The White Queen (S.Rogers)

Chapter 39

Steve smiled down at Brooklyn as they walked, side by side, holding hands, towards the restaurant. After the movie, which ended up being basically a make-out session, seeing as they were pretty much the only people in the theater for the movie they had chosen, he was a little keyed up. He didn't even know if either one of them had actually paid any attention to the movie itself. Every so often, he would reach into his pant's pocket, feeling the lace of her panties against his fingers.

He knew she had not been deliberately teasing him, earlier, while he was on the phone with Nat. He was well aware that women put their underwear on, after hooking up their stockings. But the chance to play with her, to dominate her, just a little, was too great an opportunity to pass up.

So, now, dressed in her pretty dress, her legs whispering as the silk rubbed together, he knew what no one else in the world did. That Brooklyn Barnes was bare under that skirt. That her pretty pussy, which he enjoyed playing with so much, was open and ready for him to touch, whenever he wanted to reach under that skirt. It was a heady feeling of power, to know that she had gone along with his game, when she could have pulled on another pair, as soon as he left her alone. But when he had slipped his hand under her skirt at the theater, and found her so deliciously bare, he had felt the thrill run through him.

He was so proud of her, though. So fucking proud of his Babydoll. After they had rounded up Juliana, getting her shoes and coat on her, grabbing her overnight bag, escorting her and Nat out of the apartment, down to the street, Brooklyn had paused, while he was putting Juliana into the car he had basically taken out on permanent loan from Stark, and asked Nat if she would like to join Brooklyn for some shopping on Monday. The redhead had been slightly taken aback, but had smiled and accepted the invitation. That, combined with the fact that Brooklyn was being extremely friendly with Nat, was more than enough reason to be proud of her. But then she continued that streak bravery, that burgeoning trust, to hug Nat, thanking her for bringing over the panic button setup, despite breaking Steve's trust slightly, in showing up at the apartment.

Steve had always intended to introduce the two, but when he had thought Brooklyn was a little bit more stable in the idea herself. Having Nat step over the line had worked out, when it could have gone so wrong. Brooklyn could have, and might have been well in her rights, to attack Nat. In that case, Steve wasn't sure how well things would have gone. As far as he was aware the two women were evenly matched. Both were highly trained, in separate forms of attacks and defenses. Both were at the top of their levels, as far as he knew. And while he had seen Nat in action, the truth was he was unaware of how Brooklyn fought, how she moved, what the gaps in her defense were.

Instead, beyond the initial bump of Brooklyn being on guard from the moment she had heard Nat's voice, she had slowly relaxed, and even allowed Nat to help her finish dressing for their date night.

Then, to even further add to his pride, when they had gotten to the William's household, she had been friendly, open, accepting. After a brief tour of the place, she had kissed Juliana on the cheek, told her to be good, and let Steve escort her from the house, without panicking, or having a moment of doubt. The fact that he had assured her that the panic button notice would be very noticeable, should it go off, was probably helping that, a bit. She had even accepted Mrs. Williams' invitation to the next PTA meeting on Wednesday, with no expectations of being rounded into the activities. Basically, she was being invited to meet the other mothers of the school, to maybe be accepted into their circle of friends.

In the past month, she had made leaps and bounds, in regards to letting her guard down. There were still moments, when she would freeze on the street, or while at the store, and the shadows would enter her eyes. But for the most part, she was at least playing the part of a normal woman living in New York.