A Strong Hand

that harness, that made Nick cling to the towel bar, gritting his teeth to remain silent when he came.
    It was even worse when the female models arrived in the afternoon, as they were a complete shock to Nick. He hadn't even known that Damian intended to shoot women as well. If he'd known enough to give it any thought, Nick might have assumed that most men fantasized about women in the submissive role, but the two girls selected to play dommes terrified him. Once in costume they seemed to take entirely too much pleasure in snapping their whips around as if they had some experience behind them.
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    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford
    It was all very confusing. Nick would have thought that the sight of shapely women in kinky, revealing costumes might have turned him on, but his most fervent hope was that he not be paired with any of them for his shots.
    When the models had all gone for the day, Damian and Ashley sat down to analyze the test shots with Nick hovering in the background, trying to compare them to his tame photos from yesterday. Despairingly, he decided that now that the pros had shown their stuff, Damian would most likely forget about using him.
    Ashley and Damian sorted through the shots quickly, discarding some, putting some in the maybe pile, and others into the final.
    "Do you like this boy?" Ashley asked, contemplating the blond he'd paddled. "He would look well in the black stuff, I think."
    "Yeah, he'll do," Damian said, contemplating a muscular black man with dark hair on his chest. "You don't mind a bit of fur, do you? It would make a nice contrast to Nicholas."
    Nick jumped at his name. Maybe Damian still meant to use him after all.
    "Yes, and this blond as well. Then we can mix and match, dark with light, or two darks and two lights," Ashley said.
    "Yeah, that works for me. What about this guy as a backup?"
    "Red hair?" Ashley said dubiously. "Always makes me think of Carrot Top. Not hot at all."
    "But he'd be a contrast. And Crispin likes gingers," Damian teased gently.
    46

    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford
    "That's true, and we have to keep Crispin happy, don't we?"
    "No," Damian said. " I don't. You do."
    "Touché." Ashley laughed.
    "And these two girls in the domme outfits worked out rather well, I thought."
    "That dark one reminds me a bit of Bettie Paige," Ashley commented.
    Nick made a note to himself to Google Bettie Paige when he got home, hoping it might shed some light.
    "She's got the bangs right, but she doesn't have that innocent joyousness that Bettie Paige had," Damian said regretfully.
    "Pity, really. I'd love to have seen what you could have done with the original."
    "Yeah, but I was born too late. Bettie recently passed away. She'll be missed." Damian shuffled through the Polaroids. "What about this blonde woman with the faux tits?
    She looked right at home as a submissive."
    Ashley gave the Polaroid a brief glance. "You know I've no interest in the female of the species. Do we really need to include ladies in the catalog?"
    "Their money is just as good as a man's," Damian said.
    "You're cutting off half your potential buyers if you leave them out."
    "Very well. Choose the ones you like, and I'm sure you'll be right. They all look the same to me." Ashley got up and stretched, and then realized Nick was still hovering behind them and clapped him on the shoulder. "I shall be hoping to 47

    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford
    persuade you to model more than just those leather pants, my lad. You're more beautiful than all the rest of these boys put together and most of the girls. Between you posing and Damian doing the photography, this catalog is certain to go down in history."
    "Th—thanks, I think," Nick stuttered, bewildered at this turn of events.
    "You're still at uni, correct? I expect you're the poor student type; otherwise you wouldn't be working for this maniac," Ashley said, smiling at his friend. "I shall expect to pay just what I pay the others, provided you put out your best effort." He named an hourly sum that made Nick gape at the munificence of it. That was almost enough for him to quit his job and focus on his studies. Only he didn't want to quit his job now.
    Nick nodded weakly, and Ashley clapped him encouragingly on the shoulder before leaving. "Excellent.
    We'll see you tomorrow then."
    "So are you going to let me see you in any of these wicked costumes?" Damian asked with a grin.
    "Well, some of them are a bit ... a bit..." Nick floundered, at a loss for