Through The Lens (Creative Hearts Book 1)

by Jackson, K. M.

  “You’re right. It’ll be wonderful. This is the perfect location, and she’s the perfect model.” Mika forced a smile. “Now I’m just going to finish up my final shots while you do your planning. I can’t live off you forever,” she said softly.

  *

  Ale reeled back, for a moment stunned. He was used to her taking her own shots, but something in her tone wasn’t quite right. It didn’t settle with him. This wasn’t just about the kiss, and it didn’t feel like something they could get past. What did she mean by that comment? Not living off him forever.

  He watched as she started to shoot her surroundings, at first looking at the cove as a whole. Then her keen eyes zeroed in on things even he had missed. Small pockets of haunting beauty. A cluster of berries hidden in a bush, mushrooms at the base of a tree, a tiny tropical bird she lightly snuck up on before it could take flight. She was good. Mika had the eye and the talent to catch it all. And as she shot the majestic scenery, he shot photos of her, admiring her as he never had before. Her arms, so long and graceful but strong enough to patiently hold her heavy camera as she waited for the perfect light to come into play. Her slim fingers with their tapered nails, quick enough to strike at just the right moment. He could just imagine them raking across his—

  “Are you taking pictures of me?”

  “Um?”

  “Well, are you?” Mika asked accusingly.

  “It’s only fair. I saw you getting shots of me earlier. I see everything, Mika.”

  She sucked in a deep breath of air, causing her breasts to rise, and his own most intimate parts rose along with them. “I won’t have you making fun of me.”

  “I’m not making fun of you. You know I never would. Besides, what was all that with you photographing me?”

  She let out a huff. “You were in my shot. That was all.”

  Ale started to walk toward her. “Really? You can do better than that. What’s with the pictures?”

  She nervously nibbled at her bottom lip, then stopped and tilted her chin up at him. “Maybe I wanted to take your picture,” she challenged. “Put you on the other side of the camera for a change.”

  He looked at her long and hard—Mika biting her lips made him want to bend down and do the same. He had to get a grip. “That sounds fair. But if you’re putting me on the other side of the camera, then I’m doing the same to you.”

  Her eyes sparked for just a moment, and she looked away. He could practically see the wheels turning. Would she allow him to photograph her? Mika loved to hide in the background. She’d never agree. Unless...

  “So, game over. You concede. I guess you’re too scared to live up to your own challenge,” Ale teased.

  She instantly fired her gaze back to his. “Of course not. I only suggest we start with you.”

  Ale couldn’t help the smile that came from deep down. That was his Mika. Never one to back down from a challenge.

  *

  Taking pictures of Alejandro was easy, Mika thought, as she reeled off shot after shot. Besides, she’d been doing it in her mind for longer than she cared to remember. The hard part was getting him to follow any sort of direction.

  “You make an awful model,” she chided.

  “Give me a break. This is tough work. Do I really give this much direction?” He yelled down to her from where she had him posing on one knee on top of a large rock.

  “This is nothing. I’m going easy on you. You just remember this the next time you have some newbie in the studio, and she’s shaking in her boots. It’s not always easy to find your light, smile with your eyes, hold it in while freezing your ass off in a little scrap of next to nothing.”

  He seemed to wince. “Got it. Lesson taken.”

  She had put Ale into a multitude of uncomfortable positions for half an hour just to give him a bit of business, but now it was time to really get to work.

  “I want you to come down here and lay on the grass. The light is perfect.” She couldn’t stop the shakiness that came to her voice and hoped he didn’t catch it.

  “As you say.” Alejandro easily jumped down from the rock and went to lie on the grass where Mika pointed.

  She swallowed. He was like a Greek god come down before her, bronzed and statuesque. “Now close your eyes and try to look relaxed,” Mika said softly. She watched as his dark lashes swept closed, creating the perfect frame for his sharp cheekbones. She clicked the shutter, her heart clicking right along as the sun streamed through the trees, casting radiant beams of light along Alejandro’s muscular body.

  “Now put your arms above your head,” she croaked out.

  He slowly raised his arms and then opened his eyes, squinting up at her standing over him. “You know, if these photos ever get out, I don’t know what I’d do to you. But just know the punishment would be severe, that’s for sure.”

  Mika grinned down at him, cocking her head to the side, then clicking faster. “Do you promise?”

  Just then Ale grabbed her, pulling her down on him playfully. But there was nothing playful about the moment their bodies connected. “I swear you can drive a man mad. Enough of this, woman, it’s my turn.”

  Yes, please. Have your turn. Mika was ready. That jolt was practically too much. Her body went still against his, the words “just one night” were right there on her next breath.

  But he let her go. Pushing her off him, he rose, leaving a void behind as he put her camera down to the side and reached for his own.

  Mika sat up and looked at him while he leveled his focus on her. She ran a hand though her hair. “Okay, how do you want me?” she asked as lightly as she could, letting the moment go, happy to have not made a fool of herself.

  He studied her for a while as he seemed to contemplate her loaded question. “There are so many ways to answer that you just don’t know.”

  Mika’s eyes widened in surprise at his words, but his easy smile told her he was just being Ale.

  “Sorry, I had to say it. Too soon?” he asked.

  “Of course it is, but I said we were cool and we are. Don’t worry about it. You can’t help being you.”

  She thought she may have caught a slight frown from him, but he covered it quickly by starting to laugh. Well, this would not do. She wanted to be serious and smoldering, so he would see her differently. Not be the same “old Mika, old buddy, old pal.” She pushed her hair from her eyes, annoyed with herself. Ale started to shoot.

  “Wait. I wasn’t ready!”

  “What? You look fine.”

  Fine. Yeah, that’s just what she was going for. She gave him a cold stare, and he clicked again. “Ale, you’re not taking this seriously.”

  “Okay, okay, come over here by the water.” He led her to edge of the pool near an overgrowth of vegetation, but the liquid was still clear enough to see the rocks at the bottom. “I want you to look at your reflection and run your hand across the water.”

  Mika gave him an “Oh, please” look.

  “Don’t challenge me. I’m the photographer.”

  “Okay. I will do as I’m told. But if you’re going to be corny with it, then I am too.” Mika plucked a nearby pink flower and stuck it behind her ear. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face as she caught Alejandro’s look of approval. As he shot, she forced herself to get lost in the moment and just go with it. She focused on him and just smiled.

  “Now, I need you up and by the tree.” Ale’s voice had her blinking and coming back to the moment. She looked into his eyes. “And, yes, keep the flower. It’s lovely.”

  She blossomed under his praise, grinning back down at her own reflection like a schoolgirl as she ran her hands through the clear water.

  She got up, brushing herself off as Ale grabbed the bag and walked toward a nearby tree that was so large it looked like it had been there since the dawn of time. The trunk was wider than four men and the branches seemed to expand to heaven.

  “It’s glorious,” she breathed out, looking up in awe.


  “It is,” he said close to her ear, sending a thrill of sensation down to her core.

  “You’re wearing a swimsuit, right?”

  Mika looked around, suddenly self-conscious once again. “Um, yes.”

  “So take off your clothes.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  He gave her a stern look, suddenly the Ale of Madison Avenue. “Mika, when am I ever not serious about a shot? Now come on, I want to really see you.”

  She stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. The challenge was there in his eyes. And despite her raging, fearful heart, Mika answered his call by reaching for the hem of her top.

  Alejandro swallowed. She watched his throat muscles work. She would not back down. She could do this. Besides, it was just a picture. No need to be afraid.

  She pulled off her top quickly then made fast work of her shorts, leaving her in nothing but her black bikini and flip-flops. She did a quick check to make sure the flower remained in place, as if it would afford her the necessary cover she needed to hide her insecurities. She knew her whole body was heating up. Her face certainly was. What must he think of her? She was nothing like the models he was used to. Compared to them, everything was just, well, off. Hips too wide, belly too round. Thighs too...well, they were her thighs!

  She sucked in her stomach and leaned back against the tree trunk, closing her eyes. The slight pricks from the worn bark on her bare skin were a welcome distraction to her anxiety. She listened to the sound of her own slightly too loud breathing and hoped Ale couldn’t hear it. But all too quickly the noise was replaced by the click, click, click of Ale’s shutter advancing. Fast. So fast. Mika’s eyes shot open. And there he was. Moving around her with the grace of a panther.

  “My God, Mika.” He said her name like a prayer. Like she was a revelation to him. He wielded the camera as if it were an extension of his own body, as natural as breathing—and to him, maybe it was.

  She didn’t dare move. She just watched him, her eyes wide, her lips trembling.

  His long finger moved quickly. Click, click, click. She thought she could see his pulse jump beneath the muscle of his neck. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, practically to himself.

  “No, I’m not, but thank you,” she said softly.

  At the sound of her voice, Ale stopped shooting as if coming out of a trance. “Yes, you are. So very beautiful.”

  She watched, heart skittering, as he put the camera down at his feet and came toward her.

  This kiss wasn’t punishing and it wasn’t wet and it wasn’t to shut her up. And this time Mika welcomed the whimper that escaped her lips. She was alive and whole and in his arms. She melted into him. He placed his hands on either side of her face and lifted her mouth to his, taking her in more fully. He hunched his shoulders, angling his body over hers and she lifted up to meet him, brushing her breasts across his chest, her already sensitive nipples hardening even more with the heated contact of his hard body. She thought she heard a low groan from him, and a thrill of power surged through her. With that, he ran his tongue across her lips, coaxing them open—as if they needed much persuasion. She was finally here, in the midst of the dream. There was no way she was not enjoying every moment of it.

  Ale stood over her, tall and hot and so very powerful, surrounding her in every sense of the word. His tongue plunged in, challenging her to back away from its swift stroking. But she came back, raking him with her own firm strokes and pulling another groan of pleasure from the back of his throat that caused an intense rush of desire to flame through her body. Yes, to have that power for just one blissful moment…

  One of Ale’s hands moved down to cup Mika’s behind and the other went to work running a thumb around her tightly pebbled nipple. The feeling almost sent her over the edge, and her eyes fluttered open, confirming the fact that yes, this was Ale—and yes, it was all real. She let out a small gasp and his eyes opened, too, meeting hers. For a moment they stopped, both breathing hard, lips swollen, eyes glazed and full of questions.

  Mika stared. Wanting to say so much but not trusting herself to say anything and destroy the moment. Instead, she walked over with all the confidence she could muster on her unsteady legs to the equipment bag and pulled out a thin blanket.

  Ale just looked on in clear shock. “Are you sure?” His voice was a hoarse whisper. “I- I don’t want to mess this up. I don’t want to mess us up.”

  This time it was Mika who couldn’t help but grin at the ever-confident Alejandro’s uncertainty. “Of course I’m not sure. But don’t worry, this is just a fantasy. Consider it a dream for this magical place.” She spread the blanket on the ground under the tree.

  Then Mika walked over, pushed gently at his chest and eased him to the soft ground.

  She straddled Ale, coming down on his hard erection while kissing him fully and deeply. Moving down, she licked his corded neck then started a wicked trail down his chest until he stilled her.

  He gently pulled her back up to look her deep in the eyes. “But are you really sure?”

  Her eyes closed against his question, the unwanted chill of apprehension running through her body. Was she sure? Here he was, Alejandro. The man she had wanted for so long, finally here in her arms. This moment would change them and their relationship forever. She inwardly shuddered. But did it really matter? She would change the game once she told him about the job at Stylist. They would no longer be boss and employee. He wouldn’t have to feel guilty or bound to her in any way. And she wouldn’t have to be around to see the next woman come along. The chill threatened to become a full-blown storm. Mika locked her eyes with Ale’s.

  “I’m very sure.”

  His brows knit together as he looked at her way too closely. She then leaned back from him and let out a sigh, settling back to rest on his thighs. “Okay, let’s get this out in the open. I’m on the pill and I’m clean, having been fully tested since my last,” she rolled her eyes, “relationship.”

  Mika couldn’t help but note the tenseness that came to his body and the tightening of his jaw. Hell, at the mention of Eric, she got tense too, but it was nice to see that Ale was sweet enough to take notice, though she wasn’t going to get all mushy and put much stock in it. She quirked a brow at him and continued. “And I know you are, too, because I book all your doctor appointments and thanks to our, um, open and frank relationship and your lack of shame, I know all your results. You’re nothing if not careful. Controlled. So am I.”

  It was Ale’s turn to raise a brow but Mika kept talking, refusing to be intimidated by him. She was getting this out. “This is why we’ve lasted so long working together, if you ask me. Now, is that little background check good enough for you? Has the moment been suitably spoiled or would you like to go deeper into playing twenty questions as if we’re on some sort of jungle speed date type of thing?”

  Ale looked at Mika for one beat, then another. Suddenly, she was afraid she had ruined the moment. Crap on her and her big mouth. Then his gaze went deeper into her eyes, his own darkening and turning more seductive. His gaze moved to her lips, then further down to her breasts, then back up. “Spoiled? If anything, I’m impressed and even more aroused. You really are perfect in your efficiency.”

  “And as we both know,” she continued, “in the small bag’s inside compartment there’s a stash of condoms always kept there for locations shoots.”

  Ale’s nostrils flared. “Must you always be so in control?”

  She lowered her lashes. “No, I thought that was you.”

  His arm snaked out quickly pulling her back down to him in a forceful jerk and kissing her deeply. The thrill of it sending immediate waves of pleasure from his lips to hers that radiated in waves throughout her limbs. “Yes, but look at who’s on top,” he growled into her mouth before quickly flipping her over onto her back.

  His hands were strong and firm, but his lips were gentle and teasing, blazing a trail down her neck and between the valley of her breasts. He reached up
and untied the strings of her bikini from around her neck, setting her breasts free and easing his way as his tongue started to explore. He lazily sucked at one nipple while teasing the other with his nimble fingers. Then he switched, bringing the other into his mouth with long, drawn-out strokes.

  Mika gasped, running her hands through his dark hair, guiding his head back and forth from one breast to the other, enjoying the sweet torment from that clever tongue.

  Lord help her, but she was quickly growing to love that tongue of his, she thought, as he came back up and kissed her so deeply she felt like she was falling into a trance, becoming one with the trees and the earth. Her legs widened beneath him, and he lowered his lips once again. His tongue teased her skin with tantalizing strokes, moving from her ear to the side of her neck to her collarbone. The thrills it sent through her body made her writhe beneath him. And there was something else, like whimpering, that she’d never recalled doing before. Then his perfect fingers started to trail down.

  Almost instinctively, she started to close her legs, but she let out a slow breath as Ale grumbled in her ear, “No, baby, open for me.”

  With the rumble of his voice, her legs seemed to spread on their own as he moved her bikini bottom aside and dipped one long finger between her already wet folds. He swirled it around her hard peak, causing her to shudder with need. Then he shifted, positioning himself over her, and in a quick motion, her bikini bottom was off. She watched with rapt anticipation while he leaned back and took off his own shorts, and she licked her lips.

  Ale grinned.

  Damn him for noticing, but he was even more, well, everything than she had imagined. He came back down on her gently, but like the forest surrounding them, his lips and hands were everywhere. Mika already knew this would be too much, but there was no turning back now. This was Alejandro, and she would have him. She wrapped her hands around him and felt him shiver. He was so full and thick. Almost impossibly so. But she was ready for him and had been for quite some time. Years? She clamped down on her mind and threw that thought to the back of her brain. She must stay in the here and now. And in the here and now, Ale was about to give her all she’d ever wanted.