Oh, there was a story there. Carter wondered if Wyatt had heard it yet.
If he hadn’t, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out. The brothers were always trying to tattle on each other, and someone would be glad to fill Wyatt in on the family gossip. Carter nodded reluctantly. “Sure. I’m just not supposed to mention the lingerie stuff or the fact that you thought you’d earned a good night kiss?”
Seriously considering the question, Grant nodded. “Probably not, just to be on the safe side.”
What had the Dom done?
“Okay. I won’t, but you’re going to owe me.” He wasn’t sure if he was teasing or not, but from what Carter had learned of Grant’s family, if he wanted to fit in he was going to have to learn to fight dirty.
Grant smiled wickedly, leaning closer. “What am I going to owe you?”
“You’ll find out.” To keep from having to decide what to say, Carter gave him a haughty look and opened the door.
Laughing, Grant climbed out of the car and went around to walk Carter to the door. Carter needed to get his head wrapped around everything before he invited Grant in, but he was hoping that wouldn’t be an issue.
Grant seemed to be one step ahead of him because the Dom stopped at the bottom of the steps and didn’t make any attempt to go in. “Do you want to go out on Friday or maybe stay in and relax?”
“Staying in sounds perfect.” Carter took a deep breath and looked at Grant. “How about you come over around seven?”
“Great.” Grant smiled and took a step closer to Carter. “Do you need me to bring anything?”
“No, we’ve got the cookies for dessert, and I have everything else.” If he was going to hang out with Wyatt, he might have suggested some beer or a bottle of wine, but he had a feeling he’d need a clear head with Grant. Too much alcohol, and he’d be up for anything the Dom suggested.
“I’m looking forward to it.” Grant stepped even closer, until Carter could feel the hem of his skirt brushing against Grant’s legs. “Do you know what else I’m looking forward to?”
He shouldn’t ask, but he had to. “What?”
“Seeing what kinds of stimulating things you have hidden away. I’m thinking that I might need you to model a few things for me. Just so I can make a good choice, of course.” Grant’s voice was low and made Carter’s stomach whirl.
While he tried to get the butterflies under control, his mind was too mixed up to respond. Grant gave him a wicked grin and pressed his body against Carter’s. Looking up at Grant, he gripped the post behind him for support. Suddenly his knees didn’t feel strong enough to support the rest of him.
Tilting his head, Grant slowly brought his lips down to Carter’s. The maddeningly slow descent left plenty of time for Carter to move or to say something, but he had to taste the full lips in front of him. He wanted to know if their chemistry was going to be as explosive as he’d thought.
It was.
Grant’s mouth touched his, brushing their lips lightly together. It was like fireworks went off. Grant nibbled with his lips and teased at Carter’s mouth until he opened for the Dom. A deep moan escaped when he felt Grant’s tongue slide across his.
He felt cherished, but there was no doubt who was in charge.
It made him want to melt into Grant and beg for more. For the Dom to drag him inside and strip off his clothes—and that thought chased some of the desire-filled haze from his mind. He wanted to believe Grant would take one look at his lingerie and say he was the sexiest thing the Dom had ever seen. The little doubts eating away at the back of his head had him hesitating.
Grant must have realized something was wrong because he gentled the kiss, pulling back slowly. Giving Carter one last peck, he straightened up. “I had a good time tonight. I can’t wait for this weekend.”
“Me too. It’s just…” Carter wasn’t sure he could explain it without sounding like a wimp.
“It’s all right. We’ll go at our own pace. We both had fun tonight, and that’s what mattered.” Then his expression grew teasing. “Well, that, and I got my kiss goodnight.”
Carter couldn’t resist. “Behave, or I’ll tell your mother.”
Grant laughed. “You cheat like the rest of the family. You’re going to fit right in.”
He made it sound like he could see Carter in his life. Not just as a new boyfriend, but something more. Like Carter had a place in their family and it was just waiting for him to step into it. Grant said boyfriend, but the word seemed to mean more than that.
Carter couldn’t decide how he felt about that…elated or terrified.
Chapter 4
Grant
“Is that everything for now? Anything else about the radio campaign on the agenda tonight?” Brent looked around at everyone in the meeting, then glanced down to make a few more notes. “I think that’s everything, then.”
As some of the staff from the different insurance offices started to head out the door, Bryce tried to slip out with them. He had to have known the interrogation was coming, but he hadn’t ducked out fast enough. Garrett cleared his throat and spoke up over the chatter. “Bryce, not so fast.”
There were a few giggles and a couple of teasing remarks as everyone else filtered out. With Grant, Bryce, and Garrett each running a different branch of the family insurance company and Brent running the claims department, the employees all felt like family, so the comments had to be expected. When it was just the five of them, Bryce tried to play dumb. He went back over to the table and sat down, looking at Brent. “I thought we covered everything. Did we miss something?”
“Don’t play stupid,” Grant barked out. “What’s been going on with you? We heard you skipped out early almost every day this week.”
It was more like Bryce had simply been leaving on time, but since that was such a huge change, Grant didn’t feel bad for exaggerating a little.
“Bullshit.” Bryce snorted. “I just haven’t been putting in lots of extra hours.”
Garrett leaned back in his chair and cocked his head. “Care to tell us what has you working such reasonable hours lately?”
Bryce glared at Brent like he’d snitched, but Brent just gave his head a little shake like he was denying whatever he was being accused of. Interesting. Even Garrett noticed the interchange, because he frowned. “You told Brent?”
“Lord, this family is nosy.” Bryce slumped back in his chair. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s something if you were mad at Brent for telling. So what’s the secret?” Grant knew they all had a good guess, but it was time for Bryce to fess up.
Bryce sighed and looked up at the ceiling, his head falling back to rest on the back of the chair. He waved his hand at Brent. “Brent, you do it.”
Clearing his throat, trying not to laugh at the drama coming from Bryce, Brent looked over at Garrett, Calen, and Grant. “Bryce met someone…two someones, actually, and he’s afraid—”
Bryce growled out, “Not afraid, just concerned.”
“Excuse me.” Brent rolled his eyes. “Bryce is concerned that his entering into a relationship with two people—”
Bryce interrupted again. “Dating. We’re not entering into anything.”
Calen laughed at the unintended sexual innuendo. “Do you want to tell the story?”
“No.” Bryce sighed again.
“Then sit there and don’t talk, drama queen.”
Trying not to laugh, Brent started again. “Bryce is concerned that dating two men who are already in an established relationship may not be as discreet as we agreed to be.”
It was quiet for a moment, then Garrett looked at Brent. “Is it serious?”
Grant thought it was hilarious that Garrett was asking Brent about Bryce’s love life, but he managed not to make an ass out of himself. Brent nodded and looked over at Bryce before speaking. “Yes. I’d say very.”
Bryce didn’t disagree with him.
Grant had a few more questions. “Are they in the lifestyle? Where’d they m
eet?”
“Yes, and at the club a few months ago. The last time we were all up there, evidently.” Brent answered without even looking at Bryce. “They’ve been testing the water, but Bryce is nervous about getting serious with a Dom and a sub and how it will look.”
Bryce had dated a variety of people. As a switch, he was drawn to Dominants and submissives, but he’d never dated both at the same time. Grant could see that being difficult already without adding in the worries about what clients and friends would say.
Bryce was still staring at the ceiling, ignoring them all.
Looking around at his family, Grant wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. “We said we weren’t going to do anything stupid to draw attention to ourselves. We never said we wouldn’t fall in love and date who we wanted to. You morons are taking that conversation too far.”
Calen’s snickering turned into gasps of laughter. Brent frowned at him, but when that didn’t get the desired response, he balled up a piece of paper and threw it at him. That got Calen to stop laughing, but it was easy to see he was planning his retribution. Brent blushed, but ignored him.
Brent cleared his throat. “That’s basically what I said, just nicer. There is no reason for him to chase away people he really cares about.”
Even Garrett was nodding. “We just want you to be happy. We’ll deal with anything that comes up, but I think most clients won’t care. We might lose a few, but not enough for me to be worried. Other areas, like the number of new customers we’ve picked up from the club, are growing, and I think that will more than make up for anyone who might have a problem with it. But let’s face it. Most people see their insurance person once a year, tops, and don’t care who he’s married to.”
“Agreed.” Grant was glad that was settled. Maybe if Bryce got serious quick enough, it would distract his mother from his relationship with Carter. “So who is it?”
Bryce managed to find his voice with that question. “Troy and Oliver.”
The names were familiar, but Grant couldn’t place them. Everyone else seemed to be in the same boat until Brent spoke up. “The guys with the sounds.”
“Oh.” Now Grant could picture them. The demonstration had been—
“They were hot,” Calen piped up.
“Calen! Not helping.” Brent frowned at him, but Grant could see things heating up between the two of them, and he couldn’t help but wonder if they’d make it home before they got into it. Now that they were both back from vacation and not trying to hide how they felt, the heat always went up a few degrees whenever they were in the same room together.
Grant had to agree with Calen. “They were hot. The little one’s a firecracker.”
Bryce laughed, and some of the stress seemed to be easing. “That’s Oliver. He’s sweet.”
“So when are we going to meet them?” Garrett tried to get things back under control, but Calen interrupted.
“Meet them with their clothes on, he means.”
Bryce blushed but smirked, clearly not upset by Calen’s teasing. “Don’t make them feel weird.” He laughed. “I thought about inviting them to the barbecue next weekend?” It came out more as a question than Bryce probably intended.
“That sounds good,” Garrett said, and everyone nodded.
The sound of the conference room door easing open had them glancing over. Wyatt’s head peeked around the door hesitantly. “Master? You said not to let you stay late.”
Garrett glanced over at the clock on the wall. “You’re right. Thank you.”
Everyone started heading toward the door with greetings for Wyatt and one last teasing remark thrown at Bryce. Grant still had a while before he needed to head over to Carter’s place, so he hung back, waiting for the room to clear.
When everyone but Wyatt and Garrett had cleared out, Grant turned to the men. “So what did Carter say about our date?”
Wyatt had made a science out of avoiding Grant for the past couple of days. Even when Grant thought he had timed it perfectly to catch Wyatt at Garrett’s office, he’d missed the sub by minutes. Wyatt started fidgeting and looking around the room, probably for a way to escape. “Nothing.”
Garrett and Grant both laughed. Garrett moved over to hug Wyatt and Grant leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the table. Garrett growled at him to move them and Wyatt laughed, breaking the tension.
He shifted around and stood up, walking over to Wyatt. “If Carter asked you not to say anything, that’s fine. I won’t bug you.” He probably should have said that he wouldn’t bug him much, but that was probably understood.
Wyatt leaned back in Garrett’s arms and smiled. “He didn’t say that. Not specifically.”
Grant loved loopholes. “See, then, it’s fine.”
Trying not to giggle and failing miserably, Wyatt’s smile widened. “He had fun. Thank you for making him change.”
“I didn’t make him. I just encouraged him to dress up for me.” Grant’s grin was naughty and infectious. They both shook their heads at him.
“And the farmer’s market thing was a hit. He loved that.” Wyatt gave Grant an approving look.
Garrett perked up. “You have cookies?” He looked down at Wyatt. “You didn’t mention the market. Did they get cookies?”
Frowning at Garrett, Grant shook his head. “No. I was on a date, not shopping for you.”
Wyatt winked at Grant, then looked up at Garrett. “Is it okay to mention that Carter is a bit anxious about tonight?”
“I’m sure Grant’s guessed that part already.” Then Garrett gave Grant a firm look when Grant started to laugh.
“He was nervous the other night. I know it will take a while for him to get completely comfortable with me.” Then he decided to push his luck. “Is he uneasy about something specific?”
Wyatt blushed a vivid red and pretended to zip his lips and lock them. Shaking his head, he threw away the key like he was a kid again. Garrett laughed. Stepping back, he looked up at the clock again, then took Wyatt’s hand. “Come on, before you answer that and make Carter lose it.”
Nodding, Wyatt refused to open his mouth, and just waved to Grant as they left the room. Grant followed behind them, not wanting to make them late for whatever plans they had. Grant hadn’t missed the fact that neither of them mentioned what the reason was that Garrett couldn’t work late.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to stay a secret for long. Nothing did in their family. Grant knew Carter must have already figured that out, otherwise Wyatt wouldn’t have blushed so red and refused to talk. There was only one thing Grant could think of that would get that kind of reaction. Carter must be very nervous about showing off his sexy collection.
Considering they hadn’t talked about safewords or even BDSM in general terms yet, Grant knew he probably should back off a little. The Dom part of him balked at that idea. Grant thought the best way to tackle it would be to jump in headfirst, so Carter could see right away how beautiful Grant saw him as. Carter wasn’t going to believe it until the proof was right there in front of him, or pressed up against him.
Grant shoved the dirty thoughts out of his head. He couldn’t show up for dinner with a hard-on. That would give the wrong impression. He wanted it clear he was looking for something long-term, not a hookup. He’d known that by the time the first barbecue Carter had come to was over.
Carter was his; the sexy sub just wasn’t ready to admit it yet.
Chapter 5
Carter
“Dinner’s ready to be put together…cookies are still safe…movies picked out…” Carter wandered around the house, aimlessly trying to make sure everything was in order. Distracting himself was a bonus. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Grant to come over; he did. He just wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
Did Grant really want to see his lingerie?
Carter knew Grant wasn’t like most men—he was starting to understand that. But going from being okay with a dress to accepting lacy underwear was another thi
ng. Some of his stuff was made for guys, but other things were clearly designed for women.
Would Grant really be okay with that?
Everything the Dom had said made Carter feel like he would, but it was still a big leap. Carter wasn’t sure if he was ready for it. He wasn’t ready for everything to be over if Grant changed his mind. He liked Grant, but it wasn’t just that. It was starting to feel like he was part of the family, and Carter didn’t want to lose that.
He’d tried to sort through his clothes and see what kinds of things he’d be okay with showing Grant, but that had been a little too stressful. So he’d gone back to cleaning the house and getting dinner ready. He should have picked something harder to cook. Not letting Wyatt shoo him out of work early would have been a good idea, too.
Having too much time on his hands was not a good thing.
On his third trip around the living room and kitchen, the doorbell finally rang. “You can do this. It’s just a movie date. Nothing stressful.”
Opening the door, he saw Grant leaning on the frame trying to appear casual, but Carter could see the excitement in his eyes. Was it for the date, or was he thinking about the clothing? Stepping back, he tried to smile. It felt forced and weird. “Come on in.”
Grant gave him a smile and a quick, surprising kiss as he walked in. “Thanks for keeping my cookies safe.”
Carter laughed and shook his head. “So you’re not excited to see me. You’re just glad I kept your cookies safe?”
With a heated look, Grant had him squirming even before he spoke. “I’m very excited to see you. The cookies are just a bonus. It’s hard to keep secrets in this family, so it shows me we were meant to be.”
Carter couldn’t decide how much of that was Grant’s teasing, and how much was serious. Deciding to ignore the part that made him nervous, Carter started leading Grant back to the kitchen. “You just have to have the right blackmail to keep people quiet.”
“You must have something good on Wyatt because I couldn’t get much out of him at all. He avoided me all week. He had some kind of sixth sense because I missed him repeatedly.” Leaning against the counter, Grant laughed, clearly still enjoying the game of avoidance he’d played with Wyatt.
Grant: A M/m BDSM Romance (Bound & Controlled Book 3) Page 4
