Brooklyn Monroe Wants It All by Karen Booth
Chapter Eighteen
Alec drove her home.No, it wasn’t in his little red Corvette. But it was an exercise in sexiness, just like Prince would’ve managed if he’d been driving. Everything about Alec was making Brooklyn squirm in her seat. His warm and woodsy smell in the close confines of the car. The way his maddening forearms flexed in the soft light of the city as he gripped the steering wheel. The flash of his eyes as he glanced over at her and asked, “Is it hot in here? I can turn on the AC.”
“No. No. I like it hot,” she purred, wondering if it would be too much to start playing with his hair. Or kissing his ear.
“You do? Since when?” he countered, apparently missing the attempted seductive tone of her voice.
“Since right now.” Completely done with waiting, she put her hand on his leg, her fingertips reaching his knee with a foreword pass and the heel of her hand pressing into his thigh as she inched back, oh-so-close to his crotch. Tension radiated from his hips.
He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “That feels amazing, but it’s already going to be super difficult to walk into your building, Brooklyn. If you know what I mean.”
Got it. Boner City.She felt some pride at that. At least she could still make him hard. “Of course. Sorry.” She pulled back her hand.
“Don’t be sorry. I love it. And you can do that all you want once we’re upstairs. I can’t wait to do it to you.” He cast her a flirtatious glance, boring into her psyche and making her second-guess her statement about the temperature of the car. “Better yet, I’ll kiss you there.”
“Drive faster.”
He downshifted. “Trying.”
Brooklyn swallowed hard. Talking and touching were enough to send her over the edge. She was prepared to make him stop the car in the middle of the street, even though they were only a few blocks from her apartment. Traffic could just be diverted around them. She wanted to rip off every button of his shirt, tear off the Superman get-up, straddle his lap, dig her fingers into his hair, and this time, finally let things go where they should’ve gone weeks ago—to the now-mystical land of Boning-on-Hornyshire, a place she had not visited in, well, since she’d last had sex with Alec. Which was way more than a year ago.
The realization could’ve been depressing. Despite the non-stop flirtation she’d experienced in the last month from a wide array of men, her life had been a sexual Sahara. She was ready to reach her oasis—mutual nakedness with the man she wanted, a man who knew every imperfect inch of her body and still wanted her. That was the best part of tonight. She didn’t have to feel self-conscious or wonder what he thought. She could enjoy herself. She could get lost in him and let him do the same to her.
Alec pulled into the garage under her building and parked the car. I Wanna Be Your Lover popped into her head as they strode inside, but it wasn’t like the last time that had happened to her, right after Jason Adams had invited her to his premiere. She didn’t have to ask herself if Alec wanted her. He did. The actual words had come out of his mouth. And maybe he’d only meant that he wanted sex with her. That was okay. She’d been the one to say she wanted some fun. Sure, it was the minimum. The tug she felt on her heart when she looked at him and thought about the mistakes she’d made told her that she might never be satisfied with less. But for tonight, this was enough.
Now she was actually glad that Cy had taken the night off, because she and Alec were both dying while they waited for the elevator. It would not have been a good time for idle chit-chat when really Brooklyn was ready to attack Alec at any moment. She nervously bounced on her toes and Alec nodded his head as they both stared at the display above the door, waiting for that moment when the lovely “L” for lobby would light up. Come on already.
Finally, they got their “L” along with a merciful ding, which acted like a starter’s pistol.Once inside the tiny confines of that metal box, and before the doors even closed, it was game on. Climbing higher with every passing second, they did not hold back. They were an impetuous tangle of lips of tongues, hands, and arms, until one more ding and thenearly silent whoosh of the door.
They stumbled into Brooklyn’s apartment and the instant the deadbolt was flipped, clothes started to come off, starting with the raspberry beret, which she flung across the hall as she kicked off her ballet flats. She flattened Alec against the front door, her fingers scrambling through the buttons of his shirt while he tugged her dress up to her waist. Next went the Superman T-shirt, then she spread her hands across his chest, marveling at how good it felt to simply touch his bare skin. She’d missed this. Missed them, together, with less talking and more fun. She’d missed it so much.
But she wanted the setting to be right and the foyer of her apartment was not it. The last time they’d been in a front hall together, things went tragically bad. She grabbed his hand. “Come on.” Marching down the corridor, she loved having Alec next to her. As soon as they were in her room, he was right behind her, his chest against her back, pulling her dress up over her head, her skin cooling as each new inch was revealed.
She turned so she could be wrapped up in his arms, tightly, and to get lost in another hot and wet kiss. Time was a blur. An unimportant construct. They had an entire night stretching before them. And the morning. And after that. Alec reached behind her and unhooked her bra, then slipped her panties past her hips. She had every reason to feel way too exposed, even though nakedness had been her goal all night, but it wasn’t like that with Alec. And as he cupped her breasts with two warm hands and his devilishly talented mouth found one nipple, this moment wasn’t about being vulnerable, even when she was exactly that. It was about the freedom to close her eyes and soak up the pleasure from a man whose touch made her feel good and safe and reminded her what it was to be alive.
As mind-blowing as it was when he swirled his tongue in lazy circles, this was an unequal equation and she needed to take care of that. She undid the buckle of his belt, unzipped his jeans, and took off his boxer briefs. Now there was nothing left to keep them apart, other than invisible charged particles. They kissed and shuffled over to the bed together, slowly spinning in circles because they were both trying to steer. Brooklyn had the advantage when they finally arrived at their destination, and was conveniently able to gently push Alec back onto the mattress. She climbed on next to him, smiling at her little victory. He reflected her mischievous mood with a grin of his own. Those moments when they were in sync? They were the absolute best. Worth living for.
If she were a seductress, she might feel like this was the time to tease him, but she wasn’t that smooth, nor that patient. She’d waited a long time and she wanted him now. So she stretched out next to him and took him in her hand, stroking hard while she kissed him with zero mercy. He groaned his approval into her mouth, but he’d never been the guy to let Brooklyn be in charge for too long, so it was only a matter of time before he had her flat on her back.
“Time to keep a promise,” he whispered into her ear, then kissed her neck and her collarbone and the flat channel between her breasts. He continued with a straight path down her stomach, with soft open mouth kisses that made her arch her neck, struggling to hold on to the memory of one kiss while she wrapped her head around the pleasure of the next. He jumped ahead to the inside of her knee while he lifted it and hooked it over his shoulder, letting her calf rest on his back. And then he was traveling in a different direction, this time north along her inner thigh. Each new inch was a little more sensitive, a little more exciting, made her a little more eager with anticipation. And then his mouth found her center and everything in her mind turned to music, as he wound his tongue in tight little circles and somehow made her need him more with every pass, not less. She dug her fingers into his thick hair. She told her thoughts to run wild, but her brain kept landing on a single idea—she needed him inside her.
Alec was a smart guy, or clairvoyant—Brooklyn wasn’t sure which, but he waited until she was just close enough to the edge to pull back and kiss his way back up her torso until he was again on the bed next to her. “Do you have a condom?”
This was the moment she hadn’t quite thought through. But of course they were going to need one. He wasn’t sure about a baby. They’d talked about this. One hundred times. It was the reason neither was sure about the other. The condom represented the dark cloud she wished would piss off. Tonight is all about fun, remember? “In my bathroom. Hold on.” She hopped off the bed and scrambled into the bathroom, opening the drawer and taking a packet from the box. She tore it open and tossed the foil into the trash, then quickly returned to the bed so she could roll on the condom and not think about what it meant.
And now that the hurdle of that was over, Brooklyn was ready to get it on. So she straddled Alec’s legs and leaned down to plant one hot and commanding kiss on his lips, then sat back, took him in her hand and guided him inside. As she sank down, they each were a long string of pleasurable groans and sexy exhalations. Apparently waiting did that to a person.
As they moved together and she settled her chest down against his, the pressure started to build. Her stomach clenched, but her hips rolled more easily, and an endless kiss was the only narration either provided. Breaths grew short. Heat plumed. And every nerve ending in her body—from her scalp to her lips, to her chest, belly, and hips, then down along her shins and across the tops of her feet—was alive with the pleasure that was barreling toward her. Threatening to take them both.
Brooklyn felt her insides tightening. Coiling. And her muscles flexing and curling. Alec was wound so tight that he felt like solid muscle beneath her, and she knew he was waiting for her to go first. He kissed her jaw and nuzzled his face into her neck, and the second he found the sensitive spot beneath her ear, the dam broke free for Brooklyn. It was like the ocean slamming into a seawall, a powerful and euphoric release that ebbed for mere seconds before churning and crashing again. Alec reached his own peak right in the midst of it, although it was all a blur to Brooklyn.
“That was fantastic,” he said, kissing her temple and pulling her close, her torso pressed against his.
“Kinda of an undersell, don’t you think?” she muttered with her cheek flat against the center of his chest. “I feel like my entire body is smiling.”
“Fair enough.” He laughed quietly.
Brooklyn tried to organize her mind and say something else clever and fun, although she wasn’t making much progress. It was like stringing beads with no knot at the end. Everything she wanted to line up was simply falling and rolling around.
“I should probably get rid of this thing.” Alec gently pressed against her shoulder.
Oh, right. The damn condom.“Sure.” Brooklyn rolled to her side, and then to her back, and watched as Alec padded into her bathroom. A minute later she was able to arrive at the conclusion that she really liked watching him coming and going, especially when he was naked.
“I had an amazing time tonight,” Alec said, cozying up next to her in bed. “Dallas is such a sweet kid. I’d go trick-or-treating with him every day if I could.”
Brooklyn held back on any commentary about how painfully obvious it was that Alec would make an incredible dad. She wanted him to find his way to that conclusion on his own. She didn’t want to draw him a map. “You made his night. Although really, I should be pissed at you since I think cool Aunt Brooklyn is no longer his favorite adult.”
He smoothed his hand over her belly. “He still loves cool Aunt Brooklyn. I know he does.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“And I know I said I didn’t like what your mom said about faking it, but other than that, she seems really nice.”
Nice. That wasn’t a word many people used when it came to her mother. Brooklyn could admit that her mom had always done right by her and her sister, even when it wasn’t a blissful relationship. “She can be great. It’s just a mother-daughter thing. We’re always going to hold each other to an impossible standard. It feels like it’s baked into the relationship.”
“You’re really determined to help her find another buyer for Aurora, aren’t you?”
Brooklyn propped herself up on her elbow and looked Alec in the eye. “I have to at least try. I don’t want someone to swallow up her life’s work and turn it into something terrible.”
“It doesn’t always happen that way. Sometimes big companies buy smaller ones and it ends up being great for everyone.”
“More often than not, it’s a disaster. And I know that Virginia and I will never hear the end of it if that’s what happens. It’ll be all she talks about at Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and Easter, and every family birthday celebration between now and the end of time.”
“Okay. Then why doesn’t Posh Post buy it?”
Brooklyn bit down on her lower lip. “Wait. What?”
“If you and your sister want to be the custodians of your mom’s legacy, you need to take control. So buy it yourself.”
“We don’t have nearly enough money to do that. Nor do we have enough staff to take that on.”
“You don’t need staff. She already has that. Just find a couple of investors. Just keep their chunk of it smaller than yours. If a massive corporation is ready to write her a big check, that’s got to be enough evidence that it’s worth it.”
That really got Brooklyn’s brain going. Was this feasible? “It would mean more work.”
“Not once you find the investors. Money fixes a lot of things. And you already know you don’t want to run Aurora, so you won’t struggle to let go like you do with Posh Post. But you can still call the shots when necessary.”
“Hmm.”
“I can help you find plenty of people with deep pockets. I’m happy to pitch in.”
“Really? But you already have so much going on.”
“Yes, really. I want to help. Plus, maybe this will make your relationship with your mom better. I think you’re harboring a lot of guilt from leaving, and that just seems really unhealthy at this point.”
“Oh, so that’s the crushing feeling I get whenever I talk to her?”
Alec laughed. “I think so.”
This wasn’t going to be easy, but it really was the best option Brooklyn had. “Okay. I’ll try. I’ve got to talk to Virginia.”
“In the meantime, I’ll make some calls.”
“Yes. Please. The clock is ticking. Twenty-eight days.” A lot was going to happen between now and then. Alec had his interview. Brooklyn had her first appointment at the fertility clinic. Then Alec’s interview would air, and they’d have to see how it all went over, and then… well, Brooklyn wasn’t exactly sure how it would all play out, but she’d learned that there was only so much planning and guessing you could do. Sometimes you had to hop on the ride of life and see where it took you.
“I have a fair amount of final interview prep this weekend, but I can get the ball rolling on your stuff, too.”
“Are you nervous about the interview? It’s a big deal.”
“I think I’m more on edge. I’m excited by the prospect of doing well. I really want to nail it.”
She curled into him, needing him closer. “I know exactly what you mean. You want to go out knowing that you tried your best.”
“Exactly. Then I can figure out what’s next.”
Right. Everything was hinging on something else. It was all one big set of contingencies. And for now, Brooklyn only cared about what, or who, was right in front of her. “What if this was what’s next?” She placed her hand on the side of his face, delivering a soft kiss.
Alec smiled between their lips. “I’m all in favor of it.”
From somewhere in the dark came a text notification. “Ignore it,” Brooklyn said, far more interested in what Alec’s hand was doing.
But then there was another. “That’s got to be my phone. What if someone’s trying to reach me?”
“Okay. Look. But only for one minute. Then you’re getting back in this bed, mister.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Alec scurried off the bed, found his pants, and dug his phone out of his pocket, then plopped down on the edge of the mattress. “Well, well, well. Look at this. I was right to blow off that photographer.” Sure enough, on the screen was a photo of Brooklyn, Alec, and Dallas, out and about, trick-or-treating.
“Oh, sure. Gloat because you look amazing. I’m laughing and totally have a double chin.”
He set his phone on the bedside table and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his warm naked body against hers. “You’re happy, Brooklyn. That’s all anyone will see in that picture.”