Chapter 3

Cohen

James,

It’s a little embarrassing to describe what I look like. How would you even know if I was telling the truth?

I’ll tell you, though, to give your imagination some flavor. I have red hair, blue eyes (nothing special), am pretty short and skinny. Nothing exciting. I like to wear the color yellow a lot.

Here’s what I imagine you look like: big, tall, sharp teeth, a dragon.

Am I right?

Gabriella

I laughed as I read the email, replying to it quickly. I confirmed the dragon thing—I knew that if I described myself, she would catch on right away. I took a deep breath as I typed my response, knowing what I should say—I should tell her who I was, the fact that I was emailing her from the room above her own. I dragged my teeth over my bottom lip and sighed, deleting my response, starting over again the right way.

Gabriella,

There’s something I have to tell you. I

There was a ping that interrupted me, one that told me I had gotten another email. I stopped typing to check it, saw that it was from Abby again. I opened it up curiously, wondering what she wanted.

James,

I forgot to tell you something. I don’t really know who to talk to about this, so I’m sorry for just unloading on you. I just got a job working for Cohen Ashton (kind of a dick) taking care of his uncle Paul Rosenfelt. He doesn’t know why I’m here. I only replied to the ad because of my mother. I found all of these love letters from Paul—there were dozens of them, and her journal says how much she loved him. I don’t know if you remember that I told you my mom died when I was six. I never knew much about her. But I found these letters and… I knew that I had to come meet Paul. I need to know if he remembers anything about my mother.

Cohen doesn’t know about any of this, but I have a feeling he’d be pissed if he knew. He’s kind of a hard-ass.

Anyway, sorry again for unloading on you. I’ve lost track of most of my friends and am always working—I really don’t have anybody to talk to. Let me know if this is way too much emotional stuff.

Gabriella

I read the email twice, taking it all in. There was an ulterior motive for Abby being here, but I found that I wasn’t angry. I found, too, that I couldn’t tell her the truth about who I was in that moment. Instead, I responded as James, a name that felt like it was a whole different alter ego for me. James was more open, more understanding than I was. James enjoyed talking to Abby, while I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy the company of anybody. In the moments I was emailing Abby, I would rather be James. So I said nothing from my own mind, instead giving her what she wanted and needed in a response.

Gabriella,

I don’t mind you opening up to me. It’s refreshing that somebody even would. I look forward to your emails and have never been put off by what you send.

I think that what you’re doing makes sense. I lost my parents early on as well and sometimes I would kill to know more about them and their history. If you treat the old man right and take care of him, things will fall into place. I know that. Just focus. I hope you find out more about your mother.

By the way, I’m not a dragon. But you with your red hair and blue eyes, you sound a bit like a witch. In a good way. I have no doubt that a pretty girl in a yellow dress is capable of bewitching an entire room.

Thank you for describing yourself. I can almost picture your smile.

Goodnight, Gabriella.

James

It was only a few minutes later that she responded with a short email, brief but enough to fuel the desire in my body.

James,

I don’t think we could ever meet, you know. I’d be blushing too much. I think you’re giving me too much credit, but who am I to ruin your imagination? I’ll be a witch if you want me to be. I might even cast a spell on you. Thanks for listening to me. I hope my smile is all you thought it would be.

Sweet dreams,

Gabriella

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes as I shut the computer. The email had made my cock grow hard for the simplest reason—thinking of Abby with a full, pink blush on her cheeks, those lips in a wicked smile meant only to tease me. I had indeed felt like she’d cast a spell over me the moment I’d seen her, and I still felt that way just thinking about her mouth, her body in a tight yellow dress, peeling that dress off of her so slowly it made her ache with want.

I lay back in bed, trying to calm my body down, but it was no good. Every time I closed my eyes, I pictured Abby with her perfect pale skin flushed all over, naked, riding my cock. I couldn’t help but to pull it out and start stroking it in my palm, letting the fantasy go. Abby was belligerent, argumentative—my thoughts went to what I really wanted to do to her, spank her cute little ass, make her obey. The more I thought about it, the faster I pumped my cock in my hand, my breathing ragged just before I was about to cum. There was a knock on the door then and I jumped, letting go of myself, cursing as I tucked my cock back into my pants and got up to answer it.