The Heir Agreement (3 page)

My father owed money to the mob.

It sounded absolutely ridiculous, but it was true. Chuck Pearson was the master of getting into all sorts of fucked-up situations and expecting his family to bail him out. He’d been to prison more times than he’d been to the dentist. He had more mug shots than I had yearbook photos. Gran said he wasn’t always like this, that he’d been a different person before my mom died, but I was still in diapers when that happened, so this was the only version of him that I knew.

I hadn’t even known that the mob still existed. I mean, I knew it was around once, but I thought it’d gone the way of the dodo bird. And then one day in June, Chuck had left a series of frantic messages on my phone, ranting about how he needed $100,000. I’d dismissed it at first, since it was an impossibly high number and he sounded drunk, as usual.

But then I got a call about Gran being in the hospital after being attacked and I drained my bank account to hop on the first flight to my hometown. Gran was all right, more frightened than hurt, but it had been a clear message from the mob that they weren’t playing.

Chuck told me the whole story. He’d run up a $50,000 debt with the mob over the last year, taking out loans with them to finance his gambling habit. Now they’d told him he had until the end of the year to pay back the debt, and they’d tacked on one hundred percent interest, for a whopping total of $100,000 to be paid by the last day of the year.

It wasn’t the only debt Chuck owed, but they were the only debtors who were ready and willing to murder if he didn’t pay. If he didn’t cough up the money, they told him they’d kill his family one by one, starting with his mother, then me, and then moving on to my crazy uncle Larry. Roughing up Gran had been their warning that they were serious.

I wasn’t worried about myself, but I was angry and devastated about what they’d done to Gran and the fact that Chuck had let this happen to his mother, the woman who had raised his child after he’d failed as a father.

This wasn’t the first time Chuck had dumped his issues on our doorstep. After he completely drained my grandparents’ bank account, unbeknownst to them, I dropped out so I could pay my grandpa’s mounting health bills in his ultimately unsuccessful battle against cancer. I lost my scholarship and had to continue working even after my grandpa died because I needed to save the money so I could return to school.

Once I flew back home after Gran was released from the hospital, I picked up a third job, but that barely made a difference. A six figure debt to be paid in six months seemed like an insurmountable challenge.

I was looking for a fourth job when I saw the nanny ad, and now here I was, cleaning out my room in my cramped apartment and deciding which of my meager belongings were worth keeping. I wouldn’t be coming back, since after moving out of Alec’s house, I’d be given my own condo, provided I actually got pregnant.

I
had
to get pregnant. Absolutely had to. Fifty thousand would be a tremendous help, and maybe I could reason with the mob and work out some sort of payment plan. Half now, half… who knew how long it would take me to make the other half?

But if I got pregnant, the mob problem would be taken care of with one huge payment. The sooner I conceived, the sooner I could push the worry of harm coming to Gran out of my head. I was going to throw myself into it wholeheartedly, doing whatever it took to get pregnant as soon as possible.

I thought of Alec and a flicker of desire whispered through me. It shouldn’t be hard to go to bed with him at all. Any woman would want to, and from the way he’d spoken in the office, many women did.

And yet I couldn’t shake the fear that threaded through my desire at the thought of giving my body over to him to be used however he pleased.

Hauling the cardboard box full of all my earthly possessions in my arms, I walked from my car to Alec’s apartment building. It was in an area I’d never been to before, in the ritziest part of the city. I definitely didn’t belong, and I felt conspicuously out of place in my years-old jeans with a hole in the knee as women in designer workout gear jogged by, with nary a hair out of place or even a hint of sweat to be seen.

When I approached the front entrance, the handsome doorman smiled widely, showing a row of perfect teeth. “Good evening, Miss Pearson.”

“Oh. Hello.” I was surprised he knew my name, but grateful that he opened the door so I didn’t have to struggle with it while carrying the box. “How are you?”

“Couldn’t be better.” He inclined his head toward me as I stepped inside.

“Hello, Miss Pearson.” A striking woman whose black hair was in a chic pixie cut stepped out from behind the front desk.  “I’m Nicole, the concierge.”

“Nice to meet you, Nicole.” I put the cardboard box of my belongings down so I could shake her hand. “Please, call me Brooke.”

It felt weird to be addressed so formally, especially by someone who looked to be in her late twenties.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Brooke.” She smiled warmly. “Do you need someone to help you carry the box up for you?”

“Oh no, that’s fine. As long as there’s an elevator, I can handle it,” I joked.

“Speaking of elevators.” Nicole walked over to her desk, unlocked a drawer, and pulled out a small white envelope. “If you’ll follow me, please.”

I grabbed my box and followed her across the lobby. We passed several elevators, but she didn’t stop at any of them, continuing to the one that was apart from the rest at the far end of the room.

“This is a private elevator with direct access to the penthouse.” She opened the envelope and pulled out a small plastic card. “After we get your biometrics done, you’ll be able to access the elevator by placing your finger against this pad and having your fingerprint scanned. In the meantime, you’ll use this card.”

A
private access
elevator? This was insane. I had entered a world where people had their very own elevators. Gripping the box extra tightly with my left arm, I reached out to accept the card from Nicole in my other hand.

I slid it across the reader and the elevator doors parted. After saying goodbye to Nicole, I got inside. The ride to the top was smooth and swift. Before I knew it, the doors were opening again and I was stepping into an apartment that looked like something out of a magazine.

Mr. Ferguson came over to greet me. “Welcome to your temporary home, Brooke. I hope you didn’t have trouble finding the place.”

A few seconds passed before I answered. I was distracted by the sheer beauty of the apartment. “No trouble at all. The directions were perfect.” It hadn’t been hard to find the tallest building in the area.

“I’m afraid I cannot stay long enough to help you get acquainted with the apartment, but please, make yourself at home. I trust that everything has been set up satisfactorily to ensure a smooth settling in period. In case you haven’t eaten yet, there’s a meal being kept warm in the oven.”

Mr. Ferguson continued to talk, telling me how to find my room and other details, but I was so lost in admiring the space around us that I only caught every few words of his speech.

The penthouse was a work of art. The windows stretched from the sleek floors to the high ceilings, the glass so spotlessly clean that it looked like it wasn’t there at all. Straight steel lines separated the panes of glass, framing the stunning views of the city skyline.

The design was minimalist but lux, with the black, white, and grey furniture accented with a few pops of bright color, looking like it had all been carefully selected by an interior designer to meet the wishes of a bachelor with an endless bank account. Of course, it probably had been.

Holy hell. I knew Alec was rich- who else could afford to pay a million for a surrogate?- but I hadn’t known he was
this
loaded.

“Is there anything you need before I go? Or any questions you need answered?”

Mr. Ferguson’s question snapped me back to attention. I felt bad for not listening and my cheeks flushed a bit. “No, I think everything has been covered. Thank you for your help.”

He left and I took the spiral staircase upstairs, where I walked down the hallway to the last room on the left.

I had expected to be tucked away in the servants’ quarters- that was where rich people stashed the hired help, right? But the room I was to stay in was just as amazing as the rest of the penthouse. My first impulse was to go bounce on the huge bed, which was practically trampoline sized compared to the little twin bed I was used to, but I managed to restrain myself.

Besides, I wanted to get cleaned up first before I fully explored my new surroundings. I had spent the day thoroughly scrubbing my old apartment before handing the keys over to my scuzzy landlord, who I was sure was going to keep my security deposit despite the fact that I’d left the place in better condition than it was when I moved in.

Walking through the doorway on the other side of the room, I entered the bathroom, which looked more like a spa than anything. There wasn’t even a toilet. Not out in the open, at least. I looked around and found one stashed behind a door. Even the toilet had its own room.
Crazy
.

My initial plan had been to hop in the shower, but that was squashed the moment I saw the huge tub. There weren’t any handles for turning the water on, but rather a digital touch pad to select the water flow and temperature level.

Pulling my shirt over my head and dropping it to the floor, I wondered where I could wash my clothes. I thought I remembered Mr. Ferguson- or Fergie, as I thought of him in my head- mentioning a laundry room somewhere, but I couldn’t recall whether he said it was in the apartment or elsewhere in the building. I decided I’d go exploring later and find out, but not until after I’d taken a nice, long bath to unwind.

When the tub was full, I got in and sank into the wonderfully hot water. Leaning back against the headrest, I closed my eyes, feeling the muscle soreness and tension begin to melt away instantly.

But a different kind of tension soon began to build up between my thighs as my mind wandered to thoughts of Alec. Just the way his eyes raked over me in the office of Grant Ventures had been enough to get my pulse racing way too fast. How would I be able to handle standing in front of him as naked as I was right now? And even further, handle having him naked and inside of me?

A shiver ran through me despite the comfortable heat of the water. The reality of the inevitable was terrifying, but the idea of it…

Oh
, the idea of it.

I bit my lip as I cupped my breasts in my hands. They felt full and deliciously sensitive to my touch. Bringing my thumb and forefinger together around the tip of my breast, I imagined Alec’s perfect lips on my nipple, and nearly moaned at the pleasure that shot straight down my body. I would have been content to keep playing with my breasts until the water went cold, but the fire burning down below was begging to be put out.

Flattening my palm against my slick skin, I slid down my body and through the water until my fingers made contact with my clit. It was the lightest of touches, barely more than a tickle, but this time I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped my throat. I knew that Alec’s touch wouldn’t be so gentle, so I pressed down, increasing the pressure on the sensitive spot as I continued my fantasy.

He was a man who took what he wanted. That was clear from his wild business success and his look of utter confidence. I barely knew him, but I could instinctively tell that Alec was used to getting his way, but only because he went after what he wanted with the fierce determination of a hunter.

Alec would stroke me firmly and insistently, making me liquid beneath his fingertips as he whispered dirty things in my ear. I imagined him taking me with all the skill and roughness that would be expected from an expert hunter.

“I hate to interrupt, but I can’t keep myself from offering to help.”

My eyes flew open and I yelped, sloshing water over the side of the tub as I startled. Leaning against the doorframe was the object of my fantasy in the flesh, a self-satisfied smirk playing across his perfect face.

“Alec!” My cheeks burned as I thought of how dangerously close I had been to moaning his name aloud as I touched myself.

“It’s the gentlemanly thing to do, don’t you think?” He strode toward the tub.

“There’s nothing gentlemanly about spying.” I sprang out of the tub and charged over to grab a towel. It was only once I was halfway to where they were stacked on a shelf that I realized I would have been better off staying in the tub. Sure, he could see me through the water, but now he was getting a 360 degree view of my completely naked body.

There was no point in turning back now, so I continued on as fast as I could, yanking a fluffy white towel from the top of the stack and firmly wrapping it around my wet body. I could feel Alec’s hot gaze on my form and I sucked in a ragged breath, suddenly feeling like the room was all steam and no oxygen. Tucking the end in extra tightly, I took care to ensure that it wouldn’t slip off and expose me to him once more.

I turned around to face Alec and found him staring at me, his blue eyes dark and the grin wiped from his face. He drank me in for a long, silent moment, his gaze roving over every inch of me. It was unsettling, the way he looked at me.

“I wasn’t spying on you.”

I glared at him. He had a lot of nerve.

“Okay, I was.” He admitted this without a single ounce of remorse. In fact, he looked irritatingly pleased with himself. “But I assure you that it wasn’t my intention to do so, which I’m sure has to count for something. Spying sounds so sinister, like I was sneaking around with the express intent of peeping on you. Can we drop it to a lesser charge of observing without shame? Because while I didn’t mean to see you like this, I can’t lie and say that I’m sorry I did.”

“Mr. Grant, I-”

“Please, call me Alec. It would be strange for you to cry out a formal title when I’m buried deep between your thighs.”

“I-I-” I sputtered, unable to form even a single coherent utterance. My body went hot all over at his dirty words.

He looked like the big bad wolf, ready to eat me.

I wouldn’t mind if he did.

“Unless you’re into power play, of course. If that’s the case, you can call me Mr. Grant all you want while we carry out your kinky fantasies.”

My mouth fell open at that. I wasn’t into power play. At least, I didn’t think I was. How was I supposed to know? In any case, I was pretty sure I wasn’t into anything…
kinky
. What kind of kinky things was Alec into, and as his contractually-obligated lover, would I have to participate in them?

My mind raced with images of him taking charge and making me act out his fantasies. I shut my eyes and exhaled, forcefully clearing my mind of the thoughts that my traitorous body couldn’t help but react to.

“Okay,
Alec
,” I said pointedly. My voice was high with the irrational anger I was experiencing toward him for making me feel this way, for catching me off guard in a vulnerable state and sticking around to tease me instead of apologizing and excusing himself. “I know you and I are going to… you know… eventually. But this is only the second time we’ve seen each other, and I didn’t expect it to be under these circumstances.”

“Neither did I, but I couldn’t be happier that this is the way it turned out. Naked and wet looks good on you, Brooke. Damn good. Now, maybe you’re upset because you’re not wearing anything under that towel and I’m fully dressed. That’s not fair, I agree. In the name of equality, we could remedy that.”

I knew I had signed my body over to Alec for an outrageously-high fee, but this was all moving way faster than I’d anticipated. Our agreement was a business arrangement and I had expected carefully-scheduled encounters, not immediate seduction. My head was spinning, my heart was pounding, and the unwanted heat between my thighs was blazing ever hotter at the idea of Alec without any clothes on. “I thought we would, I don’t know, at least have a conversation before we…”

“Before we fuck? Luckily, sex and conversation aren’t mutually exclusive. If it’s dirty talk you’re after, I will be more than happy to tell you how I’m going to-”

Alec managed to find innuendo in everything I said, so I cut him off before he could continue down that path. “I didn’t even hear you open the bathroom door.”

He shrugged. “It was already open.”

I bristled at that, even though I realized now that I hadn’t bothered shutting it behind me since I had shut the bedroom door. “You still could have knocked.”

Alec lifted a brow. “Yes, I could have,” he said slowly. “But I’m not in the habit of asking permission to enter my own room.”

“Your room? But you told me we would have separate ones.”

“We do. You have your own room, but this isn’t it. From the way you’re reacting, I take it you didn’t know.”

Embarrassment crashed over me like an icy tidal wave as my mind put together what must have happened. I was only half listening when Mr. Ferguson told me where my room was. He’d said upstairs and to the left- or was it to the right?

Oh my god.

“Of course I didn’t know,” I snapped, trying to cover up how mortified I was. I bolted for the door, darting past him so I could run out of here and to my actual room, where I would dive under the covers and stay there for oh, about a week.

Alec gripped my wrist, preventing me from leaving. I whirled around to face him, unable to hide my irritation at him for prolonging this humiliating situation.

“You know, you look sexy like that. All angry and pouty.”

“I’m not angry.” I tried to ignore the thrill that ran through me at his compliment. “Let me go.”

I tried to yank my wrist away, but I was no match for Alec. He pulled me to him, wrapping a strong arm around me so that I was trapped against his chest. I wondered if he could feel my heart racing as I pressed against him. The lingering dampness from my skin was soaking into his suit, but he didn’t seem to mind. He fisted his hand in my hair, tilting my head back so that I was forced to meet his penetrating gaze.

Alec’s eyes glittered with lust and a silent promise- or threat- that he planned to finish what I’d started in the bathtub.

In this moment, I was more aware of my femininity than I had ever been, held against Alec’s uber-masculine form. The softness of my breasts as they pressed against his hard chest. The inward curve of my waist as Alec’s large hands gripped my middle. The heat that colored my cheeks and pulsed through my core as I felt Alec’s unmistakable erection cradled between my thighs.

It would have been impossible for me to escape his embrace if I wanted to, but the undeniable truth was that I didn’t want to be anywhere other than in his strong arms.

Alec’s mouth came down on mine in a bruising kiss, his tongue running along the seam of my lips to demand entry. I parted my lips to let him in, happily allowing him to take control as our tongues tangled and sparred. The water on my skin had mostly evaporated, but an entirely different kind of wetness was flooding me down below as Alec ran his hands along my body, caressing my curves through the plush cotton towel.

I looped my arms around his neck, reaching up to run my fingers through his smooth hair. He ran his tongue along my bottom lip before taking it between his teeth and biting, eliciting a sigh from me.

When Alec’s hand slipped under my towel, his large palms skating over the swell of my ass, I reacted in a way that could only be described as losing my freakin’ mind. His touch sent hot excitement flaring through me. I moaned loudly as he gripped the firm flesh of my cheeks and dropped my hands from his hair, frantically pushing his jacket off his shoulders and letting it drop to the floor.

Minutes ago, I had viewed the towel wrapped around me as a savior of sorts, my armor against Alec’s prying eyes. But now I mentally cursed the damn towel, wanting absolutely nothing to come between his hand and my skin. His hands felt amazing on my bare flesh and now I wanted to feel the rest of him.

I reached to tug the towel off, but Alec grabbed my wrist. “Ah ah,” he admonished me. “First you yell at me for seeing you naked and now you’re trying to rip the towel off.”

“I didn’t
yell
at you,” I whispered hotly as he brought my arm behind my back and secured both wrists in one of his hands. “And I didn’t think you’d have a problem with seeing me naked again.”

I didn’t have the patience for his games, for him teasing me for having gone so quickly from being angry at his intrusion to practically begging him for more.

“Oh, I don’t have a problem with it at all. Quite the contrary.” He threaded his fingers through my hair again, gently pulling my head back. “But I’m in control here, Brooke.”

He lowered his lips to my neck, whispering kisses across the sensitive skin. A mewl escaped from my throat, breathy and surprised, as heat pounded through my core. I hadn’t known that something as simple as a kiss could be so sexual, but it was like there was a direct line of pleasure from my neck to my core, the sensations so strong that I couldn’t imagine them being any more powerful if he were actually kissing me down there. Then again, this was all new territory for me, so imagination was all I had to go on.

Alec’s leg nudged my thighs apart and I straddled his upper leg, rubbing against him without shame. This was all so unlike me, but I didn’t care. All I cared about in the moment was chasing the incredible feeling that was pulsing through my veins like a drug, rushing through my bloodstream and leaving me feeling high and craving more.

I writhed against Alec’s hard thigh, his face close to mine and his blue eyes fixed on me. His jaw was clenched and his eyes blazed, clearly showing that he was every bit as turned on as I was. Alec’s attention served to intensify my pleasure, causing me to move against him faster, driven by the lust that played across his face as he watched me.

I had every intention of coming just like this, with my arms restrained behind my back and Alec watching as I greedily took whatever I could get from him. Rubbing against his clothed thigh provided the sweetest friction and I quickened my pace, preparing to ride him to release.

My towel fell open and slid to the ground, a casualty of my wild movements. Alec’s body tensed and he sharply inhaled, followed by a jagged groan. He dropped my wrists and pulled away from me. I whimpered in protest at the sudden loss of his leg between my thighs, but the look on his face took my breath away, hot enough to burn right through me.

Alec paused for a moment, saying nothing as he stared at me. His eyes flashed dangerously as they roved over every curve and contour of my body. He looked positively predatory.

I was struck still, rooted in place as he hungrily observed me. Without a single stitch to shield me, I felt too naked, too exposed in front of him, and I had to fight the urge to cover myself with my hands.

But at the same time, I was incredibly aroused, strangely proud of the obvious effect I was having on him. My eyes dropped to his crotch and I could see the bulging outline of what had been pressed against me, hard evidence of how much he desired me. My mouth fell open.

Alec’s eyes snapped up to my face and he charged toward me, gripping my ass in his hands and easily lifting me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, leaning in to kiss him as he carried me across the bathroom.

He placed me on the counter, his lips never leaving mine as his hands slid over my exposed skin, searing me wherever he touched. When Alec’s hand slipped between my thighs, my eyes flew open and my heart pounded wildly.

His skillful fingers teased my entrance, circling around before slipping a single one inside of me. I broke away from his kiss, a wavering moan rising from my throat as he sank into me. I pulsed around his finger, hot and wet, gripping him as he buried himself to the knuckle.

“Alec,” I gasped.

“Brooke,” he murmured, bringing his lips to my ear. “Brooke, Brooke, Brooke. So fucking tight.”

He nipped at my earlobe before kissing along my jawline, down my neck, and over my cleavage. All the while, he was working between my thighs, curling his finger upward and stroking me in a way that made me
too
everything.

Too aroused, too wet, too eager for more.

A thrumming tension swirled through my core, growing more powerful as Alec slid in and out of me. He took my bare breast in his mouth, laving my nipple with his tongue and driving me mad with desire. I pushed back against his hand, losing myself to the feeling. The most incredible mix of sensations coursed through me, leaving me needy and breathless under his expert touch.

Alec’s mouth left my breast and he surprised me by kissing lower, trailing past my belly button and continuing down until I knew there was only one place for him to go. I held my breath, trembling with anticipation as his lips met the sensitive skin that was usually safely covered by my panties, hidden from the eyes of everyone but me.

But now it wasn’t merely Alec’s eyes that were on my flesh, but his lips, as he moved closer to
that
spot. He kissed my clit and my body convulsed, electrified by the sinfully-sweet contact. Alec’s tongue darted out and swirled around the nub, leaving me feeling lightheaded.