Picture Perfect (21 page)

My heart began galloping as I turned to find a fuming Curtis standing behind me, glaring.

His mouth was set in a stern line. “We need to talk.”

CHAPTER 23

Devin

I SLEPT WITH THE rosary clutched in my hand. My eyes peeled open to the buzzing of my cell phone, the crystal cross dangling from my fingertips slowly coming into focus. Groggy, I rolled over and grabbed my cell, eyeing the caller ID. My eyes widened and I jabbed the talk button. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Angel shouted. It was one word, but it sounded amazing because it was the first time she’d called me.

“Hey,” I said back, swinging my legs over the side of my massive king-sized bed and stretching my free arm above my head.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to be a little late for our session.” Cars honked in the background, and it sounded like she was stuck in a washing machine from all the swishing and gurgling. Then again, maybe that noise was from the rain pounding the roof and side of the building.

I wondered why she was shouting and sounded a little out of breath, but I didn’t ask. “Okay, that’s fine. What time do you think you’ll be here?”

“Eh, probably thirty minutes?”

“Perfect. See you then.”

We hung up, and I hopped out of bed, eager to get the day going. It was intoxicating, the feeling of looking forward to the day. A month and a half ago
, I could hardly get out of bed because I felt so depressed. But since I met Angel, things had been brighter.

Humming, I wrapped the rosary up in a handkerchief and tucked it into a dresser drawer. I started a pot of coffee, then peeked through the blinds. It was pouring, a regular monsoon. They forcasted rain all day, meaning we’d be stuck inside. Which was fine. The thought of being trapped alone in my apartment with Angel turned me on.

Moving before I had a chance to get horny, I jumped in the shower, lathering and rinsing quickly before toweling off and getting dressed. I shaved and ran a comb through my hair, styling it wet, then began straightening up my apartment.

I’d been surprised when Angel texted me late last night, wanting to know when our next session was. I’d asked if she could meet today, and after she said yes, gave her a time and
my address. I knew it was going to rain, which meant I also technically knew we’d more than likely be stuck inside my apartment. I couldn’t help but feel like a kid and maybe even a little devilish at my scheming.

Soon as I poured myself a cup of coffee, the doorbell rang. Checking my appearance in the mirror by the door, I reached for the handle, heart pounding, and opened it.

I stared. “Holy shit. What happened?”

A scowling Angel stepped into my living room, soaked to the bone. She propped a battered umbrella up by the door, where it could drain onto the rug and not the hardwood floor. “Tam was supposed to drive me, but a family emergency came up, so she had to split. The bus doesn’t stop anywhere close to here. I walked the next two blocks, but my freaking umbrella broke. Needless to say, the storm won.”

“Jesus. I could have picked you up. You didn’t have to walk in the rain.”

“I didn’t want to bother you,” she said, crossing her arms.

Or you were too proud to ask.
“Here, I’ll go get you a towel.” I slipped into the hallway and retrieved a towel from the linen closet, handing it to her.

“Thanks,” she murmured, running it over her hair. It seemed twice as curly wet, which looked incredibly hot on her. She spotted the mirror and gasped when she saw her reflection. “Oh
, my gosh.” She frantically rubbed at the streaking mascara and eyeliner under her eyes. “I look like a wet rat.”

I snorted. “Hardly. It’ll actually be a cool look for some photos.”

She sighed, still fussing with her ruined makeup. “I’m sorry to say the bag of clothes I brought is drenched. I don’t suppose you have a dress in there I could wear?”

“You can borrow one of mine,” I said in my sexiest voice, winking.

She blinked, then giggled. “Good to know my boss is a drag queen.”

“Please. I’m not your boss - or a drag queen. I have a dryer in here,” I said, gesturing to her coat. “I could throw those in and gi
ve you a T-shirt and some sweatpants if you’d like.

She shivered, handing me the towel. “My wearing your clothes won’t ruin the pictures or something?”

“On the contrary, I think it’d be hot as hell.”

Her face reddened
, and she swallowed as I walked back to my bedroom. I tossed the towel in the bathroom hamper, then dug through my things until I found a pair of sweats and a T-shirt that wasn’t completely riddled with holes. “Here,” I said, handing them to her when I walked back in the living room. “They’ll be big, but at least they’re dry.”

“Thanks.” She stood t
here, as if unsure where to go and doing that lip-chewing thing that turned me on. “Actually, why don’t we snap some photos with me like this.”

My brows rose. “Really?”

She nodded, seeming nervous. “Yeah. I think it’d make for a great shot.”

I stood there for a second, pondering it. She didn’t want to be dry? Not that I was complaining. Sopping wet, that coat was practically painted on her. I couldn’t imagine what the rest of her looked like underneath.

I cleared my throat, feeling myself grow hard, and said gruffly, “I’ll be right back.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I grabbed my gear and circled back to the living room. She was still standing by the door when I came back. “Uh, let me grab a sheet to put on the floor.” I grabbed a spare set of sheets from the closet, spreading it out on the floor. “All right. Go ahead and stand over there.”

She walked over to it, constantly readjusting her lapel.

“You okay?” I asked, setting up my equipment.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just distracted today, I guess.”

“How so?”

“Eh, I don’t know. Last night rattled me a little.”

“Can’t blame you.” It rattled me too. Just the mention of it pissed me off. “By the way, how did things go after I left?”

She pressed her lips together. “I got fired.”

I nearly dropped my lens. “You
what
?”

As she told me what happened, my grip tightened on the lens. I was surprised I hadn’t crushed it. “The hell? They can’t fucking fire you because you fell! That’s bullshit!”

“Curtis said it caused a scene, damaging the club’s reputation and costing us money.”

“I-he-” I was so angry I couldn’t speak. Who the hell did this Curtis asshole think he was?

“It’s okay,” she said quickly. “It’s just as well this happened sooner rather than later.”

The hell? She sounded almost relieved. I waited for her to keep going.

She sighed hard. “I just wish the committee would hurry up and decide if they want to award me the scholarship or not, rather than stringing me along.” She shook her head. “I wish they could see I’m doing the best I can. But I know what they’re thinking - I could have gone out and gotten a ‘respectable’ job. They obviously haven’t tried looking for one in this economy.”

Her bitter words hit me hard, making me realize just how good I had it. Thanks to my dad’s trust fund, I’d never really struggled. I knew I was lucky, and I did actually try to earn my keep by working as a photographer. But hearing Angel talk, I felt like a fucking bum. “What about your tuition assistance through
The Fox Hunt? Is that gone too?”

She nodded, swallowing hard and getting a hollow look in her eyes. I recognized it because it was the same look I’d seen on my own face every day for the past year.

“Don’t you have one more semester to go?” I asked gently.

“Yes,” she snapped.

It didn’t surprise me. Having my school fund suddenly dry up would put me on edge too. “Will this scholarship cover it?”

“No,” she said in a small voice, looking hopeless for a split second. She blinked and the fire returned. “I’ll have to take out a loan, if I can get one this late in the year. I’m not sure I’m still able to apply for any financial aid. If not, I’ll have to take off a semester, or however long it takes to build up the money to finish.”

That broke my heart. I could tell how much finishing college meant to her by the sorrow on her face when she talked about failing. “I could find you some more photo gigs, introduce you to some other photographers,” I said.

Her spirits lifted a little. “You mean that?”

“Damn straight. I’m not going to let you fall, Angel.”

She blushed, smiling. I’d never had a girl make my knees shake, but damn if she didn’t with that smile of hers. She shivered and rubbed her arms. I felt like a dick for forgetting she was soaking wet and probably freezing. “Do you want to knock out these pictures so you can get changed?”

“Yeah.”

I set up the rest of the equipment, and she struck a few poses. These were going to be amazing. Even if the backdrop was my apartment, no eyes would be on anything but her, plus I could blur the background to bring her to the forefront of the picture. “Okay, now how about taking that jacket off?” I said.

She gulped - literally freaking gulped - and said, “Okay.”

I almost hesitated and told her not to,
seeing how red her face became. Then the coat fell away and I forgot how to even breathe.

The slinky sweater
dress was solid white and clearly meant to be clingy, though not as much as it did being wet. The fabric must have been thin because it was practically see-through. Every curve, every inch of her, was exposed and accentuated by the fabric, including the -

Holy. Fuck.

She hadn’t worn a damn bra. Her nipples, round and hard, poked out against the fabric, two round red cylinders on the plump mounds stretching the fabric thin across her chest.

I stared without blinking, drinking her in, my perfect muse.

“Um,” Angel said, trailing her hand up the middle of her breasts. “So did you want to take anymore pictures?”

Did I want an excuse to stare at her like this for several more minutes? Fuck yes.

Removing my eyes from her tits was hard, but I finally managed roughly, “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” I moved behind the camera, zooming in on her torso. Not removing her eyes from my camera, she slowly reached down with both hands, squeezing her breasts together and pinching her nipples.

Oh,
God.

It took every ounce - and I mean,
every
ounce - of willpower I had to not pin her to the floor and make love to her. Somehow I managed to snap a shot, at which she let her hand drift lower, the other grabbing a handful of her hair while her mouth dropped open in a moan, and she touched herself.

Hot damn. If she kept this up, my fucking camera might melt.

I snapped another shot, then lowered the camera. “That’s enough.”

She blinked, looking confused. “You don’t need more for your exhibition?”

Resolve and heady lust set in. I set the camera down. “No,” I said huskily, sauntering toward her. “I think we need to get you out of those wet clothes.”

I didn’t give her a chance to speak. Hell, I’m not sure she even got a breath in. Before I knew what I was doing, I had closed the distance between us and her face was in my hands as my mouth greedily kissed hers.

She moaned, literally melting in my hands. I grabbed her as she leaned into me, tilting her head back and deepening the kiss. Her hands slipped under my shirt, running all over my chest. I grunted as she ran her thumbs along my nipples and took my bottom lip into her mouth, sucking on it. The feel of her, right here, right now, blew my mind.

“You’re mine now,” I growled, then lifted her up. I didn’t stop kissing her as I rushed us down the hallway. The only thing that mattered was getting her into my bed.

CHAPTER 24

Angel

I COULD HARDLY THINK as Devin kissed me senseless, his tongue gliding over my own. Gently, I nibbled his bottom lip, earning a feral groan from deep within his throat as we plunged onto his mattress. He spread my legs wide, and I eagerly wrapped them around his torso, relishing the feel of his bulge rubbing against my crotch.

“You taste so damn good,” he breathed, finally coming up for air.

His arms were still trapped beneath me. As we both caught our breaths, his hands roved to the front, hovering right beneath my breasts. He stared at them, his eyes growing darker.

I was almost hurt by his hesitance, thinking maybe he was having second thoughts and I’d made a mistake of judgment. Then his thumbs caressed my nipples
, and I realized why he was holding back.
He’s not sure how I’ll react.

The fact this big, strong man was scared of me sent a strange surge of power through my core. He backed up as I sat upright and grabbed the bottom of my drenched dress. Not giving myself time to chicken
out, I yanked it over my head and revealed my very naked body, save for the stockings I always wore and my panties. My heart hammered in my chest as his breath picked up.