Smile for the Camera

It was pouring down rain, big wet fat drops that you couldn't avoid no matter how big your umbrella was. The cab pulled to a stop in front of the brownstone and the back passenger door opened and she stepped out onto the street. She landed in a big puddle, soaking her feet immediately. She reached in and grabbed her overnight case, which she brought changes of clothes for her sitting with the photographer. She paid the driver and closed the door. He sped away and a truck followed him and splashed her all over by hitting the puddle she'd just soaked her feet in. She squealed in shock and then groaned in rage as she realized she was completely soaked from head to toe, cold, and in no way looking forward to this photo shoot which her friend had gotten for her as a birthday gift.

Her friends said she never did anything daring or outrageous. She didn't live adventurously, they claimed. She needed to do something out of the ordinary to make a jump start in her life. She listened to her friends for years, and for most part laughed and knew she was considered staid or uptight. But she was happy, wasn't she? She didn't have a divorce under her belt, she didn't have kids that could drive her to insanity, did she? And she didn't have someone driving her crazy at home, asking where she'd been, what was she doing, and certainly didn't have to coddle anyone at home other than her dogs.

Her life was pretty good; she thought as she trudged up the steps of the brownstone and rang the bell to the photographer's studio. But in the back of her mind she wondered if that was really what she wanted. To be alone, not have to hassle with being in a relationship, to have to work at being with someone. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, she wished for someone to lie with, to snuggle up to and whisper naughty things and enjoy what came from it. To be made love to and make love to someone, to be held and stroked by someone who cared about you. It wasn't wrong to want those things just a little, was it?

The door buzzed her out of her reverie and she pushed open the door and followed the hall down to the address listed on the card her friend had given her. She shook herself off, attempting to dry herself and she realized she must look like a drowned rat. Her hair hung in her face, water soaked her shoes, stockings, all her clothes. She knocked on the door and heard a voice tell her to come in. She opened the door and walked inside a small hallway. She dropped her bag down on the floor and removed her raincoat.

"Hello?"

"Come on in. I'm just setting up." She heard a male voice say. Crap, her friend hadn't told her the photographer was male. She really wasn't going to be comfortable with this. She looked around and was about to bolt out the door when suddenly someone was standing in the hall with her.

"Let me take that for you." He said as he pulled her raincoat from her and hung it on a tree at the end of the hall. He turned and faced her and held out his hand. "Hi. I'm David. You must be Heidi?"

She swallowed hard and placed her hand in his and felt its warmth as it closed around hers. He was dressed in blue jeans and a long sleeve shirt that he had rolled up to his forearms. He had a nice smile, which put her a little more at ease, and she smiled back nervously.

"Hi, yes I'm Heidi. I'm really sorry about the mess..." she gestured to the water on the floor that she had brought in with her.

"Don't worry about it. I didn't realize it was starting to rain." He pulled her out of the hall and into the apartment. He had a camera set up against a huge backdrop to the left, which shared space with a huge bed. In the middle of the apartment was his living area, with television, sofa, etc. To the far right was a very open kitchen, with an island in the center of it. The windows were floor to ceiling by the bed and by the kitchen, showing that it was beginning to rain even harder than before.

"This is huge." She said in wonder as she looked around.

"I like open space." He answered and showed her to the area where his camera was set up. "Go ahead and sit down." He gestured towards a stool that was sitting in front a camera on a tripod in front of the drop cloth.

"Oh, I need a minute." She laughed. "The rain ruined my hair..." she raised her hands hopelessly and sighed. She looked down and realized her hose were ripped and ruined, her skirt was hopelessly wrinkled and her blouse was so wet it needed to be in a dryer. She groaned to herself and looked up at him through her lashes. "Maybe this was a bad idea." She whispered. "I'm just not..." she sighed. "I'm not very comfortable with this." She lifted her arms up and crossed them across her chest.

He came up to her and stood in front of her. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her hair and with his other hand he tucked it under her chin to make her look at him.

"Look at me please." He whispered.

She lifted her face up and looked him into his eyes. He smiled at her as he ran his fingers over her face, pushing her hair away from her face, and finally cupped her face in his hands.

"You're a very lovely woman and I would love to take your picture. But only if you want me to." He put his hands on her upper arms and guided her to the stool. "Sit down."

She sat down as he pulled her arms from her chest and placed them in her lap. He smiled again at her and then went over to the camera.

"I'm just testing out the lighting against your height and coloring. No picture yet. Ok?" he smiled at her over the camera.

She laughed, and agreed as he began coming forward with some contraption, he said to measure light, and then back again to the camera. He adjusted lights and adjusted a flash on the camera. He asked her questions as he did so, where was she from, what did she do for a living, etc. She found him very easy to talk to and very easy to watch. She also found him very attractive. He wasn't drop dead handsome, but he had this adorable quality about him that she found very attractive in men. She found herself blushing as she watched him bend over in front of her so she could admire his backside. She realized she was caught daydreaming when he said her name as if he'd said it already.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

"I asked why you were here if you are so nervous." He smiled as he looked at her, making her think he knew exactly what she'd been doing.

"Oh, a friend of mine gave this to me as a birthday gift." She looked down as she said, attempting hopelessly to adjust her skirt. "I'm supposed to meet her for dinner after this and tell her how it was." She laughed.

"Happy birthday." He startled her by whispering in her ear, as she didn't realize he was standing beside her.

"Oh," she gasped, "It's uhm not my birthday anymore..." she trailed off when he stood in front of her. He reached for her hands and pulled her off the stool. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Every women deserves a birthday kiss." He whispered.

She didn't know how long they stood there, her hands in his, looking at each other. He finally broke the moment and took a step backward and pointed to a dressing screen.

"If you'd like to change into what you brought, you can step behind there and change. I brought your bag over and it's behind the screen." He turned and went to adjust something. "I promise not to peek." He said over his shoulder.

She turned sharply when he said that and found him grinning at her. She opened her mouth to say something then shut it and walked behind the screen. She was still stunned he'd kissed her on the lips. She brought her fingers to her lips and thought how long it had been since she'd been kissed. She shook off her melancholy and began looking in the bag she had brought which he had placed on a luggage stand.

She unbuttoned her blouse and removed it and hung it over the screen. She removed her skirt and ruined stockings and began rummaging through her bag. She stood in her bra and panties and went through her bag. She didn't like anything she had brought with her to wear. Everything she had in the case just didn't seem right, and she sighed in frustration and threw a blouse back into the case. She grabbed her make up bag and pulled a comb from it and ran it through her hair in some attempt to make it look good. She looked in the mirror on the wall and realized that it was hopeless, and threw the comb into her bag as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Heidi?"

"Yes?" she whispered.

"Are you having trouble finding something to wear?" he asked. She half laughed half sobbed at his question.

"Uhm, you know I'm really thinking that this is a bad idea." She whispered.

"There's a robe hanging on the wall in the corner. If you'll put it on, I'll come in and help you." He said from the other side of the screen.

She looked up and found the robe and put it on. It was huge and engulfed her and could have wrapped around her three times. She tied the robe and walked out to him on the other side of the screen. She smiled sadly at him and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I really don't have anything to wear..." she whispered and hung her head.

He looked down at her. She looked like a drowned elf, standing in her bare feet in the huge robe. Her hair was drying but was still damp and hung in ringlets down her shoulders. She barely came to his shoulder; he could easily rest his chin on her head. When she first came in, he had been blown away by her huge blue eyes. And then he'd seen her smile and he was lost. He leaned in and inhaled the scent of her, and placed his hands on either side of her head and lifted it up to look at him.

"Hi." He whispered. "Look, if you don't like anything you brought we can look in the wardrobe over there and see if you can find anything that you like. I have lots of stuff in there that people have left or that I've picked up that I believe would look good on certain people." He walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. "Take a look in here and see if you find anything." He turned and found her looking at him uncertainly.

"Would you like me to pick something out for you?" he asked gently.She nodded slowly and smiled in relief.

"Thank you, I really don't know anything about this." She said. "I just normally don't care about this kind of thing. I just..." she trailed off as he pulled out a sapphire silk flowing nightgown. "That's a nightgown." She gasped.

He smiled and brought it up to her.

"Well, yes but it would really great on you. It really brings out the color in your eyes and you would look exceptional in it." He said huskily, while holding it up to her.

"But, these pictures are supposed to be ones I can give to people, like my parents." She laughed uneasily. "I couldn't give my parents, or anyone for the matter, a picture of myself in lingerie."

"Ok," he said. "I'll make you a deal. You take a few shots in this for me, and then we'll find something else. Something more suitable for giving to your family and friends." He looked over at her and smiled devilishly. "Come on. If you can suffer through your picture being taken in this, imagine how easy it will be for the others." He held up the nightgown in front of her as if daring her to take it.

She looked up at him, snatched the gown from his hands and walked behind the screen. She heard him smother his laughter as she took off the robe. Darn him anyway, she thought. This is probably how he gets all the women he photographs to get comfortable. She hung the robe up and unhooked the front clasp of her bra and removed it. She picked up the gown and looked at it. It really was beautiful, and felt so soft and silky in her hands. Feeling daring and not knowing why, she removed her panties and grinned to herself as she dropped the gown over her head and shimmied it down her hips.

She turned and looked in the mirror and realized the gown was dragging the ground but other than that, it really did look gorgeous. She took a deep breath and threw back her shoulders and stepped out from behind the screen. She lifted the gown up so she wouldn't trip and stepped up behind where he was.

"I'm ready." She murmured behind him. He turned around and stared at her.

"Wow." He whispered. She turned and went to the stool and turned to look at him.

"Do you want me to sit on the stool?" she asked, really ready to get this over with.

He swallowed hard, taking in how lovely she looked. Her breasts filled the top of the gown snugly, dipping into her cleavage. The rest of the gown flowed down her body, covering her legs except for where she had gathered the gown and lifted it so she could walk showing her adorable little feet. He shook himself out of his trance and looked at her.

"No. No. In that gown. No way." He gestured towards the bed. "Sit down."

"On the bed?" she gasped.

"Yes." He smiled. "Don't worry. The sheets are clean." He laughed.

She walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, running her hands over the pure white comforter. She looked over at him as he moved the camera over so he could take pictures from the side of her on the bed.

"So, what do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Scoot back on the bed and get in the center of it and lay on your side." He said as he moved the camera up on the tripod. "Rest your head in your hand. Lay your other hand on the bed and just look at me." He instructed. She did as he asked and over at him.

"Like this?" she asked, thinking that she felt a bit silly and thought who on earth she would show these pictures to anyway.

"Yes, just wet your lips." He said.

"What?"

He looked up over the camera at her and grinned.

"You heard me, wet your lips. You know, lick them?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes but did as he asked and looked at the camera. She heard the camera clicking and realized he was taking pictures of her in a nightgown on his bed. She'd never done anything like this before, and she realized she was having fun. She looked over at him and placed in finger in her mouth and sucked the end of it. She heard him groan and laughed. He snapped her picture as she laughed.

"Do me a favor?" he asked softly and looked up at her over the camera.

"Now what?" she laughed.

"Look at me and think of your husband."

"I don't have a husband." She answered.

"Boyfriend?"

"No."

"Girlfriend?" he asked warily.

"No." she laughed.

"Ok, think of your perfect imaginary lover." He said as he walked to get more film. "Think of the perfect man making love to you. You know," he said huskily, "the one you think of when you masturbate." She gasped at his words and blushed and heard him snap her picture. "Can you do that?"

"I suppose." She murmured, thinking of when she did masturbate, what she thought of. She really didn't think of any particular person, just someone who would love and take care of her and make sure she was thoroughly satisfied before he took his pleasure with her. She thought of all the romance novels and erotic novels she had read and all the heroes that she had read about and realized that she simply was satisfied with someone in blue jeans and a shirt and someone with a nice smile. Someone like the man in front of her, she smiled.

She heard the camera click. He directed her to lay her head on her arm and look at him. She did as he asked and licked her lips again. She was starting to have fun.

He groaned inwardly as she licked her lips again. Her little tongue darting out and wetting her fuller lower lip and making it glisten. The more comfortable she got, the more uncomfortable he became. He looked over at her as she ran her hand down her cleavage. He clicked her picture and wondered her she thought of. Who made her smile like that? And who would be lucky enough to see this woman come apart in his arms when she orgasmed?

She ran her hand over the comforter, and then trailed it up her cleavage and pulled at the spaghetti strap on her shoulder. She pulled it down and exposed more of her breast and heard him groan. She smiled over at him.

"Is everything ok?" she asked innocently. He looked up over the camera at her.

"Sure." He said huskily.

She smiled again and reached down and pulled the gown up to expose her legs. She slowly sat up, the other spaghetti strap fell down her arm and she wrapped her arms around her knees and lowered her head to them.

He continued to take her picture; letting her pose anyway she wanted as long as she was comfortable. He felt himself growing hard in his jeans, but ignored it and kept taking pictures.

After a few minutes, she leaned back on her elbow and looked at him. He envied whoever it was she was thinking of because the more she looked at him, the more aroused he became. He felt sweat break out on his brow. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

Suddenly lightning flashed in the air and a huge clap of thunder rumbled through the sky. She gasped and turned around on her knees as the lights flickered and looked out the huge windows behind the bed. It was still pouring rain and she could see lightening flashing across the sky as she looked farther out.

"Wow." She gasped as lightening cracked across the sky and lit up the whole room and then went back to normal.

"Yea, wow." She looked over at him and saw that he was looking at her, and not the sky. She swallowed and realized that the nightgown had slipped and exposed her one breast to him as he continued to take her picture. She brought her hands up to cover herself.

"Don't." his voice came like a gunshot. "Don't cover up. You're beautiful."

She let her hands rest on her stomach as lightening smacked across the sky again, this time taking the lights out and plunging the room into darkness, with the only light coming from the moon outside and the lightening. She heard him walk over to her and saw a match light as he lit a candle beside the bed. She sank down on the bed and sat on her feet. She let out a little gasp.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" he whispered as she felt his hands on her face, and felt the bed dip as he sat down on it with her.

"Usually." She whispered.

"Usually?" he asked as he bent and kissed her lower lip.

"I'm normally very afraid of the dark." She whispered against his mouth. "But right now I'm not afraid of anything but that you won't really kiss me."

He groaned and closed his mouth over hers and kissed her deeply. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and stroked her tongue with his. He felt her gasp into his mouth and he deepened the kiss, sucking her tongue into his mouth. He felt her hands on his chest, beginning to unbutton his shirt. He groaned into her mouth as she opened his shirt and placed her hands on his chest. Her fingers ran over his nipples and she pulled the shirt out of his jeans and tugged it down his arms. He helped her and pulled it off and threw it and didn't care where it landed.

She moaned as he pulled her to him and she felt her breasts crush into his chest. She ran her hands up his arms and wrapped them around his neck and sucked his tongue into her mouth when he let hers go. She felt his hands pulling down the straps of the gown, fully exposing her breasts and cupping them in his hands. She moaned into his mouth, feeling his warm hands on her breasts.

He began kissing his way down her chin and neck and licking his way down to her shoulder. Lightening struck across the sky again as he lowered his head, and dragged his tongue down the slope of her breast and took her nipple in his mouth. She gasped loudly as his mouth closed around her nipple, his tongue laving it and sending sensations all through her body. She watched him in the candlelight as he moved to her other breast and sucked her nipple into his mouth. She felt herself falling backward on the bed, so lost in the pleasure of his mouth on her.