PROLOGUE
Adrenaline rushed through me as I glanced over at the door leading back down into the building. At any moment, someone could come walking through it. But for some reason, the danger of it thrilled me, and my body ached for more.
Those thoughts were shooed away, though, when I heard the distinct sound of his belt and zipper being pulled down. His cock, thick and hot, nudged me intimately, drawing a gasp from my lips. He slid into me with one easy thrust. I gripped the wall even harder as pleasure shot through the center of my belly.
“Fuck,” he groaned, gripping my waist with one hand. His other hand smacked into the wall above my head as his hips rolled again. “You feel so good. You feel so fucking good, it’s almost painful.”
Desperation filled me, and the pressure in me began to mount when he thrust hard into me again.
“Harder,” I panted. “Please. Please. It feels so good, baby. Fuck me harder.”
I didn’t even cringe at the words coming from the tip of my tongue. All I cared about was the slick sensation of his dick sliding in and out of me at a desperate pace now. He leaned over me as he fucked me. His hand reached in front of me and slipped into the top of my dress. His warm palm cupped my breast, scraping deliciously over my hard nipple.
I moaned at the feeling of it. The sounds of my pleasure seemed to spur him on, and his cock pounded into me faster and harder. Every stroke of him inside me found my most sensitive places, and soon, I was bucking my hips back into him, meeting every thrust of his hips, as he buried his cock into me as deep as it could go.
My body jolted every time he plunged into me, making me pant and moan every time. I could feel the sensations building up inside me again, overwhelming my senses and erasing all rational thought. The only thing in the world that mattered was the feeling of our bodies coming together on that snowy rooftop.
He carried us both higher and higher, filling me with tension, and together, we exploded in a release that left both of us shuddering in response. The sound of our panting breaths mingled together on the quiet roof, and he held me tightly as we basked in the pleasure pulsing through our bodies. We stayed that way for a moment longer, until the cold was too much to take.
My fingers were trembling as I turned to look back at him. He tucked himself back inside of his pants. Sweat glistened at his hairline, and clouds puffed out in front of us while we gazed at one another.
CHAPTER ONE - GABRIEL
Goooood morning Mr. Bradley! We have a busy day ahead. Everything has to be just perfect!” Maria shouted, in her usual bouncy and energetic tone.
“Good morning, Maria. Right on! I’ve been looking forward to this day for months and I know you won’t disappoint.”
Years back, when I first hired Maria, my new housekeeper’s style took some getting used to. No amount of reasonably digestible caffeine could bring me to her level of gusto, which was the equivalent of five shots of Starbucks espresso, with a few Red Bulls thrown in. Talk about a fucking rush. Eventually, I adapted and even looked forward to her company. These days, I couldn’t imagine starting my mornings without her chirpier than Mrs. Clause personality.
Sure, there were days when I wanted to hit the damn mute button. Fortunately, my mother raised me a gentleman, so I knew when to bite my tongue. And for a man running several multi-million-dollar IT businesses, survival meant setting rules in life. One of my biggest rules was to make my home life nothing short of Zen. Maria’s presence helped me to maintain my Zen, so for that reason I kept her around and well-paid.
I took a deep breath as I allowed myself to savor my view.
This never gets old. What a fucking beauty she is.
My high-rise penthouse, situated near the Hancock Tower, gave me a 360 vision of Chicago - the city I prized. Like every morning, I woke up prior to sunrise to give myself a daily dose of meditation. It gave me a chance to quiet my one hundred mile a minute mind prior to a busy and unpredictable day. A cold wind rattled against the sliding glass door of the condo when Maria pushed it closed. An icy blast crawled through the living room where I was seated at my desk.
“She’s growing up much too fast for my liking. I remember when she was a tiny little thing, sitting at your feet at that exact desk and spot, years ago.”
I chuckled fondly at the memory of that. Nineteen years had passed by in the blink of an eye. I still had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact my baby girl was no longer a
baby. She was a college student; a smart young woman who worked at a start-up firm outside of class, because she wanted the experience. She told me I earned my way to success so why shouldn’t she. That was my girl. She definitely wasn’t working because she needed the money. I made certain Alyssa would be well cared for – but it made me a damn proud father to know she wanted to earn her own way through life. I guess I must have done something right over the years.
“It all changes too fast,” I said wistfully. “At least Christmas is still her favorite time of year.”
Maria looked up as she placed the freshly-beaten rug back in front of the sliding glass door. “There’s a box of Christmas decorations upstairs. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to grab them, or if you wanted to let Alyssa take care of the decorations herself.”
“I’m sure she’d enjoy decorating the condo,” I replied and glanced down at the contract I had been looking over studiously for the past thirty minutes. “She actually called me yesterday to ask if she could bring Penny along with her for break.”
“Penny Marshall?” Maria asked. “As in, Nikki Lewis’s daughter?”
I nodded as Maria smiled widely at that.
“Oh, that will be nice,” she said. “We’ll have some life around this place for the holidays. I haven’t seen Penny since Nikki moved away after Gary’s death.”
“She isn’t a little girl anymore, either,” I said. “Penny is about to wrap up her Bachelor’s in Business this spring. She’s been helping Alyssa with a few classes they both took.”
“Not surprising at all. Alyssa and Penny always looked out for one another. You can trust Penny to keep an eye on Alyssa. Their two-year age gap worked to our favor.””