Blinding Echo

by Tina Saxon

  I hold on for the slow sensual ride. Our gaze never breaks, the silent love between us blooming into a defining moment in our relationship, the point of no return.

  We accept each other's hidden scars for what they are; our past.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kase

  “You fuckers make me happy,” I slur, stumbling out of the town car.

  “Polo, we love you too,” Cody yells out the window. I flip him off. My new nickname doesn’t sound funny even when I’m drunk. Our job was a success, rescuing the judge’s daughter. Tonight is why I chose this job. Seeing the gratitude of her parents in the hospital and the glimmer of hope left in their eyes knowing we found their daughter alive is worth every second sitting in a car for hours watching and waiting for scum to make a mistake.

  We completed our mission a day quicker than we planned, so we stopped off at a bar on the way back from the airport to celebrate. I might have had too much to drink. I throw the door open to the stairs and take two at a time.

  Ellie, I’m coming for you, baby.

  I stare down at the front door handle, a plan forming. I should surprise her. This is the perfect time to see if my lock picking skills are up to par. Slapping my hands together, I blow on my fingers and pull out the pin set Oscar gave me before we left town. Slip it in here. Push here. The simple sound of a click excites me. Damn, I’m good.

  Slipping inside her house, I close and lock the door. Shit, it’s dark in here. I think there’s a—

  “Oomph.” Nope, the kitchen table is right there. Shhh… I tell myself, this is supposed to be a covert mission. Rubbing my side, I wonder why the hell I didn’t wear my night vision goggles, it would’ve made this easier. I stretch my neck out, listening for her. Of course, I didn’t wake her. I’m fucking Secret Nixon, the spy of the century. The only thing I hear is an occasional car drive by. This will be so good. My fingers itch to feel her soft body. Her delicious curves feeding my craving.

  “GET THE FUCK OUT!”

  “FUCK!” I don’t register her screaming at me while I’m being hit in the side with something hard on the shoulder, then my stomach. I cover my head with my arms. “STOP HITTING ME!”

  I double over in pain, landing on all fours. The room lights up, blinding me.

  “Kase!”

  Whatever she was beating me with hits the wood floor. My eyes adjust to the light and I lift my head up to see a bat rolling on the ground. She runs over, wrapping her fingers around my waist.

  “I’m so sorry! What in the world are you doing breaking into my apartment?”

  I haven’t caught my breath, so answering her takes me a few moments. It’s a good thing I’m drunk. This'll hurt like a bitch tomorrow. “I thought I would surprise you,” I mutter in between my panting, resting my head on the floor.

  “You surprised me,” she replies in a flat tone.

  “You think?” I push up to stand.

  She slaps my arm. “I wake up to noises and then hear a man’s voice… what the hell did you expect?”

  I peer down at her in utter shock. “I was quiet as a mouse,” I say, defensively. I try to stand a little taller, but it hurts my head. Instead, I wobble over to her couch and slowly sit down.

  “You weren’t quiet, by any means. The door jiggling alone, woke me up. I was reaching for my phone to call the police when I heard somebody had gotten in, stumbling around. So, I grabbed my bat.”

  That is not at all how it went in my head. I was in stealth mode.

  Her brows crease, with a tilt of her head as she studies me. “You’re drunk.”

  “Well, I was.” I rub my hip. “But a bat to the body is a buzz kill. You couldn’t tell it was me?”

  She pops her hip out, crossing her arms. She’s not wearing a bra and I can see her nipples through her thin white cotton shirt. It’s the first time I take in her body. Her little boy shorts show off her long tanned legs, begging to wrap around my face.

  “You’re wearing all black. You’re supposed to be out of town and you don’t have a key to my place. So, I’m sorry I didn’t automatically think of you.” I know she’s talking, but the only thing my senses hone in on is her body. “Kase. My eyes are up here.”

  I lay back against her couch, stretch my legs out, and link my fingers together behind my head. “Knowing where your eyes are won't stop me from looking at how hot you look right now.”

  “I don’t think I hit you hard enough.”

  “Baby, I’m definitely hard enough,” I say, grabbing my bulge. She rolls her eyes.

  “Here I was, worried that I hurt you,” she huffs. “Hope that feels good, because it’s the only action you’re getting tonight.” She spins and walks out of the room.

  Wait, what? I didn’t break in to her place and get clubbed for nothing. I push off the couch, but fall right back into it, the effort to get up not worth the pain jarring my body at the moment. I blow out a heavy breath, my body deciding it’s not going anywhere.

  “You can at least kiss my boo-boos.”

  I wake to the glorious smell of bacon, inhaling a deep whiff before I open my eyes. The smell is like pure caffeine in the morning. When I manage to crack my eyes open, I find Ellie standing in front of the stove, in the same thing she was wearing last night. Bacon and legs for days. I might still be dreaming.

  She walks to the sink to wash her hands and glances over at me, catching me staring at her. Her full red lips curl up. “And he lives,” she jokes.

  Chuckling, I sit up, shoving a blanket off me. I wince at the pain in my side. Memories of a bat connecting with it come back. I pull up my shirt to see the damage.

  “Oh my god, I did that?” she says, running over and dropping to her knees in front of me. Her fingers graze the gnarly black bruise. I wince again. I’m almost certain I have another one of these on my shoulder.

  “Damn, woman. Do you own a gun?”

  She looks at me confused. “No? Why?”

  “You’ve maced me. Now you’ve beaten me with a bat. I’m a little afraid what might come next.”

  “Let me remind you, you were stalking me and breaking into my place when both things happened.” She continues to inspect my bruise, her light touches giving me goosebumps.

  I grab her fingers and bring them to my lips. “I’m fine. But I need to go the bathroom and you need to go tend to the bacon before it burns.”

  "I don’t care about the bacon. I’m worried–"

  I scoff. “That’s like one of the Ten Commandments. Thou shall not burn bacon.”

  She stands up, shaking her head. “I can’t wait to hear your other nine.”

  After we clean up the kitchen, I slap her on the ass. “We’re doing something fun today, go get dressed. Make sure to wear pants.” She eyes me warily, walking out of the kitchen. “After you and that bat last night, you’ll love this.”

  “I need to take a shower,” she calls out from the bedroom.

  “Perfect. So do I after I dirty you up.”

  “Where are we?” Her eyes light up when the ginormous white house comes into view. “Who the heck lives here?”

  “Max.”

  She does a double take, straining her neck to get a better look. “This is Max’s house? No way.”

  I nod, remembering my reaction to seeing it for the first time. I never knew Max had money, just knew about his elite team. He’s not the type to flaunt his riches. Then again, neither am I.

  Watching Ellie’s wide-eyed response makes me wonder when it will be a good time to tell her I have money. Hell, I’m keeping bigger secrets than that, I don’t know why I’m worried about that little detail.

  She points out the stables and the lake, in awe of the property. I need to take her horseback riding. She spent every weekend on a horse growing up. I have some wicked memories of us out in the pastures of Barrow that I’d like to recreate.

  I pull behind the guy’s cars, lined up on the driveway. We designated today as our team building day. It’s a bullshit title for
us wanting to blow off steam and have a little fun. After the last two weeks of self-sabotage, the guilt at what I had done to Ellie eating me alive, I realized there would always be parts of my past that would haunt me. She’s helping me find ways to deal with it rather than hide behind it. I spoke with a counselor from the women’s shelter who gave me some ideas as well. One, which we already gathered, if Ellie wakes me, she has to be across the room. It’s still hard to fall asleep when we’re together, but I’m told that’s a natural reaction to what happened. It has to get better because I’m not giving her up.

  Everyone is chilling in the living room when we enter. The energy is high as the guys load their guns. Stone glares at me while doing his. “You’re going down, Nixon.”

  “Strong words, from a little man.”

  “It’ll be way easier for me to hide.”

  The guys all howl in laughter. The door opens and Tori and Ben walk in. He’s holding two large bags from the store. I tip my head to the side wondering what in the world he bought. Tori bounces in and gives Ellie a hug.

  “We’re ready,” she beams. Ben sits down, emptying the contents on the table and I’m taken back to the nights we were planning our missions out, loading all our armory.

  “Ben,” Hudson says, holding out his arms. “You only needed two guns, one for each of you. This isn’t a mission, it’s paintball.”

  He stops and glances up to everyone, flashing an innocent expression. “I didn’t want to come unprepared. Look who I’m up against.” His eyes travel around the room.

  “We’ll take it easy on you,” Hudson jokes. “We’ll just add you to the list with Stone and the girls.”

  The uproar from the girls has us all laughing again. Well, except Stone.

  “I’m shooting you first,” Ellie snaps, giving him a warning glare.

  “All right kids.” Max stands and everyone shuts up. “There’s only one rule, you get tagged, you’re out. Winning man—” Tori clears her throat, and he smirks, “or woman, gets the grand prize of a week’s vacation of your choice.”

  Ellie’s eyes widen and she bounces on her toes. “We are so winning this.”

  Max looks at me and shakes his head in disappointment. He’s one of few people in here who knows I could take her anywhere in the world in a blink of an eye. And I want to, every day for the rest of her life. And I will, but in due time. I manage to smile at Ellie, despite the guilt Max is throwing my way.

  “That’s not a prize when we can’t do that already,” Tori states.

  “Honey, if I win, bragging rights alone will be worth millions,” Ben says, still filling all his guns with pellets.

  “Everyone have a watch? Twenty minutes is all you have to find a place. Then it’s free for all.” All the guys stand, hollering, ready to get the game started. “Three, two, one!”

  I glance at my watch and note the time. The adrenaline is pumping through my body as I grab Ellie’s hand and pull her outside.

  “Hey, I don’t think there are teams,” she says, yanking on her hand to stop me. My brow quirks up in amusement. She holds her gun, nose up and pops her hip out. “I’m thinking I’ll go this way.” She points in the opposite direction.

  “Okay, babe.” I know she won’t last but five minutes with the guys on the loose. But hey, if she wants to go at it alone, I’m all for it. I wink at her. “I promise I won’t shoot you.”

  She runs through the grass and yells over her shoulder, “I can’t promise the same thing.”

  Game on.

  I’ve taken out four of the guys. Although, I haven’t seen the girls so I’m not sure if they’re out yet. I felt bad for taking out Ben. Max took out Stone so that put a smile on my face. Unfortunately, while I was preoccupied with my excitement, I lost track of Max.

  I watch from Max’s roof for any movement. I’m in my element. Hit ‘em high and quick. After fifteen minutes of zero action, I wonder if I’m the last man standing. I’ll give myself five more minutes before I head down.

  The sound of a gun going off right behind me makes me duck and roll. But it’s too late. I felt the bastard nail me in the ass. Max roars with delight when our eyes meet. I sigh and chuckle at the same time. It figures he’d find me here. Another gun goes off behind him, splat, splat, splat. Two of the three miss Max, but one hits him right in the back. We both look and see Ellie, blowing the pretend smoke off her gun and then jumping up and down.

  “I won! I won! Suckas,” she yells. She runs over, slapping Max on the shoulder as she passes him, and jumps on top of me. “This was so much fun!” Seeing her excitement was worth it. Also, seeing the look on Max’s face when she shot him was priceless too.

  “God, I love you.” The words slip from my mouth, her body freezes for a second and I wonder if I messed up by saying it.

  Her eyes light up and she replies, “I love you, too.” I pull her head down to mine and kiss her like she’s the only air I have to breathe. She has no idea how happy she made me hearing those words. I could see it in her eyes she did, but hearing it validates everything.

  There is nothing stopping us from forever now.

  The talk of the game can be heard the rest of the day as we barbecue and swim. Ellie’s already been in the pool looking damn hot in her swimsuit. I almost pulled out my paintball gun and shot Hudson for gaping at her. We need more women at these parties if this is going to be a monthly outing. Her words echo in my head and I’m a grinning fool who feels like he won the lottery. I want to say it whenever I get close to her, but I’m afraid I’ll scare her off.

  I pull my shirt over my head and dive in, blowing bubbles up her body as I stand up in front of her.

  “Holy shit, that is not from paintball,” Stone says, looking at my bruise on my side and shoulder. “Who fucked you up?”

  Ellie ducks her head and raises her hand slowly.

  “Someone had batting practice last night,” I say, dryly.

  “You need to tell them why.” She straightens and cocks her hip to the side, showing her feisty side. It’s one of my favorite sides. Everyone stares at me, waiting. I open my mouth to explain, but she beats me to it. “He broke into my apartment last night, except he made a shit load of noise, scared the crap out of me.”

  “Duly noted,” Max chimes in from a chaise lounge. “Don’t use you when we’re doing a stealth mission.”

  “I was drunk. And I was not making that much noise.” Everyone laughs at my defensive tone. I know Max was joking, but fuck if it doesn’t hurt my ego. It already stings he shot me today. I should’ve heard him behind me. Next time, I’m taking Max out first. And never trust Ellie with a paintball gun.

  She was coming after me, Max just happened to be the one still alive.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ellie

  Kisses wake me from my dreamless sleep. My smile creeps up when I open my eyes and stare into blue orbs. “You’re supposed to be too excited to sleep.” The day old stubble across his strong jaw is deliciously sexy, yet the sparkle in his eyes makes him look like a child on Christmas morning.

  “Then why are you up so early?” I yawn, glancing at the bedside clock. When I glance at the time, I jerk my head back. “Really, Kase? It’s only six o’clock. My graduation doesn’t start until noon.”

  “It’s a big day for you.” I grin at his excitement as he hops up on all fours, shoving the covers off us. His eyes warm, gazing down at me. The dawn light filters through the blinds and I catch a whiff of mint toothpaste as he kisses me on the nose. “I’m so proud of you.”

  It’s hard to believe we’ve been together five months already. He has stolen my heart from the secrets that held it captive. He’s forced me to learn that love doesn’t wait for perfect, it accepts your flaws and molds its own perfect. “Thank you,” I whisper.

  He leans down and bites me on my nipple, sensations ripple through my body. I scowl when he hops off the bed. “We have to get moving,” he says, walking to the bathroom.

  “Cowboy, I’m not ready
to get up.”

  When he turns around, I run my hands over my naked breasts, down to my silk panties. A sexy crooked smile plays on his lips as he watches me glide my palm over my center, already wet from desire. I slip my fingers to the side of my panties, sliding them down my legs, kicking them off in his direction. His gaze follows them, and a flurry of sexual endorphins tingle in the pit of my stomach as he pins his gaze on me.

  He lowers his briefs, stepping out of them. There isn’t a day I don’t gawk at how gorgeous he is. My mouth waters as he takes predatory steps toward me. I sit up, turning on all fours and crawl to the edge of the bed, meeting him. His hard cock bobs in front of me and I lick my lips. He wraps my hair around his fist and I run my tongue down his shaft, back up to the crown before I take all of him into my mouth.

  His growl of appreciation spurs me on. I suck around his thickness, sliding back down until he hits the back of my throat. He growls, pulling out of my mouth. I pout my lips when he pulls me up on my knees. “As much as I love my cock in that mouth of yours, I want it in your pussy right now.” His fingers snake down my stomach and find their way to my center. I buck against his hand as two fingers slip inside me. “You’re dripping wet, beautiful.” The bed dips as he climbs on top and he maneuvers us so he’s laying down and I’m on top of him. He knows this is one of my favorite positions because he can get deep. “Fuck me, Ellie,” he demands.

  So, I do. I ride him like I’m a rodeo star. His hands squeeze my breast, holding me as I move up and down his cock. The heat inside me burns, erupting into a gush of hot liquid. I scream out his name and he follows as we ride out our orgasms together.

  I fall on top of him, our tangled breaths fill the air. “Are you ready to wake up now?” He teases between his heavy breaths.