THE NEXT EVENING, we arrived together at my next shoot—well, our next shoot, because at this point I couldn’t imagine doing them without Donovan.
As we walked into the locker room where the cameras were being set up, I saw Rafferty glancing down at where I held Donovan’s hand and raise a dark brow. He didn’t say anything, only waved us inside, where Anita was setting up the wardrobe for the start of the scene.
“Oh no.” Donovan held up a pair of white football pants, complete with thick padding, and gave me a look. “This is payback for making you wear a tux last night, isn’t it?”
I smirked, fingering the snug but stretchy fabric. “If it makes you feel better, I think I’ll be wearing them too.”
“Reeeally?” he said. “I’m not sure they make these big enough to fit what you’re packin’.”
Reaching down between us, he cupped my dick, giving it a squeeze and making me groan.
“Save it for the cameras,” Rafferty called out as he passed by without stopping.
I sighed, pushing Donovan’s hand away. “You’re trouble. I don’t think you know how to be anything else.”
“Which is exactly why you like me.” His wicked grin only grew as he leaned in to kiss me.
Then Anita stepped between us and shoved a football helmet against Donovan’s chest.
“You. Masked man. Wear this,” she said.
Donovan’s nose wrinkled. “You want me to put a used, sweaty helmet on this head of hair? No way. My stylist will have a shit fit.”
“Well, here, I am the stylist. Pretty boy wants a mask, here’s a mask. And this.” She held up some kind of black face paint.
Donovan’s eyes collided with mine. “I take back what I said. This isn’t just payback; now you owe me.”
“You have something against football gear, pretty boy?” I grinned, enjoying this as I leaned against a locker.
“Yes. It’s smelly and reminds me of an ex.”
“Not Atticus, I assume.” Smirking, I reached out, curling my finger into the waistband of his navy pants, and tugged him toward me. He came, willingly…just like he would later, several times over. “You think you can manage this? For me?”
Donovan groaned, and I could see his resolve weakening. “Dammit, Kelly.”
“Is that a yes?” I rubbed circles along his lower abdomen with my thumb, then dipped below the waistband. “You can be my tight end.”
He groaned again and stilled my hand. “It’s not a no.”
“Don’t worry, baby, I’ll be quick taking your pants off.”
Donovan’s gorgeous eyes heated, and I knew I had him.
And selfishly, I really wanted to see the way his ass would fill out that gear. He had the perfect body for a quarterback, all athletic, lean muscles and a cocky smile to match.
I widened my legs as Donovan stepped between them, pressing his hand against my chest so my back was fully against the locker. He ghosted his lips over mine, not quite touching, but just enough to drive me crazy. I jerked forward to capture his teasing mouth, but he was faster, moving his head back to keep out of my reach.
“Uh uh,” he said, a shit-eating smile curving his lips. “Save it for the cameras, remember?”
“Fuck the cameras.”
“How about you fuck me for the cameras?”
My cock practically lurched out of my damn pants.
It took everything I had in me to push Donovan away to go get ready, but I couldn’t resist swatting his firm ass as he went.
I changed into the gear, with Anita assisting us both with the padding situation, which made the pants even more snug than I’d expected. Donovan had been right about one thing—my dick was already being choked to death in these suckers. Fuck me, I wouldn’t have any circulation left if we didn’t start this soon.
“Sin, we need to talk.” Rafferty swept his ass-length braids aside to sit in the director’s chair behind me as I stood in front of the mirror smearing thick black lines under my eyes.
“Here to set the scene?” I asked.
“Not really. Other than provide you the location and gear, you and your partner have free rein today.”
My eyes met his in the mirror. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Come on, Raff, you love a storyboard. Whatcha got planned for us tonight? Rival players? Some hate fucking?”
He waved me off. “Any of that is fine. Your choice.”
That had me narrowing my eyes in suspicion, because bullshit. “My choice?”
“Yes.”
“So if I wanted to ram the whole football team, that’d be fine by you?”
“Might be a longer shoot than our schedule allows, but I don’t see a problem with it.”
All right, now I knew something was up.
I turned, crossing my arms. “I get all this freedom why? I’m new. I haven’t paid my dues or whatever shit Anita said I needed to do.”
“No, but you have provided Xes with its highest-rated scenes in years. Their subscription rate is through the roof thanks to you…” He gestured toward my hips. “And your sex hammer.”
My brows shot up as surprise filtered through me. Holy shit, that was…unexpected.
“That’s also what I need to talk to you about,” he said, and something about his tone told me I wasn’t gonna like whatever was coming next.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Donovan a few feet away pretending not to eavesdrop as Anita painted his face.
“You’ve been getting a lot of interest,” Rafferty continued. “Some of the biggest names in the industry have reached out, and it’s time to take advantage of your momentum. Expand your horizons.”
“Meaning?”
“As of next week, you’ll be shooting three times a week, rotating partners that Xes will be in charge of scheduling. Not to say they haven’t enjoyed the masked man aspect—obviously the numbers on the site would agree—but their other performers get a little demanding when new talent shows up and they don’t get a piece of the action.”
I nodded slowly as a handful of different thoughts and emotions rolled through me. Obviously this was going to happen. I’d gotten into this business for a reason, and not one performer out there kept a monogamous partner for shoots. That wasn’t anything I’d expected either, but…
That was before I’d met Donovan.
I tried not to notice the way he’d gone so still that I wasn’t even sure he was breathing. I wondered what was going through his mind, whether it bothered him at all or if he was cool with it.
Donovan was open about a lot of things, but I couldn’t imagine he’d be quick to share, not after the possessive way he’d thrown down last night. That had been super hot, and so had hearing the word boyfriend fall from those kissable lips.
Would he still feel the same way having a boyfriend who fucked other guys for a living?
Hell, would I?
Rafferty watched me intently as I swallowed and gave him a nod.
“That’s the job, right?” I said, trying to sound more lighthearted than I felt. Because what I felt was a boulder dropping onto my chest. Which was stupid, because this was what I’d signed up for. Even Donovan knew that when he met me.
That didn’t do much to lessen the conflict warring inside me, though.
“Pretty boy over there can be welcomed back as an occasional special guest if you’d like,” Rafferty said, rising from the chair, and before he turned to leave, his hand found my shoulder. “Whatever’s going on with you two will need to stay outside of work. But for tonight, have fun and go wild.”
Then he gave me a squeeze and wandered off, calling out for his assistant and snapping his fingers.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding and schooled my face into nonchalance as I turned to face Donovan. The last thing I wanted him to see was how affected I was about the news.
“Everyone’s dying for a piece of Sin,” he said, trying for a smile. He was shirtless except for the shoulder pads—his rock-hard abs were on full display, and those tight pants rode low on his hips.
Damn. I had to remember to thank whoever came up with this concept, because I never would’ve guessed Donovan in football gear would make my dick rise to the occasion.
“Don’t move.” Anita dabbed her finger in the black eye paint, and when Donovan’s smile faded, she went back to painting. I noticed he was getting thicker lines than I’d swiped on, most likely to help cover his gorgeous face.
Always such a shame.
“Can’t say I blame them,” Donovan continued, keeping his face straight for Anita. “I was the same. Eager for a chance to get my hands on you.”
“No.” I shook my head and moved toward him, ready for Anita to get out of the way. “There’s not one part of you that’s the same as anyone else. Not even close.”
A faint grin tried to appear, but a huff from Anita had it dropping quickly. “Watch it, or your nickname will change to ‘Sin the sweetheart’ instead of ‘Sin and his sex hammer.’”
That made me bust out a laugh, which made the rock of unease in my stomach break apart for the moment.
“All right, all done,” Anita said, her voice laced with irritation. “Careful with the jersey.”
As she stomped off, I made a motion for him to spin around. He rolled his eyes, but did as requested, and I let out a low whistle.
“Can I just say how damn sexy you are, even in sweaty football gear?”
“If you think this is hot, you need to get your eyes checked.”
“Oh? You don’t think I rock this?” I teased, turning around so he could get the full view as well. Unlike him, I had the jersey on already, and I almost laughed when I faced him again and saw his expression.
“You look hot in anything, but I prefer you with nothing on.”
“Then I guess we should come up with a scene that’ll have you stripping me out of this pretty quick, huh?”
“We should.” His mouth quirked as he nodded, and I reached out to hold his hands. “Kelly—” he started, but I cut him off.
“We should talk about this.”
Donovan was silent for a long moment, staring at our hands. “Yeah.”
“What Rafferty said…how do you feel about it?”
“Proud of you, first of all.”
My eyes widened. That was not where I thought he was about to go with this. “Proud?” I repeated.
“Yeah. Highest-rated scenes? Getting so many people to join a site just to see you? That’s amazing.”
“Not like I had a whole lot to do with a God-given appendage.”
“Oh my God, that’s not it,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You have a presence about you that the camera picks up on. That’s you, not your glorious dick, though that’s a definite perk.”
“One you don’t mind sharing?”
Donovan’s mouth snapped shut, and he seemed to weigh his words carefully. If it’d been the other way around, I was sure a “fuck no” would’ve rolled off my tongue.
“Honestly?” he said after a long moment. “This is uncharted territory for me. I’m not sure what is right for me to feel.”
“Right for you to feel? Why don’t you just tell me how you feel?”
“Because it’s selfish,” he said, dropping my hands and taking a step back. “Because I knew what I was getting myself into with you, and I did it anyway. This is your job.”
“And?”
His brow furrowed, and his hazel eyes searched mine. “And what?”
“And how does it make you feel, Donovan?”
“It…” He took in a deep inhale then let it out slowly. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not right to tell you to quit your job because I don’t want you with anyone else.”
“And that’s what you want?” I said, taking a step toward him. “To be the only one who touches me?”
When Donovan’s back hit the locker, I took his chin firmly between my fingers so he couldn’t look away. I knew the conflict he was feeling, knew which side he wanted to win out, because that was exactly what was happening inside me.
“What do you want?” His voice was practically a whisper.
I wanted to answer, to have some magic solution for us both, but just like Donovan, I didn’t know how to navigate these new waters.
“Talent, you’re needed on set—scene starts in five,” Rafferty’s assistant called over the megaphone.
“Shit.” There was no time to work through all this right now, not when we needed to get excited for a shoot we hadn’t even plotted out the basics of.
I dropped my hold on Donovan and backed away as I ran a hand through my hair. “We’ll, um. Talk about this later.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Looks like we’re going to have a lot to talk about this weekend.”
I helped him into his jersey, making sure it didn’t get stuck in the shoulder pads, and tried to shake off the gnawing feeling that was taking over.
Sex. Donovan naked. His cock hard in my hand; his cum dripping down my fingers.
That was what I needed to focus on. For the next few hours, all I had to do was enjoy the man I craved with every part of me.
And whatever came after, we’d deal with it. Later.
