Chapter 8
At the dock, Grant disappeared back into the mess hall while I loaded our observation equipment into the Zodiac. He returned twenty minutes later carrying an insulated bag that looked suspiciously heavy.
“What did you do?”
“Asked nicely.” He grinned and stowed the bag carefully.
I punched him on the shoulder. He just laughed, caught my fist, and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “The chef made us something special.”
I snatched my hand back, glancing around to see if anyone saw that.
The water was calmer today, the ice chunks spread further apart. Grant navigated us out past the station’s immediate area, past the small islands, and heading toward the area where we’d been concentrating our observations.
I had my camera ready, binoculars around my neck, hoping for even a distant glimpse.
Leopard seals were notoriously elusive despite their size.
I’d been supremely lucky to spot our male on my very first two days.
But I knew that they were apex predators that preferred to stay submerged, hunting beneath the ice. My luck would probably run out today.
We cruised around for an hour before Grant cut the engine.
“There,” Grant said quietly.
A sleek head broke the surface about thirty meters away. Even at this distance, I could see the distinctive spotted pattern on its neck and shoulders, the reptilian shape of its skull. Leopard seals looked prehistoric, like something that had survived from an earlier, more dangerous age.
“It’s our guy,” I breathed, already raising my camera.
The seal dove. I lowered the camera, disappointed but not surprised. They rarely stayed visible for long. I needed to take detailed pictures so I could estimate its size, age, and other data. If it started vocalizing, then I needed all his details to do my study.
“Want a snack? It might come back up if we hang around.”
“Yeah.” I agreed. There were plenty of other animals around. I snapped hundreds of pictures of penguins. The chicks were adorable.
Grant unzipped the insulated bag and produced two thermoses and a tin that, when he pried the lid off, revealed a neat stack of shortbread cookies, golden and thick, dusted with sugar.
I stared at it. Then at him. “You got the chef to make shortbread.”
“And hot chocolate.” He looked entirely too pleased with himself. Then he poured hot chocolate into the thermos lids and handed one to me, steam curling up into the cold air.
Warmth unfolded in my chest that had nothing to do with the drink.
No one had ever done something like this for me.
Not a girlfriend, not a colleague, not anyone.
Grant had charmed a station chef in Antarctica into baking cookies so I’d have a treat while I watched for my seal.
I didn’t know what to do with that information so I took a sip and said nothing for now.
The chocolate was rich and thick, and the shortbread crumbled perfectly against my tongue.
It distinctly felt like a date. We munched and bobbed on the water.
As far as first dates went, I’d think this had to rank right there on top.
How many people in the world got to hang around in one of the most remote and picturesque parts of our planet with hot chocolate and shortbread and a handsome man as company?
Then my day was made even better because my guy surfaced again. Closer. Much closer.
“Grant, look at this.” I tugged at his sleeve.
“I see it.”
There it was again—my instinct to share with Grant. It felt so good to have him with me. I liked kissing him, snuggling with him, laughing with him, but also I really, really wanted to share things with him. Not just this. But everything. Shit. I was in big trouble, wasn’t I?
The seal was less than ten meters away now, its huge head tilted as it studied us with dark, intelligent eyes. This close, I could see the slight scars on its muzzle, the water droplets caught in its whiskers.
“Should we be worried right now?” Grant asked in a low voice.
“Not from up here. We’re not in the water. You know how leopard seals are infamous for being aggressive?” I murmured to Grant.
“Yeah.”
“As a researcher who has devoted my life to studying them, it pains me how they have been mis-characterized. Like any other apex predator, they are strong, ferocious, and territorial. That doesn’t mean they are evil.”
I glanced at him, and he was watching me intently. “Unlike humans, animals don’t have an agenda. They don’t set out to take revenge or plot torture.”
“I think it’s media. Movies. And then the one that killed the marine biologist in 2003 has made it worse.”
I nodded. “But she knew what she was doing. She was a gifted scientist. Very experienced. Anyone who comes out here, we know the risks.”
“Yeah. We do. It’s just human nature, Doc. We like to blame others.”
Our guy swam closer as if he could understand we were talking about him. It looked me right in the eye for a long moment and then dove again right next to our boat.
We waited, holding our breath. Something thumped against the side of the Zodiac. Grant leaned over carefully, and his eyebrows shot up. “Are you seeing this?”
I was. There, wedged between the inflatable tube and the rigid hull, was a fish. A dead Antarctic cod, its silvery scales catching the light. The seal was holding it in its jaws, watching us.
“Uhh. Did it just bring us food?” Grant stared at the fish, then at me, and back at the seal.
“I think, yes.” I was a bit stunned too.
The seal held that fish for another full minute before it disappeared.
“That’s not supposed to happen. They don’t do that. They only do that for other seals.” I babbled. “It’s a courting gesture. Is it confused?” Because I was so confused.
“I think it knows what it’s doing, Doc.” Grant’s voice was full of amusement. “Even the apex predators can’t help but have a crush on you.”
I blushed like a Southern belle. “Shut up. More like even it sees me as a stupid, helpless human.”
Grant threw his head back and laughed.
But over the next twenty minutes, that seal tried its darned best to feed me.
Grant took my camera and filmed the whole thing because I was too busy being enthralled with this unbelievable behavior.
We even sat on opposite sides at Grant’s insistence, and the seal came over to me, only me, every time.
Were the seals also gay at the South Pole?
But there was no doubt. I was witnessing remarkable, intelligent behavior, and it might be enough to make people see the seals in a new light.
The more flustered and excited I got, the more Grant teased me, until he couldn’t hold back anymore and grabbed my face and kissed me right there.
The kiss turned into a full make out. He hauled me onto his lap, and I forgot all about apex predators.
I wanted him like my next breath. Kissing Grant and feeling his hard, muscular body did things to my brain that I didn’t know were possible.
The ride back to the station felt endless. The sun hung in the same position it had occupied all day, turning the ice-studded water into a field of glittering diamonds that hurt to look at. We finished our lunch sandwiches that he had packed.
Grant kept the throttle steady, his jaw tight, one hand on the steering console and the other resting on my knee.
Every time the boat hit a wave, his fingers tightened.
Every time I shifted in my seat, his eyes cut to me before returning to the water ahead.
We didn’t speak. There was nothing to say that wouldn’t make this worse, that wouldn’t make us do something stupid like pull over at one of the rocky outcroppings and—
I forced the thought away and focused on the approaching dock.
Grant secured the Zodiac with quick, efficient movements. I tried to do my best to maneuver around to help despite my hard-on. We hauled our equipment up the ramp in silence, barely acknowledging the station worker who waved at us from near the main building.
As soon as the cabin door closed behind us with a decisive click, Grant was on me.
His mouth found mine with desperate precision.
I kissed him back just as hard, my hands reaching for the zipper of his outer layer.
My fingers fumbled, and he made a delicious, frustrated sound against my mouth before pulling back just enough to yank at it himself.
I worked on my own layers, shedding them one by one. Finally, we were down to our thermals. My skin was on fire. I was so overcome with lust that I felt intoxicated. I had no clue it could feel like this. That you could truly lose your mind over someone.
Grant pulled his thermal top over his head and I forgot how to breathe. I’d seen him shirtless before—that first night—but this was different. This was him standing in front of me, chest rising and falling rapidly, looking at me like I was something he’d been starving for.
“Adrien.” My name on his tongue was heaven.
“Yes.” I didn’t recognize my own voice, didn’t recognize this desperate need flooding through me. I’d never wanted anything like this before. Never felt this consuming urgency that made my hands shake as I pulled off my own thermal top. “Yes to whatever you wanna do.”
Grant’s eyes went dark. He closed the distance between us, and his hands went to my waist, shoving the rest of my thermal leggings down my hips.
I kicked out of them clumsily, nearly losing my balance, but Grant caught me.
His hands were everywhere—my sides, my back, sliding into my hair to angle my head for another bruising kiss.
We shed the rest of our layers in a trail across the cabin floor. Base layer pants. Socks. Everything except our underwear. I’d seen such scenes in movies. I’d never imagined it would be me one day. A thrill ran down my spine.
When we were finally skin to skin, Grant lifted me effortlessly. Damn, that went straight to my balls. My legs wrapped around his waist automatically, and the sensation of being held like this—of Grant’s hands gripping my thighs, his body supporting my weight—sent another shock of heat through me.
He carried me the last few steps to the bed and laid me down carefully, following me down so his weight pressed me into the mattress.
I lifted my palms and placed them over his hard pecs.
Half in awe and half in greed, I ran my fingers through the curls on his chest, down his abs.
He wasn’t lean. He was built like a linebacker.
He was exactly the kind of man I had admired in sports magazines.
Only now I knew exactly what my admiration was about.
Grant kissed my jaw, the outer shell of my ear, down the column of my neck. Then he did something no woman had done before. He shoved his nose into my armpit and inhaled deeply. It was erotic as all hell. My dick leaked precum. I moaned at just how hot it was to be ravished by a man.
He flicked his tongue on my left nipple and I swear I saw stars.
“Please, Grant, I can’t.” I begged.
“Please, what?” He murmured while rubbing his massive, hard, cock against mine, driving me out of my mind.
“I…you…please fuck me.”