Owning My Image
INtrinSicliValud
Owning My Image
By INtrinSicliValud
Copyright © 2021 INtrinSicliValud
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: intrinsiclivalud100@yahoo.com
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
A yawn slipped from my cracked lips as the door thumped closed off the endless hubbub of the last day of the convention behind me. From the river beyond the small outdoor patio a languid, humid breeze swept rolling paper cups and discarded trash across the dozen ancient, stained plastic tables. The combined stench of stale cigarette smoke, cheap nachos, burned popcorn, and sickly sweet spilled soda flooded my nostrils as I settled into a cheap plastic chair on the concrete patio.
With a groan, I stretched out my taut calf. After leaning forward, I tried not to spill from the ridiculously tight, strapless short dress that Allen, my boss, insisted I wear. He always insisted I wear something revealing.
At least he was honest. Dressed as I was, I brought in more clients, one almost nipple-slip at a time.
Why did I even listen to the sexist bastard?
The money.
And maybe, deep down, something else.
“No, fuck that. Allen is a sexist bastard,” I muttered to myself as my fingers massaged my ankle.
He always seemed so happy, though. His smile, even as he ogled me, somehow reassured me. At my age, to get the stares I got from him and others was conflicting. On the one hand, it was condescending, but it was also nice to be worthy of being ogled.
A loud sigh escaped my lips.
No matter, it was another long day of walking, smiling, avoiding bending and surviving the crowds of sales and marketing “geniuses” as they tried to sell me useless crap.
The aches of spasming muscles flashed as my fingers dug into the swollen leg. Allen liked to show me off more than my husband, Dave.
And I let him. It got me what I wanted, more clients for him and… Well, it kept Allen happy. Why that was important to me, I did not know.
Really.
Just as I slipped from my well-worn heels and massaged my ankles, the door opened behind me, unleashing the cacophonous roar once again. With a quick tug at my dangling bodice, I sighed. Whoever it was, sat down across from me — Silk suit trousers. And expensive leather shoes.
Great! After three days of being hit on, one more jerk has to try.
“I’m married,” I said. My tone not taking any pains to hide my frustration at turning aside yet another asshole.
“I know.”
He knew? So what the hell? I swallowed and lifted my gaze.
Oh! Oh, wow!
This guy had the most amazingly brilliant gold-flecked, light hazel eyes. While I was married, I wasn’t dead. My mind froze as they bored deep into me. My breath seized when the bright white teeth of his wide smile gleamed. Only then did I process the swarthy, chiseled features of the young man sitting motionless before me. The air caught in my throat as I licked my upper lip and sat upright to return his stare.
“Sorry to intrude, but today is the last day…”
Here it comes. Boys only want one thing. My fists balled as his shiny lips moved. He had such pretty, full lips.
Focus, Laura!
He wants to take me to dinner or something else. With a sigh, I braced for the usual dull pick up line.
Instead, his hand slid across the table toward me. “I find it best to be direct. You’re beautiful and I’ve been watching you for the past several days…”
Unlike any other man, when he said “beautiful” the swarthy man spoke matter-of-factly. So calm, I almost missed the fact he was watching me for several days. It wasn’t a compliment the way he said “beautiful.” The way he spoke, with the serious look on his stony face, he was stating a truth. Even more impressive, he kept his eyes on mine rather than staring at my barely concealed boobs. And that was nice, for a change.
Wait! He was watching me? Oh.
My mind spun as I tightened my gaze on the mystery man. Hmm, there was a tall man in the crowd nearby several times during the week. My gaze flicked down to the table as his hand slid back, leaving an elegant business card behind.
“Derrin Hall.”
“That’s me. And again. I’ll be brief. For the past several days, your boss has been using you. You’re also a very intelligent woman.” He paused to let me process what he said before continuing. “Yes, I’ve been listening as well.”
It was true. With my advanced degree, I ended up answering as many, if not more, queries than my counterparts. Of course, Allen didn’t appear to notice that at all. But I think he did, anyway; he was just toying with me.
God, I want a new damned job.
Do I?
It wasn’t bad being a toy if it brought in extra money, was it?
And Dave and I needed money. Two boys in college ate through cash. Our older home, almost as old as our cars, and a small but growing mountain of debt was proof of that.
The hunk’s pretty lips moved again. “I am offering you the chance to control your own image.”
For the first time, his gleaming eyes roamed my exhausted, aching frame before returning to my face. It was not unpleasant; unlike the ogling I usually endured.
“Rather than give away almost all of your exquisite beauty, as you are now, I can help you monetize your natural assets.”
“Oh, so you want me to be a model?”
About to chuckle at the thought of a thirty-seven-year-old mother of two being a model; my chest tightened. While Derrin’s eyes were unmoving, his grin widened.
“All I’m saying is a woman as remarkable as you could make a lot of money. Should she choose to reveal more.”
As my brow scrunched and I pursed my lips, he folded his hands on the table and looked around the dozen or so drab, stained plastic tables on the patio. It was a nasty place to take a break, yet still better than back inside the main hall.
“And then you would control the marketing and distribution of those images. I can help with that.”
My mind whirled. My bullshit detector clanged as the swarthy man idly twirled his fingers.
“So not just modeling, but more like those lingerie photos?”
“More involved than that. Look, the website is on my card. There are several free example photos and some basic info.”
His stunning eyes returned to me, though the grin now dissipated. I missed it already.
“I travel a lot, but I am here all day tomorrow doing other shoots. If you are interested, I can squeeze you in. If not, I apologize for intruding and wish you well.”
As much as I so wanted to say something snarky, he unfolded himself from his squeaking chair to tower over me. And I became lost in the shadow of his imposing, muscular frame before he turned and walked away. The crowd noise came and went as his impressive bulk disappeared within and a pair of men stepped out and stared. Not at my eyes. After gripping my bodice, I yanked it up and sighed as they sauntered past, whispering.
What the actual fuck had just happened? That had been the most elaborate attempt to… What?
This Derrin guy seemed, if nothing else, as businesslike as if he were selling time shares. With a grimace, I slipped my ancient stilettos back on, adjusted the overwrought bodice once more before standing up to return to the main hall. Derrin appeared earnest. The door clanged behind me. Heads turned, grins widened, and eyes inspected me again, but not like Derrin—no, these were coarse, lingering, ogling stares. Derrin was right in his assessment. Out here, I was practically naked and Allen, for damned sure, wasn’t paying me as much as some of the lower level guys. With a sigh, I swept the card up and shoved it into my purse.
And that lack of pay hurt. While I smiled and babbled on about our products or listened to other clients, the shoes gouging my feet were about ten years old, purchased for a New Year’s Eve party. As I finally headed back to my room, the safety pin in my hem rubbing against my nylons reminded me the only reason I even fit into this tattered dress from my pre-kid time was intense dedication to the gym.
At long last, I collapsed against the inside of my door and exhaled. The men in the elevator had been very drunk and very verbose. As my chest pounded, I listened for voices or staggering footsteps. They hadn’t followed me. Still shaking, I showered the sweaty conference stench away and ordered dinner in my room. Allen had invited me to dinner with some prospects, but I told him I expected a video call with Dave and the boys. I didn’t, but fuck him. He could hire one of the many booth bimbettes or escorts to be his toy.
Though it smelled promising, the room service meal tasted mediocre, and I forced down only enough to quiet the grumbling in my stomach while checking Derrin’s website. Not distracted by the remarkably tasteful photos, I went right for the details of his company and its offerings. Only then did my eyes flick from image to image, but this time I estimated how much each topless or nude woman earned. And then there was a pay-walled area promising even more.
After closing the laptop, I readied for bed and lay down to run the numbers. The hard, cold math with which I was so familiar these days. The website photos ranged from sexy and suggestive to downright raunchy, so I would have my choice. If I did this, I could project whatever image I chose.
Nodding at my reflection in the mirror, I dialed my husband. We rambled on for a while; me sharing the gory details of being eye-fucked by strangers and Dave telling me about another shitty day in his dead-end job.
My heart raced. “Sweetheart. I, uh… I got a strange offer today.”
“A competitor finally gonna snag you from Al?” Dave chuckled.
Allen despised the nickname “Al” so we always called him that among ourselves. My chest tightened as I struggled to slow my breathing. “No. Uh, I was on break and a guy offered me a modeling job.”
Focused on the barely discernable pattern on the faded wallpaper, I braced for one of Dave’s snide remarks. But no remark came at all, and the silence stretched on. Would he ask me about Derrin? How would I describe him other than tall, dark, muscular, and handsome? That would not help my case.
Did I have a case? Would I… Should I tell Dave it isn’t exactly modeling?
“It’s just pictures, right?”
His response stunned me.
Before I could respond, he added. “I mean, we could use the money.”
“Well…”
I was about to send him the website link, but Dave spoke once more.
“It’s your body. If….”
Though I expected a belated, offhand remark about being too old to be a model, he sighed and added. “If you are comfortable with it, I say go for it.”
A gasp of surprise flew from me.
“You are gorgeous.”
Yes, he was my husband, but a wide smile exploded across my face. The reflection in the black flat panel TV screen was that of a woman unleashed.
“Just be careful, okay, darling? It could be a scam.”
It could’ve been, but I never told Dave how Derrin had observed me for three days before approaching me. Perhaps I should have.
Even after hanging up, I traced the gold embossed lettering on the business card and just breathed in the silent room. With a loud, long exhale, I texted Derrin before placing my phone down and reaching for the light. Not expecting an instantaneous response, the sudden dinging startled me.
I have attached the contract. We can discuss when you arrive.
What should I wear?
For now, whatever you feel most comfortable. You’ve seen the website.
For now?
As I glanced at the screen, I couldn’t help thinking that he was betting on a long shot. With a sigh, I walked to my laptop to review the document. What made him think anyone would be that interested in my pictures that I would return?
The contract was fairly straightforward. He took the images and owned them, but I approved all uses. A few sections had me raising my eyebrows, and I had a better appreciation of what may be behind the pay wall.
Despite being keyed up about tomorrow, exhaustion won over and I finally dozed off to Derrin’s laughing eyes and broad smile. Funny, he hadn’t actually laughed at me. Ever.
In the morning, I texted Allen I was leaving early and stared at anything in my suitcase that would be close to what I’d seen in the photos. Those that wore clothing.
Oh, I wonder?
With a growing grin, I unzipped one of the inner pockets. There it was. What little there was of it. My stomach fluttered as I shook out the strings.
Am I really going to wear this for Derrin?
Well, when I revealed myself, I would know right away if he would work with me.
It was beyond small. A gift from my dear, horny husband on our tenth anniversary. Never worn since one boy got sick. Several trips ago, I’d shoved it into the pocket when Dave planned to accompany me. He hadn’t. They needed him at the plant. Blah, blah, blah. So I decided not to wear it and had forgotten about the tiny suit. As my chest clenched, I held the miniscule black triangles before my naked frame and sucked on my lips.
I would have to shave.
A lot.
Busy as he was, Derrin wasn’t able to give me a specific time and the feeling of my near naked body even under the hotel robe was driving me mad with anticipation. The rest of the morning dragged, and, when it buzzed, I nearly dropped the phone in my haste.
Room 834. Now.
My legs were already moving as I pecked on my phone that I was on my way. One last glance to ensure my wavy auburn hair behaved, and I swept from the room. My knees trembled as I waited for the elevator and did another “last glance” in the nearby mirror. Had I put on too much mascara? Was the blood-red lipstick I’d chosen too glossy for pictures? Was it too red? God, the freshly shaven area on my mound was sliding against the silken bikini every time I moved.
The elevator arrived. The doors opened. It was empty, and I stared at my reflection in the glass wall. Last chance to chicken out. Dave would understand; especially once I showed him the website. The same Dave who’d bought me the itty-bitty swimsuit and said we needed the money. And we definitely needed the money.
And Derrin was up there waiting for me.
As I bit on the lower corner of my lip, I stepped inside and tapped “8.”
He had such pretty eyes.
Once out of the elevator, I walked along the plush hallway. A door opened ahead of me and a young woman stepped out, still strapping one of her heels on. The door closed behind her while she made her way towards me, sweeping her battered hair from her face and flashing me a tight grin. When she slid past me, I could clearly see the prominent red stripes around her throat, her flushed face and how her entire body glistened.
Unsurprisingly, the door she’d come from was 834. After one last glance at the swaying woman who now reapplied her lipstick as she waited for the elevator to return, I paused before the door. With one final exhale of every molecule of air from my body, I knocked.
As the elevator dinged, the door swung open. Derrin stood before me wearing only loose black silk trousers; my chest fluttered. He gestured me inside, his stunning smile broadening as the scent of sex assailed my nose. Beyond the swarthy hunk was an unkempt bed.
When I strode further, I noticed a young basalt god of a man in shorts tapping on his phone as he sat in a chair. At the clacking of my heels, his chiseled, rugged face looked up and flashed me a brilliant smile before returning almost immediately to his phone.
Beyond the seated man, a diminutive Asian girl, lithe and stunningly beautiful with long, black, straight hair, attended several cameras on tripods. As he gestured me towards a table, Derrin ignored man and waved at the woman.
“That’s Mia, my girlfriend.”
Well, of course he would have a girlfriend. And a drop-dead gorgeous one at that. All for the better, as I’d no desire to do anything but get the pictures taken. Really. Though he still had pretty eyes, and they gleamed at me as he opened a folder on the table.
“Here. We’ve got time before the next appointment. Did you have any questions or concerns?”
A nervous laugh escaped my lips.
“Concerns? Yeh, a million of them.”
The sudden bright flash of his white teeth and the way the corners of his eyes crinkled made me stagger. With a short sigh, I looked at the notes I’d jotted on my phone.
“Rochelle?”
“Well, you don’t want to use real name, right?”
While I’d never really thought to use any name at all, his glance at the seated man gave me pause. Licking my lips, I nodded.
“Interactive?”
“Oh, sorry. You, uh… That wasn’t supposed to go to you, since you’re married.”
My eyes narrowed even as my chest tightened. “It pays a lot more money.”
“Yes, but that is well beyond modeling, and you didn’t even seem too keen on that.”
His eyes reflected the slanting sunbeams and flashed gold at me as I considered his answer. It paid a lot more, but for what?
“Solo, really?” I asked.
While trying not to make it too obvious he was scanning my body under the short terry-cloth robe, he licked his lips. The pretty man was actually nervous. “Uh, well, a gorgeous woman like you playing with yourself is very popular. Which translates to, as you noted, a lot more money.”
He glanced over at Mia, who nodded. “Anything else? We are losing the light.”
With an eyebrow raised, I looked around the room.
Derrin explained. “I thought we’d make these extra risqué and do the shoot on the balcony. That way if these are all you do, they will earn you the most.”
As my heart raced, I stared at the other tall buildings beyond the railing and swallowed. Derrin moved towards the tripod-mounted camera Mia had placed to shoot across the balcony. Nobody in those towers knew me. Worst case, they may discover the sexy model, Rochelle. Derrin’s eyes lifted from the viewfinder at the sound of my heels as I stepped onto the patio. After sliding from the robe, I tossed it to a chair.
It was his eyebrows' turn to rise as a silent wolf whistle betrayed his approval of the tiny swimsuit straining to keep me covered. Despite the heat, I shivered. My fingers slid through my hair while I sucked on my lips. When he glanced at his girlfriend, I stole a glance at his swelling crotch.
Okay, maybe I ‘m not so bad for a thirty plus woman.
A grin cracked my face as he swept his eyes over me once more. If it wasn’t obvious before, standing with my arms dangling at my sides, I’d never modeled. Least of all wearing less than twelve square inches of thin, black silken material. And that taut material had been rubbing against my freshly shaven mound all morning; a tickle slid down my inner thigh to remind me.
“Okay, I’m set. You ready?” Derrin asked.
After a nervous glance at the seated man who paid us no attention while engrossed in his phone and Mia, moving equipment, I nodded.
“Alright then. Show me what you’ve got.”
What I possessed were the graceful moves of a drunken gazelle as I flailed around, trying to act sexy like the girls on his website. At last, Derrin popped his head up from the viewfinder and held up his hand. He was going to send me packing, and my shoulders slumped. Instead, he smiled at me.
“You are priceless.”
My lips pursed.
Is he mad? Me? He is calling me “priceless?”
“Stop trying to act like you are sexy. You ARE sexy. Pretend it’s just us alone. Or your husband. Put on a show that would make him take you right here in the open, before the world.”
Not sure Dave would do that, but something glittered in Derrin’s eyes. Derrin might. Then I glanced at his girlfriend, who now sat reading her tablet. My eyes returned to him.
“Believe me, you’ve got what men, and women, want. Now, just show it off.”
After the pep talk, Derrin patiently guided me through more and more sultry poses until I stood before him, hip cocked and fingers in my hair, while my other hand slipped under my boobs.