Pictures are meant to replace a thousand words; even that is not enough to explain the road I took after capturing a single photo. Lost in a pile of limbs, sweaty by the consumption of passion, and feeling more alive than in the heat of the day, I look at my camera resting on the dresser, containing images that are worth more than words.

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Lake Louise is sublime, the snowy peaks in the background, the emerald-colored water in the middle, and the green valley surrounding us. It is the typical Albertan tourist picture, having been captured from all angles so many times. I understand why, it is a stunning vista. The clicking noises of my DSLR don’t stop for a few seconds, hoping to get my own to hang in my apartment back home.

When I have enough, I get out of the crowd and search for my friends, finding them further down the shore. Once I’m close enough to see them clearly, a smile forms on my face as I bring the camera to my eye, framing the couple unbeknownst of my presence.

The gaze they share speaks of their love, of the bond that links them together. My friend Philip is looking deep into the eyes of his sweetheart, the smile he has is gentle yet passionate and intense. Catherine is melting from his look, her face showing the deep attachment she has for him. With the picturesque background, I cannot pass up this opportunity.

I play with the settings feverishly until I’m satisfied, firmly pressing the trigger to capture the moment. Then, I start to move a little bit, changing the background to have another shot. As I was ready to fire again, two pairs of eyes converge on me, my sneaky capture of the moment unmasked.

“Are we in the way?” Philip asks with a grin.

I lower the camera a little bit, showing my glowing smile, saying, “I saw two lovebirds and I needed to capture them before they fly away.”

We all laugh at my cheeky joke before we continue our stroll on the shore of Lake Louise. I take many, many more pictures that day but only one I cannot wait to see. By mid-afternoon, we visited what we came for, heading back to my friend’s home in Calgary, picking up Thai food on the way. I barely contain myself as we eat, rushing to download the pictures onto my laptop as my hosts clean the dining table of our feast of cheap yet comforting food. I look at the progress bar nervously, the thumbnails taking their time to appear on the screen.

When it finally pops in the folder, I open it to find the most evocative picture I’ve ever taken. Some photos are about the technical composition, a coveted subject, or the memories they instigate, this one speaks a unique language. Although it is quite cliche, you forget all of it the moment your gaze finds the couple, the love expressed enveloping you as if you were there, as if it was you those feelings were for. I immediately feel my heart pumping faster at the thought of being in Philip’s place, to feel Catherine’s arm softly rubbing my back in a comforting motion, to have her gaze pierce my defenses to disarm all of my worries and fright of being vulnerable to her.

I shift slightly my eyes to the left and find Philip, my longtime friend that I feel for the first time a desire to have more than the camaraderie we share for so many years. I want to feel his dominant yet caring hand resting on my ass. I want to see his disarming smile playfully toying with my emotions for him. The new feelings that are rushing in me are so intense that I get subjugated, making me swap my perspective from one to the other, only increasing the pressure I feel inside of me. I sense my heart pumping to an alarming rate, my hands are sweaty over the trackpad, my legs are fidgety by the intensity, signs that sensory overload is rushing through me.

“Wow! I love the picture you took of us,” Catherine says over my shoulder, snapping me out of the train wreck I was sure I would end up being.

I move my eyes to the red nub in the middle of the keyboard, focusing on one thing to get my body in check, to give me a few seconds to rationalize what just happened. During that time, my brain takes back control, admonishing me for longing for my friends. My morality takes the side of Catherine, reproving me for having those lewd thoughts, as if I was trying to steal her and make her mine. My public persona goes for Philip, reminding me in firm words that I’m not attracted to men, that it isn’t me, that I should be horrified of this lapse in judgment.

I stay silent as the whirlwind gust its venom in my disturbed mind, only turning my head toward Catherine when I know I can offer my persona, saying, “Yes, I’m really happy how it turned out.”

I thought I was good enough, that I had hidden my shameful self from her but the morphing of her figure shows how I’ve done a poor job. Her smile loses its warm edge, her eyes start to sparkle, her breathing accelerates. I keep my gaze on her longer than what is socially acceptable, unable to move away as the right side of my brain creates a world where she bends down and kisses me.

“What have we here? Oh, I love the pic-” Philip starts to say before he sees us.

A wave of fright courses through my body at my blatant lack of morality, my heart stops beating as I fear the rejection that will soon hit our relationship, my dry mouth slowly opens to interject that nothing was happening. Even though apologies are rushing in my head to help mend the battered friendship with Philip, I stay silent, maybe because of my constricting windpipe or because I have a strong feeling that nothing can save me now.

“Well, this is unexpected,” he says slowly in a monotone voice, enunciating all syllables individually.

I swallow the small amount of saliva to help get my voice back but I still can’t say anything, my mind frozen by the realization that I have shattered my relationship with my childhood friend, because I took a picture.

Philip leans toward me, approaching menacingly, casting a shadow over me. I prepare myself for the hit, for the shouting, for the door closing on twenty-odd years of friendship. My frightened eyes do not leave him as he stops a few centimeters from my face, extending his left arm to support himself on the backrest of the chair, the other reaching past my field of view.

“I have seen how you looked at my girlfriend,” he starts to say as he brings his right arm back toward me, “Why don’t you use that desire with your camera?!” he says as he deposits my Nikon in my hand.

A smile slowly starts to form on his face, not one of friendship or joy, one of savage satisfaction at my longing for his girlfriend, at the power he has over me. He rises and goes to his sweetheart, guiding her with purpose and control to the door of their bedroom. She gives me a quick look before she passes me, her glistening eyes excited by what is playing out. They stop at the door and start to make out, their first kiss deliberately slow yet provocative. In shock, I do not move, looking at them with mouth agape.

My friend turns to me as he removes his lips from his companion, sultrily saying, “We aren’t going to wait for you, you better get that viewfinder up if you want to immortalize the moment.” Without any other consideration for me, he turns back and pushes her inside the room.

I stay fixed in surprise for two more seconds before my drive kicks in, following them with my gear, finding them on their bed. With one hand, I play with the dials and the buttons using the same feverishness that Philip is groping her breasts, rotating and pressing them through her clothes. With the other, I rummage in my backpack for a fat and long cylinder while Catherine slowly gets her hand inside his pants to find his bulging cock. The clicking noise of the DSLR mixes with their wet kisses, their increasing sighing burying my quick breathing.

Once I find my fixed 35mm objective, I swap it at a record-breaking speed, not wanting to miss any opportunities. Now equipped with the right tool, I start to get bolder and get closer to take more subjective compositions as both get in the heat of the moment.

I swarm around them like flies, sometimes close, sometimes farther, capturing the emotions emanating from the couple. I avidly absorb the sensuality, the passion, and the lust in front of me, wishing I was the one experiencing it. As one piece of clothing is removed after another, I slowly discover the duo, capturing their expressions as they expose themselves.

Soon enough, Philip is getting his dick sucked while sitting comfortably on the bed. His head has fallen slightly back, his muscles slacking as he gets invested in the sensation. His eyes eventually find me, a devilish smile forming on his face. I take a few pictures, framing his intense gaze and her dedication, but I soon move the camera out of the way. Philip isn’t only smiling for the photos, he is for me, in a way that I have never seen him. His mouth widens as he sees my attention on him, winking as he raises his girlfriend’s mouth from his hardness.

Both get on their knees, Catherine’s back resting on his chest, his dick between her legs. I get my viewfinder back before my eye and get closer, to capture the couple’s union. My DSLR clacks rapidly for a few seconds as he pushes inside of her, seizing the emotions of both. Once he’s fully in, he whispers something in her ear, creating an instant reaction. She turns her head toward him, tension in her expression. I capture the invisible communication, their eyes sharing thoughts in a language they only know. It takes only a few seconds, during which I get closer to them to capture some daring close shots of their intertwined sexes.

When I stand back, I’m greeted by their collective smile of complicity, beaming for my camera. They start to move slowly, their moans creating fluid emotions on their faces, showing the passion that inhabit them. As I stand back to capture their whole picture, Philip playfully pushes Catherine on all four, using his hands to grab her round ass to force himself deep inside of her.

I capture the raw savageness of his desire, pushing her harder and harder. I soon feel something hitting my jeans, being a little bit too close to the action. As I go to move farther away, I’m stopped by a hand gripping my belt, fingers getting into my pants. I look down in distress, surprised by this unexpected contact, by the flesh rubbing the beginning of my crotch. Catherine is looking up at me with excitement in her eyes while biting her lower lips in lust. While she keeps herself from falling on the bed with one hand, the other is slowly unbuckling my belt and opening my jeans.

I get my camera back over my eye and frame this gorgeous woman as she plunges her hand in my tight boxer, freeing my cock from its black prison. My DSLR captures her delight at seeing my member in the flesh, her desire building as she strokes me, her excitement fulfilled as she brings me to her lips. Slowly, she gets me inside of her, moving over me by the thrust imparted by her boyfriend. Even though I keep my finger on the trigger, I send my head back and a sigh of relief escapes me at the sensation of two lips and a tongue gliding over me.

Philip has his eyes on me, a satisfied look on his face. We gaze at each other for a long time, understanding that our friendship just changed, that the innocence of it is gone and replaced by a growing desire. As I feel mine slowly tingling more and more, his excitement takes him over the edge, grunting as he plunges inside of his girlfriend, pushing her further over me. I move my camera back to my eye, capturing his release, the culmination of his twisted desire to have this photo shoot.

Catherine soon removes me from her mouth, needing to breathe as he keeps tension on her, licking my balls as she strokes me slowly. When he is content, Philip moves from her behind and comes beside me to take my Nikon from my hands.

“Now, it’s your turn. Get inside, I’ve warmed her up for you,” he says in a mix of playfulness and lust.

I look down at Catherine, her lustful smile confirming that she wants me, that she can’t wait to feel me glide inside of her. I remove my clothes rather awkwardly but quickly, not wanting to waste time. I jump back on the bed and get behind her, taking my hard cock in hand to rub it on her pussy, making my hardness shine before pushing to enter her. We both exhale in delight as her vagina opens for me, her warmth enveloping me in an exciting vice.

She looks back at me while I start to thrust in her, her gleaming eyes and her wide smile showing me how she loves to get pounded in front of her love. Having an idea, I grab her side, get her to rise, and rest on my chest while I continue to fuck her, popping my head over her shoulder to look at the camera. We share our first kiss, a tentative one at first yet we soon get going, our tongues twisting in each other mouths, mirroring our desire. When I leave her lips, the devilish grin on my face must be evocative as I see Philip smile back as he continues to capture this intense moment. Although, he soon drops my DSLR on the dresser and comes at us, cock in hand, eyes sparking.

He gets behind me and presses his body on my back, his hands grabbing my ass to control my thrust in his girlfriend and to guide his cock between my ass cheeks. I soon feel his newfound hardness resting comfortably against my asshole, rubbing up and down his length as I do the same with his love’s pussy. We get in a rhythm as I feel aroused by his light dominance over me, by his passion thrusting between my vulnerable hole. Even though we have been friends for so long, I’m only now discovering a side of him that excites me to my core.

“Even though I’ve never said anything until today, I’ve always liked you more than just a friend. I remember our time growing up together, I was looking at you with lust whenever we were in swimsuits or during sleepovers. I want to fuck you, Jonathan! I want to make you mine, to show you how I truly feel about you,” he says softly in my ear, with passion and desire.

I cum as he says the last word, unable to control the wave of emotion rushing through me as he confesses. I blank as I blast Catherine’s insides, projecting under-pressure streams of cum as my brain has difficulty processing the overload of stimulation coming from all around me. From being pressed between two gorgeous bodies, my cock resting firmly inside a tight pussy, a dick sliding over my asshole in a very suggestive way to the excitement of the photo shoot, of sharing the girlfriend of my best friend, and finally hearing his true feelings for me, I’m in a nirvana of sensations that submerge me and brings me in the deep end of bliss.

We eventually collapse on the bed, to collectively get our breathing back under control after so much excitement. I look at my camera on the dresser, thinking of all the pictures that are contained in it. Although, its view is soon replaced by Philip as he straddles me, covering my body with his.

As his lips brush mine, he says passionately yet with care, “Would you allow me to fuck you? Let me show you how intimate I want us to become.”

I answer by pushing his head on mine, to share our first kiss, to give myself to him. As our tongues swirl in the heat of passion, he starts to thrust his pelvis over mine, our cock rubbing on each other.

Then, he gets up and says in a commanding voice, “Now, show me that tight ass of yours and while you do, lick my girlfriend clean, she deserves to cum.”

My heart pumps faster as I do as he ordered, getting between Catherine’s legs to lick her clean from our seed. She looks down at me with a feverish grin, bringing me in with a handful of my hair. As I suck all the juices coming from her pussy, I thrust my ass in the air to receive my friend’s cock.

I cannot believe this is only the second day of my trip.