The Photograph
: Chapter Eight

Gabe

I roundhouse the punching bag. Left. Right. Front kick. Uppercut. Jab. Jab. Jab. Uppercut. Jab. Jab. Kick. And again. My breath’s rough. I stop while sweat drips off me soaking the elastic waistband of my shorts.

“What’s up your ass, G? You’re beating this things up like it scratched your favorite car,” Cal says.

My back to him, I unroll my boxing handwraps and clench my jaw at the sound of the treadmill whirring down from across the wide basement gym.

We’ve been training since 6:00 AM in Caleb’s basement which could compete with the most sophisticated training centers out there.

We ran then sparred, both going hard and fast. I like partnering with Cal who’s trained in most martial arts and has probably used most weapons known to man, but today I can’t replace the release I need.AndI just want to hit something.

When Cal steps closer, I turn to face his piercing eyes. “G? Brother, what’s up?”

I stalk past my friend. “Gonna hit the shower.”

Just before I cross the doorway leading to the shower and sauna, Cal mutters, “That bad, huh?”

Yes, that fucking bad.Standing under the wide multi-jets glass stall, I turn the faucet to a punishing icy blast, and shut my eyes. After that blowjob, I took her again. Slow and deep. When she fell asleep, I left. Only to ask her to the penthouse the next evening. And every evening after that for the last two weeks. The thought of her tight, hot body clenching around me makes me hard.

She’s a playful, generous lover who laughs often and shares her pleasure openly. And the way she looks when she comes… Not any closer to get rid of the hold she has on me, I flew to Europe for a week for a meeting which could have happened virtually. Didn’t work. All I could think of was being deep inside her.

After I get dressed, I step in the white and black living room where Cal is sprawled on his leather couch with his cell in hand.

“You’re free for lunch?”

Cal lifts his chin. “Sure. You buying?”

When I grunt, my pain in the ass friend’s chest shakes under his silent chuckle. “Bro, you know anything Gabe Matthews wants Gabe Matthews get quicker and fresher. With a pretty red bow.” He lifts his hand “Your city, man. I’ll meet you at the penthouse at 1:00.”

“No, come to the house.”

Cal sits up. “Everything good with Mikey’s heartbreaker?”

The sweet poison who makes me want to beg for just one more fix? The woman who makes me come harder and longer than I ever had before?I exhale sharply.“I’ll see you at the house.”

A couple of hours later, seated in my office, my cell vibrates with a text from Aelin.

Holloway is officially finished! I think you’ll love it. Let me know when you’re available for a tour. AXx

I let it go too far. But she’s addictive. Her smile makes me hard, her voice makes me hard, and the way she comes around me.Damn, but the woman loves my cock.

On my way home, my mind wanders back to her. Her physical responses to me are genuine, how wet she gets, how tight she clamps on my cock when she comes.Is she like that with everyone?

My cell pings again, this time a message from Kerry.

Hey big guy, I miss our fun together. Call me. Kerry.

I sweep my hand over my face and peer down at the dashboard. Since Aelin I haven’t been able to fuck anyone else.

Big guy.

I’ve been tall and big since I was a teenager. I’ve been bullied for it because the world expected a maturity I had to acquire fast. I got into martial arts, but boxing was the thing that grounded me. Once I stopped the bullies, girls, older girls—sometimes young women—started coming onto me.

At twenty, I’d had more sexual partners than all my friends combined and started experimenting with sex, learning what got me hot and going. In bed, strong women willing to give me control over their bodies get me hard and I always make sure they get plenty of orgasms in return.

By the time I made my first million, and been burned by my ex, I realized I wasn’t made for relationships. But I like sex, so I defined clear boundaries.

Aelin.All I want to do is to take her, bury myself in her tight body until her voice is hoarse from screaming my name.I even like that she’s a screamer.

As I make my way to the large patio, I spot Cal’s bike in the driveway while Mary, my housekeeper, instructs a delivery man to set the boxes of pizza on the large wooden table shaded by large white umbrellas.

I chin lift Cal, grab a slice of pizza, and settle across my friend.

With his feet crossed at the ankles on another armchair beside him, Cal glances up before tipping his beer to his mouth. We eat silently in the quiet of the warm day.Would the chewing be too loud for…?

Cal slams his empty bottle on the table. “You’re going to tell me why you tried to kill my punching bag this morning?”

Might as well get it over now.I retrieve Aelin’s file from my office and hand it to Cal. He wipes his hands off on a paper towel before opening the slim binder while I take my beer to the edge of the pool.

When he grunts, I clench my back teeth.

“How recent is this picture?”

Pivoting sideways, I roll the neck of the bottle between my fingers. “A few months, why?”

Caleb studies the picture I know by heart. She’s smiling with her head slightly tilted and her hand on the door of her car.

My friend’s eyes narrow. “I’ve seen that face before.” He lifts the picture. “Can I take this?”

“Have at it.”

“G. Talk,” Cal says.

I rake my fingers through my hair and face Cal. “I slept with her.”

His brows shoot up before he joins me by the pool and sets his hand on my shoulder.

“You slept with your brother’s woman?”

I nod.

“Fuck, G.”

I know. I fucking know.