Pendelton Manor Read online

  “Nicole did a lot of redecorating when she moved in here. The bathroom’s over there.”

  “Nicole was Adrian’s wife?” she asked, saving checking out the bathroom for later as curiosity about the late Mrs. Pendelton took hold.

  Nora nodded her head, a look of sadness filling her eyes. “Yes, and one of my best friends. Nicole, Rachel and I were as close as Adrian, his cousins and James are. I still miss her.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss. She must be the reason you know so much about the family.” That and the fact that Nora was on intimate terms with not only one of the Pendeltons but their best friend also. Her mind and her body were still focused on what she had witnessed and she was finding it difficult to put that scene aside. Unlike most college age girls, Sophie had been too busy working full time while taking a full load at school to have much spare time for boys, let alone a sexual relationship. A one night stand her freshman year divested her of her virginity, a six month affair with a senior the following year in which the most time they had together was a few hours once a week, if that, and the one night stand the summer before her senior year that resulted in Emily’s birth were the total sum of her experiences in the bedroom. In the past four and a half years, her life had first revolved around making a living for her and Emily with the hopes of someday returning to school to finish her degree in Interior Design, followed by simply getting through the days while coping with the crushing grief from losing her to an inoperable brain tumor. There had been no time or thought given to anything or anyone other than her daughter.

  “We’ve known the guys since high school,” Nora said wondering what had caused the brief glimpse of despair on Sophie’s face before she masked it. “We were just freshman, and the Pendeltons and James were the hottest seniors in school as well as coming from the most prominent family around.”

  Sophie smiled, remembering what it was like to have a crush on an older boy in high school. “It must be nice to have stayed friends all these years.” Remembering that Nora, Adam and James were more than friends, she felt herself blushing, again.

  Nora laughed, a knowing glint shining in her blue eyes. “Oh, the seven of us eventually became more than friends, as you saw earlier. You didn’t seem too flustered about walking in on a ménage. I hope that means we don’t have to curtail our fun for you.”

  Not wanting to start off on the wrong foot with anyone associated with her new employer, Sophie hastened to reply, “No, of course not. I mean, I’ll try to leave you some privacy in the future. I was just so shocked, you know?”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Nora said as Adam and James entered the room, each carrying a large suitcase.

  “Get used to what?” Adam asked as he set her bag on the bed.

  “Us.”

  “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet, Sophie,” Adam replied, grinning mischievously. “Wait until Ash and Rachel return at the end of the week. Then you’ll really blush.”

  “Leave her alone you two. She’s got enough to deal with right now.” James set the bag he had brought up on the bed before also giving Sophie’s shoulder a friendly squeeze. “Do you know where Adrian’s office is?”

  “The first door to the right as I go back downstairs. Nora pointed it out to me. Thank you.” Sophie appreciated his intervention with Adam’s teasing. Her mind and body were still coming to grips with the scene she had watched and her physical reaction to their erotic play. She couldn’t imagine adding two more people into the foray nor did she want to think about coming across her boss engaged with Rachel or Nora. During her brief introduction to Adrian, she had felt a combination of fear and attraction, neither one a promising start to their working relationship. “I better get changed into a dry shirt and get down there before he becomes even more displeased with me.” She shuddered at the thought of his reaction if she was late for their meeting.

  “Don’t worry, Sophie,” Adam said as the three of them started out of her room. “Big cousin’s bark is worse than his bite. You’ll get used to him.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Sophie was hoping Adam was right as she knocked tentatively on the closed door to Adrian’s office five minutes early. Having changed into a dry shirt and dried her hair did little to warm her inside where she felt chilled at the thought of those cold black eyes.

  “Enter.” The unexpected anticipation and arousal Adrian felt at seeing his new housekeeper again was as welcome as a surprise snowstorm in April. He had neither the time nor the inclination to pursue any type of relationship, especially with an employee. He had thought replacing his previous, middle aged, married housekeepers with a younger, unattached woman would better the odds of her sticking around once she discovered the sexual goings on around here. A younger woman was apt to be more open minded, maybe even interested in participating, thus ensuring she stuck around here longer than a few weeks.

  What he hadn’t anticipated was his reaction to his new employee. Ever since Nicole’s death a year ago, he hadn’t wanted anything from any woman. The occasional blowjob from Nora or Rachel was enough for him for now. His wife’s infidelity and subsequent death had left him with a raw, festering wound that had yet to heal, leaving him with no desire to seek anything more. Even though his love for Nicole had died long before her death, the sight of her broken body on the ragged rocks haunted him. No matter how much he had hated her at the end, she didn’t deserve to die like that.

  But there it was again as Sophie entered at his bidding. That unfamiliar kick to the gut when he looked into blue eyes that were as haunted as his memories and a lush mouth that would look and feel fucking awesome wrapped around his cock.

  “Right on time. Have a seat, Ms. Turner.” For the life of him he couldn’t figure out why his reaction to her was so strong. At barely five five, she was average height, with a nice, but nothing spectacular figure topped with a face that would pass as cute, but not beautiful. Now that her hair was dry, it curled around her shoulders in thick waves, the color reminding him of caramel candy, the brown streaked with gold making it possibly her most attractive feature. But the memory of how her face looked when she had walked in on the threesome earlier, how her eyes had widened with interest and arousal, how she had stayed rooted in the doorway instead of running back out the door in mortification, had his cock hardening, pushing against his slacks for release and satisfaction.

  “Please, call me Sophie,” Sophie replied as she slipped into the stiff backed chair facing his wide, mahogany desk. An hour had done nothing to lesson his appeal or thaw the coldness in his eyes as he looked at her. “I want to apologize again for being late and for interrupting…”

  “No one cares about you catching them having sex, Sophie, so don’t worry about it. However, if you ever decide to join in with a scene, make sure it’s on your own time. Now, I’m sure you’ve noticed how large my home is which is why I employ a full time housekeeper. You will be my first live-in employee as I’ve seemed to have gone through all the available ones in this area. As you’ve learned already, they left because they didn’t like the activities they stumbled upon. I’m assuming that won’t be a problem for you?” he asked coolly wanting to get everything out in the open now that the ice had been broken.

  “No, no that won’t bother me, especially since I won’t be taken by surprise the next time. Since I don’t plan on joining them, I’ll try to stay out of their way.” It hadn’t occurred to her that what she had witnessed was a regular activity around here or that the option to participate was going to be made until he mentioned it, but when he did, she was surprised to picture herself with him instead of Adam or James, a thought that left her uneasy and embarrassed even though he couldn’t know what she was thinking.

  Adrian wondered if she knew how much her face gave her away. Her pink cheeks indicated embarrassment, but the way her eyes shifted away from him as her tongue darted out and moistened suddenly dry lips was a very telling gesture, one his cock loved but his mind shoved aside.

  Dropping the subj
ect for now, he proceeded to tell her about the mansion, what he liked done and how he wanted it done. He gave her a charge card to use for household expenses and groceries after assuring her neither he nor his cousins expected anything fancy for dinner, simple meals would suffice.

  “That’s good because my cooking experience was limited to helping the Tremaines cook. I picked up enough to put together casseroles and a few other meals. Will there just be the three of you?”

  “Make enough to feed at least six, that way if James or one of the girls is here there will be enough. If we’re all here, we’ll fend for ourselves after finishing whatever you’ve made. Come on,” he said as he rose from behind the desk. “I’ll give you a quick tour and you can spend the rest of the evening getting settled.”

  After pointing out his cousin’s office and the library, both in the same hall as his office and the den, Adrian led her down the hall to the right of the staircase to a massive kitchen and dining area. The old world charm of the mansion was evident in the huge stone fireplace which took up one wall, original wood beams on the ceiling and a still usable dumb waiter that stopped at both the second and third floors.

  “We haven’t used this in years, but it still works,” Adrian said as he showed her how it operated.

  “I love the way you’ve kept the old in this kitchen and blended it with the new. It would’ve been a shame to gut this kitchen and modernize all of it.” As it was, the modern stainless steel appliances, black granite countertops and the pot filler over the six burner gas stove fit nicely against the red brick backdrop around the counters and against the gray stone floor.

  Adrian remembered the argument he had with Nicole when she wanted to do just that. It had been just one of many disagreements they had had over their seven year marriage. The appreciation he saw on Sophie’s face for the antique charm of his home was a welcome change from the disdain Nicole constantly showed after they had married. She hadn’t been happy when she discovered that marrying him didn’t mean he was going to change his ways, especially when it came to preserving his family home.

  “I insisted my wife work with a restoration expert when she remodeled anything in the house. Come on, I’ll show you the one exception I made for her.”

  By the closed look on his face, Sophie figured any reminder of his wife still caused him pain, something she could sympathize with. Following him out of the kitchen, he led her down to the end of the hall where a wall of glass was the only thing that separated the original part of the mansion from the solarium. Without entering the plant filled, glass enclosed room, Adrian pointed out the two bathrooms on the far side of the pool.

  “That’s about all you’ll have responsibility for in this room. James takes care of all the plants, both inside and out and I have a pool service that includes keeping windows and floors clean. Any questions?”

  “No, thank you for the tour. Should I let you know before I go up to clean your floor?” It was obvious her new boss wasn’t anxious to spend any more time in her company than necessary, and right now that was fine by her. While she credited her attraction to her boss to her heightened libido after viewing the scene earlier, she had no rational reason for this unaccustomed desire she felt to ease the pain she saw in his cold, dark eyes. Hopefully it was something as simple as having empathy for someone who had experienced the loss of a loved one, someone who knew how that loss could devastate you.

  “That won’t be necessary. Set aside one day a week to clean the third floor and I’ll make sure I stay out of your way. One other thing, Sophie.”

  “Yes?” she asked when he paused as he looked down at her broodingly.

  “This house sits on the edge of the cliffs which makes it unsafe for you to go walking around away from the yard after dark. Only those of us who have lived here our whole life and are familiar with the terrain and the drop offs venture out at night or early morning.”

  Sophie thought she had read that Nicole had been raised in Pendelton and had been a frequent guest of the family since college, and yet she had still managed to fall to her death. “I’ll remember that and keep my walks to the daylight hours.”

  “See that you do.”

  Chapter Two

  Sophie had been hoping the stress of the past day would have made her tired enough to fall asleep without a problem, but she soon discovered she wasn’t going to be that lucky. The storm had finally abated and from what she could see out her windows, nothing but a light rain remained from the raging tempest. The soft sound of it splashing against the window was actually soothing, which was more than she could say about her new surroundings. The tour Adrian had given her was mind boggling and she was really wondering how one person could keep up with this place. As much as the daunting task of doing just that seemed impossible, she was actually looking forward to the challenge. Being a housekeeper for the wealthy had never been a long term plan of hers, just a means to an end while she got through school. But fate had a way of screwing with plans, and here she was at twenty-seven still working the same job she had begun in her teens when Shirley, her last foster parent, had allowed her to earn extra money by helping out with her housecleaning business. She had even allowed Sophie to remain living in her home after she turned eighteen so she could afford to go to school. Two years later, Shirley had agreed to take in two more teenagers and had given her the Tremaine account knowing that the guest cottage would be available to her and she would be able to continue with school, albeit at a slower pace.

  But after Emily’s birth, she hadn’t been able to go back to school right away. Childcare was too expensive and she had been so enthralled with her daughter, with having someone to love, someone who needed her for the first time in her life, that she had wanted to spend as much time as possible with her while she was young. But again fate intervened, and a year later Emily was diagnosed with a brain tumor and even though everything was tried to save her life, she watched her daughter slowly die over the next six months, and with her went every hope, every dream she had for their future. Emily’s death had left a yawning abyss in her life, the void causing a black chasm of never ending despair that she was constantly fighting against falling into, afraid she wouldn’t get back out.

  For the past two years she had been going through the days mechanically, doing nothing but working and grieving, her only outlet the monthly grief counseling sessions she attended for parents who had lost a child. The saying, ‘misery loves company’, was so true, and, as awful as it always sounded, she drew comfort from knowing she wasn’t the only one suffering every parent’s worst nightmare. It was her friends in this group that had encouraged her to get away, start over someplace new, someplace away from the memories. She was lucky, she wasn’t tied down and there was nothing, and no one to keep her in Phoenix. Emily’s father had been a one-time encounter, they had used a condom, and he had failed to believe she was his daughter. That didn’t bother Sophie because that meant she could have Emily all to herself, even if it had been for just a short while.

  Sophie turned from the window and crawled into bed finding the mattress soft just like she liked them. Sinking down, she stretched out, loving all the room the queen size bed afforded her. The sheets were soft against her bare legs and arms, the room lit dimly by a small night light and the sound of soft rainfall soothing. Getting to sleep at night was the hardest part of the day for her, the quiet solitude of the night reminding her of how she used to listen for every sound coming from Emily. But tonight, she found herself remembering the sounds of three people having sex, the snap of leather against bare flesh, the soft feminine cries of pleasure, the deeper masculine groans of release. How long had it been since she had allowed herself to feel any pleasure, lost herself in the ecstasy of an orgasm? While her two one night stands were anything but memorable experiences, her short affair with Mitch had given her many nights of pleasure. Even though their couplings were few and far between and they rarely had more than an hour to spend together when they did manage to meet, Mit
ch had always made sure he gave her pleasure and after seeing that remembered pleasure reflected on the faces of Nora, Adam and James, she had been reminded of how much she had enjoyed being with a man. But she didn’t remember feeling such intense ecstasy as to make her scream like Nora did, making her wonder what she was missing.

  Sophie actually felt her pussy clench emptily as she tried to imagine being taken by two men, of experiencing a climax so great she screamed with the consuming pleasure. It was so beyond her realm of experience she simply couldn’t fathom it. It had been obvious to her, as well as the men she was sure, that the pain from the strokes of James’ belt had only added to Nora’s pleasure, that somehow the sting from the skin reddening slashes had heightened her arousal to an extreme Sophie couldn’t comprehend.

  Slipping her hand into her panties, Sophie wasn’t surprised to find her sheath wet, but she was surprised at how quickly just one stroke of her finger over her clit had her arching up for more, had her juices increasing to the point of seeping out and coating her thighs. She hadn’t touched herself sexually since before Emily fell ill and if she didn’t want to be honest with herself, she would credit that long drought with her swift arousal. But she was honest with herself, and she knew abstinence played a minor role in her quick response to that light touch and that most of her arousal stemmed from picturing herself in Nora’s place, of trying to imagine how she would respond to being spanked or double fucked.

  The next slow stroke, done with a little more pressure, had her shutting off her reasoning and concentrating simply on finding enough pleasure to help her slip into sleep. With her other hand, she raised her night shirt until she cupped her breast, the pointed nipple stabbing her palm as she kneaded her soft flesh. Unable to prevent a soft moan from escaping, she arched into her hand as she inserted two, then three fingers, the digits sliding easily inside her with the aid of her gushing moisture. Biting her lip to keep from crying out, she finger fucked her pussy with slow, deep strokes, mimicking at first the slow, deep thrusts of Adam’s cock into Nora’s mouth while picturing herself in Nora’s place.