Epilogue
Four months later…
“So, not to, like, question your intent as the artist or anything…”
Eve looked up from the duvet that she’d been carefully arranging into a perfectly rumpled mess at the sound of Aspen’s voice, and watched, suddenly breathless, as she sauntered out of the bathroom in a fitted white tank and a pair of low-slung jeans that looked like they’d been painted on her. It’d been a blessing that Aspen’s schedule aligned with hers in a way that allowed them to travel to London together while she was teaching a photography seminar—not just for this view, or what they were about to do, but because the idea of spending even a few short weeks away from Aspen was still enough to make her cry.
“…but why do I need to wear this if I’m just gonna be taking it off?”
The glint in Aspen’s eyes said she knew exactly why, but Eve played along, licking her lips slowly in the way she knew drove her wild as she gave her a thorough once-over. Her stomach fluttered at the way Aspen’s nipples stiffened against the thin fabric of her tank as she ogled her, and she bit her lip as she reached out to grab her by the belt loops and yank her closer.
She smirked at the way Aspen whimpered as she rubbed up against her, and nuzzled her cheek to tease her with the promise of a kiss as she murmured, “Because I like the way you look in it,” against her lips.
“Jesus…”
Eve laughed and tugged Aspen’s hips harder into her own as she angled her head to capture her lips in a kiss that was deep and delightfully playful as they traded control like the passing of a baton. She hummed against Aspen’s tongue when she grabbed her ass and lifted her up onto her toes, and dragged her hands heavily up Aspen’s body to palm her breasts and tease her nipples before looping her arms around Aspen’s neck and sinking into her.
The kiss slowed and turned sinfully indulgent as their bodies fit together, hip to hip and breast to breast, and she sighed into Aspen’s mouth as the hands on her ass began squeezing firmly in time with their stroking tongues. She was so very close to losing herself in the moment and surrendering to the heavenly feeling of Aspen’s body against her own, but regained control of herself just as the urge to shove Aspen back onto the bed and strip her out of her jeans became nearly overpowering.
“Pictures,” she gasped. She laughed at the playfully doleful pout Aspen gave her. “You’re the one who wanted to model for me, remember?”
A slow, ridiculously sexy smirk replaced Aspen’s pout, and she arched a brow as she purred, “Yeah, but now I want you to fuck me.”
Eve’s pulse jumped. “Fuck,” she muttered breathlessly. She shook her head at the way Aspen’s smirk widened, and touched a finger to her chest to hold her at bay. “Later.”
Victory sparked in Aspen’s eyes even as she swayed forward just a bit to press Eve’s finger harder into her sternum. “Promise?”
“God, yes,” Eve murmured. She’d never meant anything more. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she stepped back to put some much-needed distance between them. The desire to touch and take Aspen still crackled in her fingers, but it was easier to manage when Aspen was out of reach. “But, for now, you are going to be my model.”
Aspen held her arms out to her sides in a way that said she was waiting for direction as she inclined her head in a small bow. And while her soft, “How do you want me?” was deferential, the smokiness in her voice was unmistakably carnal.
What have I gotten myself into? Eve thought as she picked her camera up from where she’d set it on the bed and looped the strap around her neck. Having already taken stock of the room and the lighting while Aspen had been getting changed, she moved to a spot just beyond the warm, golden light that poured through the windows of their rental in Kensington as she said, “By the bed, please.”
Her heart beat a slow, heavy tempo in the base of her throat as Aspen arranged herself as she’d asked.
“Like this?” Aspen asked as she stood at an angle to the side of the bed so that she was facing Eve and the camera head on.
“Move about eight inches to your right?”
“So precise,” Aspen teased.
“I want the shadows from the spacer bars in the glass to segment your torso,” she explained. “Just a hair more….good. Right there. You’re perfect.”
“You are too, beautiful,” Aspen replied. An enchantingly playful smile bowed her lips. “What do I do with my arms?”
“Whatever feels natural.” Aspen’s skin glowed in the sunlight, and Eve bit her lip as she lifted her camera to capture the way the light caressed the curve of her biceps. “Just like that,” she encouraged. She pulled the camera down to check the display. It was a good shot, but the definition of Aspen’s muscles could be better. “Can you leave your arms how they are and just tense your biceps for me?”
“You like my muscles?”
Eve lowered her camera just enough to level Aspen with a wry look. “You know I do. Now, flex, please.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Aspen drawled as she obliged the request.
“You are so fucking sexy,” Eve murmured as she lifted her camera again. She checked the first couple shots to make sure the lighting was doing what she wanted, and then knelt into a half-crouch to put her camera in line with Aspen’s biceps. This angle also provided a stunning view of Aspen’s nipples poking against her shirt, and she smiled as she directed, “Turn just a little to your left?” As she’d hoped, the change made the shape of Aspen’s breasts and the jut of her nipples even more pronounced and she hummed an appreciative, “Very nice,” as her shutter clicked a few more times.
She dropped to a knee as she lowered her camera once more. “Okay, now start taking off your shirt.”
Aspen crossed her arms over her stomach to grab the hem of her tank. “I’m guessing like this?”
“Exactly like that.” Eve’s pulse stuttered at the first peek of Aspen’s stomach, and she cleared her throat softly as she lifted her camera. “Slower.”
Through her viewfinder, she watched Aspen’s abs tense ever so briefly at the instruction, and she was strangely validated by the soft, “Shit,” that spilled from Aspen’s lips with a hiss as she slowed her movement.
A thick, heavy silence settled over the room with every glorious inch of skin that was revealed, and it was all Eve could do to keep her hands steady against the force of her pounding heart. She’d been painfully aware of Aspen’s beauty from the moment she’d first laid eyes on her, but watching her slowly undress like this was an experience so close to holy that she felt it was only right to be on her knees while she witnessed it.
“Hold there,” she instructed as the bottom of Aspen’s breasts were revealed.
She took a few shots from her knees before pressing into a half-crouch so she was once again at eye-level with Aspen’s breasts. She held her breath to help steady her hands as she focused on capturing the hint of a shadow that curved under the swell of Aspen’s breasts and the way the vertical spacer bisected her torso, and only let it go once her lungs began to burn. The physical discomfort was a helpful distraction from the ripples of arousal that were beginning to form low in her belly, and she licked her lips as she tried to get control of herself.
It wasn’t a surprise that photographing Aspen like this was turning her on, she’d expected it, but she was surprised by how quickly it was happening. Aspen wasn’t even fully undressed, and her panties were already wet.
“Okay.” She winced at the husk in her voice and cleared her throat softly. “I want to see your nipples; but then pause for me again.”
The way Aspen’s chest lifted and fell with what looked like a trembling breath did precious little to help her in her quest for self-control. Neither did the rough, “Shit,” that fell from Aspen’s lips as she dragged the hem of her shirt over her nipples before obediently stopping.
“Oh, that is lovely,” Eve murmured as she drank in the vision before her. Aspen’s face was hidden behind her arms that were crossed and lifted in front of herself, and she could tell from the twitching of her abs that she was struggling to hold this pose. To look and not touch was a particularly delicious kind of torture, and Eve licked her lips as she slowly lifted her camera. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
Aspen’s abs clenched, and Eve’s heart skipped a beat as she quickly depressed the shutter button.
“Baby…”
“Just hold for a few more seconds,” Eve murmured as she tried to capture the ethereal juxtaposition of Aspen’s defined muscles and feminine curves. The only thing that would make it better would be… “I’m just going to unbutton your jeans, okay?”
Aspen’s arms flexed and her fingers tensed around the hem of her shirt. “God, please,” she groaned, clearly struggling to remain still.
Eve smiled at the plaintive pitch of Aspen’s voice as she dropped her camera and made her way to her. “I’ve got you,” she murmured as she dragged the backs of her fingers up Aspen’s sides. The heat coming off her skin was intoxicating, and she hummed low in the back of her throat. “Fuck.”
“Please…”
“Soon, love.” Eve wished she could kiss Aspen, but she settled for scratching her nails lightly down her stomach. She delighted at the way Aspen’s muscles bunched beneath her touch, and couldn’t quite stifle the moan that escaped her when Aspen’s hips rocked into her hands as she flicked open the button of her jeans. “You’re doing so good,” she encouraged as she slowly pulled the zipper down. “So good,” she repeated breathily as she pulled the halves of her fly open wider to reveal the soft skin of her lower belly and the dark patch of hair at the apex of her thighs.
Aspen whimpered. “Eve,” she pleaded, sounding so totally wrecked that Eve clenched.
“Just a little longer, baby,” Eve said, forcing herself to return to her previous position. The small change in Aspen’s wardrobe did wonderful things for the overall tableau of the scene. “You’re doing great.” She shifted her positioning as she took a half-dozen more shots to get different perspectives of the shadows from the window and how they played with the curve of Aspen’s breasts and the way her fly was flared open. Once she was satisfied, she said, “Okay, love, take it off.”
“Thank god,” Aspen exhaled as she ripped the shirt off over her head. She licked her lips as she tossed the shirt aside. Her cheeks were flushed and her pupils blown, and her chest heaved with the force of her ragged breaths as she stared at her. “Are we almost done? Because I am so turned-on right now.”
Eve held Aspen’s gaze as she licked her lips slowly. “It’s a very good look on you, my love.” She arched a brow when Aspen exhaled a shaky laugh. “You ready to move on?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Aspen croaked. “But okay.”
“Cup your breasts.”
“Fuck…”
“Ah-ah…” Eve said when Aspen grabbed her breasts in a way that only the faintest hint of their shape was visible beyond her palms. “I want to see your nipples.”
“I think you’re trying to kill me,” Aspen grumbled, though she didn’t sound particularly upset about the fact as she shifted her hold so that her nipples were framed by the curve between her thumbs and index fingers.
“Definitely not trying to kill you, love. good. Squeeze and lift?” Eve nodded and snapped a few quick pictures when Aspen did what she asked. There was something else that would make this even hotter, and she bit her lip as she considered it. “Would you… Can you pinch your nipples for me?”
A slow, challenge of a smile tipped Aspen’s lips as she angled her head and murmured, “Why don’t you come do it yourself?”
The playfulness was exactly what Eve needed to keep her composure, and she lowered her camera to below her chin so Aspen could see her smile. “As the photographer, I shouldn’t touch my model.”
Aspen’s throat bobbed as she licked her lips. “What if the model really wants you to touch her?”
That, Eve had to admit, was a very good argument. “That’s a fair point.” She tipped her head in a small bow of defeat, and let her camera fall to her side as she moved back to Aspen’s side. “I guess that, in this particular case,” she murmured as she pushed Aspen’s hands aside to cradle her breasts, “I can make an exception.”
Aspen sucked in a quiet hiss at the first brush of Eve’s thumbs against her nipples and grabbed her hips as she swayed lightly in place. “I really fucking love that for me,” she exhaled, her dark eyes shining, bottomless pools of desire as she looked at Eve through her lashes.
Eve huffed a laugh. “It’s not such a bad deal for me, either,” she purred as she captured Aspen’s nipples between her thumbs and the knuckle of her index fingers. She nuzzled Aspen’s lips as she began slowly increasing her pressure, and kissed away the gasp that tumbled from them when she gave the buds a sharp tweak. “You like that?”
“You know I do,” Aspen husked, angling her head to capture Eve’s lips in a deliciously messy kiss. She whined pitifully when Eve broke away, but then moaned when Eve began laying a string of wet, open-mouthed kisses down her throat. “So good…”
Eve lifted and squeezed Aspen’s breasts together as she kissed her way along the plane of her chest, and stole a glance up at Aspen as she opened her mouth to tease first one nipple, then the other, with the very tip of her tongue. Her stomach swooped and fluttered into dive as she watched Aspen’s lips fall open with a sigh, and she let her eyes drift shut as she pulled the nipple she’d been teasing between her lips and sucked against it.
Emboldened by the way Aspen’s fingers tangled in her hair to hold her to her breast, she sucked and nipped at the bud until it was a throbbing, straining point, before kissing her way over to Aspen’s other breast to lavish it with the same careful level of attention. She hummed as she pulled away, and pinched the buds she’d been teasing roughly as she captured Aspen’s lips in a deep, searing kiss that was all tongues and teeth and completely lacking in finesse.
It was fucking fantastic.
She pressed her hand to Aspen’s chest and sucked against her lower lip as she pulled away, stretching it to its limit before allowing it to fall with a wet pop that had Aspen swaying where she stood, and licked her lips as she gathered her camera.
“Grab your tits for me again,” she instructed as she zoomed in on Aspen’s nipples. When Aspen’s hands were as she wanted them, she said, “Hold still.”
Aspen choked out a strangled laugh. “I can barely stand right now, but sure.”
“I believe in you,” Eve teased lightly.
“Glad one of us does right now,” Aspen muttered.
Eve smiled and shushed her gently as she snapped a few more pictures of Aspen’s breasts. When she was satisfied with what she’d captured, she stepped away and sank slowly back to her knees. “Okay, gorgeous. Lose the jeans. Slowly, though. I want you to tease me with it.”