All's Fair in Love and Mastery (Masters Unleashed 5)

They walked out of the restroom and met up with Arabella, who was just exiting the ladies’ room.

“Hey Tak, how’s it hanging?” Arabella asked, looking completely unruffled.

“To the right, thanks for asking. I can’t believe you guys went for a walk without me. One of the vanilla cousins has been hanging off me all night. I don’t have the heart to tell her it’ll never work.”

“You never know. Maybe she’ll be like Juliet.” Arabella looked skeptical even as she said the words, but who knew, really?

The three of them walked into the hall together, and Grant wished he could have had another chance to talk to Arabella alone first. She was acting as though nothing had happened, but his feelings were all over the map. He felt light and relaxed in the aftermath of the crazy orgasm he’d had, but he was upset that there’d been no aftercare or even much of a conversation afterward.

More than anything, he really wanted to kiss her. He wanted to take her home with him and tuck her into his bed, curl his body around hers, and hold her until morning.

In a perfect world he would have gotten just that. Instead, he got dragged into some weird line dance with Juliet’s sisters, his mind forced to shift gears from fucking Arabella on the hood of a car to being polite and social with Will’s new in-laws.

By the time he made his way back to Arabella, she was slow dancing with one of Juliet’s brothers. He cooled his heels, waiting for the song to end, then had to try not to glare as the guy walked her to the refreshment table and got her a glass of punch. Nothing like leaving the aftercare to some clueless kid.

“There you are,” Will said, practically bumping into him while ogling his new wife from across the room.

“Here I am,” Grant confirmed.

“I’m moving wedding gifts to the car. I think we’re taking off in a few minutes to go to the hotel.” Will looked restless.

“You in a hurry to consummate your marriage or something?”

“I hope she takes it easy on me. I am a virgin,” Will replied.

“You might want to open my gift first then,” Grant said, punching his brother’s shoulder. “There are some smelling salts in there in case you swoon.”

“What are we swooning about?” Arabella asked, joining them.

Will chuckled. “Sex, naturally. I’m hoping Juliet takes it easy on me since it’s my first time and all.”

“Ew, sex. I’m thinking of taking a vow of chastity.” She cut Grant a look that Will seemed to miss. Grant wanted to drag her off and ask if she was still contemplating chastity after he played some orgasm denial games with her. “Maybe I’ve just been fucking the wrong people.”

Will looked distracted. “If a guy doesn’t get you off, don’t give him another shot.”

“I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some unsatisfactory dick lately,” Grant murmured to her as Will crossed a few feet to meet up with Tabitha, who was holding a sleeping Beau in her arms. He could hear his brother making arrangements for when they’d be home tomorrow. No wonder he was looking so stressed. He never left Beau overnight if he could help it.

“I wouldn’t say unsatisfactory so much as a little more brutal with my poor ass than I’m used to.”

He grimaced sympathetically. “You should come home with me tonight. I’ll take care of you.”

“I have a vivid recollection of how you take care of me,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I think I need a nap. Maybe an ice pack. Not necessarily in that order.”

“So come to my place. I’ll take care of you,” he repeated.

She shook her head. “I don’t stay the night. It’s one of my rules.”

“Oh, for fucksake. Forget your rules, just this once.”

“Nice try, Master Grant.”

A growl of frustration lodged in his chest and he wished he had some sort of right to override her decisions. This was the entire problem with fucking women who weren’t collared. They had too much say in things. It was frustrating and inconvenient.

It sort of hurt, too, being put in his place. He’d been nothing more than a recreational fuck to her tonight. Then again, she’d made it clear what she was and wasn’t willing to offer him. He was the one who’d overstepped.

He frowned, but held his peace, determined not to ruin his sex buzz by starting another argument. It had been far too long since he’d felt so relaxed.

They helped move the wedding gifts into the back of Will’s truck, then played supportive roles as guests left. By the time they were stacking chairs, Juliet had shooed her family off, and only kinksters were left in the hall. Grant felt himself completely unwind bit by bit.