“Okay.”

“What?” I’d forgotten I was on the phone with Davis.

“Okay. You win. I don’t necessarily agree that your lost city film isn’t as good as these photos, but these are incredible. Who is the woman in the last two? She’s…” He pauses, searching for the right word…”arresting. You only see a small slice of her profile, and it sticks with you. Mysterious, magnetic. I fucking love this. I’m taking these to your publisher. We’ll work something out.”

“Good deal.”

“But no more changes!” he commands.

I nod and hang up. Why would I want to change? I’m going to photograph every damn place in this city with Dove as my muse. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she’s my source of inspiration. l cross the room to my camera and pick it up. I shouldn’t do this, but if I can’t touch her, I need to look at her. I need to know she’s still breathing, that she’s still near.

Before my better angels change my mind, I open the door to her room. The master bedroom is huge. Dove looks like a tiny dot in the midst of the large space. There’s almost no light in here and even my expensive-ass lens would have trouble recording an image. I walk over to the windows and draw back the curtains, allowing moonlight to spill into the room. The golden light streams across the bed, highlighting the rise of her hips and the valley of her waist. The camera makes a nearly imperceptible swish as the eye of the lens blinks, capturing her in her slumber.

I won’t publish these. Dove is too vulnerable. Her eyelashes lay like lace on her cheek. Her lower lip is pushed forward in a kissable pout. The sheets are pulled down enough that I can see the rise of her tits, two ripe peaches ready for plucking. There’s a lump between her legs, which I suspect is a pillow. Does her pussy ache there? Is that why she has something shoved up against her sex? The pillow is too soft to provide any relief. She needs my hands, my fingers, my tongue, my cock. If I were in that bed with her, her leg could be draped over my hip while my cock is buried inside her cunt. We’d drench the sheets with her come and mine. And when we were spent, she’d pass out in my arms. I take another photo and then another until the film roll runs out.

Sixteen

Dove

I roll over when I hear the sound of a click. We haven't lived in the new penthouse long, but it is starting to feel like home. Which I know is crazy, considering we barely know one another. I’m here playing house with a man, and my mind is letting me slip deeper into the fantasy of this all being real. Maybe it’s not the place making me feel as though I’m at home as much as it is Jay. He seems to be the missing piece to my happiness. Because that’s how I’ve felt since he’s been around.

I’m spending more time with him than I ever have in my life with any other man, and I actually miss him when he’s not around. We have breakfast and dinner together every day. He even pops in for lunch when I’m at work.

The girls there are getting excited about that. I have to admit that I find myself getting jealous. I thought about telling him not to come anymore, but me wanting to see him outweighed my jealous tendencies. I had decided seeing him was worth watching them burn a hole into him with their eyes. They could look all they wanted. Jay never even acknowledges their existence except to be polite. His eyes and attention are always focused on me.

I slip out of the bed, knowing that I probably won’t be able to go back to sleep now. When I open my bedroom door, I see Jay watching it. He’s leaning up against the wall with his camera in his hand. If I had to guess, he’s scrolling through the pictures that he’s taken. I love watching him as he works. Who would have thought a man holding a camera could be sexy? Yet Jay makes it that way.

His head jerks up. There’s a look of surprise on his face. “I thought I heard something. Did you know blue jays are both loud and noisy?”

I smirk at him. Jay is far from loud, but he does ask me a lot of questions, always trying to find out more about me. I’ve never met a man like him before. He pushed his way into my life, and now I can’t imagine him not being in it.

“Been reading up on them?” I step in the hallway. He’s in sweats now and a simple white shirt. He’s fit. He says running helps clear his mind. It does a lot more than that, based on his body.

“Some.”

“What else did you learn?”

“When a female blue jay picks her mate they generally stay monogamous for life.”

“That’s interesting. I’ve been doing some reading of my own.” He is always reading. “Doves mate for life too. Did you know that?” He smirks before clearing the rest of the space between us.

“I didn't know that.” I lick my bottom lip. How is this conversation turning me on? “So we both can’t sleep?” I swear the man never sleeps. I reach up and run my fingers through his hair. He likely needs a haircut, but I’m enjoying it like this.

“Lay down with me.” I grab his hand that doesn't have his camera in it and pull him into the bedroom with me.

“Do you mind?” he asks, holding up the camera. “No nakeds.”

“I know, Jay.”

He dims the lights before pushing a button that opens the drapes to reveal the bright lights of the busy city.

“Leave it,” he says when I go to pull my shirt back up that has fallen off my shoulder. “Pretend that I’m not here. Just take in the city. Feel the energy that it gives off.” I place my hands on the glass, looking down at the people below. Most of them look as if they are tiny specs that are moving about. It's so late, but the city is still so alive.

I let my mind drift. It always seems to go back to thoughts of Jay. My first instinct was to run from him, but now the only thing I want to do is run to him. There is something about him. I’ve never felt this connection with anyone. He makes me feel safe. My sister would kill me if she heard that. I’d be lying if I didn't admit that I struggle with her being close to our dad. I know I shouldn’t. She should have that.

Everyone should have a family. My only family was my mom, and after she passed I felt so alone. I take my hands from the glass to turn to look at Jay. The camera snaps a few more times. “I think you missed your calling, Dove. You should have been a model.”

“There hasn’t been one second when I thought you weren’t breathtaking. But here and now you are a vision. It’s not something that could be caught on a runway or modeling. It’s you. Everything about you makes the onlooker want more. You say so much without speaking a single word.” His words have me reaching for the hem of my shirt and pulling it over my head, leaving me in only a simple pair of cotton panties. Clearly I was unprepared for this.

“Can you see what I want now?”

He sets his camera down. “Connection.” He lifts his own shirt off, tossing it away. When I reach him, he pulls me in for a kiss. It's soft and slow, like he’s trying to tell me I’m not alone before pulling me into bed with him. I wrap myself around him, and he holds me tightly against him.

“How can a city be so busy but still make you feel so alone?” I ask.

“You’re not alone, and Avery and I don’t count. Call into work tomorrow. I want to show you the city through my eyes.”