Page 24 of The Arrangement

I heard a bark of a laugh from the bathroom accompanied by the water being turned off. "Maybe a bit." He came back into the main living space, wiping his freshly shaven face with a towel. Fuck, he looked good. "C'mon, someone like you doesn't like classical music?"

I wrinkled my nose, taking back my internal compliment. "Someone like me?"

He rolled his eyes, tossing the towel in a basket in the corner. "English major, bookstore worker? I'm just saying, you seem the type."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked at him with a grin. "Ihappen to like pop and death metal." He raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Oh, the duality of women."

I gave him a small laugh, and we stood in silence for a moment. I sucked on my teeth before finally saying, "Where do we start?"

That seemed to shock him out of his reverie. "Shit, sorry. Uh, first of all, with this being just a practice run, you can always just say stop or pause since it's not really going up online. We should still treat it like it is, just to get the hang of it, but start thinking of a good safe word. It's only used on live streams if you decide to do those; if not, stopping is always good. I also check in pretty frequently. I use red, yellow, and green to tell me your levels, okay? Got your mask?"

I swallowed around the anxiety building as I nodded, processing all of the information. I pulled out an online package that came right in the nick of time and revealed a wide netting mask. Thin and transparent enough for me to see through with ease but enough of a barrier that my appearance would be safe.

He took it from me with a raised eyebrow. "Nice, Clark, I dig it." My stomach flipped at these words, and I felt a sweat break out over me.

"So, your room?"

Quinn nodded, stopping at the fridge to grab a few bottles of water, and waved me into the bedroom. There were two bedrooms, just like my apartment, but the smaller room looked like it had been turned into an office. His was bigger than mine just by a bit, with plenty of room for the video camera equipment, which consisted of three cameras on tripods set up at different angles.

While I was busy looking at the equipment, hoping my stomach would just settle down, he pulled out a contraption to show me that it was hooked up to what looked like a travel camera. "This is a Point of View camera," he explained, positioning it over his head until it sat flush against his chest, pointing downwards. "It's really good for close-up work or just P.O.V. videos, which are always popular." Quinn took it off, sitting it on the nightstand. "I realize it's kind of intimidating, so we don't have to pull that out tonight, but I just wanted you to see it."

I nodded, chewing on the inside of my cheek as he turned to me, his face serious.

"Before we get started, are you sure you're okay with this?" Quinn didn't take his eyes off of me, his expression soft and understanding. "After the rehearsal, if you hate this, it's over. No questions asked."

My mouth was suddenly very dry, and my tongue didn't seem to want to cooperate, so I just nodded instead. Quinn smiled and clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's get to it. I have music going, but it'll be low so we can communicate." He stepped closer to me, and I instinctively stepped back, my heart hammering in my chest. I knew he was tall but I hadn't realized how tall until he was right in front of me.

Quinn gave me a look, a shallow dimple appearing as he smirked (how had I never noticed that before?). "Don't worry, Clark, I don't bite." He paused dramatically. "Unless you ask, of course."

Rolling my eyes, I took a step towards him, "Cliche, Quinn." A dark chuckle rose from his chest, his amber eyes sparkling as he pulled his mask from his back pocket and slipped it over his head. Hoping to God he didn't see how I reflexively swallowed as he went from Sebastian Quinn to Wolfe. The man I had been touching myself to for over a year.

"It sometimes helps to take each other's clothes off, just touching first," he said, his voice deep and muffled behind the black balaclava. "Wait to put your mask on until we get you ready so it's where you want it." I nodded wordlessly again, my mask wadded up in my sweaty palm.

Wolfe inched closer to me until I could smell his minty aftershave and expensive cologne. I had to tilt my head up to look at him as his fingers teased the hem of my sweatshirt, and I sucked in a breath as I felt the ghost of his touch on my abdomen.

"Color?" His voice was deep, as rough as gravel, and I felt a flush rise up over my neck.

"Green," I whispered softly, amazed that I was able to get my mouth to work. He nodded, allowing his eyes to map over me, taking me in. "Arms up, baby girl."

Fuckkkkkk.

My arms went up, and my sweatshirt lifted over me, my bangs disheveled in the movement. "Mask up, Clark." I nodded, placing it over my eyes and tying it behind my head, wincing as it tugged at a piece of my hair.

"Cameras are on—so that you know," he said, jutting his chin over to the equipment. Dipping my chin in acknowledgment, I toed off my sweatpants, allowing them to pool onto the floor. That's when I found myself nearly naked with a fully clothed Sebastian Quinn across from me. He lifted his arms to the side as if daring me to come closer.

"You can touch me, Clark," he whispered, and I tried not to focus on how his deep voice was affecting me. Taking a deep, steadying breath, I drew closer, taking the edge of his shirt in my hands and lifting it to his chest before he did the rest, flinging it to the corner. The red lights dipped into the planes of his stomach as I traced the peaks of muscles to the dark hair at the base of his naval that trailed down to disappear into his shorts.

He was patient, waiting for me to make the first move. I carefully reached my trembling hand to his chest, his skin raising in goosebumps as I drew my finger down the planes of his pectoral muscles down to his abdomen, pausing on the drawstring of his shorts. As if hearing my silent request, he hooked his thumbs in the band and dropped them to the floor, left clad in one tight pair of white briefs.

"Get on the bed, Clark."

Chapter 14

Georgia

My breaths were coming fast as I found myself on Wolfe's grey bedspread, scooting back until I hit the headboard as he crawled to me.

"Do you want to be on top or bottom?" he asked, sitting back on his heels and pulling up his mask enough where I could see his mouth and jawline.

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