Work Text:
Aelin and Lysandra were holding hands only by their pinkies when they walked into work. A few other models called out to them as they snuck into the dressing room to change into the skimpy underwear they were wearing for this photoshoot. They slipped on black silk robes afterwards and headed to hair and makeup.
“I mean he’s definitely cute, A, but I don’t know… I don’t think he was feeling it. I mean he barely even kissed me, it was like… a peck, ya know?” Aelin rolled her eyes at her best friend’s most recent escapades with Aelin’s cousin, Aedion. “Are you sure he’s not, ya know, gay?”
Aelin shrugged and closed her eyes for the makeup artist to apply some kind of shimmery eye shadow. Lysandra continued the conversation with both of their eyes closed, and Aelin tried her best to listen, but when her eyes popped open, she couldn’t focus any more. Her mouth dropped open and the makeup artist complained for her to smile again, her blush was going to get messed up.
Across the room was probably the hottest guy she’d ever seen. He was wearing a tight white t-shirt and black jeans, hanging just low enough that she could see the band of his boxers. His hair was silver and pulled up into a tasteful man bun, and he had tattoos coating the side of his body. He had a pair of glasses shoved on to his face, a camera bag slung around his shoulders and a notepad in his hand. He was an intern then.
When the photographers lined them up, pairing off to take individual shots and get them done faster, Aelin shook her head.
“I want him.”
“He’s an intern,” Lysandra muttered, slapping Aelin on the arm. She shrugged.
“He looks good. Guys with silver hair can’t be bad photographers, it’s against the rules,” she joked, but her friend knew exactly why she wanted that tattooed hipster standing in the corner. Lysandra rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything else and left to go shoot with a female photographer. One of the main photographers grumbled at Aelin, but she knew the couldn’t fire her. She was the queen, the one everyone wanted to see in ads. He caught the intern’s eye and waved him over.
“Rowan, meet Aelin. She’s requested you,” he spit out the last part, but Aelin just smiled triumphantly. The intern, Rowan, looked down at her through his glasses. He grinned, showing slightly sharp canines and spun on his heel, leading her to a white backdrop. He slung the camera bag from his back to his front, which, Aelin noticed, really showed off his muscles in all the right ways, and pulled the camera out, hooking it around his neck. She almost shivered as he yanked the ponytail holder out of his hair and let it fall down to his shoulders.
“You seem to know what you’re doing, so I’m not going to give you that much direction,” he said, turning behind him briefly to look at her. She nodded. She moved to stand in front of the backdrop, her silk robe still floating about her body. He reached up one last time, the camera still dangling around his neck, to tie his hair back into another bun. His muscles rippled and Aelin fought the urge to groan. God, it was eight in the morning, and she was already horny.
Aelin did her sexiest poses when he gestured for her to start, but still, he seemed unfazed. She wasn’t even looking at the camera, she was looking at him, biting her lips, putting her hands in her hair, running her hand down the plane of her stomach. He just tapped on the edge of the lense, trying to get her to look at it. Once they finished, Aelin sauntered up to him, intentionally not retrieving her robe from the ground.
“You seem pretty good, maybe I could come look some time,” she said, lowering her voice into a sultry version of her own.
“You’ll see them when the ad comes out.”
“I didn’t mean the pictures.” She popped the ‘p’ and ran her hand along the span of his upper back as she walked away, making to sure to let her hips sway.
~
Rowan cocked a sculpted eyebrow.
“You’re naked,” he observed, seemingly unaffected by that face. Aelin smirked.
“That I am.” He bobbed his silver head slightly and continued to let his gaze travel up and down her bare body, showing no emotions whatsoever. His eyes met hers and Aelin saw the words in them. Why, exactly, are you naked?
She bared her teeth in a flirtatious grin, returning his stare. I look best in nude photos, and I thought you needed some practice. He continued his assessment as he shucked his canvas jacket off his shoulders, onto the worn table in Aelin’s dining room-slash-kitchen-slash-living area. His camera bag was already lying there. He’d taken it off the second she’d called for him to come in from her bedroom. She’d requested he come over to help her with some headshots she needed taken, but apparently she’d had another idea entirely.
“I have plenty of practice with nude models.” Rowan’s face remained steely calm.
“None like me.” He didn’t want to concede her point, but she was right. He’d never met another person like her, let alone another woman. By now, he was doing his best to keep his gaze trained on her face. It was getting harder and harder to feign disinterest in her body. Oh, God, her body.
He shrugged, and began picking at his nails. Her grin widened.
“Are you nervous, Rowan?” His eyes darted to her face.
“Why would you say that?”
“You’re messing with your nails. You always do that when you’re nervous.” The grin had mostly vanished. How had he never known that she’d payed that much attention? He reached for his camera bag behind him.
“Let’s get this started, shall we?”