“Why do you always make me do this?”
His voice was quiet and deadly. The kind of voice that made the hairs on her arms stand up all at once, and her stomach to drop into her pelvis where an eager warmth grew.
“I don’t want to hurt you…you know that. But you make it so hard.”
As if to punctuate this, he pressed his towering frame into her. The muscles in his arm rippling as he gripped her tighter still.
His eyes were blue flames. Somehow both burning with the heat of emotion, and icy cool in his impassion.
“You look like a slut in this. Who are you dressing up for?”
His hand moved to grip the neckline of her blouse tightly and Michaela closed her eyes, waiting.
“CUT! Ok move the double in please.” The director barked.
Michaela smirked at James and mumbled something close to his ear. Sophie was too far to hear now over the racket of people resetting cameras and loudly giving orders to the assistants that hurried around the set.
‘The double’ moved in, conspicuously rolling her eyes at Anthony, the director. They had been filming for long enough for him to learn the names of the entire catering staff, and yet he couldn’t pick up the name of the one and only body double?
‘Prick’. Sophie thought.
Giving Michaela a polite smile as they passed one another, Sophie moved towards James, awkwardly wedging herself between the wall and his firm chest, her feet on the taped ‘x’ below.
“Hello again.” He smiled at her warmly, but his eyes didn’t stay on hers. He turned to the director to await his orders.
Jobs like these were always a little awkward. As much as you tried, and as long as you filmed, the tension never eased completely. The intimacy they shared was reserved for lovers, and that they were not. Besides the odd polite conversation between takes, Sophie tried to keep her distance. It was just easier for everyone. Being friends with your costar would make sex scenes uncomfortable. Having feelings for them surely made sex scenes unbearable.
He was an attractive guy, she couldn’t deny it. He was the object of many a woman’s fantasy, and films such as these only fuelled that. His dark locks and arctic blue eyes were set in a frame of sharp bone structure that was from another time. He looked straight off the cover of a historic mills and boon novel.
“That needs to be softer and can we bring back makeup for that shine.”
The director continued giving his orders out and one of the makeup girls rushed over to powder James’ brow.
“You’d think they’d have figured out how to make lights that don’t cook you by now.” He smiled.
Sophie could feel his weight shift from one leg to the other impatiently, and she nodded her agreement.
“Ok, everyone good?”
They set up to begin and James wordlessly brought his hand down to grip the back of her neck and grasped the top of her blouse with his other.
“Is that ok?” He whispered, his voice low now.
“You can go harder if you need to, it’s fine.” She smiled reassuringly and brought her fingers up to his, pressing them into her skin firmly.
Sophie felt his grip tighten, and the hairs at her nape pinched under his fingers. It was better to do it right once, than have the director berate them for ‘not committing’. She wanted to be tucked up in bed by 10 tonight, and not reshooting this scene for the umpteenth time.
“Ok, as always just stop me if you need to.”
He was one of the more polite actors Sophie had worked with (far more than the brute he was playing). Not that many of her other roles had been quite so intimate; she was more commonly found jumping off buildings and rolling down stairs, dressed and wigged up like the leading actresses.
Luckily for her, her chocolate locks and fair skin matched Michaela’s nearly identically, which likely contributed to her getting the role, and also saved her many boring hours in the hair and makeup trailer.
With the quiet snap of the clapperboard, the scene began, and James paused as he fell back into character. His eyes found hers and narrowed in the sudden and unsettling quietness of the room.
“Who are you dressing up for?”
With one quick and violent movement, the blouse was torn from her front. Left hanging by her sides in two ragged pieces, and revealing the nearly completely sheer white lace of her bra. She knew the dusky pink of her areolas were stark.
Sophie grimaced in mock embarrassment and turned her face to the side, arching her back slightly towards James as his face moved down towards her open neck. His teeth grazed the soft thin skin and she gasped.
“Fuck…You make me crazy El…You do this to me.” His short sentences punctuated by short sharp nips of her flesh.
His fingers moved to the border of ivory lace and ivory skin, and edged underneath until she felt his fingertip graze her nipple. It hardened instantly and Sophie felt a warm wetness between her thighs. She put it down to reflex, but her cheeks warmed and she mentally shook herself off.
‘Professionalism don’t fail me now.’
James lifted his head and brought his mouth inches from her ear.
“Slut.”
Sophie pressed her legs together against the wetness, which only served to bring James’ leg closer in, and as she did, she felt a throb against her hip.
‘Fuck. He’s hard. What the fuck?’
Sophie turned her face back to his and searched his eyes, feeling the wet warmth of his mouth inches from hers.
They’d filmed several scenes together already and nothing like this had ‘come up’ before so to speak. Her surprise subsided and she assured herself that he too must also be feeling embarrassed by the involuntary erection than now lay nestled against her. ‘Human nature right?’.
“Please…stop this.” She whispered the words.
“You don’t want me to stop.”
His mouth curved up in the corner and his eyes flashed before his lips crashed down painfully on hers. She tasted the sharp metallic tang for a moment, and then she tasted only him.
Sophie’s hands moved to his shirt, nails digging in more than necessary to the flesh beneath, and James tightened his grip on her neck once more, pulling her closer still until her mouth opened and his tongue claimed hers.
“CUT.”
They broke away.
“Great, perfect guys. Let’s break and come back for the next scene at 6? Is that enough time?” The director was already looking towards someone else, who checked their clipboard before nodding.
“See you at 6.”
James still had tight hold of her as room started to clear and the noise grew. Sophie expected this was to hide the erection that was now starting to soften.
“Shit! I’m really sorry, I think I caught your lip.”
Sophie swiped at her mouth and saw the faint brown smear on the back of her hand. Licking her lips instinctively, she tasted the blood once more, but the taste of his mouth persisted too.
“It’s fine, I’ve had worse.”
Smiling politely and back in control of all of her faculties, she pushed him gently back and moved towards the assistant who she could see approaching with her gown. She slipped into it quickly, eager to hide herself now.