“I’m completely lost in you Eden, and I don’t think I ever want to be found,” I whispered against her lips in an honesty I never knew could exist.
“I need free standing lighting there, there, and there.” I pointed, giving directions to the assistant that I had been allocated for this shoot. “And the backdrop needs to be crisp black, no creases and no lint.”
The cover shoot for Beats and Bangs was happening in an abandoned warehouse downtown. After spending countless days scouring for the perfect location, Daniel and I had stumbled across it by accident. The natural lighting, the vast space, the flutter of sunlight through the smashed windows in the rack ceilings would offer a brilliant backdrop for the ideas I had in mind and there was no better place.
I had arrived on set just after sunrise, leaving Ky asleep in bed. Last night had been amazing. We had gone further than I could have ever imagined. Never in my life had anyone looked at me or treated me the way Ky had mere hours ago. He looked at me like I was the only person in the world. The way he held me, caressed me, tended to me, made me feel like a delicate flower and he was afraid to damage my petals. For so many years, intimacy had meant punishment—it was foreign, feared, and unwanted—but now my body tormented me with a need so deep and a craving that seemed to only be sufficed by Ky Crawford.
My skin still tingled from the sensation of his lips sweeping over every inch of my body, traveling all over me, treating me like an unconquered land, exploring and delving into places that I had locked away from any man—but in the process he had opened me up to so many possibilities. Last night was pure pleasure in the most honest form I’d ever experienced.
I jumped as my assistant tapped my arm, breaking me from my trip down an erotic memory lane, and said, “Miss Rivers, lights have been set up, I just need you to come and check the drape.”
“Please call me Eden.” I smiled and took off toward the far corner of the space where I would be taking the photos of The Fallen. Thankfully the busyness of setting up for the day enabled my rabid thoughts to diminish, and I concentrated solely on the shoot. Noise was my constant companion, something that I requested whenever I worked. Music and it had to be loud.
“Eden!” Ashlyn’s voice sang from behind me. I placed my camera on the table and turned around to greet her with a warm hug. Thankfully Ashlyn was the stylist on the shoot, much to her excitement at the thought of dressing Blake and Colby, so I knew we would get a great set of photos. “Ky isn't here?”
I knew my cheeks flushed red when a knowing look swept over her too-gorgeous-not-to-be-a-model face. “No.”
“I sense we have a serious girl chat in our near future. Tonight, definitely tonight. You are coming right?”
“What’s happening tonight?” I questioned, completely oblivious.
“We always go out for drinks to celebrate a cover shoot.”
“Okay, I’m sure I’ll be there.”
The next hour passed in a blur. The rest of the band had arrived, yet there was no sign of Blake and Colby. I fiddled with my camera and props, spoke with the stylists, and went into complete organization mode. Finally just as I was about ready to send out a search party I heard Colby’s laughter from the main entrance. I swung my head around and found him and Blake sauntering in so casually, so effortlessly, but oozing with rock star charisma.
I didn’t even know Ashlyn was beside me until I heard her loud sigh. It wasn’t just a normal sigh, it was a ‘fuck me they are too gorgeous for words’ sigh. I wrapped my arm around her waist, and we stood their gawking at my two best friends.
“I think I need to introduce you to them,” I said breathlessly.
“Oh fuck, do I look okay? Shit! Colby is coming over.”
Colby’s eyes suggestively ran over Ashlyn’s body as he strolled across the room before focusing on me. He had serious sex appeal and every single woman in the room knew it. His face lit up with a cheeky grin as he pulled me into a tight hug and kissed the side of my head when he got to us.
“Fuck babe! Look at this; this is all your fucking doing. Proud of you!”
“Well I’ve got good subjects to shoot.”
“I’ll be sure to put on my best moves.”
Colby looked between Ashlyn and me, hinting for an introduction.
“Colby this is Ashlyn, and Ashlyn this is Colby.”
“Where have you been hiding this pretty girl?” he flirted, before kissing her on the cheek and shooting her a wink that I knew meant ‘I’ll rock your world’. Yep my best friend was a complete and utter ladies’ man.
I had never seen Ashlyn act so nervous before. She turned into a grinning mess and the seductress came out in full force, but I also knew she was still hung up on Lachlan.
“Gotta go to work babe,” Ashlyn announced and rushed off toward the portable dressing room that had been set up at the back of the warehouse.
Colby kissed me sweetly on the cheek before announcing, “And I’ve got to go and be all kinds of sexy.”
••••
The next two hours were pure bliss; it was going so well that I thought I was in an alternate world where no problems or issues existed. The whole shoot was flawless. The guys were professionals behind the camera. Yes they were loud, obnoxious, and acted like cocky assholes on occasion but when it came to their career, they were as professional as they could be. Blake was a born front man. He had the looks, the personality, and the charisma to match the best of them. The camera loved him, and it made my job easy. Just before taking the last few shots, I handed my camera to my assigned assistant and stepped through the lighting equipment and headed to where Blake was leaning against an exposed brick wall.
“What do you need me to do boss?” Blake asked with a flirty side grin.
“Well you have the sexiness down pat so just give me your filthiest ‘let me take you home’ look and that should sell a few thousand copies.”
“I am shocked that you are implying that I have not done this look already?” he questioned with a feigned gasp.
“You have.” I winked and stepped closer, raising on my tiptoe and leaning toward his ear. “I just need a moment to breathe.”
“I am so fucking proud of you.”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tightly against his tattooed covered bare chest. Oh yes, of course he was shirtless for most of the shoot. With a body like that, I would have been scorned by the women of the world if I didn’t photograph him half naked. I fell into the comfort and for a moment escaped the rat race of the highly charged shoot.
“Your boyfriend has just arrived,” he whispered into my ear. “And once again you are in my arms.”
My boyfriend? “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
His deep chuckle caused me to pull away and look up at him in question. “Okay, well the guy who you are saying isn’t your boyfriend but who is looking at me like he is, has arrived.”
Before I could respond, Blake was called away by his manager and after giving me a hasty kiss on the cheek he disappeared into a sea of people. I took the downtime between shoots and headed back toward the temporary dressing room where I had set up a temporary office in one of the corners. Blake’s outlandish statement swam around my head. He could have only meant one person. As my hand gripped the curtain, I turned and looked through the main space of the warehouse. My eyes darted across everyone’s face, but they never landed on Ky. I couldn’t ignore the hint of disappointment I felt. I considered that Blake might have mistaken Josh for Ky because from a distance they could have passed as twins but Josh was now standing beside Ashlyn in deep conversation. I sighed in defeat and ducked into my seclusion in the curtained off area.