Page 59 of Sapphire Storm

“I’ll need you to hang in the office while I shoot theinterview, but let me introduce you guys real quick. He’ssmokin’.”

“Thank you, but I’ve met attractive men before, SexMonster.”

“No doubt. But this one’s got flags on the field in the modeldepartment. So I’m thinking he might make a better distraction for you duringyour visit if he’s interested.” Donnie winked.

“I’m not opposed to a good distraction now and then. It’sbeen a while, actually.”

Donnie laughed. “Follow me.”

They entered the main studio. It was vast and drafty, thanksto frosty air conditioning. The exterior walls had been reinforced andsoundproofed so the sounds of professional moans and groans couldn’t be heardfrom the parking lots or side alleys. Ringed around the center of the spacewere the sets for various bargain-basement fantasies. A gym floor next to afake locker room with working showers. A classroom. A generic corporate office.A BDSM dungeon featuring a glistening leather pommel horse, an equipment wall,and a mattress on the floor laced with bondage straps. There was even a barnset piled with actual hay bales.

The only set that wasn’t deep in shadow was a college dormroom with matching twin beds in front of a fake window inside a false wall paintedbright blue. The wall was also covered in what looked like posters of rockstars until you got up close and saw they were all hand drawn. Donnie had toldhim once that they were all the work of one of Parker Hunter’s superfans, amiddle-aged woman who lived in Idaho and ran a fruit canning business on theInternet and sent them long but well-intentioned emails pointing out thecontinuity errors in their videos.

Sitting on the end of one twin bed was a physicallyflawless, olive-skinned man stroking one of the biggest cocks Ethan had everseen. When the potential model raised his head in response to their approach,Ethan saw piercing hazel eyes and lips so kissable it was like they drippedhoney.

“Hi, Ethan,” Roman said, and then everything got real quiet.

17

“What?” Roman said into the tense silence. “I need ajob.”

Ethan’s feet suddenly felt like they were made of lead. Histemples throbbed thanks to matching bolts of tension in either side of his jaw.To calm himself, he made a quick mental list of all the things he wouldn’tallow himself to do in this moment—all of which he wanted to do desperately andwith force. He wouldn’t explode with anger. He wouldn’t yank the covers off thetwin bed next to Roman’s and cloak the young man’s naked body with them. Hewouldn’t carry him out of the studio with as much determination as he’dpiggybacked him down the Billings Trail that Saturday.

Do these things, he thought,andRomanwins. And this had to be a game. He couldn’t seriously be on the verge ofauditioning for porn.

“Well,” Donnie said, “someone’s ready to go.” In the harshindustrial light pouring down from above, the sight of the young man’s gorgeousbrown nipples, the same ones he’d coated in icing a few nights before, madeEthan flinch and look away as if he’d stared into a fierce flame. “Wouldn’thave brought my friend in if I’d known you’d stripped down. Anyway, just aquick intro, then he’ll step out so we can get to work. Ethan, this is Ro—”

Donnie fell silent as Ethan turned and headed for the door.

A few seconds later, Ethan took a seat behind the cluttereddesk in his friend’s office and was scrolling through emails on his phone. He mighthave seemed calm and composed to someone sitting across from him—save for thefact that his breaths were whistling in his nose.

There was a light knock before Donnie poked his head in. “Soyou know this guy?”

Ethan answered with a nod. His anger was so total he didn’ttrust himself to speak.

Even though the office was his, his friend took a cautiousstep inside, then closed the door gently behind him as if he were the intruder.“You want to tell me what’s going on here?”

With too much force, Ethan set the phone down on Donnie’sdesk, trying—and failing—to blink away the sight of Roman Walker’s engorged,veiny, lube-slick cock, which had seemed enticing and obscene.

Had he fantasized about seeing it one day?

Perhaps. Maybe.

Okay, fine, yes. But as the culmination of some moreelaborate fantasy in which they came to know each—really know each other—overtime.

A lot of time.

Enough time for Roman to see him as something more than amentor and a temporary refuge from his upended life. Enough time for Roman togrow up a little.

But it had been just that—a fantasy. A fantasy that hadseemed so farfetched and so far off that he’d never have to contend with itsimplications should it become real.

And Roman’s attempt to make it real felt like a violation.

Focus, Blake,he told himself.You’re a grownman, and a grown man should never be undone by the spontaneous nudity of a wildchild.“What did you mean when you said he had flags on the field in themodel department?” Ethan asked quietly.

“He wouldn’t send nudes, but he wanted to shoot a test,like, right away. Usually means a guy’s not serious and he’s trying to rush itbefore he loses his nerve. And since this whole thing seems like it was maybeaboutyou, I’m sensing that’s the case.”

“He’s a grown man. He can do whatever he wants.”

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