Tormenting Aethan was turning out to be so much fun. As long as the evening moved along in the direction she wanted, she would be happy. With a contented sigh, she looked out the window with its scenic view of the tranquil, moonlit sea and white sands. The dark water undulated like gray jelly, occasionally broken by the foamy white waves crashing on the shore.
“The night’s been perfect. So calm…peaceful.”
“We just had dinner.” Aethan pointed out in an amused tone. “It’s barely started. And you haven’t eaten your fruit, yet.”
Wrinkling her nose, Echo pulled her gaze from the beach to smile at him. Her breath caught. It always did when she looked at him.
Tenderness shone in those stormy gray eyes that could turn white in a moment when his deadly power surfaced. He’d left his hair loose tonight, the way she liked it. The lights in the restaurant highlighted the multi-toned dark blue strands. It fell down in a silky sweep to brush the shoulders of his dark-gray dress shirt, his only concession to semi-formal date-wear.
The leather pants he usually wore while on patrol stayed. To him, they were a barrier, cutting down on some of the injuries that often occurred on the job. To her, they looked sexy as hell.
She rested her arms on the white, damask-covered table. “I'm so glad you could take a night off.”
Aethan leaned back in his chair, his brow creasing. “We’ve always had that option, we just didn't utilize it.” His gaze held hers. Warm. Tender. “There was no need to before.”
Understanding struck. “Until me.”
“Until you.”
She smiled. “Then I'm glad you’ve taken it. I like this. You, me, here.”
He covered her hand on the table. “We both needed this. At the castle, you're always busy, training with Hedori, lessons with that idiot Lore—”
“Lore’s not so bad, Aethan. Just don’t react to his taunting. You know those angels will take their enjoyment anyway they can. As for the training, it’s important to me, but you could always change your mind and teach me yourself, you know.”
“I don’t think I’d be a good trainer for you. Besides…” His gaze skimmed over her face, a sensual glint in his eyes. “Every time I have you under me, on the floor, I get distracted.”
She swallowed. While that may have been true once, Aethan no longer made love to her on the spur of the moment, except in bed. She appreciated his care and consideration, but dammit, she was tired of the gentleness. She wanted the man who had a voracious, no-holds-barred appetite when it came to sex—she wanted the downpour—the thunderstorm. She wanted all that back.
Her gaze lingered on the untouched strawberries…she wasn’t hungry, but she’d use whatever weapons she had. Before tonight was over, Aethan would have no idea what hit him. That iron will of his would be nothing but a puddle of raw desire.
“Fine,” she said, taking a sip of her drink before he cottoned onto her plan and armed up. “I guess Hedori will have to do. But I'm giving you fair warning, Aethan. I’m going to ask one of the others to spar with me, too. I need to learn to fight with different opponents. Týr is vicious. I like his style.” Setting her glass down, she hid a smile as Aethan narrowed his eyes. “And Blaéz, he’s real brutal, fights like a street fighter—truly amazing. As for Dagan…” She frowned then shrugged. “I haven’t really seen him fight. Guess I’ll find out soon enough.”
“They won't fight you.”
“Why not? Ugh, Aethan, you didn't?” She gave him a disgusted look. “Did you warn them off?”
A faint smile touched his mouth. “No. I haven’t. But they won't.”
Dammit, they were all alike. Just because she’d woken from a long coma didn’t mean she was helpless. Scowling, she drummed her fingers on the table.
His smile deepened. “And here I thought we’d left work back at the castle.”
She stopped her irate tapping. He was right. This was a date, and she had only one objective for tonight. Him.
“Just be patient, Echo. Once you’ve had a little more time to adjust, and gain your strength, I’ll teach you, and then you can kick all their asses.”
The sincerity in his gaze cooled her annoyance. She nodded, her attention veering back to the table farther down.
All through dinner, she’d been unable to stop herself from watching the family with two young children at the next table. The father oversaw one while the mother tended to the other. Laughter and love surrounded them, and a pang hit her. She’d never known her parents and sometimes she wished she had siblings, too. It would have made her horrible childhood more bearable. Of course, that was all wishful longing. She was an only child, and her parents had died in a shoot-out mugging, which she’d mercifully escaped when she was four years old.
Aethan glanced over his shoulder then reached across the table and covered her hand. “What is it?”
Meeting his concerned gaze, she smiled. Warmth eased the pangs. She was lucky. She had him, and he filled the empty space in her heart. “It’s nothing, just thinking how much I love you.”
His features softened. He brought her hand to his lips. “And I, you. Always.”
A rush of emotions—tenderness and love constricted her chest. Before she started sniveling, she reached for her drink, but he swiped the glass from her. “Hey—”
Aethan dumbfounded her as he knocked back the rest of her G&T. Her brows drew together. “You don’t drink.”
“I do when it’s your third one. You need liquid courage for something, me'morae?”
“No, my love.” She wrinkled her nose. Well, she did need courage.
She picked up a plump strawberry and stared at it. With a mental shrug, she dipped the fruit into the melted chocolate and licked the gooeyness, before biting into the succulent flesh. Juices squirted into her mouth.
“Wow.” She chewed and swallowed, then took another bite. “This is delicious—a bit messy, but really delicious—I should have this more often.”
Ignoring the napkin, she swiped the trace of chocolate from her lip with her index finger and sucked it. Aware Aethan followed her every movement, she tightened her lips around her finger and slowly slipped it free. He stared at her mouth, his expression taking on a darker intensity. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart thundered in her ears.
Slowly he set the glass down, his eyes gone liquid silver. A tick beat wildly in his jaw. “C'mon, let’s get the hell out of here.”
“I haven’t finish my fruit—”
A barely concealed snarl was her response. Echo hid her smile as he ushered her fast out of the restaurant, a hand on her lower back. She’d read that certain fruits could be used in seduction, but she’d never really believed it, until now.
Then she lost her smile. Darn, she still had to broach him about the conversation she’d had earlier with Týr. About Jon. She’d decided to wait until dinner was over. There was no point in upsetting Aethan and spoiling their first date. But she had to put that situation right, even if it did cause a little dent in her seduction plans.
Before he took the path to the parking lot, she quickly stopped him with her palm on his chest. The scent of the cool brackish air drifted around them. “Let’s take a walk on the beach.”
“The beach?” The soft lights from the restaurant highlighted his taut features. “You're not dressed for the beach—”
“Says the man who wore leathers for our night out. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and danced backwards, or tried to. But moving Aethan was like moving a wall.
Letting go of him, she spun around and walked down the paved, sandy pathway, knowing he’d follow. At the end of the short footpath, she stopped. The sounds of crashing waves soothed her nerves. She stepped on the sand and wobbled as it gave way. A short laugh escaped her. Not wanting to end up with a sprained ankle, she unzipped her boot and stumbled as she tried to tug it off. Aethan’s warm, calloused fingers grasped her upper arm and steadied her.
“Thanks.” She pulled off her boots. Setting them between
the shrubs lining the pathway, she straightened. “Race you to the water’s edge—”
“Then you’ll win.”
She walked backwards again, the light breeze stirring strands of hair into her eyes. “You aren’t afraid of a little water, are you?” she teased.
He glanced at the sea then back at her. Deadpanned, “Yeah, I am.”
She laughed as the taut lines of his face eased. They so rarely experienced this togetherness, this moment of just them. The beach was empty except for some squawking gulls and the brilliant moon shining down, enveloping everything with its silvery light.
Picking up a long piece of driftwood, Echo wandered over to the damp shoreline. She drew on the sands as icy cold water flowed back to wet her feet and erase some of her scribbles. A deep sigh escaped her, and she felt more content than she had in a long time.
“What are you doing there?”
She looked up.
He’d followed her but stopped a short distance away from her and the watermarked sand, a tall, dark silhouette with the moon behind him, the breeze playing with his unbound hair. He looked like some pagan angel, one who still had his boots on.
“I wrote the name of my…eternal love.”
She could feel his heated stare.
“I see…then know this, if the waves stand for anything, that love would have ended pretty quickly.”
She laughed at his possessive tone. “Come on, get your boots off, roll up your pants, and join me. The water’s lovely.” When he remained rooted where he was, she poked the wood into the soft soil. “Don’t make me come and get you.”
He lifted a brow and folded his arms over his chest, a smirk curve tilting the corners of his mouth.
Was he daring her?
Echo bit back her own smile. God, she loved this teasing side of him. She hadn't realized just how much she’d missed it.
Well, then. She sprinted back, jumped him, and he lost his balance on the soft sand, falling flat on his back with her on top. She had a feeling he’d let her take him down. Whatever. As long as she had him right where she wanted. She sat up, straddling him.
“You cut your hair,” he said, fingering her long wispy bangs.
She played with a button on his shirt. “Do you like it?”
“Always. It is the messiest style ever—” She snorted, he smiled. “But you, my mate, carry it off with flair.” His tone lowered. “Godsdamn, you’re so beautiful…” His hands skimmed from her waist down to the expanse of her thighs, touching her naked skin where her short skirt had ridden up. His gray eyes drifted up her body to linger on her mouth. “And in my favorite position, too. Everything I want is close to my mouth, my hands…”
Her heart knocked hard against her ribs. His nearness stirred an ache within her only he could ease, but she pushed it aside for now. She had to talk to him first. “Here on the beach? Nuh-uh, I don’t think so—”
“Scared?” His smile was pure temptation.
“Hardly.” She sniffed. The fact that he’d even dare suggest this and hope soared—heck, maybe it was the strawberries or the stupid haircut after all. “I refuse to have sand in places where there shouldn’t be any, not when the night’s still young and we have places to go—”
Aethan grasped her by the neck and pulled her down to him and kissed her, his tongue tracing the seams of her lips. Just a touch from him and she lit up like tinder. Her mouth parted. His tongue slipped inside, stroking and sucking hers. He was kissing her as if he were starving.
Her heart pounded hard, all thoughts fleeing her mind. She squirmed, wanting to get closer, wanting to feel his skin sliding against hers. She kissed him back, just as desperately.
His hand slid inside her top, beneath her bra and her breath hitched when he rolled her nipple. A light flow of his power zipped through her body, amping up her arousal.
She pulled her mouth from his, panting for breath.
“You were saying?” he murmured, a knowing gleam lighting his eyes. “Strawberries, hmmm? Soon, I’ll smear every inch of your skin with melted chocolate…some parts of you I’ll suck and bite, while other areas I’ll lick and nibble…free of the chocolate.”
Her mouth dropped open and she simply stared at him as heat rushed into her face and pooled in a nagging ache between her thighs.
He knew. Damn sneaky Empyrean!
She gave him a dirty look, struggling to control her lust. “You're not distracting me that easily,” she said breathlessly. “If you don’t want to wade in the water with me, fine, I want to go to Club An—”
His hand slid between her thighs and beneath her panties. Her breath hitched and she forgot what she wanted to say as he stroked her heated flesh.
A low whimper broke free. She squeezed her eyes shut, his finger sinking inside her. His thumb circled her clit, gently at first then harder, and her entire body went into meltdown. Her inner muscles squeezed around his finger. He pulled out and pushed back into her. With his other hand on her bottom, he tugged her to his face. A startled gasped escaped her as she fell over him. Before she could right herself, he pushed aside her panties and put his mouth on her aching clit. And sucked.
Oh, dear God! A moan of pure need tore out from her throat. Echo braced her hands on the sands above his head, but there was no purchase on the loose surface. She no longer cared as his mouth worked her with slow licks and hard pulls. An intense orgasm tightened her lower body, consuming her mind, her thoughts. It yanked her up and over, and with a keening cry she fell apart.
For a long moment, she remained where she was, pulling in desperate gulps of air.
His arms tightened around her, supporting her. He pressed a kiss to her inner thigh.
Echo opened her eyes. The sounds of crashing waves and screeching birds filled her ears above her own tumultuous heartbeat as reality flowed back.
She’d forgotten they were out in the open, but she didn't care. He’d touched her—loved her as if he couldn’t get enough of her. Breathing hard, she straightened and met his lazy smile. He seemed in no hurry to leave as he lay there.
“I can't believe you did that here.” She struggled to get her mind in order—
“I will do that anywhere I'm able to.”
She blinked—wait. There was something she had to talk to him about. She tried to recall what the heck it was. He ran his fingers lightly up her thighs again. A low, shaky laugh escaped her, and she scooted down his body, bracing her unsteady hands on his chest.
The man was an ace at distracting her.
Crap, of course. The club—Jon—darn it. Echo pulled her scattered thoughts together and said what she’d tried to earlier, “Aethan, I want to go to Anarchy.”
His hands stilled on her thighs. His entire expression shut down like a light extinguished. Her lover gone. “No. Choose another club.”
And there it was. No hesitation in his response. She hadn't believed Týr when he’d told her Aethan avoided Club Anarchy since that night last fall. So she dove right in, despite his tight features. “Aethan, please. I want to make things right.”
He shifted her and sat up, dropping her on his lap, a dark look on his face. She slid both her hands to his neck and stroked the rigid line of his jaw with her thumbs. “I know you're still angry about Jon, but he’s a friend, you know this—look, I knew Jon long before I met you, don’t you think I could have dated him if I’d wanted to?”
He stared into the night, then those flat, gray eyes flickered to hers. “Who told you?”
“I'm not telling you, not until you take me.”
His mouth thinned at the bribe. A moment passed, then a few more, as if he were weighing some kind of option in his mind. Finally, he pushed her to her feet and rose.
She put her hands on her hips. “So, what will it be? The club or the sea?”
And that cool stare that she knew so well when he wasn’t happy about doing something came back to her. He brushed the sand off him, then unfastened and rolled both his sleeves to his elbow before responding,
“What do you think?”
“I'm glad.” Relieved, Echo quickly dusted herself off and straightened her top, then she hesitated. The buttons were undone, exposing the curves of her breasts. He must have done it while deliciously distracting her. Mischief gleamed alive at the thought of further taunting him, so she buttoned a few and left the rest alone.
At the pathway, Echo grabbed her boots, and they headed to the restaurant’s parking lot.
Aethan retrieved a bottle of water from the Range Rover’s console, unscrewed it and drank some, then handed it to her. She rinsed off the grit from her feet. He handed her a t-shirt from the back. She dried off and pulled on her footwear.
The roar of an engine broke the quiet, startling her. Moments later, a blue Porsche careened down the road leading to the restaurant, squealing to a halt mere inches from the Range Rover.
His expression hardening, Aethan glared at the car.
Loud guffaws of laughter drifted from the open car windows. With another screech of rubber and grinding gears, the driver reversed and parked opposite them.
Aethan turned back to her as she zipped up her boots. In her peripheral view, Echo was aware of the three men staggering out of the car. Doors slammed, drunken voices rose as they jostled about, cussing and shoving each other, then they glanced across and saw her.
“Hey sexy,” a slurring voice called out. “Nice pins!”
She ignored them. Aethan stiffened.
She couldn’t even blame this on her over-excessive pheromones—okay, maybe a little—but the idiots were drunk and probably had no off-switch. Better they left before the fools started a fight. She swung around to get into the SUV.
“Yo, doll face.” The voice took on a leering note. “Why don’tcha ditch the vampire slayer and let us show you a good time?”
Damn, she spun back. Aethan’s features were cast in stone. He turned slowly, keeping her behind him. “Leave.”
Echo, Mine Page 5