couldn't handle the questions of why I never dated girls or why I was
always too busy to go out with my sister and her friends or when I didn’t meet
a nice girl and settle down. My parents married right out of high school so
settling down young wasn’t an issue. That I was gay was though apparently.”

Peter cringed. "But at least you did what you wanted
to."

"Yeah, I did. So, you mentioned shopping, do you need
to go or do you want some more shots?" Jackson asked him, getting the
attention off himself. The spotlight wasn't exactly his preferred place to be.
He liked his life behind the lens just fine, thank you very much.

Peter stretched his arms over his head and arched his back,
lifting himself off the bed with something that sounded suspiciously like a
growl. Jackson turned onto his stomach to hide his erection. He was a
professional, he reminded himself. Naked people were nothing new to him. He'd
done an entire burlesque shoot just last week and many of the women had been
all over him both before and after it. He'd walked away with no fewer than six
numbers of women he'd never call. But none of those women had been nearly as
attractive to him as the tanned, naked man lying next to him. 

"I'm good with shots. How about we do something else
for the next hour?" Peter asked him.

Jackson raised his brows, easily up for the challenge in
Peter's expression. In more ways than one. "Like what?"  

Peter rolled over on top of him, pushed him on his back, and
pinned him to the bed. Well, this is new, Jackson thought to himself as he
looked up into the man's amber colored eyes. He waited, hoping for some great
sex to brighten what was a miserable season for him. But when he'd thought
Peter was reaching down to take off his shirt he was surprised when instead he
felt the other man's fingers tickling his sides.  Trying not to laugh was
impossible as he squirmed and tried to push away from Peter but the cruel man
only relented when Jackson was out of breath and his mouth hurt from smiling so
much.

"There, that looks better on you," Peter said,
sitting up. He'd stopped tickling Jackson but he was still pinned down. Funny
thing was, Jackson didn't mind it so much. Not when the view included having a
naked man sitting on his lap.

"What does?" Jackson asked, as he lifted his hands
to put them on Peter's hips. He circled his thumbs over the muscles he found
there.

Peter grinned down at him, looking just as flushed as
Jackson felt. "That smile. Grouchy is not a good look for this time of
year. Not when there's presents and-"