Page 30 of Covet (The Red #3)

Chapter Thirty

Max

Listen to I Put a Spell on You

by Annie Lennox

I exploded inside her hot, wet mouth, harder than I ever remember coming before.

She took it all with a perfect suction that gave me no chance to jerk back. Gabby played my body like the perfect maestro, until my body was a shaky, shuddering mess. When I couldn’t take the intensity any longer, her mouth gentled and her hands stroked my thighs lovingly, bringing me down.

Holy fuck, this woman was a witch.

The words she’d uttered before my orgasm still rung in my ears. My foggy brain had no defense. Looking down at her beautiful face and the way she licked her lips with satisfaction, head bent backwards to stare up at me in perfect submission, I knew I’d been completely played.

Gabby had taken that exact moment to tell me the truth. And damned if I could muster up the response I wanted. Righteous anger and shocked betrayal held nothing against the way I’d just come while she was on her knees.

But I had to try. I shook my head and tried to clear it. “What did you say?”

Slowly, Gabby got to her feet. Her green eyes flickered with a soft regret that contradicted the lack of tension in her features. “I think you heard, Max. I was the one who leaked the video of you cheating on Landon. I’ve wanted to tell you for a while, but didn’t know how.”

My jaw unhinged. I was unable to move, my limp, satisfied dick still exposed. I barely had the strength to grab my pants and yank them on but I managed. “Are you fucking with me, Gabby? Because I have a pretty good idea you knew exactly how to tell me. You planned this whole thing.”

Her eyes widened. “I didn’t! It just—came out. I don’t know, I suddenly didn’t want to hold back any secrets from you after playing that game. It felt wrong.”

My laugh was harsh. “Wrong? You know what’s wrong? You deliberately sending that video to everyone, including Landon. That’s what broke us up! What the fuck did you do that for?”

Her gaze met mine without hesitation. “Because it was time Landon knew who you really are. I sensed her and Adam had a connection from the beginning. They were always meant to be together, and it was going to happen sooner rather than later. Better off you knew the truth before you moved in together.”

My emotions finally caught up. I jerked away and began to pace. My brain frantically tried to sift through the past summer for a timeline. “I didn’t need you to protect me, Gabby. Stop lying and tell me the truth! Do you despise me so much you wanted to ruin my life?”

“Dramatic, much? Of course not. I found the video through one of my followers. She’d seen my tagged post with you one night and said her boyfriend had shot a video of you at some party.

I asked to see it. I didn’t deliberately plan to do anything until I saw Landon and Adam kiss at her birthday party. ”

My eyes bugged out like a cartoon character. “Wait—what? They kissed in Atlantic City?”

Gabby nodded. “I caught them but pretended I didn’t see. Anyway, I knew things were heating up and then you and Landon announced you were moving in together. Landon wouldn’t have believed me if I told her, so I decided to leak the video.”

“You are so fucked up,” I whispered, pacing faster. “Why didn’t you just come to me? Tell me you had the video? I would’ve told Landon myself and come clean.”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? No, you wouldn’t. You would’ve manipulated her or do anything possible to make me out the liar. I wasn’t going to mess up my friendship with Landon.”

“You already did! I’ll tell her what you pulled and you’ll be out of this group for good.”

My threat only made her laugh. “What group? I doubt Adam and Landon will come back from LA wanting the same type of friend dynamics. Too many things have changed. You and Coop are opening a gym and getting closer. Adam is going to want to work more with Noah. You’ll never accept Landon and Adam as a couple so forget hanging out together. It’s over, Max.”

“I can still tell Landon the truth. She deserves to know what type of friend you are.”

A soft sigh spilled from her lips. “I can’t stop you. I’ll explain why I did it, and she’ll have to make up her own mind. Maybe you’re right. Maybe Elle and Coop and Daisy and Noah will want nothing more to do with me. Which would suck, because I care about all of them now. Including you.”

Oh, she was good. Her explanation was actually calming my rage.

I should be freaking the fuck out on her but instead I was pacing and giving her space to talk me down.

I spit out a curse. “You really care about me, huh? Now I know why you started this whole game between us. Just so you can fuck with my head and have some fun. Run back to Landon and lie about how I came panting after you. You wanted ammunition.”

Her green eyes were serene, like a lake without a ripple. “Not true. I haven’t said a word to Landon. I’m not claiming you as the bad guy when I’ve been completely involved in starting up something between us.”

“Which you did to control me,” I said bitterly.

“I don’t want to control you. It’s the opposite.”

My head jerked around and our gazes locked.

“I know who you are, Max,” she said. “I know because I’m the same.

We’re not like other people, satisfied to settle into a boring routine for the rest of our lives, or follow society’s rules of who constitutes being good or bad.

It’s all bullshit.” She stalked toward me and I remained frozen in place, fascinated with the gorgeous predator-like woman inches away.

She shimmered with anger and righteousness even after she admitted her lies and plan to break me and Landon up from the beginning.

It was so twisted, so cold, yet somehow made a logical type of sense.

Holy shit.

Gabby was just like me.

“I see you. I’m not afraid of your darkness. I’ll never judge you for doing what you need to get what you want. Why does it have to be bad if the end justified the means?”

Her long fingernail scratched lightly down my cheek. The scent of spice and sex drifted from her pores. Her green eyes shimmered with heat.

Fuck, I wanted her even now. Craved to grab her around the throat and thrust between her dripping thighs because I knew she was wet. I knew because the same shit turned me on—and somehow, she’d found the key that unlocked all of it.

With Landon, I was able to keep my damaged parts held tight. I lied and dealt with the awful guilt because I knew Landon was better than me. That I had to do good in order to be worthy. But with Gabby?

There was nothing to hide. She didn’t give a crap about my dark secrets.

She had her own.

Still, I shook my head. “You fucked me over, Gabby. I lost friends and the woman I loved. Everyone believes I’m a liar and a cheat.”

Her full lips twitched. “Aren’t you?” she purred. “What are you so afraid of? I’ll never judge or spill your secrets. I have no interest in blackmail or keeping you in your good boy box. Don’t you realize you could finally be free to be who you are, without apology?”

I was helpless under her hypnotic stare. Deep inside, something unlatched and exploded, desperate to obey. Excitement shimmered in my veins at the thought of letting it all go without worry. To be whoever the fuck I wanted because Gabby didn’t give a shit.

My dick grew hard, straining against my pants. She flicked her gaze downward and gave a husky laugh. “There’s my good boy,” she crooned dirtily, stroking my erection. “He knows what he wants.”

I couldn’t do this right now. It was too much.

I stepped away and walked across the room. “I’ve gotta get out of here. I can’t do this right now.”

She didn’t try to stop me.

I slammed the door behind me and wondered what the hell I was going to do next.