Naughty Knickers

FOUR

Bella

“Ok, so that asshole wants us to paint scales all over you and then put you in a pool of jellyfish. I’m starting to think he’s totally bent in the head-”

I turned, expecting Jane, but Edward was standing in my doorway looking more than a little worse for wear. For one, he was glaring at me, for obvious reasons. Secondly, his clothes were rumpled as though he’d slept in them again and his hair was forever that hot mess.  He was wearing a tie today, black and skinny, and the ever-present suspenders were patterned with tiny silver stars. He looked tired and kind of angry and he was staring at my legs.

“Uhm, sorry,” I muttered and turned back toward the mirror, avoiding his gaze by peeking at him through his reflection and mindlessly rearranging supplies around in front of me.  He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and stared silently at me. Eyes fluttering all over my backside. He had a one day shadow on his face and week old shadows under his eyes. The golden eye was twitching at the corner, his lips were chapped, and I was having trouble breathing.

“Let me photograph you.”

“What the fuck?” I choked, not expecting that at all.

“I’ve been watching you all week.” He breached the space between us, pinning me to the tabletop with his hips and grabbing me gently by the chin, tilting my head to catch the light. Appraising me like an artist. “I know you’ve got something beautiful underneath that chronic bitchface of yours. Let me find it.”

“I do not have chronic bitchface!” I yanked my face away, scowling at him because I totally did have chronic bitchface, and he only made it worse. My grandmother used to tell me that my face would get stuck if I left it one way too long, and he was gonna give me a permanent case of it if I wasn’t careful. “Get away from me.”

Edward lifted both hands into the air and stepped away, surrendering even though his eyes skittering down the front of my dress. “You do. But it’s fucking adorable. Do it again.”

“You are impossible,” I grumbled and pushed him aside, grabbing my coat and my purse and heading for the door. I was so done. This guy was way too much for me and I could not be trusted around him. I wouldn’t let him talk to me like this and I wouldn’t let myself wrap my legs around his waist to explore his mouth with my tongue.

See? No trust. I had to get out of here.

“Where are you going?” he growled, stepping in front of the door to block my exit.

“You did it ok? You ran me off. Get out of the way or I’m running you over.” I didn’t know how I planned to do that, exactly, as he was towering over me looking as solid as a brick wall. But I was small and determined and could probably get around him if I kicked him hard enough.

He didn’t move. Just licked his lips and huffed in my face. “You can’t leave.”

“Says who? You? Fuck you, Suspender Boy,” I snapped in his face, my cheeks burning red. “You’ve been an asshole from day one. I don’t know what your problem is, but I seem to rub you the wrong way and I’m over it.” I shoved against his chest, trying to create an escape.

“I know exactly why you rub me wrong,” he exhaled, fingers against my thigh as he dug beneath my skirt to hook two fingers in the strap of my garters. He tugged on them roughly, making me stumble toward him as though he was testing their strength. Or mine. “These fucking things have got to go,” he muttered.

“This can’t be about my clothes.”

“Oh, they’re just the start. Your personality is just about as infuriating as your attire.”

He pushed me into the room, only because I didn’t put up any resistance, then kicked the door closed behind him, stalking me until he had me pinned up against the desk. My head cracked against the mirror when he came at me, panting against my neck, pushing my dress up and groaning deeply.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” he muttered, glaring at the garters that caged my thighs. “Don’t ever wear shit like this to work again.”

“You can’t tell me what to wear,” I gasped. He was only looking at my legs, if he went any further I was pretty positive he would flip out.

“I should fire you,” he growled and tried to kiss me, coming at me with an open mouth and glistening lips.

I kicked him. Hard. Right in the middle of his chest and sudden enough to send him reeling backward. One of his heels caught the edge of the mat and he groaned when he hit the floor.

Edward

My ribs were crying out and my head was spinning wildly from a solid crack against the floor, but none of that mattered. What mattered was the girl, the one wearing a pink flowery dress over a pair of fuck-me-crosseyed black leather garters. The girl who was currently crawling on top of me. Up over my legs, brushing by my hips and my stomach, straddling my chest and pinning my shoulders to the floor with her knees. The dress draped between her thighs, obscuring my view, the thick straps of her black garters disappearing beneath the hem.

“So fire me,” she dared, unbuttoning a few more buttons of my shirt and rubbing her hot damp crotch against my chest. I held onto those garters spanning the length of her thigh and shoved my face as close to her as I could get, rubbing the silky cotton of her underwear up in between her lips with the tip of my nose. Her pink dress fell over my face and turned everything rose colored and fuck, she smelled so good. Powdery and sweet.

“You can be such a dick,” Bella moaned, shoving her hips against me, a brief moment close enough to press my tongue flat before she pulled away. The hem of the dress drifted over my eyes and she blinked down at me, a firm grip on my hair with both hands. “Why do you do that?”

A knock on the door startled us both.

“Bella? The door is locked.” Jane spoke from the other side, the handle rattling.

“I need a minute,” Bella called, clamping her hand down over my mouth to keep me quiet. “Can you run down to Carlisle’s office for me and ask him about the . . . uh . . . the jellyfish?”

“What about them?” Jane pestered and I thrust my face further into Bella, moaning against that pretty pink underwear, making her squirm. She yanked viciously on my hair, trying to keep me away from her, and struggled to get rid of Jane.

“Ask . . . Ask if - if they’re poisonous,” Bella gasped, voice wobbly and her thighs trembling, pulling my hair out by the roots.

“Yeah, ok, sure!” Jane chirped and the clicking of her heels faded down the hallway. I grabbed Bella by the hips and hauled her closer, trying to get between her legs but she fought me off, scrambling to her feet. Her cheeks were flushed, breathing heavy, and she scowled down at me while she adjusted her garters.

“You need to leave,” she panted.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. We have jobs to do. Go . . . do something.” She waved her hand absently toward the door. “Before Jane comes back.”

I pulled myself to my feet, adjusting my aching dick in my pants with a grimace and shot her an evil eye as I left. “We’re not finished here.”

I waited for her for five hours. Five. And every minute of it was torture. I spent most of it finishing up the set and checking on the jellyfish, the non-poisonous kind. When the girls finally appeared, Jane was in a long dark blue robe and Bella was still wearing that fucking delectable scent. I hated her and loved her for it, all at the same time.

“Let’s see.” I waved my hand at Jane and she obligingly dropped her robe. I couldn’t help that my eyebrows raised and my mouth fell open. It was downright amazing, what had been done to this woman’s body in the last five hours. Her skin was painted with a million detailed scales, green and blue with hints of purple at the tips, studded in jewels. Most of her torso had been left free of paint, a few spare patches of scales cupping her tits and growing up the side of her neck. There was no mermaid tail, but the girl had literally been turned into a fish. Bella had fluffed her hair out and strung it through with pearls.

Perfect.

For once. The girl had talent, I had to give her that.

Jane was efficient, yet again, and gave me exactly what I needed without a struggle. I was beginning to understand why she'd come so highly recommended. I'd worked with enough models before to know that Jane was a few and far between anomaly in this world. A girl willing to do just about anything it took to get a good shot in the least amount of frames possible, which made my job as easy as it could possibly be under the circumstances.

A good thing, because I didn't think about anything but the way Bella smelled between her legs, all damn day long.

By the time I got back to my little office, I was ready to throw her down on my desk and lick every inch of her, but she was gone. Her office was dark and empty, her garters and the belt to match flopped open in the middle of my desk. I picked it up, holding it out in front of me, a complicated web of straps that looked far more like something worn in a soft core bondage flick. What was she doing to me? Was this some secret message? Or a warning? I shoved the lingerie up underneath my nose and took as deep of a whiff as I could, the faint smell of that mouthwatering irritating girl still lingering in the fabric.

I groaned out loud and threw it across the room.

Next

AN: Hadley Hemingway is my shooting star.