Chapter 30: Plympford

“I’VE TAKEN PICTURES all around London, but I’ve never made love by the Serpentine,” Jane laughed when we’d dropped Lettie off to join her friends. She had the cab go on to the Tower of London.

“And where would you like to make love, my lady?”

“In your bed. But not until later when we’re sure everyone else has disappeared for the night. That means you’ll need to take my pictures at the Tower of London and seduce me first. Then we’ll have the train to Oxford and another cab ride there.”

“Is dinner included anywhere along the line?”

“There are restaurants all around St. Katherine Docks, next to the Tower.”

It was too late to actually tour the Tower proper but we could still get into the grounds. Jane led me to a grassy lawn and immediately set up the cameras so Tower Bridge was visible to me. I positioned a reflector so I would capture some of the lighting of the tower and reflect it to where Jane said she would pose. Then we got in position.

“Now just wait quietly. If you must take a picture right away, use the Hasselblad or the Nikon. You’ll want to save the Linhof for just the right moment.”

The right moment was not long coming. Jane had some bits of dried fruit and nuts that she tossed just in front of her. In a minute, ravens had begun to converge on her. One hopped onto her shoulder and she gave it a tidbit from her fingers. Then she began to open her blouse.

I’d be willing to look at Jane’s boobs anytime. To have them in my hands is even better. But by the time she had her blouse fully open so she was exposed, there was another raven on her lap, its head directly between her breasts as she fed it. It was the right moment. I switched to the Linhof and adjusted my settings for a longer exposure time in the low light.

I took the first shot and flipped the carrier for another. The sound of the shutter drew the attention of all the birds and they all looked my way. I took the second shot with Jane and the ravens all fixed on the camera. She looked like a spectral mistress of the birds amidst a conspiracy of ravens.

As soon as the shot was done, she tossed the remainder of her treats a few feet away and they all flocked over to it. All except the one bird which had perched on her shoulder. It stayed there until she was fully buttoned and stood up. As she approached me, the raven observed me with a piercing look and then took off with a caw.

There was a nice grill that overlooked the St. Katherine Docks. It looked like everything berthed there was covered with canvas. I guess January isn’t much of a boating season. The restaurant had mostly typical pub food, but also had steaks, which I availed myself of. Jane laughed at my American tastes and had a roasted salmon salad. The food was pretty fine.

The meal was actually rather romantic. After her posing session, Jane had become far more familiar. We held hands on the walk over to the restaurant and even had a little kiss under the bridge. Then we sat next to each other where we could look out the window, rather than across the table from each other. Our meal was punctuated by little touches and caresses. We both had a glass of wine and I was feeling pretty cozy by the time we finished the meal.

Of course, then we had to catch a cab to Paddington Station and then the hour-long train ride back to Oxford. We didn’t get back to our hotel until nearly midnight. Everything was quiet and Jane simply came straight to my room with me.

It had been a year since I was last with Lady Jane and I didn’t expect to fall together quite so readily and smoothly as we did. Working together all day, though, had given us ample opportunity to rebuild a relationship of sorts. We both used the bathroom and she borrowed my toothbrush. Then we were in bed and before long, my covered cock was in her very excited pussy.

“I really didn’t expect I’d be your lover on this trip,” I whispered as we moved together.

“I’ve not had a lover all year. With Father’s passing, the eyes of the nobility have been on me. And they’re a gossipy bunch. If I’d taken one of them as a lover, it would be assumed we were about to be married. If I’d taken a commoner, word would be out that I’m off the market for any legitimate match. I’ve been looking forward to this tête-à-tête for weeks.”

“I’m happy we’re together,” I said. “Will you be hunting for a husband after I’m gone?”

“Ah, the hunt is out of my hands. I am hopeful that I will at least like the bloke and that he isn’t too possessive. But who knows whether I’ll ever have a cock in my pussy again after they choose a groom?”

“You’ll just accept whoever is chosen for you?” I asked.

“Oh, I’ll have some say. But the candidates will be chosen and reviewed by the queen. By my twenty-third birthday, in July, I will need to make a decision. Of course, I could choose to simply ignore all of them and marry to my heart’s desire, but I’m actually a proper English lady when it comes down to it. I’ll keep my heart’s desire in another country and snatch moments with him when I can.”

She kissed me thoroughly and we built to our climaxes.

Her heart’s desire?

Everyone was appreciative of my portraits of Lettie. Jane and I had spent most of Sunday in the darkroom—after we’d finally come out of my room.

We’d been too late for breakfast at the hotel and stopped at a place that called itself a boulangerie. I guess that’s French for bakery. Regardless, we were able to sit in the shop with coffee and croissants filled with about anything we wanted. Mine had a thin-sliced ham and cheese. I filed the location away in my mind to return to for some of the sweet rolls I saw there.

I didn’t show the class my portraits of Jane. We processed and printed them, but decided to keep those private and to leave them at Plympford when we got there the next weekend.

The group was more cohesive this week and Jane and I did not have a chance to get together. Tuesday morning, we were loaded onto a bus with half a dozen models and were taken nearly an hour northwest into the country to a stone circle. We were all dressed warmly.

On the bus, Jane pushed me into a seat next to one of the models.

“You two get to know each other. Nate, I recruited Audrey specifically to be your model for today. Audrey, this is Nate, the photographer I promised you.”

Jane sat in the next seat next to Helen. The assistants were all sitting together so the photographers could get to know their models on the trip.

“It’s nice to meet you, Audrey,” I said, holding out my hand. She took it in a mittened hand.

“The pleasure is mine,” she said. “Ever since I saw Jane’s photos from Australia, I’ve wanted photos taken by that photographer. And if she thinks a little snow and cold will keep me from getting naked with you, she is mistaken.”

“Well, that’s to the point. Tell me a little about what you want from today.”

“I want a photograph that shows primitive sexuality in a wild woman,” she said. “When I marry, as I no doubt will one day, I want my husband to know the beast he will need to tame.”

“I love it when a model comes with ideas. That brings all kinds of inspiration to me.”

“I hope having me romp naked in the snow among the stones is part of your inspiration.”

“I just hope you are not frozen by the time we finish.”

“I’m sure that when we get back in the bus, you’ll be able to thaw me out.”

“How do you feel about adding a little makeup?”

“What do you mean? I’m wearing makeup. Isn’t it enough?”

“I was thinking of adding some blue highlights in various places to give you a more druidic effect. A little blue paint around your eyes, for example.”

“Where are we going to get that?”

Jane handed me my makeup kit from the bottom of the tripod bag. She’d apparently been listening to my conversation with Audrey. I opened the kit and pulled out my pot of blue eye shadow. It wouldn’t be quite the same as blue paint, but would be adequate. I wasn’t shooting color except in the production shots Jane would take on the Nikon.

“You do come prepared, don’t you?” Audrey said. She slipped out of her coat and I saw she was dressed in a transparent blouse and a miniskirt. Unfortunately, she was wearing a bra.

“Call me a dirty old man, if you want, but we need to get you out of that bra right away. It’s creasing your skin and the marks won’t fade rapidly in this cold weather. You’ll look like you just took off your bra.”

“Oh, shit. I didn’t think of that. I was just using it as a layer of warmth under this thin blouse.”

She unbuttoned her blouse and took it off, then removed the bra. This wild woman’s breasts were certainly not going to be flopping as she danced naked among the stones. They were high and firm and her nipples were already sticking out stiffly. I heard the Nikon shutter click and Audrey stuck her tongue out at Jane. Jane clicked again. I pulled her coat up around Audrey’s shoulders, leaving her chest bare for my appreciation.

“This is lovely,” I said, dragging my hands down from her shoulders and over her breasts. I started to massage the marks, hoping they would be subdued by the time we started taking pictures.

“Your hands are lovely. Is Jane going to apply the makeup?”

“No. Sadly, I’ll have to change my attention from your beautiful breasts to your beautiful eyes.”

“I started out already seduced by your pictures of Jane. You don’t need to work too hard to get me out of the rest of my clothes,” Audrey sighed. “Oh! The same will go for my waistband, won’t it?” She quickly removed her skirt, showing she wasn’t wearing bloomers. “I was hoping to let you discover this on your own,” she added.

This was a full brown bush between her legs. I wholly approved. I suppose she would have looked wilder with hair under her arms and on her legs, but I’d noticed that guys in general are turned off by most body hair, except pubic hair. There was even a joke I’d heard one of the photographers telling at dinner about the way to tell the bride at a French wedding was that she was the one with braided armpits.

I set to work deepening the paint around Audrey’s eyes and extending it in streaks on her forehead and across her cheeks. I removed her stocking cap and fluffed her hair out so it looked wild and full.

“Do you want to just play with me all day instead of bothering with photos? You can fluff my hair and paint my face, and rub my boobs, and I’m sure something would develop,” she said.

“No doubt,” I said. “It just wouldn’t be the photographs that you so dearly want.”

“Well, at least we have another warm bus ride after this one. You’ll need to rub my whole body to get me warm again.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

When we got to the stone circle, I made sure Audrey’s coat was pulled all the way around her and left her in the seat until we were fully set up outside. One of the tricks for this shoot would be having film that was at an optimum temperature in the cold weather. Jane and I immediately loaded our pockets with film and I tucked three loaded film carriers into my inside pocket and zipped my coat. I was thankful that I’d brought my parka from Illinois, even though it looked silly when I wore it with my gray suit. Fortunately, this wasn’t a day for looking formal, so I was in wool slacks and a Columbia College sweatshirt beneath my parka.

“Hey, Nate, where’s your model?” Skylar shouted to me as we scouted the location.

“In the bus staying warm until we need her,” I said.

“Oh, schijten! Gabrielle, go back to the bus until we get things set up and are ready for you. Don’t get cold out here. Dee will get you when we’re ready.”

Skylar’s model took off for the bus and four other models followed quickly. No one else had thought to keep their models warm. Well, maybe none of their models were naked. We divvied up the circle in six portions and agreed to work within our bounds. Sir Andrew, after minimal instructions, just stood in the middle of the circle and watched us make our preparations.

“I’m not wild about having Audrey perform where all the others will see her,” I said to Jane.

“What do you propose to do about it?” she asked.

“Let’s look at the other side of the stones.”

We walked outside the circle and looked back. If I set up to shoot toward the circle, I would catch basically all five of the other photographers with their models and assistants. But if I shot at a tangent across the outside of the circle, the stones basically closed off anything else. They were on one side of us with a bunch of trees on the other side.

“This is it,” I said. “I like the light here better, too. With such an overcast and threatening sky, shooting out of the circle would have given us a gray ceiling. This way it’s limited.” A snowflake fell. “We’d better get set and get Audrey out here before it really starts to snow.”

“Remember, your first responsibility is to take care of your model. I’ll take care of the cameras.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

We got set up and I framed the shots using Jane as a stand-in. We threw a cloth over each of the two cameras to make sure they didn’t get snow on them and I ran to the bus to collect my model. All the others were starting on poses, rushing a little to stay ahead of the weather.

“Are you ready, Audrey?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. “I just need to take my shoes off once we get there and drop my coat.”

“Take your shoes off here,” I said. “I’ll carry you to the location.”

“Oh, how gallant of you,” she giggled as she sat back down to unlace her shoes. It would have taken way too much time once we were outside. “I’m going to freeze my toes, aren’t I? Oh, well. Anything for art.”

I caught her in my arms at the door of the bus and carried her to our site. There were still a few flakes of snow in the air. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if it really started snowing. I could hear others around the circle complaining as I crossed behind them.

Once we were behind our rocks, I moved to where we’d determined the first photo would be. Audrey was cuddled as tightly to me as she could get.

“Jane, if you’d hold her coat, we’ll get started and work as quickly as possible.” Jane moved beside us and took hold of Audrey’s coat. “If it’s too uncomfortable, say so and we’ll quit wherever we are,” I told Audrey.

“Let’s do it,” she answered.

Jane removed her coat and I set Audrey down.

“Jesus H. Churchill!” she exclaimed. “Wow!”

“Okay?” I asked.

“Let’s not just stand around chatting,” she said.

“Okay. I want you looking a bit fierce with that cold bluster. Here. Turn slightly to your left. Bring your right foot up to your knee. Perfect.”

I ran to the Hasselblad and got our first photo. After I’d posed her twice more, she waved me off.

“I understand what you want, now,” she said. “Just tell me when to move to the next pose.”

“Great. A little more to your left so I get a good look at that stellar butt,” I said.

Her poses became more natural and more dance-like as we moved from one to another. Twice I switched to the Linhof to get a pair of pictures. There were more snowflakes in the air. I was about to call it quits when they really started flying.

“It’s snowing!” Audrey yelled delightedly. She began to run in circles with her arms outstretched, catching snowflakes on her tongue.

“There!” I called. She froze with her tongue stuck out while I slid the last carrier into the Linhof. I got it. “Move!” I called and she spun in a circle. “There!” I called again. She froze and I took the last shot on the camera. “Coat!” I called to Jane.

She tossed me Audrey’s coat and began expertly packing the cameras and tripods as I rushed to our model and wrapped her in her coat. I picked her up and rushed as well as I could in the snowstorm to the bus. The driver fortunately, had kept the bus running and warm while we were shooting. Nearly everyone else was aboard. Dee tossed me a blanket she’d had wrapped around herself outside. The Miami girl was no more comfortable in the cold than her South African photographer. I wrapped Audrey up and gave her a quick kiss.

“I need to help Jane get the equipment back,” I said. “Stay bundled up and I’ll be right back.”

“Yes,” she said through chattering teeth.

I rushed back to the circle, where Jane was getting the cases on our trolley.

“We’ll never get the trolley through the snow,” I said. “Grab the handle. I’ll carry this end.”

We carried the kit back to the bus and got it stowed as the bus began to move. The driver didn’t want to be caught out here in the storm any more than we did. I handed the exposed film carriers from my shirt to Jane and she took care of stowing them. Then I slid into the seat next to a shivering Audrey.

“We need to get you dressed,” I said. She shook her head.

“Body heat. I need your body.” She straddled my legs and opened her coat. I got the message quickly and slipped out of my parka and pulled my sweatshirt and T-shirt off. She smashed her body against mine. Jane sat in the seat next to us and wrapped the blanket around us, hugging us as our body temperatures began to rise.

“You set this all up so you could get naked with Nate,” Jane giggled.

“No. That’s a side benefit. I’d try to maneuver his prick into my cunt if I didn’t have icicles in my pubes,” Audrey said. “This does feel good, though.”

“Maybe you’ll have better luck later,” Jane laughed.

It was hard to have a naked model pressed up against me without letting my hands explore her body more thoroughly as our lips connected. It was only half an hour or so when the bus rolled to a stop and people began to get off.

“We can’t be back already, can we?” I said with a mouthful of nipple. It was warm now, but still very erect and stiff.

“We’ve stopped in Woodstock for tea,” Jane said. “You were too busy to hear what the driver announced.”

“That means we need to get our dear model into her clothes.”

“Mmm. Can we undress again later? I’m really not ready yet.”

“We’ll see,” I said noncommittally.

Before too long, we managed to get Audrey back into her clothes and joined our compatriots in the little restaurant.

When we got back to Oxford, I went straight to the darkroom, followed by Jane.

“Give your key to Audrey,” Jane instructed. “She’ll meet us back at the hotel.”

“You mean she isn’t going home?”

“She lives in Plympford. She’ll go back with us Friday.”

“So, you’ve known her for some time?” I suggested when we’d closed the door to the darkroom and Audrey had taken my key to go wait in my room for us.

“We’re childhood playmates and classmates. She was a godsend after Father’s accident. I have a lot of photos of her. I thought you should have a few, too,” Jane giggled.

“I’ve no objections,” I said. “Um ... is she staying with you this week? Why did I give her my room key instead of yours?”

“Oh, your room, as small as it is, is more comfortable than mine. Don’t worry, we’ll let you get some sleep tonight. I’ve asked the hotel to switch us to a larger room, but they’re full up at the moment. Then, of course, we’ll be headed to Plympford Friday for our weekend of cultural awareness.”

Jane took care of agitating the 120 film while I carefully dipped and sloshed the 4x5 sheets. Occasionally, we paused what we were doing to have a few kisses. Once all the film was processed and rinsed, I printed contact sheets so we could examine what we’d managed. The photo of Audrey dancing in the snowstorm with the great stones beside her was just what I hoped for.

I did a test strip. Jane and I discussed the settings and what we might use to get the best results with the huge snowflakes dancing around our model. I eventually pulled a 12x16 print and we were happy. I pulled two more for our model and my own collection.

We picked up Audrey at my room and headed for an Italian restaurant about a mile from our hotel. Oxford had gotten a little snow during the day, but nothing like what we’d encountered fifty miles northwest. When Audrey saw her portrait, she smashed her lips into mine and reamed my mouth with her tongue.

“I’m all warm now and things like this really make me hot,” she said.

“You must get hot with Jane all the time,” I joked.

“Not all the time,” Audrey replied with her eyebrows raised high.

We enjoyed the meal and headed back to the hotel. I was surprised when Jane left my room after giving both Audrey and me a kiss.

“Too many people about for me to be seen staying over tonight,” she explained. “Don’t worry. We’ll all have the weekend together.”