Page 57 of Knot Their Starlet

“What, threaten people to get our way?” Beck chuckles, his diamond eyes sparkling as he looks down at me. “I mean, it’s not an infrequent occurrence. As you can probably imagine.”

“Oh, I can imagine,” I huff. “I’m just glad he’s using his powers for good.”

Elijah finishes his hushed speech to the photographer, who looks like he just sucked on a ton of lemons.

“Alright, Andromeda,” Stephan says, his voice particularly harsh when he says my name, almost like it pains him to defer to me in something he probably thinks is his domain. “What would you have us do?”

Stephan stares at me intensely, like he’s expecting me to flounder without direction.

“I think we’ve gotten enough stills for the campaign to pick from. Let’s move on to shooting some video,” I say. “We should start with solo establishing shots and then move on to us as a couple.”

“So... what exactly should I do?” Beck asks, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“Just follow my instructions,” I say, patting his bare chest in a move that’s supposed to be reassuring, but only draws attention to how smooth his chest is. I swallow hard, averting my gaze, needing to pause before I collect myself. “For this first shot, you’re just going to be walking toward the camera.”

“Walking. Got it. I can do that,” he nods, bouncing on his toes and shaking out his arms like he’s about to jump into a fighting ring.

The sight brings a cheeky grin to my face. “I know it’s a lot harder than standing still, but I believe in you.”

I turn my attention to a sour-looking Stephan.

“Let’s start with that establishing shot, yeah? Start with a slow push-in.”

Believe it or not, I’ve gathered a thing or two growing up on reality TV sets and the endless commercials and campaigns I’ve had to film.

Leo and Elijah hover behind me, their presence comforting as I stand beside Stephan, watching him shoot Beck on the monitor.

It’s a shame. He’s pretty good behind the camera, showcasing all he needs to about the movement of the fabric and the elegant lines of Beck’s body. If only he weren’t a creepy asshole.

Or maybe the shots just look that good because Beck naturally looks that good.

“Let’s switch to a lateral track in a second, but don’t crop at his ankle,” I instruct.

Stephan shoots me a narrowed-eyed glare that I choose to ignore, focusing on the excitement buzzing underneath my skin at this opportunity.

“What do I do for this?” Beck calls out, tucking his hands into his back pockets. It makes the muscles in his chest flex.

“For now? Stay still,” I yell out, waving to him before turning to Stephan. “Pan down and then push in on the waistband. That’d be a great shot.”

“You sure are... particular,” he huffs.

I only offer him a shrug.

The rest of the shoot goes pretty well, if I don’t say so myself. Beck’s great at taking direction, at least from me, and the couple’s video shots we get look fantastic. It took a little longer than it normally would because I kept on insisting we watch the shots back between takes just to make sure it was really giving what we wanted.

I’m so excited about the opportunity that I almost miss Stuart’s expression.

Almost is the keyword.

“That was seriously so cool to watch,” Beck says, reaching for my hand and swinging it between us as we walk back to the dressing room.

The casual way he initiates physical touch makes something flutter low in my belly. I mean, we’ve been touching all day. Sometimes I’ve been on top of him. But that was different. That was in front of a camera.

We were putting on a show.

But it doesn’t seem like that’s what Beck’s intentions are right now. Which is... strange.

I attribute it to his being an omega. I definitely feel the urge sometimes to initiate physical contact, it’s one of the best things to help regulate an omega’s emotions. But I grew up in a household where that wasn’t exactly the norm, so I’ve gotten good at pushing that urge down.