Chapter 8

Ben Benedict was surprised to see his two stars arrive on time – together and with a girl he recognized as Sahara Rain and another hot girl in tow. He shook his head and smiled. His father had assured him that Derrick Driller would arrive exactly when expected. But Ashley Malibu was a wild card. She had walked out of scene a few months earlier and he had heard she was a bit of a head case.

But she was smiling and laughing when she walked in and greeted the hairstylist/makeup artist with a kiss on the cheek. Derrick offered the woman a cup of coffee, which she gratefully accepted, then Sahara and the other girl peeled off and sat down unobtrusively in the back.

"Look at this, 15 minutes early!" Ben said. "Welcome to Daystar Studios. I'm Ben Benedict. I'm glad you're both here and looking chipper. Are Sahara and the other girl shooting today too?"

Derrick glanced behind him.

"Oh, no," he said. "I picked her up at the airport this morning. She is here to chaperone for Ashley."

Ashley's tinkling laughter filled the half-empty studio.

"What about the other one?" Ben said, craning his head around Derrick to look at Michelle. "Who is she? I don't think I've seen her before and I go through headshots every single day."

"Michelle Foxx," Ashley said. "Two x's. She's not done anything. She is here to chaperone Derrick. He gets led astray by pretty girls, or so I've heard."

Ashley's smile was infectious as soon Derrick and Ben were smiling, too.

"Well, we're almost set up, I thought we might take an hour for the stills," Ben said. "I know Derrick is new. Have you done still photography?"

"No, but Ashley explained it to me," Derrick said. "I'll just let her and you decide where you want me. Does that work?"

Ben pursed his lips and nodded.

"It works perfectly and it is the way I prefer it," he said. "But it is sometimes hard to get the male costar to understand there is a reason why I might want him to pause in a certain place or tilt his head a certain way."

"Well, I understand that Ashley is the star and I'm just here to do what I can to make that evident to everyone," Derrick said.

Ben Benedict patted Derrick on the back and shook his head.

"Well, if you can somehow make that known to the rest of the males in this business, I'd be grateful," he said. "Now, Ashley, what do you have in mind for today?"

"I'm good for about anything outside of anal," she said. "Derrick is packing a log in his pants but I've heard he is gentle and caring. What do you think of the pop in my mouth and not on my face?"

"I was told you don't do swallowing," Ben said.

"I usually don't but Derrick is the exception," she said with a shrug. "I'll try throating him during the stills. If it works out, we'll take it from there. Is there anything in particular you want to see today?"

"I think we'll just let it flow," Ben decided after a moment. "You two have chemistry, so I think it will be good. Look, Derrick, Ashley's skin is not very tanned. I don't want any bruising or really any red marks. I saw a clip from what you did for Holly. This is supposed to be amateurish. Amateurs do not spank a girl's ass or pull her hair. That is called assault. Can we agree to that?"

"Without a doubt," Derrick said. "I will try to leave Ashley as unblemished as I found her."

Ashley laughed.

"Oh, my poor little pussy will be red and angry," she said. "Even if you're as gentle as a lamb, nine inches in that hole is going to leave a bit of a mark. Just don't go crazy on me."

"I won't," Derrick said earnestly.

"I'm playing, you doofus," Ashley said. "It'll be fine. I'm really looking forward to this. I'm going to get changed and we can start the stills when you're ready. Karen said my makeup was good. See you in a bit, Stud."

Ben turned to Derrick, who was watching Ashley's delectable ass sway away.

"Uh, do you think you'll need fluffed?" he asked.

"Are you insane?" Derrick replied. "Good Lord, if a man couldn't get hard from just standing beside her he must be dead."

Ben laughed aloud.

"Well, some of the guys have trouble with wood," he said. "Karen, the makeup girl, will blow them to get them hard. She doesn't want to be on film but she likes that part. We allotted a little extra time but if it gets close to the end of the shoot and you're not ready to pop, Karen will take care of helping you along. Will that be a problem?"

He glanced to Sahara and Michelle who were coming up to talk to Derrick.

"I don't think I'll need it, but no, I don't think so," Derrick said.

"Are you getting ready to shoot the stills, Mr. Benedict?" Michelle asked.

Ben cringed. Not only did he dislike being called Mr. Benedict but he didn't like people asking a lot of questions on the set.

"We are, Ms. Foxx, is it?" he replied. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I looked at a bunch of sets from your site," Michelle said. "You have a problem with shadows and I think I can fix it. You lose about 30 percent of your set to the darkness."

She pointed to the secondary banks mounted on a tripod.

"If you turn the fourth light on the bottom row about 10 degrees downward and the sixth light on the top row about 30 degrees inward, it should fix it," Michelle said.

Ben stared upward. He was aware of the problem but bringing in a contractor to fix it meant paying union scale wages. He didn't want to do that. Instead he had tried moving the primary lights to a variety of different spots with little affect.

"Really?" he asked, suddenly interested. "Why do you think that?"

"I study cinematography at USC," Michelle said. "We helped with the lighting of the Christmas play at the amphitheatre in Inglewood. It was situated much the same. A high ceiling with one source of natural light. It might have been set up by the same outfit. It's how we fixed it there. The tendency is to fixate on the primary lighting source and forget about the secondary. If you have an Allen wrench handy, I think I can attend to it in about five minutes."

"I've got a set in my car," Derrick offered. "I trust her. I mean, I trust she knows what she is talking about."

"Give it a shot," Ben said with a shrug. He wasn't out anything if it didn't work. "We won't use them for the stills, so you have a while. But do not hurt yourself."

He gazed seriously at Michelle.

"I mean that," he said. "If you think there is even a remote possibility of you getting hurt, I will find someone else to do it. I mean, we will use your idea and get it fixed but you don't need to do it yourself."

"Thanks," Michelle said. "But I'll be OK. I just have to go up the ladder. There is a place for hand and foot holds for adjusting. I've done it before."

Sahara leaned forward and whispered something in Michelle's ear and Michelle blushed.

"Actually, it might be better if someone else did it," she said. "I just realized I am wearing a skirt."

Ben laughed.

"Modesty on a porn shoot," he boomed gleefully. "Will wonders never cease? Sure, I'll call someone to do it."

Michelle and Sahara hustled out and returned a minute later carrying a pack of wrenches.

Ben was still looking for a grip who was free to assist Michelle.

"Hey," Michelle said to Derrick. "Help me up the ladder and stand guard beneath it."

She grabbed Derrick's hand and led him to the light bank. She shimmed up the ladder, putting her butt in Derrick's face for a moment, then climbed higher. He had a clear view up her short skirt to her bare pussy. She put one of legs on a higher rung and held it there, glancing down with a smile when she saw Derrick looking.

Ben came back a moment later to see Michelle up the ladder and Derrick holding on to her calves – and staring intently up the girl's skirt. He shook his head.

A moment later, Michelle shimmied back down the ladder and kissed Derrick on the cheek – as if he hadn't already gotten his reward.

"Try them and see what you think," Michelle said. "It might not be perfect but it will give us an idea of where we are."

The light bank came on and Ben went to stand in the spot that had caused him trouble.

"Not bad," he said. "I think this will work."

Michelle shook her head and motioned for the lights to be shut back off.

"Give me two more minutes, Mr. B," she said. She dragged Derrick back to the ladder and went up again, assuming the same pose as she had beforehand. Derrick could smell her arousal and he could actually see wetness forming at the lips of her extremely puffy pussy. She gave Derrick another kiss on the cheek when she alit and the lights came back on.

Ben was amazed at the difference. The whole set seemed more natural, less harsh.

"If you want to go for the real amateurish feel, shut down a row on the primary lights and a row of the secondary bank," Michelle said as she put the wrenches away. "It will lower the lights without affecting the array."

Ben nodded and glanced back at the set. This had real potential. Ashley wandered back out – clad now in a red bandana tied around her breasts and a pair of white shorts that accentuated her already impressive bottom half.

"What's up?" Ashley asked the quartet who was standing around the light banks and looking at the set.

"I just fixed something I saw on the stills," Michelle mentioned. "Oh, and I fluffed Derrick for you without my mouth. He should be good to go."

She patted Derrick on his already erect cock and walked back to sit on the back wall with Sahara.

Ben burst out in laughter.

"She knew she was giving you a panty shot," he said. "I thought you were perving on her but she was perving on you. Good for her. Gender equity and all that. Ashley, you look great. Are we ready?"

The stills were not as bad as Derrick expected. They went through an array of poses: kissing, fondling, licking, only pausing at each step for a whir of the camera shutter before moving to the next pose.

Ashley had used a strawberry lube but Derrick could smell her natural arousal when he lowered his head to lick her box. She had purred during the kissing set up and she pulled his lips tightly to her pussy when he went down on her.

Ben instructed him to pull back but Ashley intervened.

"I'm going to cum in a few seconds," she said breathlessly. "Let him keep going."

Derrick alternated licking and sucking on Ashley's clit until her hips started bucking and she pushed him away.

"God damn!" she said. "That has never happened on stills. Not once. Let's do the fucking and I'll blow him afterward. Is that OK?"