by Rye Hart
I swallowed thickly when my eyes focused on that part of him. I still could remember how hard and big he had felt through his pants. Sex with Gabriel Bradley would undoubtedly be the best sex of my life. My entire body thrummed with the temptation of it.
“I’m sorry,” I forced out, tearing my eyes away as Gabriel set his glass of water down on the kitchen island. “I didn’t think you were here.”
“I didn’t think you were going to be back so soon,” he said. “Where’s Alyssa?”
“Having coffee with a high school friend.”
My heart continued to beat erratically as Gabriel padded across the kitchen slowly in my direction. He stopped directly in front of me. The smell of fresh soap clung to his skin, and it took all my control to not reach out to touch him.
“Friend, huh?” He arched an eyebrow at me. “That’s code for her meeting someone she doesn’t want me to know about. Will she be a while?”
Standing so close to Gabriel, a very naked and still somewhat wet Gabriel of all things was only adding fuel to the fire sparking in my lower belly. The core of me throbbed for his touch, no matter how hard I tried to tell myself to back away, to remember that Alyssa would be devastated if anything happened.
“Probably,” I managed to say. “An hour. Maybe two.”
Gabriel’s eyes darkened as he reached forward to cup my face. “Thank God. I know this is wrong, but I can’t get you of my damn head.”
Blood roared in my veins. I stared up into his moody eyes that were alive with passion and lust. I wanted this. I wanted him before I burst from the inside out.
“I can’t get you out of mine, either,” I confessed with a whisper. “I just want you to kiss me again.”
“With pleasure.”
The corner of his lips quirked up briefly before his lips crushed against mine in a searing kiss that instantly melted me. Strong arms wound their way around my waist as he drew me closer to pull me flush against his naked body. I swept my hands over his hot skin, feeling every inch of him with a soft sigh.
His hands slid along my back to cup my ass cheeks firmly before lifting me up to wrap my legs around his waist. Our tongues collided together as he moved beneath me in the direction of his room. The door shut behind us a second later, and the unique smell of Gabriel washed over me—a mixture of masculinity and cologne. I inhaled sharply through my nose as he deposited me on the bed and tugged my long-sleeved shirt up. He helped me squirm my way out of every inch of my clothing. Then he paused to nibble and suck at my breasts with heated moans. It wasn’t until I laid completely exposed, with Gabriel crouched lithely at the end of the bed, that I realized that it was going to happen.
Nerves crashed over me. I smoothed a hand through his dark locks of hair, unsure if I should pull back. My body was already wound up tightly with a deep-seated need. The first touch of his tongue against the core of me dashed all of that away. I flopped down onto the comfortable mattress while his tongue and fingers worked me until I was thrashing underneath him in release.
Gabriel chuckled when he caught the glossy look on my face. He scooted my twitching body across the bed so that our legs could properly tangle. A shudder went up my spine as he slid easily between my bent knees. I took a moment to gaze down at his well-equipped package that was currently nudging me. I sucked in a deep breath when his sharp hips rolled back before pushing himself into me in one thrust.
My head fell back into the pillow while we both let out throaty moans. His hands gripped the blankets next to my head as he forced his body to go still, to savor the feeling like I wanted. To feel the thick and throbbing heat inside of me was exquisite. It nearly brought me over the edge again, but then Gabriel moved fluidly against me to set a deep and hard pace. I clutched at his shoulders to ride out the overwhelming pleasure that tore at every inch of my body. A tingling sensation filled the tips of my toes. I could dimly hear Gabriel muttering incoherently against the side of my neck as passion blinded him, too.
His fingers dug into the back of my thigh as he pinned me down to the mattress to thrust jaggedly into me. My peak fell over me in a tingling cloud of heat that left me gasping for breath while my body trembled violently. I felt Gabriel’s cock, buried deep inside of me, twitch a few times before he collapsed against me with a sated groan.
We laid there in a sweaty and tangled mess for a long time. I didn’t want to move, not yet at least. I wanted to bask in the afterglow before the harsh reality came settling back in. I had just fucked my best friend’s father, and it sounded so horrible to say it, but I enjoyed every damn second of it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN - GABRIEL
Penny avoided me like the plague the following afternoon. Neither one of us wanted to look at each other, but I didn’t regret having sex with her, either. The sensation of entering Penny for the first time had been the most breathtaking experience in my life. She had been tight and wet and willing. She’d pulled me in and locked her legs around my waist as I’d thrusted, coaxing every drop of fluid from my body. But my experience with Penny had been on a whole different level, to the point that the other women I’d been with couldn’t even be judged using the same scale as Penny. My time with her had left me feeling completely satisfied and relieved. Still, I could see it coming with dire consequences if anyone found out. There was no way this would end well. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. I spent my entire life predicting other people’s behavior, but when it came to trying to understand my own actions, I was at an utter loss for what to do.
Maybe it would be a good idea to convince Penny to head back to New York City while I still could. It was becoming clear that I couldn’t be alone with her at all. Which meant I needed to stay holed up in my office for the next week until I figured out a proper way to deal with it.
I took a cold shower after spending the entire night tossing and turning, haunted by images of Penny’s head rolling back in pleasure and how those perky breasts of hers had bounced in time with my thrusts. It was too much for any hot-blooded man to resist. I could only try to put it far from my mind by giving myself release quickly in the shower before facing Penny again.
When I emerged from my bedroom, I was surprised to only find Alyssa sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee in one hand while her other hand was busy texting away. Swallowing my disappointment, I entered the kitchen to glance over at my daughter who immediately turned her phone off when she caught sight of me.
“That doesn’t look suspicious,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What are you doing up so early?”
Alyssa shrugged her shoulders. “I just thought I could finish up the last of my Christmas shopping at the mall today.”
“With Penny?”
“I offered to take her, but she isn’t a shopping type of girl. She said just wanted to stay in here to study.”
I poured myself a cup of coffee while Alyssa fidgeted on the bar stool. She glanced over at her phone when it buzzed on the counter top. It occurred to me then that she wasn’t going to the mall to just shop on her own. I remembered yesterday Penny mentioning that Alyssa had gone to meet an old high school friend.
“So,” I said calmly. “Who’s the old high school friend you are going to go see at the mall today?”
The color drained from Alyssa’s face. She sighed in resignation when I gave her a pointed look while sipping at my coffee.
“His name is Scott,” she said. “He was one grade above me in high school, so he’s a sophomore here in Chicago.”
I thinned my lips because no matter how much of an adult I knew Alyssa was, I still didn’t like the idea of my daughter dating while in college. I wanted her to concentrate on her studies and not get distracted. Even if I couldn’t keep her away from the opposite gender completely, I could discourage it.
“You know how I feel about you dating while you’re at school,” I said. “I’m not paying for you to find a boyfriend. I’m paying for you to get an education.”
“I know that. Hence, the date to
day is during the break for the both of us.”
“So, it is a date then?” I asked.
“I’m an adult, Dad,” Alyssa said, hopping up from the stool. “I know that you can’t let me go, but I am going to eventually find someone I want to be in a relationship with. Until then, I just want to have a little bit of fun.”
I shook my head at her in exasperation. “You’re only nineteen years old, Alyssa. I don’t think you have a clue about what you want.”
“Oh, trust me. I know exactly what I want.”
“Too much information,” I said, grimacing at the mischievous look in her eyes. “Fine, Alyssa. Just promise to keep yourself protected at all times.”
Alyssa laughed as she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. She smelled of coffee and perfume, but I still smelled baby power and lotion like when she was a child. A pang filled me as I squeezed her back tightly. Then, the guilt followed as she pulled back to look up at me with a frown.
“Is everything okay with you, Dad? I’ve noticed that something is bothering you over the past couple of days.”
“It’s nothing,” I said and plastered on an assuring smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’m able to take care of myself, despite what you might think.”
“I suppose you do a good job at taking care of yourself,” she conceded, eyeing my broad chest with a small smile. “I bet Mom didn’t know what to think when she saw you. I’ve seen pictures of Jack Miller on the internet. You’re way better looking than he is.”
I chuckled at her attempt to cheer me up. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, grinning. “Any woman you want would be lucky to have you in their lives.”
She slipped out of my arms to go down the hallway in the direction of her room. I downed the last bit of my coffee with a queasy stomach, then I texted my driver to meet me in five minutes while I gathered up my things for the day. At least my daughter didn’t know the truth about my “relationships” with women when she was away at college. She’d think I was a straight-up hypocrite for encouraging her to stay away from sleeping with whoever she wanted. I lingered in the hallway for a moment to gaze at Penny’s closed door. I didn’t know if she was awake yet, or if she would even welcome me going down there to talk to her at this point. My phone buzzed with a text message from William to let me know that he was waiting for me down in the parking lot. Tucking my phone into my pocket, I slid into my heavy jacket before leaving the condo to let Penny have some time alone. I didn’t need to complicate things any further by trying to talk to her.
Not until I figured out what the fuck was going on inside of my own head.
The morning hours ticked by slowly as I focused on the upcoming week. The lawsuit wouldn’t go anywhere. My legal team was sure of that, but I wanted everything to be perfect. I didn’t care how irritated my employees were getting with my foul mood whenever I told them to tweak the presentations or to run through another algorithm. It wasn’t until Neil stepped into my office with a concerned frown on his face that I realized something was wrong.
“I think we should take a break from work for lunch,” he said. “Get something to eat at a place I know for an hour or two.”
I glanced up at Neil when he closed the door to my office to keep our conversation private. My foul mood only worsened when he shook his head at me.
“I know you have a lot going on,” Neil said. “But your employees are getting the brunt of whatever is pissing you off. You aren’t making any sense up there, either. You’re running around in circles.”
“I know what I’m doing,” I snapped churlishly. “I’m trying to run through every possible scenario, Neil. I want this to be perfect and—”
“And it will be perfect. I promise you that.” He swept a glance over the bags beneath my eyes. “I’m taking you out to lunch. No questions asked, and you can tell me about whatever the hell is bugging you so badly. Got it?”
“It sounds like I don’t have a choice,” I replied coolly. A little break from the office did sound good, though. “Just for an hour, Neil. I want to get back here to do a few more scenarios on an economic crash, or a housing market crash.”
“We’ll get to it when we get back,” he said. “I’ll let the rest of the office know that they need to consider those scenarios. That’s why you hired these people.”
“Good point, I suppose.”
I powered down my computer before locking up my office to meet Neil at the elevators. I left word with my receptionist to call if anyone needed me. We ended up in a small Italian restaurant fifteen minutes away from the office. The entire time, I resisted the urge to call Penny to check up on her. A small part of me was troubled by her sleeping in this morning, but it occurred to me then that she was most likely hiding out in the guestroom to avoid interacting with me. I would have to be the one to bridge that gap if I wanted to fix the situation before it spun of control.
“Okay,” Neil said, interlacing his fingers together in front of me from across the small table. “I have a feeling that your foul mood has nothing to do with work. It has everything to do with whatever is going on inside of that brain of yours.”
“Aren’t you smart?” I muttered. “Is it that obvious that I am in a shitty mood?”
“Very obvious, boss. You’re biting everyone’s head off before they can even speak a word to you.”
“Fuck,” I said, sighing.
I brushed a hand through my hair before gazing across the table at Neil. He had been my friend for the past ten years. Nothing about him made me question his loyalty, but this secret with Penny felt scandalous. It wasn’t the type of secret that other people normally kept, either.
“It has something to do with Penny,” Neil stated calmly. He smiled at me when I looked at him in surprise. “You haven’t been like this ever. I can tell that there is something happening between the two of you.”
“There is,” I admitted with a resigned sigh. “I’ve tried to avoid it like the plague, but it hasn’t worked. There’s something about her that just keeps pulling me in.”
“Exactly how old is this girl?”
“Young enough to be my daughter’s best friend,” I answered.
Neil blew out a breath and leveled his gaze at me. “And what do you plan to do about it?”
I shook my head and stared down at the table. “I have absolutely no fucking idea. I’ve tried to stay away, I’ve tried to tell myself it isn’t right, but my body has other ideas. It’s ridiculous, Neil. I feel like a fucking teenager, controlled by my hormones. It’s wrong of me to take advantage of her and if Alyssa ever found out, I don’t think she’d be able to forgive me.”
Neil regarded me for a few moments before speaking. “Shit Gabriel, you’ve gotten yourself into quite a situation here, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, you could say that,” I answered.
“Sounds like you need to find a way to nip this in the bud before it gets totally out of hand,” he said.
I nodded and grunted a reply. My brain knew full well that what he was saying was right. My cock, on the other hand, had entirely different ideas.
CHAPTER TWELVE – PENNY
When Gabriel called to ask me out to dinner, I’d agreed without thinking. Whatever the hell was going on between us had overridden my better judgment; removing all rational thought and making me act on impulse. It wasn’t like me to throw caution to the wind this way, but the man just had some power over me I couldn’t resist.
Two hours before having to meet with Gabriel, Alyssa texted me that Scott had asked her out for dinner. She came back to the condo soon after so I could help her get ready for her big date. She had no idea that I, too, was eager to get prettied up for my dinner with her father. Of course, I couldn’t get ready with her around or else she’d know I had secret plans.
I had spent the entire afternoon trying to come up with some sort of excuse to leave the condo at the same time as Alyssa, but so far, I couldn’t think of a convincing reason
that wouldn’t seem suspicious. I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Then again, I wasn’t sure why I had accepted her father’s offer to have dinner when the two of us couldn’t be alone together without falling into each other’s arms. I had avoided Gabriel over the past two days, just as much as he avoided me. Neither one of us wanted to think about that line we had both sprinted across. I couldn’t even look Alyssa in the eye as she talked about her new love interest for the winter break.
“He’s just so dreamy,” Alyssa said as she smoothed down the sweater dress she wore. “I wish I went to college here in Chicago. The guys at our school suck. You ever notice that?”
She turned to look at me as I combed through my own hair. I didn’t want to risk putting on makeup because it would draw attention to what I was going to do, but I needed to get ready quickly the second that Alyssa left.
“I’ve noticed the distinct lack of quality in the guys at our school,” I said. “That’s why I tell you to stay away from them. They all just want one thing from you.”
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing sometimes,” Alyssa said, shrugging. She slipped into a pair of tall brown boots before standing in front of me. “What do you think? Do I look classy enough for wherever Scott is taking me?”
I ran my gaze along Alyssa’s athletic frame, squeezed into a dark blue sweater dress with tight leggings and knee-high boots. She had taken the time to style her short black locks into messy curls that bounced whenever she moved. I smiled at her.
