Free Rising, Freestyle: Xtreme Adventures, Book 2 by Vivian Arend Page A

who’s telling you how beautiful you are. Don’t you believe me?”
    “I do, but…he’s watching.”
    “Doesn’t matter. Pretend he’s not. Pretend there’s no one here but us.”
    Derrick stretched his arm across her body and took her lips like a starving man. Melanie snuck one hand up, fingers tangled in Derrick’s hair. Her other hand splayed against the wall as she got caught up in the kiss.
    Maybe he was a bastard, but Nathan never stopped taking shots. He dipped to his knees, twisting to achieve the camera angles he needed. While Derrick and Melanie’s lips meshed, their panting breathes echoing off the two-story ceiling, Nathan focused less on big-picture shots and more on revealing a mosaic of flesh and need. The arch of Melanie’s shoulder, the smooth curve of the upper swell of her breast. Derrick’s hand hit the wall next to her torso, the line of his biceps perfectly covering the swatch of fabric over her breasts. The muscular arm appeared as the only thing keeping her upper torso from full exposure to the camera’s lens.
    Gorgeous .
    In his peripheral vision, Nathan spotted a beam of light inching closer as it fell through the skylight to hit the mat at their feet. Inspiration hit, and Nathan didn’t hesitate.
    “Derrick, help Melanie to the floor. Place her in the sun.”
    The other man dragged himself away, blinking hard as he fought his way back from the lust-filled creature Nathan had been capturing. Derrick nodded agreement, slipping his hands up Melanie’s torso until he could lift her, taking her to the off-kilter square of brightness marking the center of the gym.
    “Nate?”
    God, the lost-little-girl sound trembling on her voice was going to kill him. “Don’t worry, monkey, nothing scary is happening. It’s as if you’re back in drama class and you have to pretend to be a tiny little seed. I want you to curl up into as tight a ball as you can.”
    She nodded slowly, her fingers still linked with Derrick’s as he stood to her side. “Do you…” She cleared her throat. “Do you want me to take off my top?”
    Oh shit . That was so like the Melanie he remembered, attempting to push her own limits far sooner than she needed to. Nathan’s gaze shot to meet Derrick’s. The warning shake of Derrick’s head wasn’t needed. Nathan nodded silently, acknowledging his understanding. She wasn’t ready for more, not today. “Nahh, these are test shots, right? Just plop your butt down and let me take advantage of the light.”
    The visible relaxing of her body showed they’d made the right decision. With incredible grace, Melanie sat, pulled her thighs to her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins.
    “Do you need me to do anything?” Derrick asked.
    Nathan stepped in circles around his subject, working as he spoke. “Not this time. Since it’s just the test shots. Wait—yes, in a second I’ll use your shadow. Okay, Mel, remember that drama-class thing? You’re a seed, and it’s springtime. Let’s see you grow.”
    Melanie lifted her head from where she’d buried her face against her knees. Her eyes were still covered, but her smile shone out clear and bright. “Oh, come on, you’re not going to tell me what kind of flower I am? What’s my motivation? Am I a good seed? Or a bad one? I can’t possibly do this kind of improv without more direction.”
    Nathan and Derrick both laughed.
    “You’re nuts, that’s what you are,” Derrick teased.
    “Ahhh, a peanut plant. See, that’s what I mean, Nate. Give me instructions, and I can do anything.”
    As if by magic, the high sexual tension and lingering fear that had fogged the space around them for the past couple of hours faded away, and for the next thirty minutes there was nothing but easy camaraderie between them all.
    Friends. Nathan finished his work even as he struggled through what was a massive mental change in game plan. It was becoming crystal clear that Derrick and Melanie were more than something casual,