* * *
The moment Herman stepped through the curtain to the next room, Cherry climbed off the arm of the couch and onto Stephen’s lap, straddling him.
She clasped her hands behind his neck and leaned in for a kiss, but he held her back, his hands cupping her face.
“It’s okay. I have to take your makeup off anyway,” she said.
“It’s not the makeup I’m worried about. What’s up with you? This isn’t the Cherry I used to know.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, wiggling up closer to his crotch. “We’ve fucked before.”
“Not behind Nate’s back.” He looked into her eyes and saw a flicker. Pain.
“That was before,” she said, forcing a smile. “I need a little discomfort in my life. And it’s been so long since I fluffed anyone that I was actually attracted to. You’re sooo beautiful, Stephen,” she crooned and tried to kiss him again on the lips. He turned away, so she ended up with her lips at his neck.
“Cherry,” he said, pushing her away by the shoulders, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. I’m in a relationship.”
“With that little girl?” she snorted. “What is she, fourteen?”
“She’s eighteen, and that’s not the point.”
“Nate’ll take care of her. Let him fuck her little brains out. You know she wants him.” Her hands went to his belt buckle.
“Cherry,” he said, taking both of her hands and lifting them up. “I’m in love with that girl, and she’s in love with me. This is not going to happen.” He looked into her eyes and concentrated his energy there. The pain had returned, and she no longer tried to hide it.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I want a baby.”
That left him at a loss for words.
“We’ve been trying for so long,” she whined. “And I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I tried with you.”
“Have you both been tested? Are you sure it’s him?”
She nodded.
“I understand the desperation you must be feeling, but the answer is still no.”
Just then, the door opened. Herman came back through the curtain, followed by Nate and Jill.
“What’s going on?” Herman asked suspiciously.
“Nothing,” Stephen answered. Before he could elaborate, Jill apologized on Cherry’s behalf. “It’s okay, Jill,” he said. “Cherry just wanted to talk.” None of them looked like they were buying it.
Nate helped his wife up and they all moved to the next room to have Stephen’s makeup removed and Herman’s clothes decided on. Thinking about the lingerie they’d shopped for, Stephen’s anticipation made a direct line from his mind to his balls.
While Jill discussed with Nate what she wanted for Herman, and Cherry applied cream to his skin with cotton balls, Stephen and Herman looked at each other in the mirror. He hoped his expression was reassuring. He didn’t want her angry with him after the little they had recovered of their relationship in the past few days.
When Jill and Nate stepped into the next curtained-off section of the trailer, Cherry bent down to whisper into Stephen’s ear.
“Would you do me a favor?”
He looked at her in the mirror and waited.
“Would you think about making a donation at least? If you won’t have sex with me?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” he said.
She stood straight. “You won’t even think about it?” she asked in a voice Herman could hear.
“I can’t do it.”
She nodded and went on with her work in silence.
* * *
Herman watched the exchange between Stephen and Cherry and resolved to ask him about it later. She trusted that he was being honest, that nothing had happened between them. Whatever they were discussing, it seemed Stephen had put an end to it.
Nate and Jill came back into the room, and Jill told Stephen she didn’t want him seeing Herman until she was dressed and ready to go.
“I have to make sure everything is ready to go in the other trailer. As soon as Cherry’s finished with you, I’d like you to come over. Are you okay with Nate dressing Herman alone?”
“It’s not the first time,” Herman piped up. “Why …?”
“You weren’t getting ready for the boudoir last time,” Jill said. “Maybe you’d like to see what you’ll be wearing. Come with me.”
Herman followed her into the room where the costumes were hung.
“How about the things we brought with us?” she asked, seeing the corset laid out for her. It was black and red, and had a matching pair of panties, garter straps, and stockings. She would need help getting into it. Like the dress she’d worn earlier, it laced up at the back.
“The clothes you brought are lovely, but this goes with the theme of the set.”
“What if Cherry was to help me get into it?” Herman asked.
“That was the original plan, but I think Cherry is finished for the day. Nate is all I’ve got.” Jill sighed. “If you were a regular model, I wouldn’t even be asking if you were okay with it. It’s done all the time, and Nate is so used to it that he won’t even blink. But because you have no experience, and because of the seemingly delicate condition of your relationship with Stephen …”
Herman laughed to herself. “I was going to say you haven’t seen the way women hang all over him, but of course you have.”
“Guilty.” Jill put her hands up. “So, do I keep Stephen in the next room while Nate helps you with this in case you feel the need to be rescued, or are we good to go?”
“We’re good to go.”
“Good. I’ll go and ask your over-protective boyfriend again.”
They returned to the makeup room to find Nate in a chair beside Stephen, both looking relaxed. Cherry stood with her hand on the back of Stephen’s chair, but she was finished removing his makeup.
“Do you want him shaved?” Cherry asked Jill.
She ran a hand over Stephen’s cheek and shook her head. “You’re fine,” she said to him in the mirror. “Do you want to come to the other trailer now? Herman said she’s okay with Nate.”
Stephen eyed Herman with an eyebrow raised and she smiled at him. “I’ll see you soon.” She looked up at him as he stood, and a lump rose in her throat. Perhaps it was all the preparation, all the anticipation, or the fact that they would be making out under someone else’s direction, but she suddenly wished she could just forget about everything but him.
As if sensing her discomfort, he leaned down for a kiss. “I can’t wait,” he said. As he walked out the door, he said over his shoulder, “Take good care of her, Nate.”
“Don’t worry, man. We’ll be there before you know it.”
Stephen left with the two women and Nate regarded Herman. “Ready?”
She took a deep breath and let it out. “As I’ll ever be.”
Nate’s voice eased her while she undressed and throughout the process of getting her dressed again, which kept her mind from lingering on feelings of embarrassment. Strange; she should have been used to the nudity, but knowing what was coming made it all the more difficult.
It was a process, getting dressed. She started with the panties and stockings, then she took off her t-shirt and held the corset up to her front so Nate could lace it up at the back. He pointed out the hidden clasps up the front of the corset that would make it easy to get off. Then, he crouched in front of her to clip the garter straps to the bottom of the corset and the tops of the stockings at the front, then the back. The whalebone stays made it impossible for her to bend. While he did this, he told her what to expect.
He said that by the time she arrived in the other trailer, Stephen would know exactly what to do. Jill didn’t like to direct a boudoir shoot any more than necessary. Nate told Herman to follow Stephen’s lead and not speak unless spoken to.
When she was finished dressing, Nate had her stand and turn slowly for inspection. It fel
t surreal, as though she was about to be led to some sort of sensual slaughter: ritualistic and yet chaotic for all its mystery. Knowing Stephen was at the center of it was all that kept her moving forward.
“You’re perfect,” Nate said. He went quickly to the mirror to get some extra powder for her lips, then for the final touch, he helped her on with a full-length fur coat.
“I’ll go in ahead of you. Jill will begin taking your picture from the moment you walk in, so don’t say anything. Just concentrate on Stephen. And don’t be nervous.”
“Too late for that. I already am. I feel like I’m going onstage.”
“What do you do to calm your nerves when you perform?”
“Concentrate on Stephen,” she said with a smile.
Nate smiled back at her. “You’ll be fine.”
* * *
The camera’s shutter began its song as soon as she walked through the door. Herman found Stephen quickly, and he watched as she gathered her nerves with a deep breath the way she did every time she stepped onto a stage. He smiled at her, hoping to convey all the love he felt for her in the moment.
“Don’t do anything too fast,” Nate told her from behind the camera. She walked slowly over to Stephen, one foot crossing deliberately in front of the other, her long legs stretching out from beneath her coat. Her head was bowed as she battled her shyness. Into his outstretched arms she came, and he bent to kiss her lips. As their tongues met, Jill came closer with her hand-held camera. She retreated as Stephen stepped back and slowly opened Herman’s coat. As he lifted it from her shoulders and let it drop to the floor, his cock hardened. He turned her to face a full-length mirror with sheets of white cotton and sheer gauze draped around the sides. Standing behind her, he placed one hand on her belly, fingers splayed. He kissed her neck and the shutter went mad.
They continued to move through different poses that included Stephen licking her heel and Herman crouching on the floor in front of him with her legs spread and her arms together from the elbow to the wrist while he stood, his head thrown back in ecstasy. Though she was barely touching him, her closeness caused every nerve in his groin to send a message of need to his mind.
When it came time for them to get undressed, Jill, Nate, and Cherry sat and talked, giving them privacy and time to get themselves covered up. Herman left her stockings and stilettos on. Stephen helped her with the garter straps.
Once they were unclothed, Nate came over to give Stephen a towel to wrap around his waist. They stood back while Jill arranged the gauze sheets over Herman and had her pose for a few solo shots before Stephen lay down with her. The curve of her hips beneath his lips; the sweet scent of her skin and the taste of it on his tongue; the sight of her, eyes closed, back arched, covered only by the translucent gauze as she gave in to the sensation of being photographed at her most vulnerable, trusting he would watch out for her; all of it made him long to make love to her. The single most risqué pose was that of Stephen’s mouth hovering over her nipple, tongue just touching, his breath causing her to moan. By the time Jill finally told them there was only one shot left—the one to capture the moment they joined, Stephen was ready to explode.
Rather than ask Stephen to worry about the mechanics of having sex, Jill asked Nate to help. He walked over holding a tube of lubricant as though he was attempting to sell it, making Herman giggle nervously.
“Make it fast,” Stephen said to him.
“Herman first,” Nate said. He moved to the other end of the couch.
Herman winced slightly.
“Are you okay?” Stephen asked her.
“Yeah, it’s just a bit weird,” she whispered. He silently agreed.
Stephen discovered why she’d winced a second later. “You could have warmed it up a bit,” he said to Nate as the other man grasped his cock with a handful of cold lubricant.
Herman laughed with pure delight, the blush that tinted her cheeks making her more beautiful than ever.
As Nate stepped away, having left the tip of Stephen’s cock at Herman’s entrance, Jill said, “Okay, you two. Focus now.”
Stephen nodded and looked back down at Herman, staring up at him in bewilderment.
“Are you ready?” he asked her.
“Kiss me first,” she said.
When he lifted his lips from hers, Jill gave her final direction. “Don’t say anything, don’t kiss again, and when you enter her go all the way. Slowly, but not too slow.”
From the moment he began to the very last, the camera clicked away. Focused on them from the shoulders, up, Jill captured every angle of their necks arching and every tiny change in their expressions.
And then the lights went off and the door to the trailer closed, leaving them alone at last.
* * *
The moment Herman and Stephen stepped into the other trailer, the applause began. Herman, wearing only the fur coat, blushed deeply. Stephen held up her hand and bowed, encouraging her to curtsy.
“The shoot went beautifully,” Jill said. “I’m positive you’ll be happy with the results. I’ll contact Margaret with the promotional shots and she can let me know where to send you the portraits and boudoirs directly.”
“That’s great. Thanks very much, Jill, for coming all this way,” Stephen said.
He led Herman into the next curtained-off room and they got changed quickly, both of them eager to get back to the hotel, to make love again. And again, and again, if Herman had her way.
They said goodbye with the promise to try to get together the next time they were all in Kingston, where Jill was based.
On the way back to the hotel in the car, Herman asked him what happened with Cherry.
“She wanted me to get her pregnant,” Stephen told her.
“And at the makeup table you were telling her you couldn’t have sex with her?”
“No, I was telling her I wouldn’t donate my sperm. I told her no to sex while you were off getting Nate and Jill.”
“There really is no end to what people will ask of you, is there?” Herman said, reaching for his hand.
Stephen just shook his head.
CHAPTER 24
The snow was falling in cotton-ball-like flakes when the train pulled into the Via Rail station in Sudbury, their first stop in Ontario. Margaret had called Stephen five minutes before they arrived to let them know she was inside, waiting for them. They hadn’t seen her for more than an hour since the evening with Charlie in Calgary, ten weeks ago, and hadn’t expected to see her again until their final show in Toronto.
Herman’s chest tensed when she saw the other woman with her arms crossed, looking every bit as beautiful as ever. Stephen set their luggage on the floor to embrace his best friend, and Herman looked away, a twinge of jealousy rising in her gorge. When Stephen stepped away, Margaret held her arms out to Herman. She hugged her reluctantly.
“Hi, sweetie,” Margaret said in her ear. Herman recalled the friendship they had shared that was free of resentment, carefree and full of laughter, and she relaxed a little.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Stephen asked.
“George,” Margaret answered with a tired sigh as they strolled toward the door and out to her rental car. “He’s here. I wouldn’t have known if his agent hadn’t tipped me off. He owed me one for taking care of an overbooking in Cleveland. Long story. Anyway, your father is stalking you now that you’re back in Ontario,” she said to Herman.
“Nina is still in Antigua?” Herman asked neither of them in particular. The snow scuttered across the tarmac as the wind picked up, bringing it down in hard crystals.
“Yeah,” Margaret answered. “And on that front, I have some news for you from Charlie.” She opened the trunk of the car and turned to Stephen. “Apparently, she’s been having contractions, so she’s been sent to bed for the rest of the pregnancy. She’ll have to give birth in Antigua. It won’t be safe for her to fly.”
“My dad has nothing to worry
about then,” Herman said.
“Right, unless she gives birth prematurely, in which case she can come home with or without the baby.”
Stephen reached for his cell phone.
“Doesn’t my dad have dates of his own?” Herman asked Margaret as Stephen stepped away.
Margaret shook her head. “The madman has canceled everything until the second week in January. Paul is pissed; it’s not like he could make do with another assistant. Mona Lisa is all he’s got.”
Stephen glanced up at Margaret just as his expression changed to a smile. “Hi, Mom,” he said.
Herman stood aside while Margaret lifted the bags into the trunk and Stephen talked. Her mind was away, remembering her discussion with Stephen that morning on the train. They had agreed to announce the pregnancy the next time they saw Margaret. The growth of Herman’s belly would soon be obvious. When the other symptoms began, there would be no hiding it. She held her coat tightly around her. Margaret saw her shiver and opened the back door of the car for her. Stephen said goodbye to his mother as he ducked into the front seat, and Margaret got behind the wheel and started the car.
On the way to the hotel, he said his parents had assured him they would keep a close eye on Nina. They’d already hidden her passport, just in case she decided to go home to Kingston. On a happier note, the baby was doing well and was very active. She was growing fast, and there was a possibility that Nina would give birth early, even bedridden.
“You could try telling George he took all that time off for nothing, but I doubt he’ll listen to you,” Margaret said to Stephen.
“I’m worried that he’ll follow us all the way home,” he said.
Herman sat forward in the back seat. “Does that mean you definitely don’t want him coming at Christmas? Because it’s the only way I’m going to see my brother.”
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