by Riley Storm
Judging by the looks on their faces, all the other women were doing exactly what Grace was. Imagining their men in such ludicrous outfits.
The entire balcony was filled with peals of laughter, snorts and thigh-slaps. It took several minutes for everyone to get themselves under control. Each time someone thought they were, they would exchange glances with someone else, think the same thoughts again and lose it.
“Oh man,” Grace said, wiping away tears with the back of her arm. “That’s too funny.”
“But accurate,” Clarice said. “They have abilities that we don’t, but we have skills that they don’t. Mother, businesswomen. Carla isn’t here right now, that workaholic, but I can only imagine her mate Pace as a cop. It would be a disaster.”
“So what you’re saying, is it’s different, but we each have our own specialties as well,” Grace said, thinking it over. She’d been so preoccupied with wanting to do what Braz could do, that she’d forgotten what she was capable of.
The wealthy Braz would likely have a very hard time relating to the kids who came through her programs. They just came from different lifestyles, and he wouldn’t be able to connect with them the way she could. That was a skill Grace had, that Braz didn’t.
So what if he could shoot fire, wear scaled armor or fly. Big deal.
Okay it would still be super cool, but I need to not lose sight of who I am in all this.
“Thanks for that perspective,” she said, appreciating it. “Can I ask you some more?”
“Sure,” Emma said, getting comfortable. “What’s up?”
“Well, I was wondering,” she said slowly, still coming to grips with the fact she was going to ask this. It surprised even her. “What’s it like, here? You know, living with them.”
The women all exchanged sly glances.
“Stop it,” Grace admonished, waggling a finger. “I’m just asking. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“They’re so cute at this stage,” Emma said with a laugh.
Clarice rolled her eyes. “You’ve been here barely a month yourself! Don’t give me that.”
They all laughed.
“It’s good,” Emma said. “Abrupt. Life-changing. But I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”
The others nodded, but Grace could sense there was more. “But…” she said.
“But,” Anne said quietly. “You’ll never know it, never truly believe it, until you jump in feet first. Just commit to it. There’s no other way around it, and lemme tell you, it’s terrifying.”
“Oh.” That wasn’t what she’d expected to hear.
“It’s amazing, wonderful, beautiful and perfectly fitting all at the same time,” Clarice continued. “But that first jump, that blind commitment to something that feels so right, but defies all logic you’ve ever taught yourself about relationships. It’s scary, not easy. Lots of worry that you’re making a mistake you might regret.”
“Been there, done that,” Grace said dryly.
“Hear hear,” Anne said, reaching out a hand for a high-five. “Sorry you had to go through that too.”
Grace shrugged. “It’s all over now. That part, at least.”
“What’s over?” a new voice, a male voice, asked from nearby.
They all looked up to see Braz approaching.
“Nothing,” she said sweetly. “You’re back?”
“Yeah. You won’t believe what we found.”
Braz outlined the locating of the vault, and the gruesome discovery in the freezer.
“Someone has been masquerading as Victor this whole time?” Clarice gasped, covering her mouth. “That’s horrible!”
“Agreed,” Braz said darkly. “And as of yet, nobody can figure out not only how, but why they would do that. There’s a lot of unanswered questions floating about.”
Grace could see that Braz was shaken up from the ordeal. It had left him rattled, and she felt a natural pull toward him, to comfort him and let him know that it was going to be okay. She was here for him.
I am?
It’s not like it was a secret that there was something going on between them. The other women obviously thought that she was there for him.
So why was Grace having such a hard time with it? Accepting that they were a thing shouldn’t be difficult. It should be easy.
It’s easy if you’re ready for it.
Maybe that was it then. She wasn’t ready for the seriousness of the relationship. Of the commitment that opening herself up to Braz totally would entail.
Words in a familiar elderly female voice came to her. Words she had heard just the day before.
It comes not when you want it most, but when you need it most.
Right now Braz needed her.
“Hey, come have a seat,” she said, motioning for him to come over.
Braz’s lifted eyebrows were the only sign of surprise. He came over and sat next to her, and Grace wrapped him up in a hug. “It’s going to be okay,” she said, giving him a tight squeeze.
It was returned with effort as his big arms enveloped her. Grace kept her eyes closed so she wouldn’t have to see the ‘I told you so’ looks from the other women as she took the first step to accepting the connection between her and Braz.
That doesn’t mean I’m moving in for good yet though.
“It is,” Braz agreed. “Because of you. Your willingness to help us unlock that drive, it helped us discover this horrible charade.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” she told him. “Years ago someone tried to expose a fraud to me, and I didn’t listen. I should have. Now I’m just returning the favor in a way.”
Braz smiled. “Either way, thank you. Now there’s a plan in place to deal with this because of what you did.”
“Which is?” Clarice wanted to know.
“I don’t know. Logan’s planning it in secret. He wants me here, visible, until tomorrow afternoon when we’re going to spring it. I guess, since I’ve been most involved, if I look like nothing’s wrong, then hopefully our quarry won’t be ready for the trap.”
Grace nodded, following along. The logic was sound.
“So that means you’re all mine?” she said, quietly enough that the others couldn’t hear.
“For a day,” Braz agreed.
The other women got up at this point, almost in unison. Grace glared at Clarice, the obvious ringleader, but there was no heat in it. It irked her that the other women were inconveniencing themselves to give the pair some space, but at the same time she was grateful for the privacy. She could sense that it was needed.
“Are you okay?” she asked when they were gone, stroking his face, looking into his eyes to gauge his truthfulness.
“Rattled,” he admitted. “None of us saw this coming. I want to go and end it now, to confront him, but I can’t.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Why can’t you? What’s the obstacle?”
“Logan wants to make sure we get them all at once. If we just go for the Fake-Victor, anyone he’s working with might remain unseen. Logan is going to draw them all out I guess. Somehow. We just need to wait here.”
“Well, I get to hold you a little while longer then. I’m not going to be upset about that,” she said quietly.
“You’re unusually touchy,” Braz remarked. “I’m not objecting of course, but it’s unexpected.”
“Well, I had a good chat with the girls while you were gone.”
“The girls?” Braz said, quirking his eyebrows up at her. “That’s awfully informal.”
“Don’t fight it,” Grace said with a smile. “It is what it is now. You can’t change it.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Good. Because they helped me realize something.”
There was a long pause. This was it, then. Diving in, head first into unseen waters. Taking a chance that scared the crap out of her, just like Clarice had said. Grace had been fighting this, holding herself back, but she was done resisting. It was time to go with the rive
r, not swim against it.
“And what’s that?” Braz finally asked, his face a few inches from hers.
“That I love you,” Grace said. She’d intended to say more, but just getting those three words out had been enough to steal her breath while she waited for a response.
Braz just stared at her. He barely blinked for the first minute, leaving Grace to wonder if he was okay.
“I…you. And we…but then. You said…”
Grace had obviously surprised him. His brain was scattered and it took a long time for Braz to recompose himself. Then he said the best words anyone wanted to hear after dropping such a heavy line.
“Come again?”
Okay, so maybe they weren’t the best words here. But they were words.
“I said I love you Braz. I was freaked out this morning because, on some level, I think I realized it. That scared me a lot, because I wasn’t expecting it. It came out of nowhere, and was so heavy, so serious, that I wasn’t ready to accept it.
“Oh,” he said.
“Yeah.” Grace fell silent, waiting for him to speak now.
He didn’t.
“This is where you respond,” she whispered with the ghost of a smile.
Braz’s face opened in shock. “Oh my goodness. Oh jeez. Of course! I can’t believe I was so silly, I didn’t say anything to you!”
“You still haven’t,” she pointed out.
Thick, rough hands grabbed both of hers, and Braz’s expression turned serious.
“Grace Atkinson, I have loved you since the day I met you all those years ago on the dance floor. That was when I knew you were the one for me, even if the timing wasn’t right then. I waited, and waited, and now you have made me the happiest person there is.”
She blushed. “Are you serious about that?”
He nodded. “Dragons can usually pick up on these things a bit better.
“Oh, okay. Men picking up on emotional destiny before women?” Grace was clearly not so sure about that.
Braz shrugged. He didn’t get it either. Dragons were weird. “Yeah.”
Then he leaned in and kissed her, because there was no more need for words.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Grace
This part wasn’t scary. Physical intimacy with Braz, she could handle that. Had handled that.
Everything was different this time though, as he led her through the hallways and upstairs to his bedroom. Not just the location that he was taking her, but the connection between them. It made her stomach tie itself in knots and then ride the world’s loopiest looping rollercoaster.
And somehow she was loving every second of it.
No, not it. Loving him. That was the difference of course.
She had taken the other women’s words and advice to heart, and had finally taken that first, fearful plunge. Ignoring every scare tactic her brain was trying to employ, Grace had grasped the line, the connection between her and Braz, and she’d hauled it into herself as best she possibly could.
And I’ll be darned if it doesn’t feel great!
The biggest thing was the freedom she felt. Unrestrained by anything, Grace was now open to explore things with Braz in totality. It still scared her, she felt that fear, but it no longer controlled her. She was in command, and it felt right. Like this was where she was supposed to be.
“I love you,” she repeated, following Braz through the door to his room where he lifted her hand in the air and twirled her around to face him.
Behind them the heavy door closed tight. It was just the two of them now.
“And I love you,” Braz replied, reaching forward to caress her cheek and jaw.
Grace leaned her head into his touch, relishing every second of contact. He was just so perfect for her, she couldn’t get enough. Grace wanted more, and more of him, in every way, physical and emotional. He was like a drug she couldn’t kick.
Lifting her head, Grace rose up on her tiptoes, using her hands to pull Braz down to her level. He swept in with a growl, lifting her from her feet and smashing his lips to hers. Fireworks danced through her brain as they were joined.
“I don’t know what those girls told you,” Braz mumbled through their frantic kisses, “But remind me to thank them.”
Grace laughed, her hands tugging at his shirt, lifting it up and over his head.
“The just told me to stop being so hard-headed, and to open myself up to the possibility that this was real. To overcome my fears by understanding that they will always be there when trying something new, but that they don’t mean it’s wrong. And in this case, it could just be fear that it’s something so right.”
Braz paused, both hands halfway up her shirt. “Huh?”
Taking pity on the confused shifter, Grace lifted her shirt off for him. He eagerly undid her bra while she stood there, letting him have an eyeful of her breasts.
“What I mean,” she said with a giggle, reaching out to grab hold of his jaw and lift it upward so he would look at her in the eye. “Is that I wasn’t scared because being with you was wrong. I was scared because it felt right. The sort of right that I don’t want to end. Possibly ever.”
Braz stepped forward, running his fingers up her spine, making Grace shiver. He always seemed to know the right spots to touch her. And how to touch her. One thick fingered hand slipped through the waistband of her pants and firmly grabbed her ass, prompting Grace to bite her lip automatically.
She liked being manhandled by Braz, there was no denying it.
“So you’re finally recognizing it then,” he rumbled, slipping in close to her neck and nibbling first on her earlobe, then on the tender skin of her neck itself.
“Maybe,” she gasped, trying to keep her composure in the face of the ever-increasing onslaught of his presence.
“Good.”
Her pants were flicked to the floor with alacrity. A palm caressed her behind, and then in a sharp movement left it tingling pleasantly as he spanked her just once.
“Do that again,” she whispered, jerking a little as Braz didn’t hesitate to even out the coverage on her other cheek.
“I’ve waited a long time to be able to call you my mate,” Braz said, running both hands down the sides of her body as he crouched in front of her, removing the last of her clothing.
With his face right at her crotch level he stuck his chin forward, and Grace hissed as his tongue made contact between her legs.
“You have?” she squeaked, unable to resist as he lifted one leg over his shoulders.
“Mmmmm, hmmmm,” Braz said, drawing out his reply, the deep vibrations running right through her apex, drawing strength away from her knees.
Braz held her steady, his hands now on her waist, gripping her tightly.
“I’m going to fall,” she said as he renewed his attack. “My legs…”
He didn’t seem to care. Fingers tightened and took some of the weight off. Apparently it was happening no matter what she said.
Gasping for air as his tongue played across her expertly, reading her every moan and desire, Grace gripped the back of his head, pulling him in tighter. “Don’t you fucking stop,” she said, unable to stop herself from being so crass.
That only seemed to spur Braz on further.
“Oh fuck!” she cried out, nearly bending in half over his head as she convulsed and thrust her hips forward against his tongue in sharp, uneven movements as her body was assaulted with a fierce orgasm.
Braz did something and suddenly she was straddling his shoulders, both legs hanging down his back. The giant shifter easily lifted her over to the bed, his tongue still sliding over her clit and opening, providing no cessation of his attack. Grace tried to stop him, but she didn’t have the strength, because the pleasure was already building again.
By this point Grace was beyond words. She just rode the wave of her next climax as it smashed into her body, ripping cries from her throat that filled the room and likely spilled into the hallway. She didn’t give a damn. It fel
t too good to care.
“I could do that to you all day,” Braz said in that deep, lustful, velvety bass that his voice took on when he was fully aroused.
“Well, I couldn’t handle it,” she gasped, inching her way back from him, sucking down as much air as possible.
“We’ll see,” he teased, standing up and divesting himself of his remaining clothes.
Grace watched the chiseled lines of his body, enjoying the show as he bent and twisted, revealing all the definition. He was hot, and now he was all hers. She could enjoy this every night if she wished.
And probably every morning as well.
Gee-darn.
Pulling him down on top of her, Grace waited for that perfect moment, that never-quite-recreatable moment when he first slid inside her.
It was as perfect as she remembered. Her nails dug deep into his back and Braz pulled back.
“What are you doing?” she whimpered, noticing the sly grin on his face. “No teasing today!”
“Is that so?” Braz asked mildly, doing just that as he pulsed forward perhaps half an inch on repeat.
Grace thrust her hips at him, trying to capture more of his length, but he playfully denied her every time.
“Not fair,” she mock-pouted, secretly enjoying it just as much as he was, though she would never tell.
Braz bent over and kissed her. She was expecting the torture to continue, but her eyes flew wide and air blasted from her lungs as he thrust forward slowly, deliberately, never stopping until he was completely and totally within her.
“Yesss,” she moaned, head lolling back, entire body going limp at the sensations.
Braz buried his face in her neck and, after giving her time to adjust, started to move against her repeatedly.
They worked up the pace, getting faster. Grace’s arms were braced out to either side, fistfuls of comforter caught up in them as she lost herself in the moment. She alternated between her eyes screwed tight, focused on her own body, and watching Braz as he fucked her. It was hot to watch him work, seeing the way his abs and chest flexed, bulged and twisted, muscles like corded steel being used to pleasure her.