Lane

by Shaw Montgomery

  “If you drive me crazy I will.” Having ammunition against Eli was always a good thing.

  Wilder couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to laugh or try to maintain the blank face he was doing his best to present. I could see the way his eyes sparkled, though, and I knew he found the whole thing hilarious.

  Deciding to ignore the crazy in front of us, because pointing it out any more wouldn’t make him un-see those two nearly going at it, I turned to Wilder. “You’ve met Eli, but you haven’t met Roman.”

  Roman must have decided that being professional was more important than getting interrupted, because he set his camera down on the nearby table and walked over. The two men exchanged handshakes, both trying to ignore any awkwardness.

  Wilder was always sweet and did his best to put people at ease, but I was still proud of his reaction. Or really, his lack of reaction. He just smiled at Roman like there was nothing unusual. “Good to meet you.”

  Roman nodded. “And you. Eli’s been very…excited to introduce us.”

  Roman was quiet for a moment and it was impossible to miss the way his brain started whirling as he looked at Wilder. “I can see why he thought you would be perfect to photograph.”

  Eli bounded up from the platform, grinning. “I told you so. You should never doubt me when it comes to hot photogenic men.”

  Wilder coughed, trying not to laugh, but I just rolled my eyes again as my face started to heat. “Eli.”

  Not chastised at all, the nearly naked drama queen bounced excitedly across the room. “What? Are we pretending he’s not hot? If so, I should have been told.”

  Lord.

  Wilder finally lost his ability to maintain a straight face. His laughter echoed around the room, clearly delighted with Eli. Instead of responding to Eli’s not-so-subtle flirting, Wilder wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me tight against him. “You can look, but hands to yourself. I happen to be very much taken.”

  Roman gave a low, frustrated sound and reached out to pinch Eli’s nipple. “Don’t make me spank you. If I have to change the whole shoot around to cover up your red ass, you’re going back in the cage.”

  Eli’s eyes danced with laughter and heat as he curled himself around Roman. “I can’t make you do anything. I don’t know why I’d be punished if you gave into the urge to spank me. Because we both know it’s what you want to do anyway.”

  Sometimes I thought they were easier to handle when they’d been screaming at one another.

  Before Roman could respond and ratchet up the heat level again, I cleared my throat. “Work. Remember?”

  They both looked over and gave me matching frustrated looks. Wilder started coughing again, which was hard to ignore. “What? Preston said he was going to stop by later. Remember? Do you guys really want him to walk in on you again?”

  Eli sighed dramatically. “God, no. He needs to get laid. He’s been insane lately.”

  I glanced at Wilder’s face to see a curious expression, and I mouthed that I would tell him later. I hated to sound like Eli, because that was just traumatic, but I was starting to think Preston needed a push in the right direction. It was obvious to me who he was distracted by, but then, I was in the unique position of being able to see both sides.

  Roman chuckled. “That’s your answer to everything. It might not work for Preston.”

  Eli shook his head. “Oh no, that will fix just about anything.”

  Again, I hated to agree with Eli, but he might be right. But just in this one case.

  Not wanting to overshare about Preston, I turned the topic back to work. “Have you guys got everything worked out with the clothes?”

  Eli had to have been excited about the new pieces, because his mind quickly changed gears. “Yes, the rest of the stuff we were waiting for came in, and they look great. Come here. Let me show you.”

  Eli grabbed my hand and started tugging me toward the racks of lingerie. I gave Wilder a questioning look but he just smiled and nodded. “I know you were supposed to be working. I’m just going to watch. Ignore me if that’s easier.”

  “I’ll never be able to ignore you.” It came out sappier than I’d intended, but I could see emotion welling up in Wilder.

  Eli snorted. “Come on, lovebird. Let’s get you dressed up for your man.”

  Wilder chuckled as Eli pulled me away. It was clear he liked the idea of seeing me dressed up. Nothing seemed to faze him.

  Not catching Eli and Roman nearly going at it.

  Not having a conversation when Eli was nearly naked.

  Not the idea that shortly I was going to be nearly naked.

  And I was going to have to give Wilder a fabulous reward later for being able to make consistent eye contact with Eli instead of looking at his erection. That was an amazing skill. I wouldn’t have been upset if he’d gotten distracted, though. Hell, I found Eli distracting most days.

  And I’d worked with him for years.

  Roman and Wilder stood there talking quietly as Eli and I started browsing through the racks. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the conversation seemed to be going well. Wilder was nodding and smiling, occasionally glancing around the room. Were they talking about photography? Maybe something about the art of it?

  “It’s a good thing we got you here early. Otherwise, you’d be too distracted to function.” Eli chuckled, clearly finding himself hilarious.

  “Just a little bit. It’s not that bad.” It was that bad.

  It was also a good thing I had time to get used to it before everyone else showed up. I was always professional at work and did my best to do a good job. The idea of everyone watching me obsessively fawning over my boyfriend was embarrassing.

  Eli shrugged. “I think it’s pretty normal. I’d worry if you weren’t nervous about him seeing you work for the first time.”

  He had my attention. “Why?”

  “Because being nervous means that he’s important to you.” He said it very matter-of-factly like I was stupid for not realizing.

  There was also something else in his expression that made it clear I wasn’t connecting all the dots. Finally, he sighed. “He’s nervous about the whole thing too. So that means you’re important to him.”

  “He is? I am?” I sounded like an idiot. “I mean, you think he’s nervous? I know I’m important to him.”

  I was just starting to get an idea of how important I was to him.

  Eli nodded like it should have been obvious. “Oh yeah, the other day when he invited himself, he was fiddling with your hair and touching you and was shifting from one foot to the other like a kid who needed to pee.”

  “Eli.” That was a terrible description.

  Wilder was just always careful about pushing me too far. “He just doesn’t want to go too fast.”

  Eli rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

  Then he started focusing on the clothes again and his eyes lit up. “Roman thought we should do this toward the end of the shoot, but I think it would be perfect now.” Eli pulled out two matching nightgowns. They were sheer with delicate spaghetti straps and had lace around the bottom that made them look feminine and sexy, not just erotic and nearly see-through.

  “What did he have in mind?”

  Eli’s entire body gave a little wiggle, he was so excited. “Think of it like naughty and nice. We’ll dress you up in one looking all sweet and innocent, and me in the other looking wicked and slutty. It’ll be fun.”

  I wasn’t sure if fun was the word I would have used, but it would be striking. And with my nerves still running high, I’d probably come across looking innocent and slightly overwhelmed. Compared to Eli, it would be a stunning photo. “Okay. That’ll look good.”

  Taking a deep breath, I took one of the nightgowns from Eli and started to head over toward the dressing area. “Just give me a few minutes. I need to finish getting ready.”

  We didn’t exactly wear a lot of makeup in the shoots, because Preston wanted a really natural look, but with the s
trong lights, unless someone was cover-model hot, makeup helped.

  “All right, don’t forget, sweet and sexy.” Eli bounced across the room to drag Roman into his scheme. I just ignored everything and focused on the task in front of me, wishing that I’d prepared Wilder a little bit more.

  He’d seen me in similar things and had loved them. I just had to keep reminding myself that.

  It was going to be fine.

  Chapter 17

  Wilder

  Lane was nervous and still unsure how I would respond, but he was beautiful. The last of my worries had evaporated as I stood there talking to Roman, and now there was just anticipation and curiosity flooding through me.

  I wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing to get ready, but the makeup didn’t surprise me; models wore it all the time. He kept glancing back at me in the mirror, and I couldn’t help but smile. My worrier. I really needed to bring him to work so he could see the kind of people that I met on a daily basis. I had a feeling that would ease some of his fears. The lingerie aside, Lane would never be the most unique person I’d met.

  The most special, yes.

  The most beautiful, yes.

  The most loving, yes.

  Eli had come dashing over, waving some kind of nightgown around and saying they needed to do those photos first. He rambled on excitedly, saying something about Lane’s nerves making it perfect, but I didn’t understand.

  Roman just nodded and immediately agreed with him, sending Eli back to finish getting ready. Turning to me, Roman finally started to explain. “They’re both going to be wearing the same outfit but we’ll make some minor modifications to make Eli’s more risqué and Lane’s a little bit sweeter so customers on the website can see how it looks in a variety of ways.”

  “Ah, I see.” Just the differences in their personalities would make the clothes seem unique. I’d seen enough of the photos online that I could imagine how they would look. It made my fingers itch and I wished I had my notepad and pencils with me.

  Next time.

  As Eli dragged Lane around the room, Roman started talking about the schedule and just the process in general. He seemed to understand that it was all very new to me and didn’t mind walking me through it. I had a feeling that Eli had given him a firm talking-to about being polite and not scaring me off, because Roman was clearly making an effort.

  The guys were almost done getting ready by the time he brought up the photo shoot Eli kept mentioning. “I know Eli’s been driving Lane crazy about the BDSM shoot I want to do with him, but I have to say, the two of you would look incredible in it.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond. Giving him an honest answer felt like it would be oversharing, but glancing between Eli and Lane, I had a feeling there weren’t too many secrets between them—and the chances of Eli keeping something from Roman was almost impossible. “I think the photos would be good, you’re right. But Lane needs more confidence that I’m not going to be scared off with all of this first.” I waved a hand, gesturing around the room. “I’m not going to do anything to push things too fast.”

  Roman didn’t seem pleased, but he looked like he understood. “I can’t guarantee Eli will be patient.”

  “That would be like trying to hold back the ocean.” Roman barked out a laugh, agreeing with me. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying never. I think they would turn out beautifully.”

  They were so clear in my head it was almost distracting. Part of me wanted to see if I could do them from just the image in my mind, but I knew the chances of getting myself right were almost nil. The way I saw myself would never be the way someone else did…and that’s what I would need.

  The picture would be how we perceived one another.

  My mental wandering and short conversation with Roman had given the guys time to finish getting ready. Even from across the room, I could see that whatever Lane had done with his eyes had given a wide, innocent look to them. Eli evidently agreed they were perfect because he was grinning and bouncing around like a kid in a candy store.

  It took me a moment to drag my gaze away from Lane to focus on Eli. Where Lane was wearing some kind of panties under the sheer nightgown that kept his cock tucked up and to the side, Eli was almost naked under his. There was the tiniest pair of panties that covered basically nothing and were a deep red color that stood out under the thin white material.

  The contrast was stark, but it was perfect.

  “Roman.” Eli called from the platform, striking a sexy pose. “You’re making me wait.”

  “Be patient.” Roman rolled his eyes, not especially concerned with giving Eli what he wanted.

  Eli huffed, but instead of trying to hurry Roman, he focused his attention on Lane. We watched as Eli made little last-minute tweaks to how the fabric draped across Lane’s body, even reaching under the nightie to adjust his panties.

  It was…interesting.

  Sexy but not exactly sexual; I wasn’t sure how to categorize it in my head. Eli was a natural flirt who seemed to need to drive everyone around him crazy for some reason, so the nakedness and brazen behavior was par for the course with him. It was what made ignoring his behavior so easy. But watching him touch Lane was different.

  “It’ll take some getting used to.” Roman’s low words pushed through to catch my attention.

  “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Eli describes the company as one big incestuous family. Most of them never do anything with each other, but they don’t have the same boundaries that other friends or coworkers do. Some, like Lane, are more cautious and reserved, but Eli has a tendency to keep poking at any preconceived boundaries until they’re gone.” Roman’s gaze volleyed between the two beautiful men and my—hopefully—calm expression.

  “Lane told me how much everyone means to him and how this isn’t just a job for him. I’m starting to see what he meant.” I couldn’t see myself in that position, but I wasn’t completely oblivious about how he felt.

  I’d never worked anywhere like Leashes and Lace. In my life, a job had always been very separate from family. For Lane and Eli, and I had to assume the rest of the people working there, work and family were all tied together so closely it was impossible to see where one ended and the other began.

  Shapes and images began to form in my head. I could see how they were tied together like a drawing with no ending and no beginning. “Do you have any paper?”

  I had to get it down while it was swirling around. “You’re just going to be shooting for a while, right?”

  Roman laughed and gave me a knowing look. “Yeah, the rest of the guys will start arriving in a few minutes, but if you can ignore the chaos, they’ll leave you alone.”

  That wasn’t what I’d pictured when I’d thought about visiting Lane at work, but I knew he’d understand. “I just need a few minutes to get something down on paper.”

  “Sure. Just a second.” Roman wandered over to a desk I hadn’t noticed in the corner and started pulling out paper and pencils.

  Lane’s laughter at something Eli said pulled my attention back to him. Happiness radiated from him as the fabric swirled around him with each subtle movement. When I finally noticed Roman standing beside me again, he was just shaking his head. “I’m starting to understand why we drive everyone nuts.”

  “Huh?” Not eloquent, but in my defense, my brain was otherwise occupied.

  “Never mind.” Roman handed me an oversized clipboard and a stack of papers and pencils that were almost what I had at home. He must have seen my confusion because he shrugged. “The marketing guys use it sometimes when they need more space, and they’re really artistic in that draw-it-out kind of way.”

  “Thanks.” As I took the supplies from Roman, he pointed to an overstuffed armchair in the corner.

  “That’s probably the most comfortable spot, and you’ll have a good view.” With a nod, he started over to Eli and Lane, barking orders that didn’t make much sense but seemed to have something to do with
the lighting because Eli immediately started arguing with him about them.

  Lane was my focus, and everything else would just fall away into the background.

  As I walked over to the chair, the directions started making more sense. Roman had them moving around as he adjusted the lighting and camera. By the time I was settled, he had the platform draped in fabric and Lane kneeling on it almost innocently with Eli standing by him seductively.

  Mumbling to myself, I frantically started trying to catch Lane before he moved. It would have to start out rough, but I knew I could fill in the details over time. I just needed to get the feeling down before I lost it.

  Sometimes, I planned out drawings, and sometimes, they seemed to just take shape without me. Lane’s shy but erotically draped form was in the center of the drawing, but I knew he needed something to anchor him. Glancing between the page and back up at Lane as he worked, I knew what it would be.

  ****

  Time faded away as the picture slowly took shape. Eventually, the bark of Roman’s orders were muted by the sounds of the other models and the rest of their work family that didn’t seem to have a purpose other than support and excitement.

  Part of me felt guilty for not introducing myself, but they came and went, watching the piece as it formed and then going back to the work that they were supposed to be doing. Roman was a taxing master and reminded me of an angry conductor who pushed his musicians to be their best.

  As each new layer of their family emerged, it took shape on the paper as well. Time seemed to go too fast. Before it was anywhere near complete, they were starting to put the clothes away and dress and I could hear them making plans for later.

  Watching them work had been eye-opening. Some could turn the flirting on and off at the will of the lens but others only projected exactly who they were. Shy. Outgoing flirts. The boy next door who just wanted to be accepted in his panties and bra. They were what family was meant to be but never actually was. A mix of everything, that when combined, was perfection.

  Lane started out nervous and unsure of how I would feel about this part of his life, but the man who curled up in my lap as the room started to empty was anything but unsure. Lane smiled as I set the clipboard down and wrapped my arms around him.