Evans, Gabrielle - Upon Crimson Waters [Fatefully Yours 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (14 page)

“If they’re in trouble, someone will have taken their phones. If they’re hiding out, they’ll have them turned off. Either way, we won’t be able to get in touch with them.”

“How much longer do we wait before we go look for them?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just play it by ear, okay?” As much as Eyce wanted to go storming the castle and rescue his men, there were several factors he had to take into consideration first. He knew he didn’t have a prayer of fighting their enemy alone. Taking Syx and Vapre with him meant leaving Echo unprotected—definitely not an option. That only left bringing Echo with them, right into the heart of the danger—again, not an option.

“I’m sorry,” Echo breathed. “I shouldn’t have asked them to go.”

“Hush. They knew what they were walking into when they agreed.” Pushing Echo away gently, Eyce smiled and winked at him. “We’re demons, baby. Those four men are the toughest sons of bitches I know. It’s going to take a lot more than some humans with a power trip to bring them down.”

“If you really believed that, you wouldn’t be sneaking out at night and pacing the kitchen in the mornings.” Echo looked up at him with concern. “You look horrible. When’s the last time you slept or ate anything?”

“I’m fine.” Eyce tried for reassuring, but he didn’t think he quite nailed it when Echo just continued to stare at him with one eyebrow cocked. “I’ll take a nap in a little bit, okay?”

“You’re no good to yourself or anyone else if you can’t even stand. Go to bed now. Vapre and Syx should be up soon. I think I can manage the next hour unsupervised.”

“No.” Eyce’s tone brooked no argument. “Either wake them now, or come to bed with me. Otherwise, I’m staying right here.”

“Okay.” Echo beamed at him. “Let’s go to bed.”

“You planned this!”

Echo pushed past him and headed out of the kitchen. “Duh! This celibacy stuff is for the birds.” He stopped in his tracks, but didn’t turn. “Actually, I think birds probably get more action than I have lately. Huh, imagine that.” Then he shrugged adorably and continued out of the kitchen.

Eyce debated for just a second before hurrying out of the kitchen, jogging to catch up with his mate. He scooped Echo into his arms and sprinted across the living room, taking the stairs two at a time, then down the hall to his bedroom.

Once inside, he tossed Echo the mattress, loving the sounds of his giggles. Echo bounced twice before coming to rest in the center of the bed, staring up at Eyce innocently. “Does this mean I need to get naked?”

“Unless you want me to shred those jeans, it does.”

Echo’s eyes widened, his face flushed, and his breath stuttered. He flopped back on the bed, pushing his jeans down his hips, then kicked his feet in the air to pull them off his legs. He threw them across the room and scooted up close to the headboard, palming his already hard cock and stroking it quickly.

“It’s been too long, Eyce. Hurry.”

Eyce couldn’t agree more. Ripping his clothes from his body, he undressed in record time and prowled to the bed, crawling up the mattress until he lay over his lover. “Mine,” he hissed as their heated bodies met, and his aching cock pressed between Echo’s legs, rubbing over his sac. “Need you.”

“Oh, yeah,” Echo agreed breathlessly. He jerked harder on his weeping prick, his back bowing and his hips arching off the bed. “Please.”

Gods, Eyce craved those delicious whimpers. With his world crumbling down around him, he hadn’t had time to just enjoy the feel of his mate in his arms, rubbing against him, their bodies moving as one.

“Again,” he demanded. A feral growl escaped his panting mouth, and he dove forward, claiming Echo’s lips and thrusting his tongue inside to taste the sweetness that awaited him. Groaning loudly, he pillaged and plundered, dominating the kiss as his tongue swept the inside of his mate’s mouth, demanding Echo respond to him.

His lover didn’t disappoint. His hands wound in Eyce’s hair, tugging him closer as Echo attacked his mouth, humping up against him so that their steel-hard erections rubbed together. “Please,” Echo whimpered as he jerked his mouth away, panting for breath, his little chest heaving as he sucked in the much needed oxygen.

“That’s it, baby.” Eyce moved away from his lover’s lips, licking a wet path down his neck and over his collarbone. “Beg for me.” Slipping a hand under Echo’s lean hip, Eyce gripped the flesh firmly, pulling Echo closer to him as their bodies undulated together in the center of the bed.

“Please, Eyce. Oh, fuck, I need you. Make love to me.”

The words broke through the lusty haze surrounding him, and Eyce paused in his assault on the copper-colored nipple between his teeth. Fucking, he knew how to do. He’d never made love to anyone before. Didn’t that require him to actually
love
the person beneath him?

Pushing up on his other arm, he stared into Echo’s glazed eyes for a long time. Did he love the man? Had they had enough time together? He knew he cared about Echo, wanted to protect him and keep him happy. He’d do anything to see that beautiful smile grace his lover’s plump lips.

“It’s okay,” Echo whispered, and Eyce hated the sadness in his voice. “Just fuck me.” Echo arched up off the mattress, pressing their chests together, and moaned. “Please, Eyce. I can’t wait any longer.”

Feeling like a rat bastard, Eyce pushed away his uncertainties and leaned over Echo to grab the lube from the nightstand. His dick ached and throbbed, straining toward Echo’s tight hole as he glided his length along the crease of his mate’s cheeks. He needed relief, then maybe he’d be able to work out his feelings. Yeah, it sounded like a lame excuse, even to him, but he couldn’t deal with anything else just then.

Flipping open the cap, he poured a generous amount of the slippery oil into his palm then closed the lid and tossed the bottle to the side, not caring where it landed. He slicked his pulsing cock, moaning in pleasure and lingering for just a moment, before he turned his attention to Echo.

Leaning over his mate again, he crushed their mouths together, growling against Echo’s lips as his lubed fingers separated the rounded globes of Echo’s ass and zeroed in on his clenching pucker.

Echo growled into Eyce’s mouth, rocking against the finger nudging at his entrance. “Stop teasing and fuck me.”

“Gods, that’s fucking hot.” Eyce buried his face in Echo’s neck, sucking and licking at the salty flesh as he pushed into his mate’s velvet-lined channel to the second knuckle.

Echo cried out, throwing his head back on the pillow as his body shuddered and bucked. “More!”

Happy to oblige, Eyce sawed his finger in and out of Echo’s snug hole a few more times, then added a second finger, shoving in roughly as he scraped his teeth over his mate’s shoulder. “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t walk straight for a week. I want you to come on my cock and scream my name to the heavens. Are you going to scream for me, baby?”

“Ahh!”

“That’s it. Louder, Echo.”

Eyce slipped in a third finger beside the first two, twisting his wrist and stretching Echo to receive him. His mate went wild, humping against his hand, fucking himself on Eyce’s long digits. “Now. Please, Eyce. Oh, damn, please!”

“I love when you beg, when you whimper and moan. Love how your body shakes and trembles from my touch.” Eyce gently extracted his fingers and replaced them immediately with the engorged head of his cock. “Love how your eyes glaze over, your skin flushes such a pretty shade of pink.” He pushed inside, sheathing himself to the root inside his lover’s silky heat in one fast stroke.

Echo cried out, his muscles tensing and his inner walls clamping around Eyce’s dick. “Mm, yeah, love how your ass just eats up my cock, squeezes and strangles it like you don’t want me to ever leave.”

“No.” Echo shook his head quickly, his eyes boring into Eyce’s. “Don’t leave.”

His eyes softening, Eyce stretched out over Echo’s chest, kissing his lips slow and tender as he began a gentle thrust inside his mate’s welcoming body. “Not going anywhere, Echo. Can’t live without you, baby.” He knew the words were true, even as they flowed from his trembling lips. He would do whatever it took to keep Echo with him forever.

Sliding one arm under Echo’s lean back, Eyce lifted him, holding him close as he continued to thrust slow and easy, his movements almost lazy. He trailed his lips over Echo’s face, his cheeks, down his jaw until their mouths finally met in an earth-shattering kiss that left his head spinning.

When the need to breath became too much, Eyce pulled away from Echo’s mouth, but didn’t move far. Holding his lover to him, he stared into his eyes, seeing his future laid out before him like an offering. He only needed to find the courage to reach out and take it.

His balls tingled, his spine stiffened, and his skin sizzled, heralding his oncoming climax.
Too soon
, his brain screamed. He didn’t want to lose the closeness they shared when their bodies were locked together this way, his cock buried deep inside his mate’s velvety hole.

Then Echo’s fingertips reached up to trace Eyce’s cheekbones, and a sweet smile spread over his kiss-swollen lips. Unshed tears shimmered in his sapphire eyes, and he swallowed hard before leaning up and pressing a kiss just under Eyce’s jaw. “I love you,” he whispered.

It was like being hit by a bus. Eyce’s orgasm ripped through him without warning, spurting from his slit to fill Echo’s convulsing tunnel. Roaring out his lover’s name, Eyce crushed Echo to him, pumping through his release. Echo gasped, his arms locking around Eyce’s neck, and sticky cum filled the space between them.

Completely spent, Eyce eased Echo back to the mattress and pushed his mate’s damp hair back from his sweaty forehead. He could have it all. Everything he’d ever wanted. He just had to surrender his heart and trust Echo would always protect it.

Pressing his lips to his lover’s temple, Eyce squeezed his eyes closed and prayed he’d made the right decision. “I love you, too, baby.”

Chapter Ten

“I love him,” Eyce said with a goofy smile on his face. “He’s so small, but he’s stronger than any of us.”

“I agree,” the Oracle answered with a crooked smile.

“So, I guess I kind of understand about all the riddles. I had to figure it out on my own. I couldn’t force myself to love Echo.”

“Wise words, Warrior, but you have still yet to surrender.”

“But, I have. I have surrendered everything I have, everything I am, to Echo. He’s my safe harbor, the one person who sees straight through me. I don’t have to pretend with him.”

“His shelter will help you to win this battle, but not the war.” Then she faded away, leaving Eyce standing alone in the sunny field feeling more confused than ever.

“Wake up,” a voice whispered in his ear. Turning in a circle, Eyce didn’t see anyone. He recognized the voice, though, would follow it anywhere. “Wake up, love.”

Eyce closed his eyes and smiled. When he blinked them open again, Echo’s sweet face hovered over him, his eyes dancing with happiness. “She’s not big on words, huh?”

“How did you know I was talking to the Oracle?”

“You mumble in your sleep, big guy.” Echo winked at him before dropping a kiss on his forehead then flipping over to roll out of bed. “It’s almost noon, and I’m starving.” He dressed quickly then turned to saunter back to the side of the bed. “You’re looking better. Good nap?”

“Yeah, it was better than good.”

Echo fidgeted nervously, wringing his hands together in front of him as he sucked his lower lip between his teeth and chewed it vigorously. His eyebrows drew together and a faint blush worked its way up his neck to stain his creamy cheeks.

“Spit it out.”

“Did you mean it?” Echo blurted. “I mean, was it just the heat of the moment, or because I said it first? I don’t want you to feel like you have to say it back. I can’t stop the way I feel, but I guess I shouldn’t have told you like that. I should have waited until a better time.”