Page 23 of Breakaway
I give him a dramatic eye roll at his answer. "You're telling me this is all part of your act?"
I keep my tone light, the smile on my face easy, but that's not how I feel on the inside. It isn't until right this second that I remember I was going to look up more about Sombrans. All of my family stuff happened, and then we were preparing for the photo shoots and the interviews, and I completely forgot all about what I'm pretty sure was Zill's boner. I remember it now, while he's looking at me with a fondness that I don't think he's feigning.
"Of course it is," he says, and his words crash into me like ice water. "What else would it be?"
I step away from him, his shadows clinging to my fingers for a fraction of a second before releasing me. I keep my smileplastered on my face, keeping my true feelings about what he just said tucked nice and tight inside me.
As much as I'm sure what I'm feeling is just a ton of wishful thinking, I don't believe Zill at all. He's been genuinely upset all morning, so much so that even Mauve noticed it. Sure, there's a chance that it's about something that has nothing to do with me, but he might actually be upset with how good I look today. Not in a weird way where he'd be all controlling douche about it, but in exactly the way he said. He wants me, and he can't have me right now.
Okay, so yeah, that's probably a lot of wishful thinking, which means as soon as we break for costume change, I'm looking up why my fake Sombran boyfriend got a boner for me. Until then, I'll just keep playing along because if Zill doesn't want to be honest with me, then I'm going to do the same to him. At least until I understand why he's acting this way.
"Well, if you're going to play jealous boyfriend, you should know there's a male model for cover number four we'll be shooting later."
I shoot him a wink as I turn away, swaying my hips a little more than I should. I'm pretty sure he's checking out my ass. This outfit leaves quite a bit of it on display. But I don't turn around to catch him in the act, because I'm playing this off as if I'm unaffected by him.
Zill's beside me before I make it even halfway down the hall to the studio we're shooting in. His hand finds the small of my back, his shadows spreading across my skin just like they have any time he's touched me. This time, they're a little bolder in their choice of spots to occupy. The feeling of them tickling the exposed parts of my backside has me stifling a giggle as Zill grits his teeth and they scramble, making new homes on parts of me that I assume he doesn't deem sexual.
"Is there actually another male?" Zill asks, his voice tight as if he's having to force the words not to come out as a growl.
"The fourth album did feature a human man, yeah," I tell him. "Why would I lie about something like that?"
I glance up at him, keeping my eyes wide, feigning innocence. His jaw muscle tenses, and he looks away from me. Before he gets a chance to say anything, not that I think he was going to, we enter the studio area, and his shadows drape over me like a curtain. At least this time, he leaves me with my head out so I can look around. I swipe my hands through the smoky mess, and they eventually give me enough space to free myself.
"If he's going to watch, it needs to be away from the set," Dom calls out from where he's rummaging through a duffel bag filled with who knows what. When he stands up to face me, he has his camera in his hands, his eyes on Zill. Dom is all smiles, but when I look at Zill, he's anything but.
"Zill," I say softly, slapping his chest with the back of my hand. "This is my photographer, Dom, he's done all my album covers."
Dom walks over to us, his smile not faltering even though Zill is staring at him like he's enemy number one for some reason I don't even know. When Dom gets close enough, he holds out his free hand for Zill, and I think for a moment Zill's not going to shake it. Then the tension in his body eases, and he takes the other man's hand.
"Zill," he says, his gaze flicking over to where Mauve is sitting.
"Sorry," Dom says, chuckling. "She told me to do it. I should've known it wouldn't cause anything nearly as interesting as what I thought it would."
"What are you talking about?" I ask, looking between the men who are apparently in on something that I'm not.
Zill turns to look at me, his expression softer now than it has been all day. He leans down and presses a kiss close to my temple. "Nothing important, just Mauve trying to irritate me. Go take your pictures. I need to have a conversation with her."
When he finishes, he strokes his hand up my back, his shadows lingering as he steps away until they're forced to follow him. I watch his back with narrowed eyes, but it's clear I'm not getting the answers I want.
"Do you remember the poses for this one?" Dom asks when I turn to give him my full attention.
I let out an airy laugh. "Even if I didn't, Mauve's been making me study them before today so we could get this done as fast as possible."
"Good," Dom says, taking Zill's place beside me as we walk over to where the backdrop and props are all set up. "Mauve told me she wants everything the same, but I'm thinking we add in a couple of new ones just to spice things up, you know? Everyone already has Empress's album. This could be yours."
"Oh, I think it's perfectly fine leaving all of this in Empress's territory," I tell Dom.
He helps me to step up onto the raised platform where the black throne sits. The floor and walls are all a darkened grey, just a few shades lighter than the throne I'm about to perch myself upon. The sets will get more elaborate as the day goes on, but the beauty of this one is the glitter that's about to coat everything. It's what made this one so fun when I first did it.
I position myself in the first pose, draping myself seductively across the throne, biting down on the tip of my finger, arching my back. It's all so ridiculous, but it's fun, and that's what I based the whole idea of Empress on.
If I could be anonymous and do whatever the hell I wanted, what would I do? And the answer was to play dress up as the sexiest bitch in the world and sing about getting dicked down.And, guess what? It was a lot of fun. Just like how it's about to be a lot of fun right now because as soon as Dom checks to make sure the lighting is right, this place is going to fill with glitter, and I'm still going to be dressed up as the sexiest bitch on Earth.
"Drop in three, two, one, drop." Dom's voice is loud and clear in the studio, and as soon as he says the words, glitter falls from the ceiling, dusting over me like I'm a fairy princess.
I smile when he gets the first few pictures in, and then switch poses. I tell myself not to look over at Zill, where he's watching from. I don't want to be disappointed if he's not looking at me.
About ten minutes pass before I can't stop myself from looking over. When I do, I'm surprised to see Zill standing there, smile as bright and as happy as I feel. I bite my lip when I catch his eyes, and try not to preen when his cheeks heat. I return my focus on Dom and his instructions as he snaps more pictures, but in my head, I'm already trying to figure out how to convince Zill to fill in as the male model for album four.
