Page 60 of His Mansion

She took it gingerly. “You’re going to blindfold me?”

Derrick glanced at Nathan. “It shouldn’t matter for these shots if there’s extra fabric in the way, right? They’re just samples for Mel to check out?”

It was brilliant. “I can work around that.”

Mel handed the scarf back to Derrick. “You better stick close, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Like glue, girl, like glue.”

Derrick wrapped the bright blue fabric around her eyes twice before tying it off, the short tails falling down the back of Mel’s head to land on her bare shoulders.

Now that he wasn’t worried about her catching him staring, Nathan allowed himself to finally look his fill. The skimpy line of fabric covering her breasts was no barrier to his appreciation of the firm swells. Her muscular arms and trim waist made him long to be able to smooth his hands over her body and enjoy her more intimately.

A soft cough brought him back to the sudden realization Derrick was probably at that moment planning his demise for openly lusting after Melanie. Only the expression on Derrick’s face was unreadable—his own interest in the woman standing at his side crystal clear in the ridge bulging the front of his pants.

Derrick was just as turned on as Nathan, and Nathan hadn’t a clue what to do.

So he did the only thing he could think of. Picked up his camera and directed Melanie and Derrick into the positions he wanted. He started slowly. After getting Derrick to place Melanie back in the corner, leaning on the wall, Nathan took the simple shots first.

“That’s right. Relax your neck, let your shoulders fall. I’m taking a picture from the neck up, arranging the shot frame with the top edge of your sports bra.”

“I still don’t understand how you think this will produce anything someone will buy for a coffee table. I’m rather ordinary to look at, Nathan, really I am.”

“Bull.” Derrick beat Nathan to the punch this time. “Don’t put yourself down or I’ll make sure you know exactly how attractive you are.”

Nathan’s fingers skittered on the shutter button as he compelled himself to hold the camera steady. Derrick had placed a single finger on Melanie’s throat, hovering over where her heart beat visibly. He dragged his hand downward, stroking softly. Nathan kept clicking, catching her shiver, the resulting line of goose bumps that rose over her arm.

“You don’t have to fit some textbook-model stats to be gorgeous, Melanie. You’ve got grit. You’ve got the most incredible smile. But your body? Hell of a package.” Derrick leaned in and dropped a kiss over her heart and Melanie instinctively arched her back, breasts reaching forward.

Nathan was going to fucking die. He had barely enough brainpower to somehow keep snapping shots.

Melanie cleared her throat. “Derrick—Nate’s watching.”

The words whispered out, chased by her tongue as she licked her lips. The blindfold remained in place. Nathan kept silent, waiting to see what Derrick’s response would be.

“Of course he is, but he doesn’t matter, babe. I’m the one who’s telling you how beautiful you are. Don’t you believe me?”

“I do, but…he’s watching.”

“Doesn’t matter. Pretend he’s not. Pretend there’s no one here but us.”

Derrick stretched his arm across her body and took her lips like a starving man. Melanie snuck one hand up, fingers tangled in Derrick’s hair. Her other hand splayed against the wall as she got caught up in the kiss.

Maybe he was a bastard, but Nathan never stopped taking shots. He dipped to his knees, twisting to achieve the camera angles he needed. While Derrick and Melanie’s lips meshed, their panting breathes echoing off the two-story ceiling, Nathan focused less on big-picture shots and more on revealing a mosaic of flesh and need. The arch of Melanie’s shoulder, the smooth curve of the upper swell of her breast. Derrick’s hand hit the wall next to her torso, the line of his biceps perfectly covering the swatch of fabric over her breasts. The muscular arm appeared as the only thing keeping her upper torso from full exposure to the camera’s lens.

Gorgeous.

In his peripheral vision, Nathan spotted a beam of light inching closer as it fell through the skylight to hit the mat at their feet. Inspiration hit, and Nathan didn’t hesitate.

“Derrick, help Melanie to the floor. Place her in the sun.”

The other man dragged himself away, blinking hard as he fought his way back from the lust-filled creature Nathan had been capturing. Derrick nodded agreement, slipping his hands up Melanie’s torso until he could lift her, taking her to the off-kilter square of brightness marking the center of the gym.

“Nate?”

God, the lost-little-girl sound trembling on her voice was going to kill him. “Don’t worry, monkey, nothing scary is happening. It’s as if you’re back in drama class and you have to pretend to be a tiny little seed. I want you to curl up into as tight a ball as you can.”

She nodded slowly, her fingers still linked with Derrick’s as he stood to her side. “Do you…” She cleared her throat. “Do you want me to take off my top?”

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