And that understanding of him, that small glimpse into who he really was, made some kind of mad desire take root within me.
I wanted Reese. I wanted a fraction of that thing that set his soul on fire, that thing that he understood on some kind of intuitive level. He could capture this kind of unique magic and then show it to other people in this way.
I bit my lip, watching the way his suit jacket pulled across his broad shoulders. And I couldn’t help but let my eyes travel down to his slim waist.
My attention was pulled back to the bed as Prince Valentine tore open Lady Bryn’s top, and a flutter of motion to my right caught my eye.
Oliver flinched as if the tearing of that fabric was tearing out a piece of his soul.
I empathized with that — it was causing me some degree of creative pain to watch Lady Bryn’s hair tangle and mat as Prince Valentine ran his fingers through it. I knew what it felt like to have to watch your work get destroyed before your very eyes.
Reese shifted his weight onto his right foot. Something was wrong.
I tried to follow his line of sight, wondering what could be so wrong as to upset the Zeus of this scene.
Then I saw it.
Prince Valentine was shirtless on top of Lady Bryn, his muscles bulging as he dipped his head to kiss her neck passionately. I could see the lines in his back flex as his muscles knitted together, working hard to let him move so fluidly.
Though his body was gyrating on top of Alina’s, there was something… off in the air.
Then Prince Valentine’s eyes flickered up to me.
My breath caught in my throat. It was no longer Prince Valentine there, but Leo. And his hazel-gold eyes were piercing right through me.
Just like the first time I saw him, I felt rooted to the spot. It was like there was no one else in the room around us; no one but me and him.
I swallowed, and it was all too easy to picture myself underneath him writhing like that.
Just like it should be, I thought.
I jumped as the foreign thought entered my mind and I looked away, trying to conceal the hardness in my pants.
Though, no one was looking at me except Leo.
“Cut,” Reese said cooly.
And just like that, the tingling magic that had been present in the scene ebbed away as everything shifted back to normal. We were back in the real world.
Alina sat up on the bed, her hair a huge tangled white nest. From the look on her face, I could tell that she wasn’t happy with her performance.
All the pairs of eyes in the room slowly settled on Reese, waiting for further direction.
He crossed his arms, looking from Alina’s torn bodice to her mess of hair. “We got enough of it. I’m calling this one.”
There was some clapping and cheers in the room, but it seemed half-hearted.
Something went wrong there, but no one could put their finger on what.
As Leo climbed off the bed, Reese went right over to him and put his hand on his shoulder, just as I saw him do on the beach yesterday. Then, as if I was watching it all over again, Reese slid his hand down to Leo’s bicep.
There was too much rustling in the room as the crew began to pack up, so I couldn’t hear what Reese was saying to Leo. All I could make out was that he was speaking to him, the words lost in the cacophony of noise.
Leo nodded, and then he followed Reese out of the room.
I narrowed my eyes; something was going on there.
“How did I do?” Alina asked. I could tell she was riddled with stress, though she was trying to put on a brave face. Blush was just beginning to vanish from her cheeks.
“You did spectacularly,” I encouraged, wrapping her in a big hug. “Captivating. I can’t wait for you to re-watch it! Do you even see yourself?” I said, gesturing to her reflection in the mirror.
She blinked and blushed. “It looks like I just got fucked,” she admitted.
“Exactly. And you did, love. At least that’s what the audience is going to think,” I encouraged.
She smiled and squeezed my hand. “You always know just what to say,” she said.
As I reassured Alina over and over again about how she’d crushed it, I couldn’t help but start to wonder what it would be like when the roles were reversed. Would she give me the same support I was giving her? Or would I be stuck orbiting her, taking care of her feelings as if I was a moon orbiting a celestial body?
“Alina, I have something to tell you…” I said as we left the room.
The rest of the cast and crew were lagging behind, and we were finally alone in a curling staircase that descended into the castle.
“What is it?” She asked, still coming down from the performers’ high.
“I… uh, well, Reese asked me if I’d shoot a sex scene with Mason,” I said.
Instead of looking surprised, Alina smirked knowingly.
“Wait… did you know about this?!” I asked incredulously.
“I had a feeling,” she admitted. “It’s clear that Reese likes you. Every time you’re not looking at him, he’s stealing glances at you.”
Heat rose into my cheeks once again. “You’re just saying that to flatter me.”
But everything in me longed for it to be true; I longed to have some kind of piece of that magic that Reese seemed to be able to bend. I longed to be a part of his art, and the fact that I was enough to hold his gaze was the highest flattery I’d ever gotten.
“No, he stares at you. But it’s in a way like… like he’s got a shiny new toy. You know what I mean? You must have seen the way he was looking at the scene
