Selena didn't know what made her submit to this unknown guy.

Maybe it was his charming grey eyes. Or his sexy red lips. Or the smile that morphed into a smirk when she agreed to his offer. Or his deep seductive voice that made her... down there itch without even trying. Either way, she had agreed to being photographed by Ross Vasiliev... the famous photographer who said he wanted to take nude photographs of her.

She should be crazy to accept his offer, and even crazier to meet him the day after. She knew what they were going to do; she couldn't find any reason why she came.

Yet here she was, shuffling nervously along the secluded alley at Fifth Street, where they'd agreed to meet. It was barely six thirty in the morning but they had planned for a photoshoot that featured the sunrise, as well as... Selena Ashworth naked.

She took in a deep breath. As every second ticked by, her anxiety grew. It wasn't her first time taking sexy photos of herself, but it was definitely her first time shooting nude. The most she'd gone was to wear a bathing suit or revealing bikinis, but somehow they amounted to nothing compared to this. It didn't help that the photographer of this photoshoot was to be Ross Vasiliev. Just thinking about how he was going to take those pictures of her made her shiver. She couldn't exactly find the reason of her attraction towards him— any girl out there would be equally, if not more, attracted to this charismatic man— but somehow it was hard for her to rid his image off her mind.

A familiar voice that made her heart leap echoed in the alley, calling out her name. She turned around and her breath caught in her throat.

Although Ross Vasiliev wasn't a model, he could very well qualify for one. Selena had concluded that he looked even hotter than those male models she'd interacted with thus far. She wasn't exaggerating— his dark curls made him look shabby yet faultless. His olive skin radiated under the morning sun, being further flattered by his simple white button-down shirt. She realised he was either too muscular or he liked picking shirt sizes smaller than his actual one, as his shirt was once again glued to his skin, accentuating his broad shoulders and arm muscles.

Selena was momentarily stunned by the proximity of their body. Perhaps it wasn't on purpose but this man was standing a little too close for comfort. She instinctively closed her eyes to take in the scent unique to Ross, a mix of vanilla and cinnamon and something else. Her eyes fluttered open and swept across his face, allowing her to take his features in within a few seconds. Just then she caught traces of his moustache that she hadn't seen the other time they had met, long eyelashes that covered half his eyes and small diamond earrings on both his ears.

Their eyes met and Selena inevitably took a step backward to pace her heartbeat.

"Hi." She couldn't find anything else to say. She was a bad conversation starter in the first place, and his grey eyes were more than distracting.

"Hi," a small smile formed on Ross' face out of politeness. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"No no, I was the one too early." It was true— she had been pacing around the alley for half an hour because she needed to prepare herself for what's to come. Still, she didn't feel prepared at all. She could feel her heart drumming against her chest.

Ross didn't reply a word but smiled in return, which made the tension between them grow.

Selena looked around them uneasily and as if reading her mind, he answered in a surprisingly calm manner, "there's no-one helping out with the photoshoot but myself."

This made her nervousness increase. She'd kinda expected that but it was still nerve wrecking to hear it from him. She had only ever done professional photo shoots, and not that this one wasn't, but she usually had a large group of helpers around, like her make-up artists, stage managers and other people behind-the-scenes. Today, only two of them were present, and somehow she felt as if something was about to bloom between the two of them. Well, she was praying for that to happen, actually.

"And my make-up...?" She asked mid-sentence.

"You're not putting on any?" Ross asked, as if in awe.

Selena shook her head. His eyes widened and he looked away, his eyebrows furrowing in surprise before turning back to face her. "It's fine that way. You already look... very good."

'Very good' was definitely not a phrase commonly used to describe her because she had heard of other more bombastic descriptive words before, but her lips unknowingly tugged upwards at his subtle compliment. She felt a little more confident of herself now.

"So... how're we gonna start?" She asked, a blush forming at her cheeks unintentionally.

Ross drew his lips into a tight line. "It's a few minutes before the sunrise, we still have time. Have you eaten?"

This was a casual question and finally Selena felt as if he was making an effort to make things less awkward than they already were. Her shoulders loosened. She shook her head. "I plan to eat after the shoot." She didn't really want her food baby to be seen, definitely not in front of Ross, especially when she was going to be naked. But she didn't see the need to explain that.

He nodded in understanding but frowned soon afterwards. "Do models like starving themselves? Is that how they maintain their weight?"

Selena chuckled at his typical stigma towards models. "No, that's not it. We just have a strict diet plan to follow. I like it though—keeping fit and all. It's fun and satisfying sometimes."

Ross nodded again. "You've been working in this industry for quite a while, haven't you? Was it tough?"

"Three and a half years now. 'Tough' is a subjective term and for me, modelling has been my passion all this while so I haven't felt that much stress from this so far." She smiled, recalling her modelling experiences, half-lying but no more information needed to be shared with this stranger just yet.

A grin was displayed on his face, showing his interest in her life. "Lucifer told me you were studying in a university before this whole modelling thing."

She nodded, "UCL. I was studying to be a teacher."

Ross' grin widened, and suddenly Selena realised this guy may be friendlier than he looked. "No way! I studied there too. But from the looks of it I was definitely your senior... You look way too young. A teacher, huh? What made you stop chasing after that dream?"

Selena was going to point out that he didn't look much older than her but dismissed that. Instead she chose to answer his question. "Actually, modelling's a temporary escape from the teaching job. Let's just say I want to explore the world and more importantly, myself, before I fully commit to an institution."

Ross agreed. "I get what you mean... taking photographs allow me to understand the world better. They're not just pictures; they all represent stories from different parts of the universe and they're unique to everyone and every country. Behind the scenes, there's more to tell. I've learnt so much from merely taking photos of the beautiful sceneries. It's like a miracle; I don't know why I haven't been interested in photo taking before."

A knowing smile emerged on Selena's face. Initially she'd thought this man was mysterious and unreadable, but now as he spoke about his dreams, he looked almost normal, within reach; a human, just like her. She couldn't help being pleased that he was willing to share a little about himself with her. She had also least expected them to share a common mindset and similar intentions. There was more connection between them than she'd anticipated, and she wanted to find out what more would ensue.

The small talk between them eased her previous worries. Perhaps he had deliberately talked to her to make her feel less stressed about the whole nude photoshoot thing, and if so, it had worked out well and now Selena felt like she was more ready than ever. She told herself that maybe this was a great chance to explore more about herself and her body.

And about Ross.

Her subconscious once again made her nervous but she fought to tackle it. "Let's begin, then? With the photoshoot."

Ross raised an eyebrow at her abrupt suggestion but complied. "Right. I'll set up my camera stuff while you can go, uh, undress at one corner. We're going to take a few shots with the bushes, I'll brief you further as we take those shots."

Undressing was made easier now that Selena knew he wouldn't be looking at her peeling off the layers of her clothes. Then again, a tiny part of her wanted him to observe her doing so... but she knew she wasn't that confident to do it in front of him anyway. Talk about a mixture of emotions.

"So, um..." she spoke softly, diffident all of a sudden, "when you said nude... does it include, uh, removing my underwear?" The cold air brushed against her skin, making her shudder. She hadn't notice how chilly the weather was today.

His grey eyes darted towards her face then to her body before he returned to fixing the camera, his own face unperturbed. "Not unless you're comfortable with it. For a start, you can wear them."

His reply confused her. Did he want her to be naked, or not? Then she had this ingenious idea. Perhaps it was to tempt him, or it was just an in-the-moment, spontaneously bold move of hers. Either way, she found herself doing what she'd never thought she'd do in her twenty-four years of life.

In front of this stranger she had only just met a while ago, she unfastened the back of her black bra but left her red laced G-string on.

This action obviously made Ross turn away from his camera set-up and glance up at her instead.

In fact, what was initially a glance turned out to be an unmasked studying of Selena's curves.

His grey eyes dilated. He already knew she was a model, but to say her body was flawless was an understatement. It was a body to be worshipped. His eyes drifted from untidy streaks of her hazelnut hair to the unbidden flush on her face, to her velvety collarbone, then further downwards to her full bosoms. The longer he stared, the more he realised those pinkish nipples pebbling, her milky breasts perking up at him.

He shifted uncomfortably but his eyes were glued to Selena's breasts. Never had he seen such a perfect pair before, so perfect they resembled a painting. So well-endowed, so lovely, so enticing...

"Let's hurry, then? Before the sunrise disappears?" Selena interrupted his train of thoughts.

Ross cleared his throat while placing his left leg over his right one, attempting to cover up. His hungry eyes however failed to mask his thoughts. "Of course."

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