An Interesting Direction

The water ran down her in multiple rivulets both narrow and wide, flattening her hair to her and accentuating her curves. With her eyes closed, her face was tilted upward to be splashed directly with the hot spray. Her right leg was purposely bent forward, hiding the treasure nestled between her thighs.

"Raise your hands up as if you're about to cup them together to catch the water," I instructed, and she easily complied, her bent arm largely obscuring the profile view of her breasts to make the scene more erotic.

"Perfect!" I praised her, taking yet another picture.

*****

Several days later, she was sitting beside me at the large table with many of the pictures from that photo shoot were spread out before us. While I admired the pictures, I was primarily watching her. To my knowledge, it was the first time she had seen nude photos of herself.

As I had suspected, she scrutinized the pictures quite seriously. Jania was only eighteen years old, but her maturity level was quite significant for her young age.

Perhaps that was what truly appealed to me the most in my many years of working with her.

"Thoughts?" I prompted gently, not wanting to push her too hard.

Only then did Jania finally look up from the pictures. Her bright eyes pierced me in that unique way which had initially attracted me to her some seven years earlier, that way which I knew would sell - and it had, launching her modeling career. "I think I look lonely there in the shower."

Her comments were always thoughtful, and this one was no exception. I had done more than a few photo shoots with Jania together with one or two other girls over the past few years, but I had purposely not considered it for her first nude series.

"Are you sure?" I asked her. "Do you think you really look lonely?"

"Don't you think so, Mr. Kendall?"

I scrutinized several of the photos. The body language did not scream "Lonely!" to me. Then again, it had also not been my first time taking pictures of a nude woman. While I personally would have preferred to have seen Jania showering with a friend, that was a preference held by the stereotypical male in me, not necessarily the professional photographer in me.

"Lonely, no," I finally responded, keeping my words purposely measured and diplomatic, "but some company would certainly make such pictures a bit more... interesting."

Jania smiled. "Exactly."

Something about her smile and her tone made me think that there was something else on her mind in relation to the photos. "I suppose you've seen a few photo sets of women showering together?"

"Yeah, amongst other things," she admitted. "I think it would be a good experience."

The hint was taken.

*****

That evening, as I looked at several of the photos again, I wondered about how such an experience would be for her. How would Jania react to undressing and especially to being undressed by another young woman? How much physical contact would she want with another woman sharing a shower with her? Would Jania agree to any intimacy with another woman?

I focused on one of the pictures. Jania stood facing away from the showerhead, the hot water falling directly on the back of her head and flattening her hair down her back. In my mind's eye, I saw another of my occasional models, Sapna, naked and kneeling before her while holding her hips and placing a soft kiss to her mons. The envisioned contrast of Sapna's darker skin with Jania's lighter skin greatly appealed to the professional photographer in me while the thought of Sapna intimately kissing Jania in such a place very much aroused the stereotypical male in me.

For a long, long time, I stroked myself in bed that night, thinking of Jania having her first nude photo shoot with another woman. Several of the women I had worked with came to mind as possible partners for her for such a session: Sapna, Melody, Jeanette, Aki, Silke... If Jania were to ask me for a suggestion on who she should work with for her first nude shoot with another model, I honestly did not know who I would recommend.

Hopefully, she already had someone in mind, someone she already knew personally, perhaps a longtime friend who was also interested in doing a little modeling.

*****

"Good morning, Mr. Kendall."

I instantly recognized her voice in my Bluetooth headset. "Jania, hello! You caught me while I'm heading out for a late breakfast."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No worries. Actually, I'm near campus right now if you'd like to join me."

There was no hesitation in her acceptance. "Sure. I can skip a class. I hate the TA anyway."

*****

The coffee shop was relatively quiet while most of the students were in classes. A few businessmen were having a meeting at a nearby table. A grad student I had chatted with a few times was grading quizzes from one of the classes he was teaching that semester. The owner of the independent shipping store down the street had come in for a quick break.

Jania and I sat in the corner, chatting quietly, and eventually the conversation turned to her modeling, and soon encountered the topic of nude photo shoots.

"Do you still think you seemed 'lonely' in those pictures we saw yesterday?" I asked softly.

Jania nodded. "Maybe I'm just feeling a little additional pressure - self-inflicted pressure - about pushing my modeling career a bit more, but I'm fairly certain that nude shoots, especially with one or two other models, will really help get me noticed by the big names."

"Well, that's possible. I see two ways to go, but only if you're comfortable with them. One is the more artsy type of nude photos, and especially if you're not really comfortable with being naked with another woman, that may be the best way to go to get started. Or you could also go the more erotic route, the soft porn route."

She leaned forward with her elbows on the tabletop and her chin resting on her hands. It was a pose which may or may not have been intentional, but it certainly allowed me a nice view of her upper cleavage. Fortunately, the professional in me had complete control of my eyes, so I noticed the enticing view of her feminine flesh without truly "noticing."

"There's a third option," Jania noted.

"What's that?"

"A full-on lesbian shoot."

"True, although I wasn't going to suggest that for your first time naked with a woman on camera. I suppose the soft porn option really is a full-on lesbian shoot though, although it really depends on how it'll be done."

"Hmm..." Sitting up straight again, she took another sip of her coffee, and I took the opportunity to finish my oversized and overpriced muffin.

"I suppose you should know..." she began, then hesitated. I purposely remained silent, allowing her to speak when she was ready. "I suppose you should know that... well, I'm bi."

"Okay," I said softly, honestly not finding anything unusual with that and hoping that how I felt about it was also conveyed with my voice. "But the question still remains: What type of photo shoot would you want for your first time naked on camera with another model?"

"What would you be comfortable with in taking pictures?"

Her counter question surprised me and once again revealed her maturity level. I had to give a small sound of amusement. "You're concerned about me when you're the one who'd be in front of the camera?"

Jania shrugged, leaning forward again. "You're a professional, but you're also a trusted friend," she assured me, "and if this is something we're going to do, I want us to both be comfortable with it."

Leaning forward, I broke my professionalism for a moment to reach for her hand. "You're a trusted friend as well, and that's why however this goes, I want it to be a good experience for you. That actually comes first and foremost for me in every photo session we do, as it's been for every photo session we've ever done."

The smile she gave me was more than just professional and more than just genuinely friendly.

*****

Nearly a month passed as Jania focused on her classwork during the week and traveled on weekends to Miami and Austin for several photo shoots with other photographers. She called once between flights in Houston, but otherwise, I did not have any contact with her, and I was beginning to wonder if there actually would be a two-woman nude photo shoot with Jania as one of the models.

I had just returned home from dinner with a potential buyer of another model's photos when my cell phone rang. Since I was not driving, I looked at the cell phone cover and was pleasantly surprised to see Jania's name on the small screen. "It's been a while!" I noted, happy to be hearing from her again.

"I know, Mr. Kendall. Sorry about that."

"That's alright. What's happening?"

"I've decided."

"Decided?" It actually took me a moment to understand her meaning. "Oh, right! And what's your decision?"

"I'd like to do a somewhat softcore shoot with a good friend of mine."

"Okay. Is this someone I know or someone new?"

"Someone new. She's a student in a neighboring dorm, and she and I have... Um, well, we've become rather close since we met last fall."

"I see."

"She'd like to meet you. I've told her a lot about you, but she wants to meet first before giving a final agreement."

"I'm fine with that. Just let me know when and where and I'll change my schedule if necessary to accommodate her."

*****

Two days later, I met Jania and her friend in Jania's dorm room. I had been there a few times previously, primarily in picking her up or dropping her off when we had a photo shoot scheduled somewhere out of town, but I attracted some attention nonetheless from the other students living in the lone all-women dorm on campus.

Jania was alone. Her roommate had an evening class, and her friend had yet to arrive. "By the way, what's your friend's name?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry! Her name is Ruth."

"Ruth? Wow... That's not a very common name nowadays."

"I know," she said with a smile. "That's how the first conversation began with her."

As we waited, I stood at the window, looking out across the soccer practice field. There was no practice taking place, although a few students were shortcutting across the field to reach the gymnasium.

To my surprise, Jania stepped up behind me and grasped my hand. Turning around to face her, I almost lost myself once again in her eyes.

"Thanks for doing this, Mr. Kendall."

I gave her hand a squeeze. "It's what I do," I assured her.

"I know, but it's also more than that. It's just how you are. You've always been really slow and cautious with me. At first I thought it was just because I was so young and hadn't done any modeling before, but even now... It's been what, seven years now? Even now, even after all this time, you still take things slowly, you still make sure I'm really comfortable with everything that's happening or that's about to happen. With you, there's almost never any surprises, and the few surprises are definitely never bad ones."

Before I could even attempt to respond, there was a knock at the door. "That must be Ruth." Releasing my hand, Jania crossed the small dorm room to the door.

Ruth reminded me of a girl I had known in high school: somewhat short, with bright red hair and countless matching freckles. Her black sweatshirt and jeans really helped the red freckles and hair to truly stand out, and when I glanced down, it was clear that the freckles were not limited to just her face, as they covered the back of each hand as well.

"Ruth, Mr. Kendall. Mr. Kendall, Ruth."

Ruth's handshake was lighter than I had expected. "Good to meet you. Jania's told me a lot about you."

I smiled warmly. Typically, my first sense of someone tends to be spot-on, and in Ruth's case, my first sense was that she was someone definitely worth knowing. "I can't quite say the same," I admitted, "although I also don't have the pleasure of seeing Jania every day like you do."

The two students shared a glance, and I was almost certain that with each of them, a slight blush was just barely kept in check.

We spent about an hour sitting on the beds and just talking. Jania and Ruth were becoming more intimate, something which had started just before Thanksgiving Break. As they sat beside each other on Jania's bed, I noticed they occasionally touched an arm or a thigh - nothing particularly overt, yet their touches definitely conveyed a sense of familiarity.

The conversation was initially about my work overall and what I had done with Jania in particular. The discussion eventually transitioned to Ruth's past, how she and Jania had met, and ultimately to Jania's suggestion that they perform a shoot together.

That was when Ruth wrapped her arms around Jania. "I've never been naked on film before," Ruth admitted, "but if Jania has so much faith and trust in you, that's good enough for me. But I'm a little leery though concerning the model release..."

"Well, what we can do," I suggested, "is just do the photo shoot, and once you see the results, if you're comfortable with them, then we can deal with the release. If you're not comfortable with the pictures, I can destroy everything. It's a bit backward, but I think that's best in this situation."

We chatted a little longer before I stood. The plan was that I should be gone by the time Jania's roommate returned from class. Jania hugged me quite warmly, and Ruth did the same, which gave me hope for a very positive outcome for the eventual shoot.

*****

As a professional photographer, I have always enjoyed seeing two women, especially if they are being intimate and are both topless or naked, in large part because their curves are so attractive to the eyes. As a stereotypical male, I have always enjoyed seeing two women, especially if they are being intimate and are both topless or naked, in large part because of a desire to join them and have them both turning their attentions to me.

It was the stereotypical male in me which truly took the lead in envisioning how a photo shoot with Jania and Ruth might progress. In my mind, the session would take place in any number of settings: a beach, a bubble bath, a swimming pool, a park, an orchard, a bedroom, a kitchen, an RV, a bookstore, a dirt road... In my mind, the session always culminated with each of them enjoying a few orgasms first before turning to me and practically forcing me to set down the camera, and in the end one or both of them would be either swallowing or ideally wearing my seed.

Ultimately, in consultation with the models, it was decided that the photo shoot would be in a hotel room. I knew exactly where that shoot should take place, and as soon as the call with Jania had ended, I called to make a reservation.

*****

Not only was it a photo shoot weekend, it was also a road trip.

I met the two students in front of Jania's dorm early Saturday morning. I could not recall having ever seen her look so exhausted, but I quickly learned that she and some friends had gone to a concert downtown and thus she had only enjoyed about four hours of sleep. Ruth was certainly more awake, but given the height of her travel mug, whatever was in it was certainly going to keep her wide awake for quite some time.

I chauffeured the two young women. It was a little odd not having either of them up front with me, but it was also nice to glance in the rearview mirror and see them leaning together, sharing looks of fondness. Interestingly, Jania also looked at me the same way, our eyes occasionally meeting in the mirror.

But soon, the experienced model had fallen asleep. Ruth had an arm around her, gently caressing her.

*****

We arrived just after lunchtime. Winter still had a slight hold on the weather, keeping the temperatures low enough that jackets or a good sweatshirt were necessary. I checked us into the hotel as Jania and Ruth stood at the edge of the parking lot watching the boats descending the river, and then went to find them and guide them to the hotel room.

The hotel room was actually a suite. Ruth had never been in a hotel suite before this trip, and her eyes were wide as she saw how homelike it was. Jania had been in hotel suites several times previously, but her eyes conveyed her excitement at the large space. Perhaps the fact that both students lived in relatively small dorm rooms contributed to their enthusiasm at being in a hotel suite.

"Don't worry," I assured them. "I'd already planned to sleep on the sofa."

Ruth did not react to that announcement, but Jania did... with her eyes: Her eyes seemed sad.

I excused myself to start hauling up the equipment we would soon need for the photo shoot, leaving the two young women alone in the hotel room. When I returned, Jania met me at the door and helped me to set up the equipment in the bedroom of the suite. "Wow..." Ruth breathed once everything was set up for the photo shoot.

"Don't worry," Jania assured her, touching her partner's arm. "It may seem scary or overwhelming at first, but very quickly, you really forget all that stuff is there. It's soon just you and the photographer. Or I guess in this case, you and me and the photographer."

"She's right," I added. "I purposely don't say too much once things get going. Then again, I've worked with Jania quite a while, so we have a good understanding of what's needed and what looks good. She usually does her own thing with only an occasional prompt."

"I have an idea," Jania announced. Then, to Ruth: "Would you feel better if you couldn't see what's happening?"

Ruth shrugged. "I dunno."

I understood what Jania was thinking. "I don't have a blindfold with me, unfortunately."

"Then we'll just buy one."

"Where?" Ruth asked. "I doubt they sell blindfolds in the small store in the lobby."

"No, but there's sure to be a few adult stores in the area."

Ruth's mouth fell open, and I had to try incredibly hard to hide my amusement at her reaction to Jania's comment.

"Come off it, Ruth. I know you have a dildo. You've used it on me."

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?"

"I'd bought it online! A package in the mail! No one knew what I was getting!"

"Fine, then I'll go to an adult store. I'm sure we can drive around and find one."

"Or use your laptop," I reminded Jania.

"Good point. We'll find an adult store, I'll get a blindfold and maybe one or two other things, and they can be our props for the photo shoot."

"Um..."

"Fine. I'll get a blindfold and maybe a few other things, and they can be used after the photo shoot."

"That's fine with me," I said quickly. "I can head down to the bar for a while and let you two... do your thing."

Ruth's mouth fell open again.

"Enough, Ruth," Jania chided her. "He knows that you and I are partners."

"Yeah, but..."

"Enough!" And with that, Jania closed the issue with a long kiss.

*****

We enjoyed a rather late lunch at a restaurant next to the hotel, then took a long walk together about a mile down the river, meandering through the various shops. Crossing an historic wooden pedestrian bridge over the river, we spent plenty of time meandering through the large park on the other bank of the river, sitting for a while and chatting amongst ourselves as we watched kids feeding the ducks along the lake in the middle of the park. We eventually returned to the hotel, but the entire time while we were enjoying the area, many people gave us second and third looks - some envious, some condemning - at my obvious age difference compared with my two young companions.

When we returned to the hotel suite, it was preparation time for all of us. Jania and Ruth gathered their things and headed into the large bathroom, sealing themselves in as they showered and applied make-up and added perfume and did whatever else they felt was needed to become generally presentable. While they were in the bathroom, I prepared the equipment, double- and triple-checking everything, taking test shots without them present and adjusting light levels as needed. The heavy curtains were closed, but still a little light came in, hopefully not enough to make a significant difference and require me to adjust things again later.