EroticTakeover (7 page)

“A couple of hundred. No more than that.”

Her mouth fell open.

Mac must have caught her obviously horrified expression. He
hesitated then pecked the tip of her nose. “You’ll be fine.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“Up on the stool. I’ll be right back.” He left the area and
went into the prop room.

Jodi staggered to the sofa, wincing at her tingly feet. She
gobbled a melon ball, took a huge bite of a cheese bagel then washed everything
down with a gulp of cold coffee. Before she got back to her stool, Mac came
out.

Seeing her, he shook his head. “Have you been bad?”

Her body weakened at the thought of him forgetting the
pictures and pinking up her ass with a lick of the strap or his palm. Him
squeezing her whipped cheeks, adding to the intense heat coursing through them.
“Uh-huh. Gonna spank me now?”

“Later.” He held out a leather garment and collar to her,
both items studded with silver eyelets that made them look doubly brutal and
restrictive. “Put these on.”

Jodi was reluctant to touch them. “Are you serious?”

“I’ll help.”

Before she knew what had happened, Mac had her zipped into
the corset-like thing. The front of it dipped to her pussy, grazing her reddish
curls. The back stopped well short of her ass, exposing it. As for the top, it
had half cups that supported her breasts but bared her nipples.

They constricted painfully.

Mac pulled on the laces. “Let me know if this gets too
tight.”

Jodi figured she’d never know. She’d stopped breathing
seconds before.

“This good?” he asked.

She nodded.

He tied the laces in back, letting the ends dangle over her
cheeks like tiny whips.

For some reason that really turned Jodi on. A riot of
sensations dashed through her, settling in her pussy. She sensed her folds were
swollen again, her cunt wet.

“You okay?” Mac asked.

Jodi turned into him and suckled his throat to show him how
okay she was.

On a hard, passionate growl, Mac cupped her ass and pulled
her into his cock, his mouth seeking hers. They kissed for minutes, their
passion raw and shameless. Finally he tore his mouth free. He looked as dizzy
as Jodi felt.

After a forceful swallow, he gasped, “Where’s the collar?”

She looked. “You’re standing on it.”

He seemed surprised at that. After he’d slipped it around
her throat, he stepped back and studied her.

Despite the heat in his eyes, Jodi still winced at his
scrutiny. “If you laugh,” she warned.

“Laugh?”

Mac crowded her so quickly Jodi danced back. He followed.

“I don’t want to hear shit like that from you again,
understand?”

She screwed up her mouth. “I’m only being honest.”

“About me being a bastard and laughing at you?”

Her face went slack. “No. I didn’t mean…you wouldn’t…”

“I already know that. Criticize yourself again and you’ll
get this.” He grabbed Jodi’s wrist, turned her to the side and smacked her ass
hard.

She sucked in a breath at the pleasant sting and slumped
against him. “If I say I’m butt ugly will you do that again?”

Grinning, he eased her away and grabbed his camera.
“Later…whether you say anything shitty about yourself or not. Back on the
stool.”

His hands were all over her again, sometimes intimately, as
he put her in the poses he liked. He worked her until only a half hour remained
before the studio opened. This time Jodi had been in the same pose for so long,
she thought she’d die. Her joints creaked like an arthritic’s. The leather
caused her to sweat, which only made the corset tighter. Poor Rocco, no wonder
he’d bitched so much about his pants. Jodi was surprised the other models
hadn’t complained louder about these prolonged shoots. Her muscles were stiff
from keeping them still for so long.

When Mac finally finished, her body rejoiced. Her heart, on
the other hand, sank at the thought that their morning together was finally
over.

Reluctantly she dressed. Mac didn’t seem as unwilling.
Whistling, he tugged on his clothes with an eagerness that said he couldn’t
wait to start his day.

“What are you going to do with the photos?” she asked.

He finished zipping his fly and looked up. “Which ones?”

She slanted him a look.

He smiled wistfully. “I’m going to beat my meat to them.”

“What?”

His eyebrows lifted. “Don’t worry. Not while anyone else is
here except you.”

“Oh goody, that makes me feel a lot better.”

“Great.” He winked then went into his office with the
camera’s memory card and closed the door.

Jodi was about to follow until she heard him turn the lock.
Oh
shit.
If he didn’t want her inside, he knew how bad she’d looked while he’d
been shooting her. He was probably going to Photoshop her image to make her
pretty even if he had to risk blowing a circuit board in his computer or frying
his software.

What had she been thinking, going along with him? If those
pictures ever got out—god, if her parents saw them… Jodi shuddered at the
thought. The second Mac had a free moment she was going to tell him to destroy
the damn things. Never again would she do anything this dumb.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him to keep her pictures
safe, but she did know how the world worked. If someone hacked into his
computer and stole the images, they’d probably plaster them all over the
Internet for a good laugh.

Jodi’s hands trembled as she cleaned up their breakfast
stuff, putting the food in the fridge or on the counter. After dumping the used
plates and utensils, she sagged in her chair.

The front door swung open. In came Hilary and Cait, arms
wrapped around each other’s waists, lips locked. After a noisy kiss, punctuated
with breathless moans, they both inclined their heads to Jodi in greeting.

Jodi dipped hers right back.

Cait smacked Hilary’s butt. “Have a great day.”

Giggling, Hilary wound her arm around Cait’s neck and went
at her again. A stranger would have thought that several continents would be
separating them today rather than a few feet in this studio.

Models arrived next, ditching their clothes, ignoring Jodi
except when they had to check in. After what Mac had told her, Jodi found
herself less awestruck and more critical as she examined the babes. She looked
for telltale scars from liposuction, breast implants, whether they’d had their
ears pinned back, their noses rearranged.

Either she needed new glasses or they were still as perfect
as she’d first thought.

With envious confidence, Mac strode past her desk and joined
the others.

“Hey, baby,” Willow purred to him. “Thanks.” She planted a
wet one right on Mac’s mouth.

Jodi’s heart caught. She leaned up to see if he was
returning Willow’s kiss then decided she didn’t want to know. Turning to her
screen, Jodi tried to concentrate on the text but couldn’t. Visions of Willow
kept dancing in her head. She was five-ten with pert boobs and a perfect ass.
Her fair skin was ivory, her Eurasian features exquisite. She wore her straight
black hair Cleopatra-style with full bangs.

“Ah, welcome,” Mac finally said to her. “What did I do?”

“The fruit, bagels and cream cheese. It was so sweet of you
to have your girl get that for us.”

Jodi gritted her teeth.

“Actually, that stuff’s mine,” Mac said. “Don’t touch it.”

Silence fell over the room except for the booming rap tune
one of them had put on. Jodi chanced a look. The models were exchanging
surprised glances at Mac’s harsh tone. Cait was setting up the shoot. Hilary
messed with her trays of makeup. Mac returned the remaining bagels to the
kitchen.

When he came out, Jodi tried to catch his eye to thank him
for keeping their time together special but he got right down to business with
the others, explaining the scene he wanted to create.

For hours, he worked the ladies, finally breaking for a late
lunch. As the models told Jodi what to get them from the organic place, Mac
went into his office and locked his door again. When she returned a short time
later, he wasn’t sitting on the edge of her desk, waiting for her as he had
been yesterday.

She went to the center of the room and glanced down the hall
at his office. He still had his door closed.

“Ah, hon, we’re over here,” Willow said.

She and the other two models reclined on the sofa. One of
them was blonde, like Krista but more delicate in appearance, her fragile
beauty almost unreal. The last model, a lovely Hispanic with chestnut hair and
olive skin, had her iPhone glued to her ear.

Jodi hauled the bags to them.

“Get us some napkins,” Willow said. “I saw plates in the
kitchen too. We’ll need some of—“

“Those are Mac’s,” Jodi interrupted. “Don’t touch them.”

Willow blinked. Jodi’s phone rang. She hurried to her desk
to answer it. “Callaghan Studios.”

“Hi, this is Stan over at Morris Motors. I’d like to speak
to Jodi Bishop.”

Aw god, her car. She’d forgotten about it. “I’m Jodi. Did
you find out what’s wrong?”

“Sure did.” For the next several minutes, he cataloged the
problems.

Jodi’s legs finally gave out when he gave her the estimate.

“Are you sure?” she asked, slumped in her chair. “That seems
so high.”

“It needs a lot of work, ma’am.”

There was a loud clang in the background, as though someone
had dropped a metal rod, then men’s voices shouting something.

“Do you want us to do the work?”

“Will the car run with only some of it done?”

“’Fraid not. All of the problems are related.”

Jodi’s stomach continued to churn. No way did she have
thousands to spend on anything. “Can I call you back?”

“Sure, we’ll be here ‘til six.”

Her hand shook as she lowered the receiver. For the rest of
the afternoon, she struggled with what to do. Without a car, she couldn’t get
here. No way could she ask Mac to pick her up indefinitely or pay so much for
the repairs. She’d thought they’d be eight hundred dollars, maybe a thousand at
most.

She checked her bank balance and recalculated her expenses
until her eyes blurred.

At five fifteen, the delicate blonde tripped on one of the
props and banged her elbow. She insisted on continuing despite her pained
grimace.

Mac gave her a couple of Excedrin and told her to relax.
“Everyone take twenty,” he called to the others then padded to his office. Jodi
followed.

When Mac noticed, he grinned, pulled her inside and kissed
her hard. “I’m glad you’re here. I want to show you something.”

“What?”

“What I’ve been doing.” He led her to his desk and
practically pushed her down into his chair. “Look at my screen.”

Jodi gripped the arms of his chair. “I’d rather not.”

“Come on, don’t be such a baby.” He stood behind her. With
his hands on either side of her head, Mac turned her face to the screen.
“Look.”

Just what she needed, more bad news. On a weary sigh, Jodi
did what he asked. Her breath caught.

Mac came around to the side of her chair and hunkered down.
“What do you think? Be honest.”

What he’d done with her photos was amazing. They had a
brownish-yellow cast as though they’d been taken centuries ago. Somehow he’d
made her hair a mass of elaborate waves on top while also lengthening it until
the ends skimmed her breasts. He’d replaced the leather collar with a brown velvet
ribbon that had a cameo in the center. Her leather corset thingy was now made
of satin and lace with pretty bows trailing down the front.

In dozens of pictures, he hadn’t changed her body or face at
all. She was still big compared to today’s ideal woman, but with the dated
outfit and tint she looked good, nearly hot.

A tear skidded down her cheek.
Oh hell.
Jodi waved
her hand in front of her face so she wouldn’t cry.

Mac touched her arm. “You don’t like them?”

He sounded so uncertain, she threw her arms around his neck
and hugged him as hard as she could. “They’re gorgeous. I look good.”

“Fuck that. You’re beautiful.”

Jodi’s shoulders trembled with her sudden sobs.

“Hey.” Mac pulled back and cupped her face in his hands.
“This was supposed to make you happy. To show you this is how you really look.”

“I’m sorry. I love them. I’m just…”

“Overcome with gratitude?”

“Worried.”

Obviously surprised, he thumbed tears from her cheeks.
“Why?”

Jodi sniffed then told him how much she’d owe if she got her
car fixed.

Mac shrugged. “No biggie. I told you I’d take care of it.”

“No you won’t. I can ’t accept that much money from you.
I’ll never be able to pay it back. I thought about selling Avon like my mom but
I can’t depend on the commissions. I could get a part-time job at night but I’d
have to have a car to get there. Even if I use the bus, it’d take so long
that’d eat into the time I’d need to work. I—“

“Jodi. It’s all right. In fact it’s great. I have an idea.”

She wiped her nose off with the back of her hand. “What? Not
a raise,” she said quickly. “I don’t deserve it. I haven’t been here that
long.”

Mac smiled softly. “No not a raise.” He eased her hair
behind her ear.

“What then?”

There was a loud rap on his door. Mac pushed to his feet and
turned. Cait popped her head inside. “Bethany said she’s feeling better. She
and the others want to get a move on. They’d like to leave at a reasonable hour
tonight. So would Hilary and I.”

“Be right there,” Mac promised.

Cait shot him a look that said he’d better and left, leaving
his door open. Mac gave Jodi a quick kiss then headed out.

“Wait,” she said, reaching for him. “What were you going to
tell me?”

He gave her a mysterious smile. “Call the garage and tell
them to start work on your car.” With that, he left.