For a split second, he imagined that Britta was there to confess that she actually did have feelings for him. That she actually wanted him as much as he wanted her. He made himself stop thinking that immediately. He didn’t want to deal with anymore disappointment. He didn’t think he could.
“What are you doing here?” Grant asked her. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what he could say.
“Aren’t you gonna invite me in?” She asked him, giving him a tentative smile. Grant sighed, running his fingers through his hair, and stepped aside, giving her room to walk past him into his house.
Grant lived in between the shifter bar and the little town in Maine full of humans. He tended to split his time in both areas, as before he got the job as a regular bartender at the shifter bar, he was working as a chef at the only upscale restaurant in town. When his mother died, though, he quit. He couldn’t bear to do much back then, and he was just now getting his feet back on the ground by working at the shifter bar.
He missed working in a kitchen, though. He wished he could go back and act like nothing had happened. But a lot had happened, which was why he was continuously at the gym, stretching and toning his muscles in each form. He wouldn’t be surprised next time someone tried to destroy his pack. No, he would be ready. And so would the rest of the Moonlight Pack.
Britta walked into his house quietly, and Grant wished he could read her emotions that covered her face. She wasn’t wearing the mask that she was earlier in the forest, and Grant was relieved. He hated that she felt, even for a second, that she had to hide herself from him. He never wanted her to feel like that again.
Grant closed the door behind them both, staying quiet as he walked her into the house more. They didn’t sit on either of the two huge couches that Grant had in his living room. Instead, they stood in the middle of the room and stared at everything but each other. Grant wanted to know what the hell she was doing here – and he also wanted to know why she completely lied to him earlier.
If she didn’t like him, why did she say the things that she said? And if she didn’t like him, why didn’t she just tell him so that he didn’t go and make a complete fool of himself?
“When you hear what I’m about to tell you, you’re gonna laugh,” Britta finally told him, that tentative smile still on her face. She shrugged, and Grant could see that she was struggling with the words to say. She looked like she was trying to open up and trust him, but she was having a hard time.
He could relate to that.
“Is this about earlier? In the forest?” He asked her, deciding to take a chance. Maybe he was just thinking of the worst possible outcomes. Maybe it really wasn’t going to be as bad as he thought.
For a quick second, he imagined that Britta was here to tell him that she actually did have some feelings for him. He could only hope. But that hope alone was enough to cause his heart to lift in his chest in optimism.
Britta nodded her head to his questions, and the optimism grew. “I didn’t mean to run away like that. I still don’t know why I did it. But it wasn’t because of… you know. Well, it was, but not in like a bad way.”
Grant couldn’t help the slight smirk that landed on his face as he saw Britta uncertain and struggling for words. He’d never seen Britta act like this in any way. She was always so assured and witty, willing to take anyone down with her steely blue gaze in an instant. To see her uncertain and trying to apologize? Well, he was gonna have some fun with this.
“Well, how was your meeting with Kato and Hann?” Grant asked, crossing his arms and smiling. “Informative?”
Britta stared at Grant, squinting her eyes as she took him in up and down. She crossed her arms as she saw his smirk. She was quick. She had already caught on.
“You know?” She asked, not saying anything else. Grant’s smirk grew.
“I may have picked up on the fact that you lied to me.”
“A white lie isn’t a full-on lie.”
“A lie is a lie, my dear.”
Britta couldn’t help the smile that landed on her own face, making Grant’s smirk grow to a full-on smile, his teeth showing and all.
“I didn’t mean to lie,” Britta told him after a pause. “I may have freaked out slightly.”
“May have?”
“Okay, I did!” Britta laughed, and Grant didn’t know who to thank for this sudden turn of events. He had missed her laugh. He had missed her. “I don’t know what happened to me. I just freaked out and didn’t know what to do, I guess. I didn’t mean to blow you off or make you think that… well, you know. I just didn’t know what to do and needed to get some fresh air. And talk to Thea, of course.”
“And what did Thea say?” Grant asked, taking a small step forward, his heart beating at an insane tempo in his chest.
“She told me that I should just be honest with you,” Britta confessed, looking into Grant’s eyes and not breaking eye contact. Her blue eyes, which were once uncertain and scared, now stared at him with such determination and confidence it made Grant get chills. Things had definitely changed between them. And it was taking every ounce of self-control that Grant had to not take her in his arms and kiss her like she’d never been kissed.
“So, be honest with me then,” Grant told her, and it almost came out as a whisper.
Britta didn’t say anything. She just smiled, looked down for a second as if to reassure herself that everything was going to be okay, and took a step forward. Grant stared at her, not moving an inch.
Britta walked towards Grant until she was only a step away from him. Their breaths intermingled from their closeness, and Grant made sure that he kept his self-control in place. He wanted Britta to be the one to do this.
And he couldn’t quite believe this was even happening. It was like every dream that he had been having for the past few weeks were suddenly becoming true before his very eyes.
And slowly, very slowly, she reached up so that her lips touched his in one of the most passionate kisses he’d ever received. It was ten times better than the one they had in the forest – and that one knocked his socks off, too.
Grant gently pulled Britta closer to him, and he deepened their kiss when she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their bodies were touching in every area, and desire began to flare up in Grant’s body as he realized what was happening.
In the matter of a few seconds, things had heated up and progressed between the two. They fell on the couch behind them, Grant falling on top of her softly, both of them knowing that they didn’t have the time to walk all the way back to the bedroom. They wanted each other now. And they had been waiting so long for this to happen. Those days where Grant just watched Britta from afar were like torture.
And now, he was getting some much needed relief from that torture.
“I’ve wanted you for so long,” Grant murmured in her ear as he caressed her neck. Hearing her slightly moan from pleasure as his hands roamed her body made him almost lose control right then and there. He wanted her so bad, and his mind was still wrapping around the fact that she wanted him.
Grant’s heart began to beat fast when Britta’s hands played with his t-shirt hem, ultimately flinging it off of his body and onto the ground. Things were moving fast, but both of them craved each other. They had been waiting for this to happen for so long.
Grant and Britta undressed themselves slowly, very slowly, each of them savoring seeing each other’s bodies naked for the first time. When both of them were finally completely undressed in front of each other, it was like they could no longer hold back any of the passion that they had been holding back from each other for weeks.
Their eyes and hands roamed over each other, both of them discovering the pleasure that they had denied each other for so long.
“I want you,” Britta told him quietly. He, again, almost lost it right then and there.
Britta’s hands caressed his abs, and when he leaned in closer to her and she felt his har
d desire against her, she moaned. She began to caress his hard desire for her, giving him a form of bliss that he had never had before.
After their hands were done discovering every inch of each other’s bodies, she pulled him closer to her, inviting him in and telling him that she wanted him over and over again. He entered her slowly at first, and then all at once, both of them making pleased sounds. Her little pleasure encouragements she was giving him made his desire harder and harder.
“God, you make me crazy,” he told her, breathless and he thrust into her again and again. And when she told him to make it harder and pick up the pace, he gladly obliged.
When Britta finally cried out in pleasure, Grant himself lost control as he felt her clench around him. They both fell back onto the couch when everything was said and done, this time with Grant on the bottom, and with Britta laying on top of him, her head resting on his chest. Grant watched her as her breathing began to slow with inactivity. He thought she looked beautiful laying there, clutching his chest as if she never wanted him to leave her.
They were both sweaty, but they clutched each other like they never wanted to leave. Their legs were intertwined as they lay their naked on the couch, with no blanket or anything covering them. Grant hoped no one walked in unannounced. That would be quite embarrassing.
Grant couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the fact that he had Britta laying with him. And they had just had sex. And she seemed to be just as crazy about him as he was about her. It was like he was in a dream. He was floating on air. He was experiencing every little crazy emotion that he had, and he loved it.
He looked down at Britta again, who was now looking up at him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in his life. Her blue eyes shone back at him with happiness.
He realized that he had never been happier before in his life.
CHAPTER 15
Britta couldn’t believe everything that just happened. She felt like she was floating on air.
She was currently laying on top of Grant, in basically every way possible. They were still on the couch, and how they managed to stay on top of it during the whole thing made Britta laugh. Everything was falling into place almost perfectly. She couldn’t believe it.
“Why are you laughing?” Grant asked her, chuckling as well.
“We couldn’t bear to make it to the bedroom, could we?” She asked, smiling up at him. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw how gorgeous he looked laying there with her.
They lay there together for a few minutes more, both of them falling into a comfortable silence as Grant played with her hair. Britta realized that both of them were in this happy state of shock and bliss. She, for the millionth time that hour, couldn’t believe everything that had progressed between them.
She was so happy.
And now she just had to find out if Grant was in this for the long run like she was. She sure hoped he was. She didn’t know what she would do if he wasn’t. She decided to take that leap and actually be honest with him – and figure out where he stood in their relationship. There was no point in going back to that immature friendship that the two had where they wouldn’t confess their feelings to each other. Things were obviously very different between them now.
And Britta was beyond pleased with that fact.
“So…,” Britta began, trying to gain the confidence to just come out and ask him. “What are we?”
“What are we?” Grant repeated, confused. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean, Grant,” she rolled her eyes, though she still had that pleased smirk on her face. She didn’t think she’d ever get rid of it. Not after everything they just did.
“Well, I’m in this thing for the long term if you are.”
Britta looked up at him and saw him gazing down at her with an unreadable look in his eyes. Gosh, she loved that look. It gave her the chills. It made her heart quicken. It made her want to kiss him and never stop.
His words eventually sunk in once she was done processing how handsome she thought he was. She smiled even bigger as she realized that she wanted that, too. She wanted to be with him – and she didn’t want anyone else to be with him. She just needed him in her life, and she was good for the rest of her existence.
“Good,” she replied to him, squeezing his body closer to hers. “I’m in long term, too. And I think we should always just be honest with each other, even if we’re embarrassed or don’t want to be.”
“What? You didn’t like our little middle school dance around our feelings?”
Both of them laughed, and Britta playfully hit his chest. It was crazy to think that, only a few hours ago, they were both being so weird and immature about their feelings with each other. Now, they were actually being honest and open with each other. And they’d never truly done that before with each other. It was a refreshing turn of events for both of them. Britta was so happy.
“No, I wasn’t a huge fan,” she laughed at him, shaking her head. She felt sleepy, and all she wanted to do was fall asleep on Grant’s chest. And wake up with him still there.
“So, this means that we’re… an exclusive thing. Right?”
“Right.” Britta looked up to see him smiling down at her still. “Unless you’d rather not…?”
“Oh, I think we should be exclusive. We don’t want another Finn jealousy thing happening, do we?”
Britta burst out laughing as she remembered how jealous Grant was over nothing. She couldn’t help but love his crazy jealous side, though. Especially because that was when she realized that maybe there was something more between them than just friendship.
“Oh, no. I think us being exclusive would just be the smart thing to do.”
“Oh, it’s very smart.”
Grant pulled Britta into a kiss, and they would’ve initiated round two if her phone didn’t ring.
“Don’t answer it,” Grant begged her, a smile on his face, as she got out of her grasp and walked over to where her phone was on the floor. How did it end up there?
“It’s Kato,” she said, answering it after rolling her eyes at the desperate look that Grant was giving her, trying to make her laugh. She put her finger up to her lips to tell him to shut up, to which he reluctantly did. Both of them were smiling like they hadn’t in years.
“Britta,” Kato said after they both said their hellos over the line. “Hann just called an impromptu meeting. He’s making it sound like it’s pretty urgent, but he won’t say what it’s about. He said to make sure you came, though.”
“Okay,” Britta said, immediately going into work mode. “He wants us there now?”
“Yeah, he said to come on over to his house. Michael’s there. I think his unanticipated arrival caused this meeting. But I’ll come pick you up at your house if you want me to. It’s on my way.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m not there. I’ll just meet you there.” Britta hung up the phone before he could ask any more questions. Like where she was and what she was doing. For some reason, she didn’t want the whole world knowing about her and Grant just yet. She wanted it to stay between them, as their own little secret, for just a little bit more.
She knew that this was going to be impossible, though. In this pack, everyone knew each other’s secrets. The good and the bad.
“I’m assuming you’re leaving,” Grant groaned from where he was still laying on the couch.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” she told him as she quickly changed back into her clothes. “But Michael showed up unannounced and Hann called a meeting. I have to be there.”
“No, I know. I’ll meet you after.”
And, with one more kiss and another longing glance from both of them, Britta left.
CHAPTER 16
Grant felt like he was walking on air.
He entered the bar with a permanent smile on his face. He didn’t think it would ever leave. For the first time in a long time, Grant was happy. And it was all because
of Britta.
Lukas waved at Grant from across the way. Grant walked over and noticed that he was sitting with Annie and Finn. When Grant saw Finn, he stopped momentarily and debated on whether he should actually hang out with the strange shifter. Grant mentally cursed at himself after thinking this though. He was with Britta – not Finn. And after their conversation and everything that had happened tonight, Grant had nothing to worry about. Him and Britta were the real deal, and being rude to Finn would just be immature at this point.
If Grant was being honest with himself, it was immature how he acted to Finn from the very beginning. As he said hello to the group and sat down next to Lukas, he realized he was probably gonna need to apologize to Finn. And he really didn’t want to.
“Kato had to leave with Ethan,” Annie told him when he sat down. “My father called some meeting last minute for all the alphas to go to.”
“Yeah, that’s what Britta told me,” Grant said before even realizing what he admitted.
Lukas definitely caught it, though.
“Oh, you and Britta hanging out pretty late together, no?” Lukas asked him, smirking and very clearly holding in a laugh. When Grant looked over at Annie, he realized that she was also trying not to laugh. Finn was the only one, other than Grant, not finding this funny.
“I’m not saying anything to you two children,” Grant replied, deciding it was better to keep his mouth shut than to spill everything that just happened. It was still new, and he wanted to keep the whole relationship between him and Britta alone for a little bit longer. “I’m gonna go get some beers for us.”
“I’ll go with you to help,” Finn jumped up with a friendly smile on his face. Grant nodded and they walked over to the bar and ordered four beers for their group.
“Listen, man,” Grant began as they waited for their beers. “I wanted to apologize for everything that went down earlier. I was a total dick, and I shouldn’t have freaked out on you like that.”
The Uprising (Moonlight Wolves Book 3) Page 7
