Part IV - Sweet and Sour
Of course they were interrupted.
And a good thing it was, too, because Adam wasn’t sure he and Tommy would have been able to eat all that ice cream before it turned to slush, what with them being busy exploring each other’s mouths and getting all hot and bothered.
Still, when the curtain was pulled back and Camilla not-so-discreetly cleared her throat, Adam did not want to stop. At all. But he did.
He tried to take a step back and maybe look less guilty of whatever they were going to be accused of. Only there wasn’t enough room to create any significant amount of space between them. Besides, the tub of Vanilla Chocolate Chip Adam was holding painted him caught red-handed no matter which way you looked at it. Realising his lack of options here, Adam relaxed back into Tommy’s arms, curiously watching the exchange between the other two.
Cam, for her part, was wearing a deeply unimpressed look on her face, her lips pursed and eyebrows raised. Tommy gave her an equally unimpressed look back, though it was kind of ruined by the flush in his checks and his messed up hair falling into his eyes. (Adam loved playing with that hair. It was really fluffy.)
The mutual stare-down lasted and lasted, until Cam finally sighed and grabbed some Häagen Dazs for herself.
“C’mon guys, you don’t want to keep everyone waiting,” she said, already halfway down the path they had come. Grumbling a token protest under his breath, Tommy followed her. Adam trailed behind them, the taste of ice cream and kisses still fresh on his mind.
Tommy continued to pout about people keeping the ice cream away from him all through getting his make-up applied. Which in turn made Sutan bitch good-naturedly about how much he wanted to be blessed with Tommy’s metabolism, since he only had to look at a piece of cake to gain ten pounds. (Utter bullshit in Adam’s opinion; Sutan was a tall Asian beauty with a freaking model figure. Then again, Sutan had always been extremely finicky about what he ate and would always worry about not being able to fit into Raja’s dresses. Being a drag queen came with a whole new set of problems, apparently.)
Adam hung back as Tommy got his hair brushed and changed into a shirt saying I’m a Pepper. Different jeans, too. When he was declared ready for the shooting, the blond gave Adam a quick peck on the cheek and was gone, leaving him leaning against the make-up counter next to Sutan, nonplussed.
Wait… that’s it? Shouldn’t I…?
Adam turned to his friend with a question in his eyes. Sutan, being the amazing glittery creature that he is, understood without having to ask.
“No baby, they gotta shoot some set-up scenes first. Your work, such as it is…” Sutan paused and winked. “I’m sure it’ll be required later. Why don’t you go watch, say hi to everyone.”
“And you?”
“I’m outta here. All these energetic youngsters making noise - it’s no good for your old tranma. I’ll take a nap, maybe go through some mail. Gonna check in with you guys later.”
Sutan grabbed his handbag, and was about to leave when Adam spoke up, remembering something.
“Oh, Sutan? The pants you gave me, I’ll return them-”
“You will do no such thing, honey. They’re perfect for you, and I insist you take them. No need to thank me.” Sutan waved a hand dismissively, indicating that the subject was closed, and turned on his heel.
Adam watched his friend sashay out before he finally squared his shoulders and faced the inevitable. New day, new set, new start.
Should be easy as pie, right?
The glittery décor was gone, replaced by a living room; all warm, muted colours and soft carpet. Little trinkets were strewn about on the shelves. A sweatshirt hung over the back of an armchair. Nothing looked new, on the contrary, the place appeared lovingly lived-in. Cozy.
Quite the change of scene from yesterday.
Looking around, Adam discovered that once everyone and their cables were in place, the room seemed nearly empty. There were no extras hanging around this time, just the crew waiting on the side lines. Brad and Sasha were having a quiet discussion by themselves, Cam looked bored (in a professional way), and the techs seemed to be doing their best to blend in with the background.
Adam spotted Tommy talking to a guy he hadn’t seen before. Getting a better look while trying not to be too obvious about it, he came to the conclusion that the cutie with the short brown hair and doe eyes would be starring alongside Tommy today.
They painted a pretty picture, Tommy and Doe Eyes, standing next to each other, casually bumping shoulders, both of them beautiful in their own way, slender build, and about the same size.
Suddenly, the question of who was going to be the bottom in such a constellation popped into Adam’s head. He pondered this, seizing up the double twink menu. (Really, they were both exactly his type. He couldn’t help but stare, mouth watering, even as he inwardly rolled his eyes at himself.)
Second day on the job, and I’m already a pro-pervert. Awesome.
He guessed, partly because Sutan hadn’t painted Tommy’s tattoos away, that the blond looked the more aggressive of the two. The other actor had this sweet boy-next-door vibe going, what with his soft features and easygoing smile, so Adam could sort of see the whole Tommy-as-top thing working. Sort of.
Once Sasha gave the signal for everyone to get to their marks, Brad came over to give Adam a hug, followed by the offer of fresh coffee and a fold-out chair next to his to sit in. To be honest, Brad’s politeness gave Adam the creeps, but he didn’t dare looking a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, he stuck to sipping his coffee and watching the set. Seemed like the safe option.
The story unfolded.
It was different from how Adam had imagined. Tommy and Doe Eyes - Kris, Sasha called him - got settled, and for a while nothing much happened. Book in hand, Kris laid spread out on the couch, his feet in the Tommy’s lap, seemingly content to have his toes played with by the other boy. It was such a domestic scene it threw Adam off for a moment. He hadn’t expected to see… private smiles exchanged between the two, mutual understanding in their eyes. It reminded Adam that he was the new one here, and didn’t know all that much about the ways of BrimstoneStudio, or Tommy.
Kris let the book slip from his fingers. It landed with a silent thud on the carpet. Swiftly snatching his feet away, Kris climbed up onto Tommy’s lap and took the blond’s face in his hands.
He kissed him like he had all the time in the world.
Tommy opened up for his tongue eagerly, though Kris kept their pace light and unhurried. He was the one to break the kiss, too. Tommy chased after him, playfully nipping at his bottom lip when he managed to steal another short kiss before the other boy retreated off the couch and out of reach.
“Take off your shirt,” he said, and Tommy complied. Adam silently approved. Kris seemed to think along the same lines as he took in Tommy’s naked chest, blushing appreciatively.
“Now what?” The line was delivered with the most impish little punk smirk known to man. Kris’ eyebrows rose, his lopsided smile betraying quiet amusement. He wasted no time crowding in between Tommy’s legs, simultaneously reaching out to comb his fingers through the blond’s mane. Kris used his grip on the hair at the back of Tommy’s neck as well as a hand on his shoulder to balance as he leaned down, their foreheads meeting, cute little noses nuzzling together.
“Close your eyes and wait. I’ve got a surprise for you,” Kris promised. Adam had an idea he knew what that surprise was going to be.
But before his suspicions could be confirmed, Sasha called cut and let them repeat the scene, with Cam moving around to get close-ups. Finally, the ice cream made its special appearance… and it got really, really messy.
Back to straddling Tommy’s lap, Kris dug into the Häagen Dazs box with bare hands, expression beyond gleeful. He fed the cold treat to Tommy, who obediently kept his eyes closed and opened up to the touch against his lips without the slightest hesitation. His tongue snaked out to clean off the last drops of white liquid from Kris’ fingers. Adam felt a ghostly shiver run down his spine just watching.
Kris came back with more ice cream, sloppily smearing it over Tommy’s face like war paint. Tommy made an annoyed noise, giggled, peeked through half-lidded eyes and got told off for it. His hand was slapped away when he tried to wipe at his face. Kris wanted Tommy to stay still. The blond relented, earning praise even though he continued to stick his tongue out whenever he thought he could reach the ice cream that was melting sticky tracks down his face.
It was all in good fun, the sort of silly thing that happened when people were comfortable with each other and didn’t mind wasting some food for the sake of playing around. And Kris played, he played Tommy perfectly. In between chuckles and whispered sweet nothings, Kris pressed kisses to the arch of his throat, nibbling and soothing until, without so much as a warning, he started painting Tommy’s chest, making the blond jump at the sudden cold sensation in new places. Kris licked at his jaw, dragging his tongue in a zigzag line across sugary markings, up to an earlobe and then back down, shifting to explore the skin around the dip of his collarbone, his nipples, all the way to his abdomen.
Tommy let it all happen with his arms spread over the back of the couch, muscles flexing under tattooed skin as his grip on the upholstery tightened spasmodically. The way Kris’ ice cream treatment affected him showed in the fast rise and fall of his ribs, his lungs working to regain the breaths that stuttered out of him in moans and giggles alternately.
Adam watched, fascinated.
Sasha stopped everyone for a break just as Kris was about to explore more X-rated territory. Jokingly, he gave one last swipe at Tommy’s belly button with a fresh dab of Häagen Dazs, causing the other man to shriek and shove him off his lap unceremoniously. Sprawled on the floor, Kris laughed, clearly delighted by his colleague’s reaction. Cam was chuckling to herself while backing away from the scene, so was the skinny sound tech Adam thought might by called Isaac. Sasha wasn’t holding back, laughter pealing out of her unchecked, the sound carrying in the high-ceilinged room. Tommy, who was peeking over the edge of the couch like he was prepared to kick Kris if he tried that shit again, joined their laughter a moment later.
One big happy family. Adam marvelled at the thought. Then Tommy caught his eye, and gave a short jerk of his head, his gaze never leaving Adam’s. An unmistakable come hither all neatly tied off with a small smile like a nonverbal that’s-an-order-but-I’ll-play-nice-and-say-please-if-that’s-what-it-takes. It made Adam’s heart beat louder, a blush creeping up his cheeks. How did Tommy manage to make him nervous like this? Performance anxiety, that’s what it was. He wasn’t used to the feeling.
Still, inevitably, he went.
“There you are,” Tommy drawled, lazy gorgeous and not one bit intimidated by Adam’s towering height. His hand closed about Adam’s wrist to tug him that extra bit closer. Kris had wandered off somewhere, which left the two in the middle of the well-lit living room set, alone. But not exactly private. Tommy tugged on Adam’s belt loop, causing him to sway forward.
“We’re not… uh, the back room?” Adam squeaked.
Tommy looked at him, puzzled, before he cottoned on.
“Not today,” he said, almost an apology.
Adam shrugged, because what else could he do, and decided if they were going to do this here where everyone could see, he better get on with his job.
Don’t pretend like this is such a hardship, Lambert.
Lowering to his knees with hands splayed on top of Tommy’s thighs, Adam found his jeans already unbuttoned. He made quick work of the zipper and underwear, pushing fabric aside to take hold of the growing hardness underneath, all the while trying not to think about how exposed he was, because it shouldn’t bother him if it didn’t bother Tommy. The blond stopped him, tilting his chin up to look him in the eye. Adam didn’t know what Tommy was looking for when he looked at him like that, calm and searching and yet intense.
Tommy caressed his cheek which made Adam feel hot with the blush that had yet to subside. His thumb found the corner of Adam’s lip, dragged down the seam, making him open up with a little pressure to his bottom lip. It was obvious what Tommy wanted. And who was Adam to deny him? He tongued the tip of Tommy’s cock, short kitten licks like he was eating a popsicle, making Tommy’s hips twitch. The taste was becoming familiar fast. Adam suppressed a moan. He wanted Tommy, and he didn’t want to share, and now that he was buried in Tommy’s crotch like he belonged there, inhaling his scent, he felt more clear-headed than ever. Kris may be cute, but watching the two had been weird. He wanted to be the one to play chase-the-ice-cream across Tommy’s body, no one else. But Kris hadn’t gotten here yet, hadn’t tasted Tommy the way Adam was tasting him now. At least not today, a little voice in Adam’s head said. He growled, low in his throat and Tommy jerked forward, pushing into Adam’s mouth with a whimper. Adam couldn’t breathe for a terrifying second, hadn’t been prepared for the sudden intrusion, but held on and swallowed deep, fighting his instincts to gag and pull away.
“Sorry, sorry,” Tommy murmured, trembling now but staying perfectly still. Adam took this as permission to back off a bit, regaining his breath while he sucked at the tip, holding it flat against his tongue. Adam looked up, meaning to gauge Tommy’s reaction, but instead Adam’s eyes traced the patterns of melting treat that covered his chest where Kris had failed to lick it all away.
He reached for a chocolaty smear below Tommy’s nipple. Before he could go anywhere with that, Tommy’s hand came up to grab his wrist. He brought Adam’s hand up to his lips, tongue coming out to play, tracing and nibbling Adam’s fingers until the last of the chocolate taste was gone. It made Adam want to scream. But that was never an option, not when he had Tommy’s cock in his mouth and could repay the little fucker by-
“Oh fuck,” Tommy breathed, dark eyes glued to Adam’s mouth.
If Adam had been able to, he would have smirked. As it was, he just sucked harder, tongue flicking against the slit when he pulled up. It sparked Tommy into motion. Short little fucks into Adam’s mouth, careful this time not to go too deep without permission. He released Adam’s wrist, searching for a hold on the dark haired boy’s shoulder. His other hand was slipping over his chest down toward his groin, gathering smudges of ice cream to feed to Adam when he pushed his fingers in alongside his dick.
The taste of precome mixed with sticky sweetness, and Adam kind of loved Tommy for that. This time, he relished the pressure at the back of his throat, breathed through his nose and opened up for more, encouraging Tommy to fuck deeper with both his hands guiding slender hips into a new rhythm.
He could do this forever.
“Hey, hey guys, no need to finish without us.”
At that, Tommy stopped making those adorable noises Adam had grown fond of, which in turn made Adam start paying attention to his surroundings again.
Kris was standing beside them, a bottle of lube in his hand. He looked a bit comical, his eyes darting everywhere but the area of Tommy’s crotch and Adam’s face. Which one he wanted to avoid was anybody’s guess.
Adam sighed inwardly. Rude interruptions seemed to be today’s motto.
He gave one last parting flick to Tommy’s spit-slick hardness, the taste bittersweet in his mouth. His own ache was a painful reminder of how he hadn’t gotten any action yet, and wouldn’t. Which was why he felt he could be excused for giving Kris a dirty look, not that the guy noticed.
Somewhere at the back of his mind, Adam knew of course that this wasn’t anybody’s fault but his own. He got carried away. Again.
Sasha, meanwhile, tittered in the background.
“So… do I get a go, too?” Kris asked no one in particular.
Adam didn’t get it at first, certainly didn’t think it pertained to him at all. That is why he was caught off guard by Tommy hugging him close, nearly making him topple onto his lap while the blond fixed Kris over Adam’s shoulder and replied, calm but decidedly: “No. He’s mine.”
It hit him then. Not like a ton of bricks, or like a freight train. More like a hot air balloon catching on fire; all at once and bright and high. Kris wanted Adam to fluff him. But Tommy didn’t. The possessiveness in Tommy’s demeanour caused something dark to twist in his groin, a hallelujah of sorts, and Adam pressed a little more into Tommy, arms tightening around the smaller man’s frame.
He had no idea what Kris’ reaction was, didn’t really care. Eventually Tommy let go of him and he guessed it was time to back off, let everyone return to business.
Adam straightened, and Tommy gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
When he turned to face the room he found that Cam had returned with Sasha and Brad at her heels, the techs were all in position and ready to go, while Kris shifted his weight uneasily from foot to foot where he stood at the other end of the couch.
It was amusing to see the different emotions on people’s faces.
Sasha looked thrilled and was furiously whispering with Brad, Cam didn’t indicate any interest in the proceedings whatsoever, Tommy looked riled up with colour flushing his cheeks a healthy pink, and Kris was doing his best to hide behind the furniture, intimidated.
And damn if that last one didn’t make Adam feel bad. It wasn’t Kris’ fault, after all. He had just asked. Adam glanced questioningly at Tommy, who had started to look a bit guilty, too.
“Hey man, no worries. You didn’t know.”
It was a peace offering if nothing else, but it seemed the right thing to say as both Kris and Tommy relaxed visibly.
And here I go making nice in Pretty Boy Land. Yes, I’m awesome.
Sasha seized the opportunity to call to order.
Tommy tugged himself in again and zipped up, and shortly afterwards, the camera was rolling. Kris got naked first, and then he helped Tommy get rid of his jeans. The playfulness was back like it had never left.
Adam returned to his seat, prepared to watch the scene continue in whatever way it needed to. The knots in his stomach had dissolved, and whenever they threatened to return, Adam thought of the way Tommy had called him his, and he was fine. It made watching Kris and Tommy fool around much more bearable. (Though he had to rearrange his pants several times, not that it made much difference.)
Ice cream painted thighs and hipbones, and eventually the power shifted to Tommy, foreplay forgotten as he grabbed Kris by the waist to haul him in closer, stickiness mixing between them with Tommy’s fingers working that sweet ass open two at a time.
Kris loved every minute of it, judging by the sounds he made. And he looked gorgeous, head thrown back with his body arching into the other man’s touch. His flawless sun-kissed skin complimented Tommy’s tattoos beautifully.
Tommy ended up fucking Kris on the floor in front of the couch, right where Adam had kneeled moments earlier. All Adam could say about that was that his dick approved.
Whenever Cam and Sasha were busy rearranging new camera angles, Tommy let himself roll onto on his back, allowing Kris a break as he beckoned to Adam, who would eagerly take over, sucking and licking and making Tommy squirm while Kris watched through half-lidded eyes, lazily stroking himself.
Adam had a feeling the carpet would be ruined by the end of the shoot.
While he had hoped to catch Tommy alone after they wrapped for the day, he was not too put out when he realized that the actors had left by the time he was done chatting with Cassidy, who had decided to drop by late during the shoot.
Adam had a lot to think about.
In light of Kris’ recent faux pas, he had asked Cassidy about the exclusivity clause, if it was an unusual thing to have a fluffer for one person only, and what it meant that BrimstoneStudio had hired him under these conditions. Cassidy’s answer had surprised him.
“It’s not in your contract, it’s in Ratliff’s,” Cassidy had said, his angular face betraying mild amusement, like his friend should have figured that out ages ago.
And Adam felt like he should have. He had read his contract a million times before he signed it. Apart from the whole ‘following company policy’ yada yada there had been nothing about who he would be serving, much less anything about one person specifically.
Cassidy, sensing that his friend had more questions but didn’t know how to ask, had invited Adam to join him in his office for a boss-to-employee talk. Only the talk ended up revolving around Tommy and his place in the business, but Adam guessed that was to be expected. Tommy was, after all, his only concern.
“You should know that your job is one of the reasons why Ratliff parted ways with FleshHouse - they wanted him to renew his contract, but we made a counter-offer. We offered a bonus, an accommodating schedule, and better working conditions. He earned well enough with them, but at the end of the day, we’re treating him better.” Cassidy’s voice rang in his head, replaying their conversation.
“And better working conditions means he gets a fluffer all to himself? Why didn’t FleshHouse just give him that, if they wanted to keep him?”
“Since he was in between contracts, our negotiations concerned only him and us, not them. Which is a good thing, otherwise we would have had to buy him out of his contract, and we don’t have that kind of cash lying around.” Cassidy had shrugged at that, half what-can-you-do, half no-regrets. “They didn’t even think of hiring a fluffer, period. And why should they, it’s not the way things are done these days.”
“I don’t understand. It’s not like you’re paying me a fortune. With the kind of money they’re making-”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, baby. Do you even know what the porn industry earns per movie? What with youporn, xvideo, spankwire and all those other websites out there for free?”
Adam hadn’t thought of that before. He had never been good with numbers, either. Cassidy saw the lost cause and moved on.
“Anyway, Fleshhouse, the establishment Ratliff grew up with? They, like so many others, cut their budgets for fluffers years ago. In gay porn, the actors usually just fluff each other. It’s what the producers expect. Pro bono, so to speak. If that doesn’t work, they have them use Sildenafil - that’s Viagra. It’s atrocious!” Cassidy slapped his desk for emphasis, getting increasingly more worked up. “They’re like a meat factory, slamming out flick after flick without the slightest passion for the art. Without any refinement! But the market is hungering for something more. And we are delivering.” His friend took a moment to gather his thoughts while Adam watched, unsure of what to think.
“There’s a reason why BrimstoneStudio’s sales skyrocketed, why we’re able to afford this studio and models and sets and technicians. And you. We’re doing things differently. Do you know how many women love some man-on-man action? But women have standards. And they’re willing to pay a little more if the movies are visibly better produced than the ones they get elsewhere. And gay men deserve some good porn too, you know. Not this crude nonsense. As a rule - and believe me I have market studies to prove this - men are not that picky when it comes to their skinflicks, but our style is growing on them, too. As Brad would say: we’re bringing love and light into so many people’s lives! Or at least high-quality porn.”
If it had been his ex holding that speech, Adam would have rolled his eyes and be done with it. Love and light, uh-huh. But Cassidy, unlike to Adam, had always had a knack for numbers, and he had obviously thought this thing through. “It sells. We’re fighting against the market’s odds, and we’re winning. Our fanbase is growing. Demand is growing. And that’s how we’re able to indulge in luxuries like fluffers, even exclusive ones that are meant to make our stars feel special and loved,” Cassidy had told him, pride in his voice as he pointed a pen at Adam’s chest.
It was a lot to think about.
End Chapter 2
Interlude ||