The Photo Shop - Last Chapter

"No!" Luna squealed. She had no idea what she was doing.

"Just hold that. There."

Out front was starting to get unbearably hot, and embers were drifting all around Raymond as he tried not to panic. It was hard work undoing all the ropes and he couldn't leave them dangling. He had to pull them up onto the deck so they wouldn't drag behind them in the water and potentially get tangled with the rotors. By the time he was done and back with Luna at the dash, the rotunda across the grass was aflame, and larger pieces of burning debris were landing on their boat.

"Find a bucket with a handle," Raymond barked at Luna. "Quickly, we need to get water and put out any little bits of fire that land on the boat."

Raymond took a deep breath.

"Careful but urgent", he tried to tell himself. Urgency, not panic. If he stalled the motor, or if he got them stuck on the next boat, or against the shore, they'd have to abandon ship. And which way to go? There was fire in both directions.

"Downriver the boat is quicker," he told himself. They'd get closer to the other side and keep going until they were out of range of burning debris falling on them. Hopefully.

"That's perfect," he said to Luna, holding up a fire bucket with a handle and a rope. Raymond backed out as calmly as he could, moved the slow-turning boat to face the river, and began to chug away from the mooring. The heat in the air was fantastic, the sweat dripping off him. As soon as the rear of the boat was ten yards from shore, he yelled for Luna to come over.

"Hold the steering in that direction out towards the middle of the river. We need to go slow for a little bit so I don't lose the bucket when I put it in the river to get water."

Raymond was impressed with how Luna was handling the pressure. He managed to fill three-quarters of the bucket without losing it.

"That will do for now," he said, going back inside. "Luna, find a plastic bowl. Take the water and put it on any ember you can still see alive, including up on the flat roof. There should be stairs or a ladder at the back."

Raymond did what he could to steer the boat in the dark away from danger. He wanted to go full throttle, but dared not, he was essentially driving into darkness; the only light was from the fire over his shoulder.

"Need more water," Luna told him.

Raymond had her steer on super slow again so he could dunk the bucket without losing it. That pattern continued a half dozen times until the embers reduced. The fire was far enough behind them to relax their stress.

They could hear a booming explosion back where they came from, then another.

"What's that?" Luna asked.

"Probably houseboat fuel tanks," Raymond said. He was guessing, but it did make him put the light on their own fuel meter. Shit. Low.

"I thought they were meant to bring these things back full," he grumbled.

"What's up?" Luna asked, seeing the quiet grumble.

"Can't be sure how long this much fuel will last. We better find a place to tie up, don't want to be caught drifting powerless."

It wasn't easy, though. The only obvious mooring spots or beach-type places he could make out in the dark were on the side of the river with the fire. Luna went out to the front deck the peer into the dark.

"That? There?" she yelled out. Raymond carefully steered the houseboat toward the way she was pointing. Between small, sandy cliffs was a feeding tributary.

"I'll try," Raymond said.

The waterway wasn't big, but wide and deep enough to get a quarter mile or so inland away from the river before Raymond found a pebbly beach to forcefully run around.

"Hold on, there will be a jolt, we need to be sure we are properly stuck onshore."

Raymond set the boat full throttle and they lay on the floor by the sofa to keep clear of the flying debris as they hit.

"Right. That's that," Raymond said, taking a moment to lean back and have his first quiet moment for what seemed like hours. Luna snuggled in and held him tight in silence.

"Are we safe?" she asked eventually.

"Should be," Raymond said truthfully.

He pulled out his phone. Almost nine o'clock. "I've got a signal."

He called Wilson.

"Boss. My god, where are you?"

"On a houseboat."

It took Wilson a moment or two to think of how to respond to that answer.

"Ah, okay. Why?"

"There's a big fire-watching party in the middle of the river," Raymond managed to joke.

"Okay, so you know about the fire?" Wilson said, being serious. "I left so many messages. They wouldn't let me drive in."

"Yes, we know about the fire. I'll send you my location on WhatsApp. Come get us."

"Okay, let me look, I'll call you back."

They stayed sitting on the floor by the sofa in the dark, contemplating life, waiting for Wilson's call.

"You're wearing socks?" Raymond noticed. "Nothing but socks?"

Luna reached down and pulled the grimy things off.

"Better?"

Raymond laughed, and they held each other tightly.

"All good?" Raymond asked when the call from Wilson came.

"Yeah got you, but you'll have to stay put, though. That location is safe, but roads are still blocked."

"But we're on the other side of the river. It hasn't jumped has it?"

"No, but disaster tourists are coming from everywhere to get snaps. They've blocked anything close on both sides unless you're a resident."

"But it's a rescue!" Raymond said loudly.

"I thought you said you're on a houseboat?"

"Yeah, without booze!"

"I'll call again when the roads are open."

Raymond sighed. He could really use a beer.

"Okay, but I'm gonna switch off. There's no charging here and the battery is at twelve percent. I'll turn it on in the morning. Luna, you need Wilson to call anyone?"

"No, I'm not expected til tomorrow."

"All sorted," Raymond told Wilson, hanging up and switching off to save power. They stood up to take a look around and investigate what the houseboat might have for them.

"You know these lights work?" Luna said, flicking a switch, and dull light came from the roof.

"From the battery," Raymond said. "Wouldn't have helped, can't see a thing outside with an inside light on."

"It helps now, though."

"It does."

The kitchen cupboard had tinned peaches and beans. And two bottles of unrefrigerated white wine - which ordinarily would taste like crap but at that moment was the sweetest wine they ever had. Raymond took a good look around the boat and found the generator and the propane water heater in the bathroom, which he managed to get working. The good thing about rental houseboats is they come with very good and clear instructions on how to operate all the accessories.

"Hey, I think you're going to like this," Raymond said, fetching Luna. She squealed in delight to feel the hot running water. The cubicle was only big enough for one and it only had one of those terrible body/shampoo all-in-one containers stuck to the wall, but Raymond stood in the door and couldn't imagine a happier person taking a shower. There were no towels, so Luna air-dried as she stood watching Raymond take his shower. There were no blankets, but the beds had clean sheets and were heaven compared to what they could've hoped for if they had dived into the river as was Luna's plan.

Laying naked on the bed in the afterglow of a warm shower, cold baked beans, and warm white wine, they stared at the plain ceiling in the dim electric light.

"All alone and nothing to do," Luna smiled.

"You could start by sucking cock," Raymond suggested. Without a word, Luna rolled around and put his penis in her mouth, and put a leg over his face so he could suck her cunt in sixty-nine. Given all they had been through in a day and a half, their connection felt both easy and permanent. Regardless of what happened next, Raymond and Luna had shared an incredible experience - and now they were sharing their sex. Raymond drank fiercely from her, and Luna hoovered him. When they finally turned to fuck it was intense. Luna screamed to the heavens as she twisted and bounced on his cock before being flung to the bottom and slam-fucked. The ecstasy ripped through her as she felt the twitch of a man's cock deep in her body. Sperm had been transferred from his balls to her womb, the most feminine act she could make.

There was no cleaning up afterward, just sleep.

Luna did not wake up at dawn. The sun was high when she went down the small hall to the toilet, then out to the kitchen for water. To her surprise, two policemen in high-viz gear were on the houseboat front decking. They seemed just as shocked to see her, especially fully nude - and a spectacular nude at that. Half tempted to run back to bed, Luna sheepishly walked over and opened the door.

"Hi."

"Good morning miss. Is this your houseboat?"

"Not really," Luna winced. "But I can explain."

"Do you want to put some clothes on first, miss?" the elder policeman asked in an instructive tone.

"Ah, see, that's part of the explanation," Luna stuttered. "I don't have any."

At least, none that she wanted to wear again, Luna thought, eyeing off the filthy hiking pants crumpled in the corner.

"My boyfriend is asleep, can we talk out here?" Luna said, stepping outside and closing the sliding door.

"Ma'am, we have thermal blankets in the car. Let us get you one."

"I'm fine. Really. I'm used to being undressed."

"Go and get her one," the older said to the younger. While that was happening he took out a notebook "What's your name ma'am?"

And so Luna started her story, a slightly sanitized version but it was mostly the truth. She met Raymond by chance at the campground when she was out with people from her company, and Raymond brought her back there for a dirty weekend - though it wasn't exactly a weekend - and from there Luna explained everything exactly as she remembered.

"I really should call Raj," Luna said. "Let him know we're safe. I hope Raymond kept his note with the number."

"Ma'am, I'm going to make a call from the car. Can you please use that blanket properly, can you cover up with it?"

Luna put it around her shoulders in token acquiescence, leaving her breasts and pussy in view. As the elder policeman went to make his call, the younger one couldn't help but stare.

"You have to forgive me," he smiled, embarrassed at his lack of willpower. "We didn't expect anyone to be here. We thought it had broken its mooring in the fire and drifted here."

"This spot is upstream from the main river," Luna pointed out. "Can't really drift to here."

The young policeman looked at the water flow.

"I'm not from around here."

That led them to small talk about who they were and even who they might be one day, all the time Luna politely kept the blanket wide open.

"Okay, there was a missing person filed for you two yesterday that was canceled when you called one of Mr. Stokes' employees."

"Yes. Wilson. From here," Luna concurred.

"The houseboat stays here for now. We can take you back to the closest town if you like?"

"If my boyfriend's driver can come to pick us up, can he get through? He said last night the roads were blocked."

"They'll be open by midday," the policeman said.

"Can you wait while I give him a quick call to see if he can come and get us, because I don't have any clothes, it would be super helpful if he could bring some here before we left."

"Okay, make your call."

Luna went back to the bedroom. Raymond was still fast asleep. She took his phone and woke him enough to get the Face ID working, then went back to the outside deck and put the call on speaker-mode to let the police hear what Wilson said. The police joined the conversation, too. They gave Wilson some advice on how to get to the location through the fence gate and the fields to the riverside and gave him precise GPS coordinates that he could put in his car's Sat-Nav.

"And that will be us off," the policeman said. "And you may as well give my blanket back, you're not exactly using it as it's meant to be used anyway."

Luna smiled and passed it over, smiling at the younger one as he soaked in his last look at Luna's gorgeous nudity.

"How did I get so... ridiculous?" Luna asked herself as she watched the car drive away. Naked. Porn. Screwing. Lesbian. "Why don't I feel bad? I should feel bad. But I don't."

"Luna! You out there?" a yell came from the bedroom.

"Yeah!"

"Morning wood!"

Luna smiled and rushed back in to sit on her man's cock.

Days later Luna worked her last shift at the photo shop. She and Sue had sat down and spoken openly and thoroughly. After the sex shoot, Luna felt differently. Being photographed and filmed wasn't fun anymore, it was a job for money. And if she wanted that job, then she would do it properly with Raymond's company.

"I'm still not sure if I want to keep doing porn or not, I have a little bit of time to work that out. But if I do, it will be with Raymond, and it would be movies, and it doesn't matter where my school ends up, they can shoot anywhere in the country. I have to leave this town anyway, so I'll go spend the rest of the summer with my folks. It'll give me time and the right balance to work out if I want to keep taking money to have sex, especially if it's on film, for the world to see."

"You'd be a star," Sue sighed, herself besotted by Luna's beauty. "You'd make a lot of money."

"Hmm," Luna nodded. "Raymond thinks so, too."

"We'll miss you."

"I'll miss you both, too. Are you going to work full-time again?"

"No, I'm enjoying my Fridays and Saturdays off too much. There's a girl who can start after summer to cover it. She's only seventeen, though, so safe from taking your path. For a while at least."

"That's nice."

"Is there anything?" Sue asked. "Before you go, is there anything I can do for you?"

Luna looked at her thoughtfully.

"One more night with your husband? Then I'll be gone. What do you think? Possible?"

"Of course," Sue laughed. "Take him. Fuck his brains out. Poor guy will miss you as much as I will."

"Thanks, Sue."

Next and final instalment "The Photo Shop -- The Epilogue" will be submitted for approval next Wednesday Mar 1, 2023!