Author's Note: This is an erotic novel in many chapters. This first chapter is the set up for what's to come, simply for the character development and scene setting a novel requires. It's my first time submitting to Literotica.com, and I appreciate you taking the time to read what I so enjoyed writing. Thank you.
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The summer after graduating high school had been filled with camping and hiking with friends and family before Penelope started college in the fall. She'd grown up in a tiny town, her graduating class less than a hundred, but had been accepted to many colleges after years of hard work.
She'd earned most of the scholarships available to her, as well as working a part time job to save, but the in the end, the money would barely get her through her first year anywhere other than a local community college, and even that was a good three hours from home.
Penelope had a godfather that was loaded, though she hadn't seen him since she was ten. He was a busy man who worked all the time, but had sent her money for her first car, along with extravagant gifts for her birthdays and Christmas presents over the years. He'd offered to pay for her college no matter where she went, but it was on her parent's suggestion that she choose the one closest to him.
"When he offered the full ride, his first suggestion was the university near his estate. He'll never have any children of his own, and he considers his own siblings money grubbers," her mother had explained one afternoon. "I have no doubt that you're high on his list as an heir. He loved you the second you were born."
Penelope's mother had given birth to her when she was sixteen, her father twenty. While typically the choice for a godfather would be someone much older, they'd chosen her mother's best friend, Alex. Two years after Penelope had been born and he'd graduated high school, his great grandfather had died and left him his estate. He'd moved there and attended the same university he'd suggested to Penelope, and had managed to make the money left to him ten times over.
"But I don't
know
him," Penelope had argued. "Why would he care to know me?"
"His life keeps him busy, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love you still," her mother had said. "Alex is a good man, and he's done a lot for this family even though he didn't have to. Choosing a college close to him will give him a chance to know the beautiful woman you've become. It's very generous that he's offered to pay at all, so going to live with him while you attend would be as good as a thank you."
Penelope wasn't too sure, but she couldn't argue. She was grateful to this man she didn't know anymore, and staying close to him for the next four years as a thank you was the very least she could do.
A month before school would start, Penelope said goodbye to her mother and father, tears in their eyes, and boarded a plane to the unknown. She'd never been too far from home, and it was extremely scary to be moving away to live with the godfather she'd only communicated with through thank you cards and the occasional e-mail.
Alex was tied up in a conference call at home, so he sent his driver to retrieve Penelope from the airport. He felt like he owed her more, but his work had, unfortunately, always come before anyone else. It was why his marriages had failed, and his third was careening down hill. Luckily he'd been smart enough to have airtight prenups, or what he'd accumulated in his thirty-four years would be gone in alimony.
He'd been a terrible godfather, and regretted that he'd ever accepted. It wasn't that he didn't care deeply for Cheryl and Kevin, even more so for their only daughter, Penelope. But the life he'd chosen had kept him away from the only family he'd ever loved; the family that wasn't his. He'd tried to make it up by sending them checks that were never cashed, unlike the many loans to his own family that had never even been paid back. He was so glad that Penelope had taken him up on his offer to come live with him. Maybe he'd finally get to know the girl he'd once held in his arms and swore to take care of.
Most of his money at this point was made through investments, but he worked from home as a business consultant, and was a shareholder in various companies across the country . Often he'd fly out on his private jet for a few days at a time to help pick up the pieces of broken companies, at a hefty fee of course. He always relished leaving; it meant nights alone and away from the third bitch he'd married. It was sad, really. He'd thought Claire was different; that she hadn't fallen for him for his money. But no sooner had the marriage certificate been signed, she'd become they typical wife of a millionaire, living extravagantly and constantly attending social functions with other wives in the neighborhood for social clout that was undeserved.
He'd grown to despise her to the point where even her gorgeous looks weren't enough to compensate. Sex was rare, mostly because of him. She'd try, he'd turn her down. He doubted they'd last much longer, so a new face in the house might cheer him up.
While barely listening to the call he was on, he heard the town car pull up in the vast circular drive and glanced out his window with a smile.
"We'll have to pick this up tomorrow," he said strongly, knowing he had the power to end the call. "I have an appointment I must get to. We'll connect at nine AM to hash out the final details."
He hung up, then stood from his desk to look out the window. His driver scuttled around the car and opened the back door, and he held his breath. He'd received school pictures of Penelope over the years, the most recent in a frame on his desk. He'd never wanted children, but she was important to him, mostly because she never wanted for anything, unlike everyone he was surrounded by.
His breath caught in his throat when he saw her. He wasn't sure what he'd expected; certainly not this. An awkward teenager from the tiny town he'd grown up in. The pretty smiling girl in his picture that he felt like an absent father to, who had no animation. Certainly no body.
At least not a body like hers.
She was tall and thin; five-foot-six or so, and barely a curve to her adolescent frame, with sandy blond hair that fell in gentle waves down her back. There was actually an awkwardness, but only because she was hesitant, staring up at his vast estate in awe, as though it were unreal to her. She was no longer the little girl he'd been envisioning, his last memory of her as a ten year old playing on a merry-go-round.
She was a young woman.
Penelope thanked Ben the driver, never noticing the hungry looks he tried to hide as he eyed her body.
What a lucky man
, he thought of Alex, as he'd often thought, but never as much as now.
A gorgeous wife, tons of dough, and this hot chick now coming to live with him
. He found himself greatly looking forward to being Penelope's escort in the future. Maybe he'd get to know her. Maybe she'd find an interest in him. Maybe he'd get to bed her, if one of the gardeners or pool boys didn't catch her first.
Looking at the large double doors, Penelope felt as though she'd entered another world. She'd never seen anything so extravagant. They'd entered through iron gates into a high brick walled stretch of land, too large to be called a yard. The house was two stories, but wide as a city block; white, with balconies and pillars. The windows were paned and tall, curved at the top.
"We'll see your suitcases brought up to your room, Miss Penelope," Ben said, opening the trunk. "Head on up, you're expected."
Gulping, Penelope walked up to the doors. Before she could knock, they swung open with an air of grandeur, revealing an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair, maybe in his mid-fifties.
"Miss Penelope," he said with a bow. "My name is Reuben. I'm Master Alex's butler."
Geez, he even has a butler!
Penelope smiled, her lips quivering in fear. She was so out of her element. "Nice to meet you," she managed to squeak, ducking her head low to look around through her eyebrows.
"Alex is on a conference call, so I'll be showing you to your—"
"That's unnecessary, Reuben," came a voice. Penelope located its owner as he entered the large foyer and clapped the butler on the shoulder. "I can't exactly work on Penelope's first day here."
Penelope was stunned. He wasn't at all what she'd expected. He'd always been kind and rather amusing in their correspondence, but she hadn't seen a picture of him in years, nothing recent. The only picture she had was of him and her on their last visit, and though she'd come to see him as an attractive man now that she was old enough to recognize it, today she'd expected to see someone old. Though her father wasn't exactly old, he was certainly showing the signs of age.
Alex was not. His chestnut hair was still as full as it had been eight years ago, though slightly shorter. It was an inch or so, thick and full of body. He was thin under his expensive button up shirt and black slacks, but the sleeves of his shirt didn't hide the definition of muscles only a man who worked out often achieved.
She'd expected a father figure. What she saw now was an attractive man, exuding confidence and wealth.
"Hello, Godfather," she said, trying to be bright. The title felt awkward as it passed her lips, but she didn't know what else to call him. Luckily, he made it easier.
"Godfather makes me sound old," he said with a chuckle. He was only thirty-four. "Or like a gangster, which I'm not. Just call me Alex. You look beautiful, Penelope. Lovelier than your mother, though I never said that!"
Penelope laughed, finally feeling at ease. He was the same great guy she'd come to love as a child. "Alex it is!" she agreed, grinning.
"Come give me a hug," he said.
Penelope obeyed, embracing him with a warmth they'd shared when he'd visited her more often as a kid. And though she still felt out of her element, she was now secure in her decision to come. It would take some getting used to—well, a lot of getting used to, but now she felt excitement rather than trepidation.