5. Using Me For My Body
Chapter five
Using Me For My Body
Sebastian spent the rest of his afternoon in a state of desperate arousal, trying not to think about Asher, which was impossible since he kept catching whiffs of cherry off his own suit. At least once the rest of the shoots were in progress, he could distract himself with work.
The wardrobe changes shifted the entire feel of the campaign, and Sebastian loved the new direction. He knew everyone else would be going for the warm, holiday feel for their fall lines, which meant that theirs would stand out among the others.
Once all the work was done however, and Sebastian was at home, there was nothing stopping his mind from focusing on the omega he wished was in his bed at that moment. Asher was so beautiful, and more than that, he was just… raw. The omega seemed so unabashedly honest, and so unbothered by explicitly stating his desires. It was intoxicating.
Sebastian thought about the omega in his office, telling him point blank that he found him sexually attractive and the alpha felt so fond, on top of the massive and unwelcome horniess that had taken up residence in his body. He thought about masturbating, but he didn’t really want to. He wanted Asher there, preferably on his knees with his mouth full of Sebastian’s cock, but that would have to wait until after the contract was complete, which would be at least a few more days.
He’d never felt so desperate in his life as he was for this soft but fiery little artist. He loved that Asher knew what he wanted. He got the impression that, though he never allowed anyone to boss him around, he probably liked it in the bedroom. The passion inside the omega told him that he’d probably love being pinned to the wall and fucked hard and deep.
Sebastian thought he’d like to see that side of Asher, the one that was desperate for cock, and he wanted to fulfill that desperation, to give him so much pleasure that he'd fall asleep next to him, purring like a kitten in the wake of the absolutely filthy things Sebastian wanted to do to between his shapely legs. And then… he wanted to wake up the next morning and make him breakfast.
Sebastian arrived to set early the following day, dressed to the nines, out of his usual suit. He still wore slacks, but they were a bit more fitted and made of a dark violet material. His button up was black silk and rolled to his elbows. His hair was half pulled back and tied out of his face, though a few of the shorter strands fell across his forehead.
The alpha told himself that he’d gone with the more casual look for comfort, but he knew that was a bold-faced lie. He wanted to look good for Asher, and when his artist arrived, he didn’t disappoint. The omega was wearing tight jeans that accentuated his thick thighs and slim waist, ending just below his belly button and his top was a simple black tank top that was scrunched just so to show off a bit of his belly. He was as genuinely exquisite as ever, and that effect was only increased by the makeup Sebastian applied.
His eye look was dark brown and gold with a bit of black for depth, the eyeliner winged and exaggerated, the lashes even more so. His lips were a dark plum that was almost black and of course, he glossed them with his favorite Cherry Breeze. His hair was more wild, a messy but perfectly styled mop of dark curls on his head.
His outfit for the shoot was not actually far off from what he was wearing in the first place, except the jeans were black and the top was that dark plum color. He had a black choker around his neck and dangling black earrings.
The painting his look was based on was a watercolor of a city, the center of the painting lighter and gold, darkening toward the outside as gold and brown turned to purpley blacks. Asher embodied the slight, almost-grunginess of the painting as he bared his teeth, the tips of his sharp canines a temptation. He was the personification of dark lust and desire as he moved from the stool he was sat on originally, into an ostentatious purple velvet chair. The omega lounged in the chair, knees hooked over one arm as his back arched on the other one, emphasizing the shape of his body.
Asher could feel Sebastian’s eyes on him as he was photographed. His gaze was like a feather-soft touch, hands sliding up his inner thighs to part him open. While the alpha had done his makeup, Asher’s body had been in revolt. Every brush of the alpha’s hand on his skin was like fire, and when he’d steadied him with a hand wrapped slightly around his neck and jaw, Asher went weak.
Despite the tension between them, there didn’t seem to be as much space for the two of them to talk. Though he did note to the alpha that their outfits almost matched, and the smile he received told him that wasn’t entirely coincidence.
Sadly, when the time came for Asher to leave, Sebastian was too busy to give him a ride home, which Asher thought was actually a good thing. He was sure that if they were alone together in that car, Asher wouldn’t be able to stop from either dragging him up to his loft, or else sucking him off right there in his car.
Sebastian was able to catch a few minutes of Asher’s time before the omega left however, and pulled him behind a black curtain that partitioned off the art from the rest of the setup. Asher giggled as he was pushed against a wall and the alpha’s body pressed against his, turning his giggle into a gasp. One of Sebastian’s warm hands cupped his cheek and Asher looked up at him, feeling strangely vulnerable in that moment as they stood in their little hiding place and stared back and forth.
“Sebastian?” Asher whispered, looking up at the alpha, that vulnerable feeling increasing.
“Yeah?”
“You… like me, right? I mean, more than just my body. This isn’t… just a lead up to a one night stand where you’ll disappear in the night and I’ll wake up alone? Because I thought I was okay with that but I-”
Sebastian cut him off with a soft kiss.
“This isn’t a one night stand. I will admit, I do want to take you to bed, but even if you said no, I’d still want to pursue this. I’ll wait if that’s what you need, but I want you. Just you. More than I’ve ever wanted anyone.”
“I’m not going to say no, alpha… but I’m glad that you want more. It’s been a long time since I tried the relationship thing. I don’t want to be an object. I don’t want to be... owned . I want to be cherished and treated like an equal.”
“You want to be someone’s boyfriend, not their pet.”
Asher had never thought about it that way, but that was exactly right. He did want to be someone’s boyfriend, and not a pet. He wasn’t a dog to be allowed out for exercise, but a person with thoughts and dreams of his own.
“Exactly.”
“Believe me Asher, I understand. Do you know the last time someone was honest with me, just told me how they feel and what they want without any expectation that I would advance their career or… mate with them and sign over half my fortune? You are the first person who has just told me what you want without me having to figure out if you have some ulterior motive. You want me and I want you and I can’t wait for this damnable contract to be finished.”
“Me too. I really like you, Sebastian. I wasn’t lying when I said that I want you. So, let’s make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” The alpha asked, brow raising.
“Until we decide we are in love and that this is something we really want to pursue, as in a long-term relationship… you don’t spend money on me. We go halves on everything, even dates. You don’t buy me gifts that cost more than a dollar and I’ll do the same. I want to get to know you, the real Sebastian Rossi. I don’t care about your money. I want your heart in exchange for mine and if we can’t achieve that, then this isn’t right.”
Sebastian moved forward and pressed Asher back against the wall before kissing him again, harder this time as he slid one of his thighs between the omega’s and Asher let out a harsh breath through his nose. The kiss didn’t deepen or last long, but they were both breathing hard when they parted, hearts hammering.
“You’ve got a deal.”
Outside the curtain, someone was calling for Sebastian. Asher giggled softly and wiped the gloss off the alpha’s lips with his thumb before sticking it in his own mouth and sucking off the taste of cherry.
“I’ll see you next time, alpha, and hopefully not as your employee.”
“Ugh… Gods, you’re so fucking sexy.” Sebastian growled, pressing Asher harder against the wall for a moment before stepping back with a sound of frustration. “I can’t wait for next time, Cherry.”
And with that, Sebastian slipped out from behind the curtain and Asher caught his breath before following.
Asher was just leaving when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see a beaming Diego. Asher knew at once that he’d taken his advice. Before he could ask, he was pulled into a crushing hug.
“You were right!” Diego said with a laugh and Asher laughed too as they pulled apart.
“You told him?”
“Just like you said and he just smiled and said, ‘Finally.’ ” and now we have a date tonight! If you ever need anything, I swear I’m your man! You have no idea how happy I am.”
“It was all you, you just needed a little push in the right direction. I hope it works out.”
Asher talked to Diego for a few more minutes and then he left, catching a bus back to his little apartment where he started a piece all in plums and blacks, two snow white figures in the center, one arched back and the other curling over them in a graceful curve. He spent the rest of his evening like that until Trevor showed up with takeout and barged in.
“I know you haven’t eaten. You have free time which means you are glued to your canvas. Plus I want all the tea about your modeling job. Come on, you have to eat sometime.”
Asher pulled on pants and sat with Trevor on his sagging old couch to tell him all about professional modeling, which he didn’t think was much different than modeling for Trevor, other than the fact that he was more comfortable with Trevor. The other omega admired the makeup he had felt too sentimental to take off.
In the end, Trevor slept over since they were both going to the same place in the morning, and as they lay together in Asher’s rather eclectic nest, freshly showered and everything went quiet, Asher finally admitted to his friend the rest of his interactions with Sebastian.
“I kissed Sebastian Rossi.” He whispered into the darkness of his canopy and beside him, he heard Trevor’s head turn toward him in the darkness.
“ You kissed him or he kissed you ?”
“I kissed him the first time. Then we kissed each other the second time. And the third time he kissed me.”
“Ohh… Do you like him?”
Asher felt butterflies in his stomach as he thought about Sebastian and he smiled. “Yeah.”
“Wow. I’m surprised, but… if you like him that’s all that matters. I just hope your mom doesn’t find out you’re dating a rich guy.”
“Ugh… Gods, I hope not. She’s not a part of my life, so I don’t know how she’d find out anyway.”
“Never ever underestimate how much a desperate person can uncover and if I was mated to your bastard step father, I’d be desperate too.”
Asher thought about that and sighed. Trevor was right. But his mother didn’t know where he lived, she didn’t even know where he went to school. He hoped that she’d just stay out of his life as she had for most of his late childhood and teen years. He knew that if she saw a way to get money out of him, she’d latch her claws back into him, but he wasn’t a child anymore, he was an adult and she wouldn’t guilt him anymore. He was long past that.
“It doesn’t matter. She won’t get a dime from me.”
They talked a little more about Sebastian and Asher admitted how much he wanted the alpha to bed him, which had Trevor giggling beside him and Asher joining in. They fell asleep like that, still smiling.
Sebastian was in his office, looking over the pictures from the shoot, of course lingering on Asher more than anyone else. Perhaps he was biased, but Asher was the best among all the models. He embodied the paintings in his shoots and Sebastian wanted so badly to see what Asher’s paintings looked like. He was certain that they would give a glimpse into the mind of his little artist. Just as he flipped through the last few, sorting them into good and bad piles, Evan barged into his office in a huff, drawing his attention.
“Seb, we have an issue on our hands here.”
“What happened?”
“You know the model for the Cherry Breeze campaigns we’ve been running for a few years?” Sebastian nodded. “Well, he’s going to be the main model for the fall line for Itna Cosmetics, and people are already noticing. It’s trending on Twitter.”
Sebastian groaned and sat back, tossing the rest of the pictures onto his desk. Itna Cosmetics was Sebastian’s biggest competitor, but also the owner seemed to hold a grudge against him for honing in on their part of the market.
There had been several incidents over the years of Itna taking aspects of their products and copying them to sell at a lower cost. His personal worst was the horrendous cherry-flavored lip gloss they’d released last year. Thankfully their quality was absolute garbage and they’d been raked over the coals for trying to copy and coming nowhere close to the original. Now it seemed they were copying once again. Normally, Sebastian didn’t care if the models he hired got other jobs, but that lip gloss was his pet project and he was already sore toward Itna.
“Have you issued a statement at all?”
“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first.”
Sebastian steepled his fingers and leaned back with a deep breath, thinking for a moment before his eyes found the photos on his desk and he smiled.
“Issue a statement congratulating him on his new job, but confirming that the rumors that we recently shot a new campaign for Cherry Breeze are true and will be running to replace the old ones in the next few months.”
“But we didn’t shoot a new campaign and there are no rumors.” Evan added.
“Of course not, but there are always rumors in this business. They don’t know that we haven’t shot anything, and I happen to have a model in mind who looks amazing in lip gloss.”
“Your boyfriend again? I would complain but he was brilliant, so bring it on. Give me dates and times and I’ll set up another shoot.”
“I’m gonna try and do it today, but I think he has to work, so I’ll let you know. But get everyone on standby. If we want to sell that this was months-in-the-making, we have to be fast.”
Evan gave him a rather sarcastic salute and walked out of the office to do his part as Sebastian picked up his cell and sent a text to the omega whose number he’d saved in his contacts as “Cherry”.
Sebastian: I need to ask you for a huge favor.
He waited and after a few minutes he got a response that made his mouth dry as heat rolled down his body.
Cherry: If it involves me pressed up against the wall while you fuck me from behind, I’m in.
Sebastian: Gods I wish. It’s actually a work favor. I need a model ASAP and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency, plus you’re perfect for it
Cherry: I get out of class soon and I’ll call you, k? But I’m sure we can work something out ;)
Sebastian: Ok. Thank you
Asher put his phone away and returned to sketching the bowl of fruit that he was supposed to be concentrating on, focusing on the places the light hit to make it as realistic as possible. The class was almost over and he was dying of curiosity to know what Sebastian could possibly need him to model now. Was there another look they wanted to use for the fall collection? He wasn’t sure, but he supposed he would see soon. Honestly, he hoped that his paycheck would be processed soon so he could quit one of his jobs and then finally get fucked senseless by Sebastian.
As soon as class ended, he gathered his things and headed out of the room, toward his next class which didn’t start for another thirty minutes. Asher dialed as he walked across the quad, and when he spotted a bench, he headed for it, bringing the ringing phone to his ear as he sat in the shade of a large tree. It was still summer, even though the ad he’d shot was for a fall collection. He supposed it made sense, he assumed those things were planned months in advance so they’d be ready to roll out when the time came.
“Hey, Cherry.” Sebastian answered, and Asher tsk’ed at him, something about the alpha bringing out his playful side.
“Now, Mr. Rossi, you are getting me all blushy with these pet names…. Though, it’s feeling like you are just using me for my body and not in the way I would like to be used.”
There was a groan from the other end of the line and Asher smiled to himself, feeling smug that he could rile the alpha up so easily.
“You’re going to kill me here.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. So, what did you need? A model? Was there more for the shoot?”
“Actually it’s for another product, and I can’t think of anyone better. We need to do a complete re-shoot for Cherry Breeze. There has been some issues with the model going to our rival company and it’s a mess. I just need you this afternoon for… maybe five hours tops.”
Cherry Breeze… that was Asher’s favorite product ever. To actually be the face of it, he’d be honored. Asher looked at his phone for the time. It was barely after 10:00 am and he had classes until 2:30. He was scheduled to work at the diner this afternoon from 3:00 to 7:00, then he had to clean the offices at 8:00, which usually took at least an hour and a half. But he’d covered enough shifts for his co-workers on his rare days off that he knew he could call in a favor.
“Give me five minutes to see if I can get someone to cover my shift this afternoon. I’ll call you right back.”
“Asher, you beautiful omega, you are a lifesaver. I really owe you.”
“Aww… All this sweet talk and you haven’t even gotten my pants off yet.” Asher giggled and as Sebastian made a little noise of frustration he added, “I’ll call you right back and you can scold me once our contract is over.”
The omega hung up, still giggling as he dialed his coworker, an older woman who worked just enough to keep her busy while her mate was at work. She was a sweet woman and Asher adored her. She treated him like a grandson, though she was a bit young for grandbabies Asher’s age. She agreed quickly and he thanked her, promising he’d return the favor if he ever could and she waved him off and told him to enjoy his youth while he could, which he promised he would do as soon as she enjoyed her retirement. She called him a brat and promised a sound swatting when she saw him next and he just laughed her off as they ended the call, before quickly calling Sebastian back.
“That was fast, Cherry.”
“I get done with classes at 2:30 and you can have me until 7:30, when I have to get to my second job. That’s all I can offer.”
“That’s all I need. I’ll pick you up after your class. I’m not sure where the shoot will be, it’s all kinda last minute, so I should have it all figured out by then.”
“I’m at your service, Mr. Rossi. Whatever you want to do with me…” Asher said, with a smile as he kicked up his feet from the bench and looked at his paint-splattered converse that had once been pink, amused with himself and even more with the reaction he received.
“You are such a little smartmouth. I can’t wait to give you something better to do with it.” The alpha growled and Asher felt a little shot of arousal head for his groin.
“I’ll text you where to pick me up, Mr. Rossi. See you this afternoon.”
“See you then, Cherry.”