Page 126 of The Long Game

Only, in this case, it wasla petite mort, and Grady wasn’t going to heaven alone.

The head of Grady’s cock struck Jack’s prostate again and Jack was lost. The tight, hot pleasure coiling tighter and tighter at the base of his spine burst free and pitched him straight into ecstasy.

He cried out, his entire body shaking as Grady shouted his name and plunged deep, grinding out his orgasm. Warmth stripped Jack’s chest as the waves crested and crashed over him again and again until his body twitched with the echoing ripples of aftershocks.

Whoa.

Grady slumped over him, his body curled around Jack so his cock stayed buried and his head hung from his shoulders.

He looked utterly spent. Jack carded trembling fingers through Grady’s hair, pushing the damp strands back from his face.

Grady managed to lift his head, though it looked like it took effort.

For a long moment, they just stared at each other.

Then Jack smiled.

24

Mike and Alexei, along with the team of painters Jack hired, worked miracles and the new apartment was ready for them by Saturday. Then Jack workedhismiracles and gathered a battalion of people to help them with the move.

Garrick and Rhian argued over the best way to get Grady’s couch down the bend in the stairs while Savannah intermittently yelled, “Pivot!” from the front hall. Rupert laughed at her from the kitchen, where he was helping Christian and Colton unload utensils Grady didn’t know he had into various drawers where he’d never be able to find them. Not that it mattered, since he also didn’t know how to use most of them.

Yet.

Jack was trying to teach Grady how to cook, but progress was slow—Grady was easily distracted by Jack and his appliances.

His eyes lingered on Jack’s distinct dark orange stand mixer, which had mysteriously appeared on the counter. He told himself he was not allowed to get a stiffy over a kitchen appliance in a house full of innocent bystanders but hecouldthank Jack, thoroughly, later.

It had to mean something that Jack had brought it, and all the others, to Grady. It had held pride of place in Jack’s kitchen, and now it was an eye-catching centerpiece against the bright white backsplash in Grady’s home. Intheirhome—if not officially.

Yet.

In spite of Grady not having nearly enough stuff to fill the much larger space, an ungodly amount of furniture and accessories kept turning up with friends, acquaintances, delivery people, and, of all people, Jack’s mother.

She handed over the lovely twin cut-crystal lamps which had absolutely no business being in a house with a sixteen-year-old caffeine addict, then instructed Garrick and Rhian to move the couch eighteen inches to the left. They did, immediately, and she enthroned herself in the corner from where she could best tell everyone what to do.

Grady had the good sense not to let her see his amusement. Jack looked intermittently befuddled by her presence—Sam had gone to get her at Colton’s insistence—and annoyed by her behavior. Garrick, the clever bastard, solved the problem when he plucked Fiona from his baby hog of a brother-in-law’s arms—Callum squawking the whole time—and slid her onto Margaret’s lap.

Apparently, they were to be left to their own devices after all. Also, good fucking luck to the parents on getting Fiona back. Grady never would have guessed Margaret Chevalier was capable of making silly faces and goo-goo noises. Then she started eyeing Jack and Grady like she was measuring them for maternity wear.

“Yikes,” Jack said under his breath, dragging Grady into Colton’s room to help with the assembly of his new bunk beds. Sam was happy to inherit Grady’s queen-size bed, and Gradywas going to sleep on an air mattress for a while until he could get a new, king-size bed to go in his new, larger bedroom.

They were just finishing up when there was a loud crash from the kitchen and they heard Colton shouting a distressed curse.

Grady ran into the main room, alarmed to find Colton hiding behind Rupert and Christian in the kitchen with Savannah and Rhian closing ranks. Even stranger was how Sam clung to Barnaby behind Travis.

Everyone faced the front door with varying degrees of confusion and horror.

Grady didn’t want to turn around. Then he prayed to god and anyone else who would listen that his fear would be for nothing.

It wasn’t.

The Assholes of Alberta had arrived.

Four men stood just inside the apartment, scowls fierce and arms crossed over their chests. Their eyes searched the room, studying the people staring back at them, recognition and shock registering when they landed on the more famous among them—Callum and Rhian—before returning to glare at Grady. Grady was a seasoned law enforcement professional, trained to take action despite circumstances or surprises, but all he could do was gape.

He startled when Jack’s hand curled around his arm, shaking off his shock.