A Strong Hand Read Free

know how to do whatever Damian told him to do next.
    A strong hand landed on the small of his back and propelled Nicholas forward to where Damian had set up a painted canvas backdrop and what looked to be a ballet bar.
    "Just kneel there for a minute, will you? I need to check the lighting."
    Sighing, Nick got to his knees and crossed his arms, scowling defiantly at the camera.
    Ignoring the defiant expression, Damian called out, "Turn around. No, all the way. Away from me, you dolt."
    Nick shuffled around on his knees until his back was square to the camera.
    "Back toward me. To the left. Your left! Your other left!"
    Damian sighed in mounting frustration as Nicholas first turned to his right, away from the main light, and then back into his original position. He strode quickly forward and took the boy by the shoulders, jerking him into the position he wanted.
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    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford
    "There! That's where I want you. Stay right there and don't move."
    He raced back behind the camera, cursing softly to himself. He wondered why he'd never noticed the sculpted cheekbones and elegant jawline of his young assistant.
    Damian had noticed his eyes, of course; they were hard to miss with their long lashes, but somehow he'd become fixated on Nicholas's nose, directing all his irritation with his incompetent assistant at his nose. The slight asymmetry seemed to take up Damian's entire vision when he looked at Nicholas, but something about the way the lights were caressing the young man's face made his beauty spring to life for him for the first time.
    "Nicholas," Damian said softly in a moment of recognition.
    How could he have been so blind?
    "Yeah?" Nick responded, not daring to move from his position.
    "The model bailed. And I have this idea, a concept; it's gnawing at me. I want to take the shot. I need to," Damian started to explain.
    Nick swung around to face him and nodded. Damian was startled. It looked as if Nicholas understood just what he was saying about his need to create the image in his head and was agreeing with him! What did he study at university again? Whatever. Damian couldn't remember ever asking him.
    "I need a model to pull this off. Can I use you?"
    "What do I need to do?" Nick asked, his voice interested and bright for the first time in Damian's memory.
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    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford
    "I need to work out the pose, and it'll be cheaper to use you than a model. Just with some of these things of Ashley's,"
    Damian said, waving a careless hand at a table holding various whips and strappy-looking things.
    "All—all right," Nick said faintly, looking at the table full of implements with nervous fascination.
    "Right. Get up and out of your kit, then," Damian ordered.
    "I need your bare skin."
    He grinned impishly, expecting to have to convince the young man when he refused, but was surprised as without hesitation, Nicholas started stripping right there in the set, tossing his T-shirt off to the side. He stood up to toe his sneakers off and unzipped his pants, only to realize that Damian was staring at him. His hands hesitated. "Am I doing it wrong?"
    Damian laughed. "There's no wrong way to get undressed.
    Especially if.... "He trailed off, thinking it might not be wise to bandy racy comments with his assistant. On the other hand, the way things were going, Nicholas wouldn't be around that long anyway. "Especially with a tight little ass like yours," he resumed, figuring it didn't make much difference if Nicholas ran screaming into the night. No model, no shot, at least for today. "Green socks?"
    "Oh. I thought maybe I shouldn't be throwing my clothes on the floor," Nick muttered, ignoring the comment on his brightly colored socks.
    "Throw them wherever you like, other than in the set,"
    Damian said generously, excited by the prospect of a compliant model to play with for a couple of hours. This way 18
    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford
    he could get his idea worked out before the expensive model arrived.
    Nick