I have no clue what he’s talking about. He says something about years and regions, and I assume he knows way more than I do when it comes to champagne.
The last time I had any it was to celebrate my passing the bar, it was five whole dollars from the grocery store.
He lifts his eyes to me once the waiter is gone and asks if he can order my dinner. I hesitate, only because I know that I can be picky.
“Trust me, kitten. I know what you like,” he grins, with a wink.
My face feels hot from his words. He’s right, he does know what I like—everything that I like, even when I don’t know myself.
Lifting his hand, he motions for the waiter to come back over and begins to order. I can feel my waist expanding with every word he utters.
Antipasto Spasso, a Caesar salad, Arancio salad, Salmone alla Mostarda, Cuori di Carciofi, Pasta e Ceci, and for dessert he orders Tiramisu, Nutellino, and Bosco e Zabaione.
“Lucas, I’m going to explode if I eat all of that. I mean, I didn’t understand, like, ninety-nine percent of what you just said, but I know it’s way too much food,” I hiss as I lean over the table.
Lucas acts as though I’m not scolding him. He shrugs, his eyes dancing. They full on dance for me and my heart thumps in my chest at the sight.
“Kitten, you’ve been stressed. I can tell you’ve lost some weight. That shit doesn’t sit well with me. I love your body the way it is, and I told you I would keep it just the way I like it. Plus, we’re eating family-style. We’re sharing everything.”
Blushing at his words, I look down and try to hide my pink cheeks. I mean, I don’t know about making me fat being an option, but I cannot even deny that I enjoy the fact that he likes me just as I am. He doesn’t want me to change—to slim down or tone up for him. He just wants me to be me.
“Okay, baby,” I whisper, unable to hide the blush on my cheeks.
The champagne is delivered quickly. I watch as Lucas takes it from the waiter to pour our glasses. Once they’re full, he holds his up and I do the same.
“To you, Brooklyn. Your first big case. Your research was superb, your professionalism outstanding. You were cool under pressure, and the way your ass looks in that skirt should be a sin,” he winks before he clinks his glass with mine.
“Lucas,” I hiss with a smile, attempting to look angry with him, but failing.
He shakes his head and takes a sip of his drink, and I follow suit. There is no way that I can even pretend to be embarrassed, or upset.
His toast was mostly sweet, and a little assholey, which I’m used to with him. If it didn’t have that asshole aspect, I think I would be frightened that aliens had sucked out his brain.
“I would like to talk to you, Brooklyn,” he announces.
He’s looking a little too serious for my taste, I squirm in my seat, waiting for him to continue.
“You’re too good for that shithole you work at, kitten,” he announces. I open my mouth to interrupt him, but he continues onward. “You should be in a real office, working toward partner. You’re making pennies, Brooklyn. You’re wasting your education.”
My instant reaction is to tell him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and to call him a jerk. I don’t. My knee-jerk reactions aren’t always the calmest and well thought out. I take another sip of champagne, trying to calm myself down before I speak.
“Lucas,” I state, my voice a lot more even toned than I feel on the inside. “Do you really think that I became an attorney for the money?” I calmly ask.
He looks at me, almost dumbfounded before he lifts his chin. “Kitten, that’s why people become lawyers, doctors, and anything else in the professional world. Why on earth would you waste tens of thousands of dollars and years, going to school if there wasn’t going to be any kind of payoff?”
“God, you are such an asshole sometimes,” I grind out. “I don’t practice the type of law that I do for a paycheck. I do it because there are children in this world who need a voice. I am that voice. I am their advocate.”
He sits back and snorts, throwing back the rest of his drink. “Brooklyn. You have to have money to live. You’ve been barely getting by on your own for a year, making minimum payments on your school loans. Imagine your paycheck tripled. How much easier would life be? Don’t be a goddamn martyr.”
The waiter appears and sets down an appetizer plate full of cold cuts, grilled vegetables, peppers, olives, and artichoke hearts.
It looks mouthwatering, but I’m too pissed to eat it right now.
Lucas thanks the waiter before he reaches over and stabs some meat with his fork. He looks exactly like the fucking Neanderthal he is.
I stand, but he doesn’t move. His eyes focus on mine, and I watch as they darken slightly. Other than that, he shows zero emotion.
“I’m going to the ladies’,” I announce before I turn and walk away from him.
With quick steps, I make my way toward the restroom, thankful that it’s empty. I walk inside, washing my hands while I look at myself in the mirror.
I’m pissed and trying to cool down, but the woman looking back at me, her eyes are smiling. I don’t understand how I could be anything but scowling, as mad as I am.
“You okay, honey?” a woman asks, coming up next to me.
I shrug as I dry my hands. “My boyfriend and I got into it,” I sigh.
“What happened?” she asks.
She appears to be a few years younger than my mother, and for whatever reason, I open up to her, telling her a little.
I tell her that my boyfriend and I had a slight argument over my career path. I don’t know why I unload that bit of information on a stranger, but it feels good to get it off of my chest.
She smiles kindly before she wraps her hand around my forearm.
“Men don’t understand our need to nurture, especially before they have children of their own. All he can see is how talented you are, and how you deserve more. He’s a provider by nature. He wants to ensure that you’re earning and performing at your top potential. Try not to be too hard on him.” She winks before she releases my arm and walks away.
I watch her and stare after her in shock. She’s absolutely right. Lucas just wants me to earn the most of what I can from my degree. He’s focused and hard-working. He doesn’t understand that to me, being an advocate for a child who cannot defend themselves means more than a paycheck.
There’s a loud banging on the door, and I hear Lucas’ voice bellowing from the other side. My lips twitch in a smile. That damn asshole.
LUCAS
“Brooklyn, get out here,” I say, loud enough for her to hear, but not so loud that I’m making a spectacle of myself.
It only takes a few seconds for the door to open, and Brooklyn walks out slowly. She looks up at me through her lashes. I have to hold back my groan as my cock hardens.
I envision her on her knees, looking up at me exactly like she is now—only with my cock buried down her hot, wet, throat.
“I’m not going to be angry with you because you don’t understand me,” she says.
I do nothing but grunt, fisting my hands at my side. She takes a step closer, pressing her heavy tits against my stomach.
“I do what I do as an advocate for a reason, Lucas. One day, you may understand why, but I just want you to know that I appreciate the fact that you want more for me.”
She rises to her toes and presses her lips to the underside of my jaw before she walks away. I turn in my spot, completely shocked by her words and sweet actions as I watch her walk toward our table.
“She’s a sweet girl,” a voice says next to me.
I look and am surprised that Vivian is standing there. “Vivian?”
“I talked to her. You know, before I became the woman that I am today, I was a little like her. Not as sweet, of course, but I wanted to help people. I took advice from a man like you and ended up where I am today. I’m not unhappy with my life. I actually love what I do and how I do it. But I fi
nd myself wondering quite often, if I hadn’t taken his advice, what kind of life I would have led instead of the one that I do now.”
I open my mouth to say something. What, I don’t know, but I’m not given the chance. Vivian walks away from me, leaving me speechless. I let out a sigh and make my way back to Brooklyn.
She’s nibbling on some veggies and has her salad in front of her. Mine is also placed at my seat. I don’t walk directly to my chair, though.
Instead, I slip my hand around the back of her neck, beneath her low bun. I squeeze her gently, lowering my face and press my lips to hers.
“You’re a good girl, kitten. I don’t mean to be harsh,” I say.
Brooklyn’s smile widens as she sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. “Thanks, Lucas. I know you come from a good place. I just—I need you to understand that I chose this avenue for a reason.”
“Okay.”
I walk over to my chair and sit down across from her. The rest of the evening we talk. She tells me a little more about her friend in Paris. I decide to tell her a little more about my family.
I finally ask her to join me for my mother’s August party. Swear to Christ, my chest aches at the smile that appears on her lips. Happy, she’s so fucking happy, and I’m pissed at myself for taking that joy from her and criticizing her.
Fuck me.
I am so in love with Brooklyn. Her devotion to her job, her tenacity, her sweetness. Never had I imagined that I would want to settle down with any woman. I imagined that settling down was just that—settling.
It wasn’t anything that I ever wanted, not when I could have any woman that I wanted. With Brooklyn, I can’t imagine spending another day without her at my side.
I want to claim her with my ring on her finger and give her my last name. I am so fucking in love with this woman.
Chapter Seven
BROOKLYN
“Where do you think you’re going?” his deep timbre voice asks.
I pause, standing in the middle of the bedroom. I was headed to the bathroom to wash my face and get ready for bed.
This day has completely killed me. Everything that I had been worried about, all of that anxiety, it’s finally gone and now I’m just exhausted.
“Getting ready for bed?” I say, posing it like a question.
Honestly, I’m not sure I want to go to bed now. His eyes hungrily roam over me and a thrill shimmies up my spine. I want whatever the look he’s promising me offers.
I want whatever he’s promising me in his gaze.
I want everything.
He makes a tsking noise, then smirks his cocky as shit smirk. “Sitting on my face is what you’re going to do.”
I open my mouth, then slam my lips closed. Widening my eyes, I search his face to see if he’s serious. He is, completely.
“Lucas,” I breathe.
He shakes his head, his green eyes roaming over my face. I expect him to make his way toward me, but he doesn’t. Instead, I watch as he walks toward the bed and lays down.
He’s still fully clothed, looking marginally rumpled from dinner, but nothing like a man who has worked all day.
“It’s a celebration, Brooklyn. Let me show you how fucking sexy you were today.”
His voice is barely above a whisper, it’s full of temptation, lust, and desire. I want it all. My eyes flick to his mouth, imagining doing exactly what he asked, sitting on his face. I’ve never. I want it though.
“I’m too big for that, baby,” I murmur.
He laughs. It’s not a deep rumble or a chuckle, it’s a full-on gut-wrenching laugh. “Fucking shit, get that sweet ass over here and sit on my goddamn face.”
My feet carry me over to him before my brain has registered exactly what I’m doing. Standing at the edge of the bed, I strip out of everything I’m wearing. Lucas tracks my every move, his eyes never leaving some part of my body.
Once I’m completely naked my nipples pebble, aching for him to touch, tug, or bite them. I would take anything he gave me right now. I’m not a picky woman when it comes to attention that he gives me or any part of my body.
“Come on, kitten. I need to taste you,” he rasps.
Unable to stop myself, my gaze staying connected with his, I climb onto the bed, then straddle his waist. His hands reach out, wrapping around my hips. My thighs tremble as soon as his fingers dig into my flesh.
“That’s not my face,” he says, quirking an eyebrow.
Shakily, I slowly climb up his body and place each of my knees on either side of his face next to his ears. I begin to lower myself hesitantly against his face.
Apparently, I’m not moving fast enough, Lucas pulls me down and his tongue immediately fills my center.
Throwing my head back, I let out a long moan. He fucks me with his tongue thrusting in and out the way his cock does, using the same rhythm and everything.
Rolling my hips, my entire body feels like it’s a livewire wound so tight that it’s about to snap at any moment.
Sliding my hands up my body, I tentatively cup my breasts. Lucas groans as soon as I pinch my aching nipples, then his tongue slides from my pussy to my clit. I let out a sigh as I grind against his face. I need more, so much more.
I’m no longer worried about how heavy I am or how thick my thighs must be against his face. I no longer care about anything other than chasing my orgasm.
I’m so close.
I pinch and tug on my nipples the way that he does. Then, I gasp when I feel his finger press against my back entrance.
He gathers the wetness that’s leaking from my pussy and fills me with two fingers.
He doesn’t massage me like he did last time, he slides them in as far as he can and the burn is deliciously painful.
“Lucas,” I whimper, not sure how to move my body anymore.
I want him deeper in my ass, I want his mouth focused on my clit. Shit, I want it all, everywhere, all fucking over.
“More,” I moan.
When I feel like nothing but a bundle of tightly wound nerves, he plunges his fingers deeper in my ass at the same time his teeth gently scrape against my clit.
I come.
It’s hard and quick.
I don’t have even a second to relish in the moment. He flips me on my back, then rolls me over. I hear the rustling of his clothes as he sheds them. Then I feel the bed dip as he positions himself on his knees, wrapping his fingers around my hips and wrenches them back.
“Want this pussy first, then, hold on, kitten because that ass is fucking mine,” he growls.
His cock fills me almost immediately in one swift thrust. Reaching my arms out in front of me, I grab ahold of the sheets, gripping them tightly in my fingers as he pummels my pussy like only he can.
“Fuck,” he groans behind me.
I moan, enjoying the way he feels stretching me, knowing that when he fucks my ass, it’s going to burn so damn good. I feel wetness drip down the cheeks of my ass, then his fingers fill me again. I rear my head back, crying out at the sensation, the fullness that only he can give me.
“Yes,” I hiss.
“Touch your clit, make yourself come again,” he growls.
I do. Without hesitation.
My fingers find my clit and I begin to ruthlessly rub circles just the way that Lucas does. I want to come so damn bad. I know that when I do, he’s going to fill my ass and I can’t wait.
When I feel the sting of his palm against my ass cheek, I sigh with sweet relief. His blow lands against my skin nine more times, never hitting the same spot twice. On the tenth slap, he lands against my upper thigh and that’s when it happens.
I explode around him, bright colors filling my vision as my pussy clamps around his hard length. He grunts, quickly pulling out of me, then I feel the head of his cock invade the tight ring of my ass.
When he pushes through, filling me completely, I let out a relieved exhale.
“Tell me what you want, kitten,” he rumbles, his hands spreading my cheeks
apart.
He slowly moves in and out of me, it's torturous. So damn torturous. It’s perfection. Pushing back against him, I relish in the moan that escapes his mouth.
“Baby,” I sigh. “I want all of you, every single part of you.”
He grunts, his hips continuing to thrust in and out of me. “You have me, Brooklyn. You have every piece of me that I can give you. Fucking, everything,” he groans.
Reaching for my clit again, I can’t help but touch myself. Sliding two fingers inside of my pussy, I grind my palm against my clit the same way Lucas does.
“Yes, harder,” I urge.
He begins to fuck my ass harder, his hips slamming against me with each downstroke. Closing my eyes, I bring myself to the edge. I’m so close, so incredibly close. My hips jerk, which brings out another groan from him.
“Please, Lucas,” I beg.
“Fuck,” he hisses.
He leans over, his mouth touching my shoulder and then he bites down so hard that I think he’s going to break the skin and make me bleed.
Only then do I come. It’s a sweet relief. Lucas quickly pulls out of me then I feel warmth slide over the crack of my ass and trickle down.
“Fuck,” he repeats as I collapse face down on the mattress, attempting to catch my breath.
His fingers slide through the wetness, then spread it around my sensitive hole.
“You never looked prettier than you do right now with your holes raw from my cock, my cum painting your body.”
I sigh, completely content to have my body ruined and wrecked for his pleasure. Closing my eyes, I fall into an exhausted sleep uncaring how messy and used I look.
LUCAS
Brooklyn sighs as she curls closer to my side. I cleaned her ass from my cum with a wet cloth before I fell asleep next to her. She didn’t even flinch. I fucked her completely exhausted. I grin. What a goddamn celebration that was.
My phone rings on my nightstand, and I reach for it, chuckling when I see who is calling. She doesn’t believe that Brooklyn is real or that I’m bringing her over in just a few days. Deciding I’m too fucking comfortable to stand, I answer it right here in bed.
APPEAL: Esquire Black Duet #2 Page 7