by Alexa Davis
"Please?" she moaned.
"Please what, Echo?" I replied as I traced a light path down the back of her neck and then back up to her face. I could feel her need and I knew she wanted more, but I didn't know exactly what she wanted. I knew what I wanted. I'd been stiff since she walked out of the bathroom dressed for the funeral, but the thought of this beautiful woman asking me for what she wanted pushed my arousal to a new level.
"I want...I want....I need...,” she moaned trying to get me to read her mind. I kissed her deeply, my tongue swirled around hers as she let loose a long low moan.
"Tell me what you need," I whispered into her lips. "Tell me everything you need, and I'll give it to you. All you have to do is tell me."
"Oh God, Ryan," she whimpered as she moved her hands down to my chest and began running them across my bare skin. The sensation drove me closer to the edge of desire, and I gripped her head and kissed her hard as I sat up and swung my legs around, positioning her between them before I ran my hands down her back and cupped her perfectly round cheeks. Her eyes widened, but she didn't pull away.
"Is this what you want?" I asked as my hands caressed and gently squeezed her bottom. "Tell me, Echo."
"I need you, Ryan," she said breathlessly. "I just need you."
"Wrap your arms around my neck again," I said. I knew that she was giving me as much as she could, and as soon as she had done what I asked, I stood up and lifted her off the floor. I made a sharp turn and set her down on the sofa. Her eyes were wide as she watched me kneel in front of her and gently pull her nightgown over her head. I smiled as I ran my hands down her body and then back up to her breasts. They were full and heavy and her nipples were already erect, I watched her as I captured them between my fingers and gently squeezed. She sighed and arched her back as she reached out and grabbed my forearms.
"You like that, do you?" I said softly as I increased the pressure and was rewarded with a moan. I could see her pushing her hips forward in a subtle attempt to find relief for the ache between her legs. I knew the feeling, my erection was painfully pressing against my shorts, and I had to fight to keep from thrusting forward and grinding it against her.
"Ryan, Ryan, Ryan," she chanted. I knew she was somewhere on the outer edge of arousal, I could feel it. I could smell her desire and I knew that if I slid my hands down between her legs, I'd find that her panties were soaked through. I bent forward and gave her a long slow kiss that made her groan and spread her legs wider.
"You want it, don't you?" I whispered as I ran a line of kisses up her cheek. "You want me to take you over the edge?"
"Oh God, yes!" she cried as she grabbed my hand and shoved it between her legs. I smiled as I broke her grip and moved her hand up over her head. Somehow doing it this way eased my guilt about her connection to Mando, which faded into the background as I looked up at her.
"Can I trust you to lock your fingers and keep your arms up or do I need to secure you to the couch?" I asked as I grabbed her other hand and pushed it up to join the first one.
Her eyes widened as I cupped her face and kissed her again. Her body softened and she nodded.
"Good because I'm going to make you feel very good," I murmured as I traced a path with my tongue down her neck and across her chest before taking a turgid nipple into my mouth and sucking. I let go and bathed the hard flesh with my tongue before sucking again. Echo was moaning softly as she looked down and watched my mouth moving on her breast. I kissed my way across her chest and gave the same attention to her other nipple. Her legs were spread wide and I could feel her rocking back and forth seeking something to rub against.
I slid one hand between her thighs and lightly brushed my fingers down the center of her soaking wet panties. She cried out and thrust her hips forward to rub against my hand. I smiled as I continued sucking her nipple as I played along the edges of her desire. I wanted to take her as far out on the ledge of desire as I could before giving her the release she wanted so badly. For long minutes I ran my fingers up and down feeling her heat through the thin fabric.
Then in one quick move, I pushed her panties to the side and sunk my fingers between her velvety lips and played in her wetness. She writhed under my touch as my fingers found her hard little clit and began stroking it. I slowly increased the pressure as I watched her face and felt her pushing back.
"More?" I asked as I watched her moving her hips to press up against my fingers.
"Oh God, yes!" she cried.
"Mmmmm," I murmured as I pulled my fingers out and quickly hooked them over the waist of her panties and yanked them down. She lifted her hips and brought her legs together so that I could pull her panties off before spreading her legs wide, placing my hands on her thighs and splaying her open so I could see just how wet she was. I used my thumbs to massage her slippery folds sliding over her clit and teasing the edge of her entrance before I slipped my arms under her thighs and lifted her hips up off of the couch.
She gasped as I bent forward, buried my tongue between her lips and began licking a path from bottom to top. I focused on lapping up as much of her tangy wetness as I could as I lost myself in the sensation and scent of her desire. I held her up with one arm as I slowly worked two fingers into her. She bucked and tried to push them in faster, but I held back and began slowly moving them back and forth as I sucked her clit. She began panting and moaning as I increased the tempo, and it wasn't long before I could feel her muscles clenching around my fingers. I made my tongue into a hard point and pressed it against her clit as I moved my arm back and forth.
Seconds later she moaned my name as her orgasm began. It rolled through her in waves as I stroked and sucked. The intensity of her climax left me with an agonizing erection, but the feeling of her wetness coating my hand as I gently pumped the last bit of pleasure from her made it worth it.
I lowered her back down on the sofa and watched as her eyelids fluttered and then opened so that her blue eyes were focused on me. She looked a little dazed, but that was to be expected. When I leaned down and kissed her she wrapped her arms around my neck and sighed into my lips.
"Come upstairs with me," she murmured as she tried to push herself up off the couch. She fell backwards laughing as she realized her legs were too weak to support her, so I swept her up in my arms and carried her up the spiral steps to her bed and gently laid her down. She grabbed my wrist and in a sleepy voice said, "Stay. Please."
I lay down on the bed, wrapped an arm around Echo. I heard gunfire out in the street and frowned as I lifted myself onto my elbow to see if I could tell where it was coming from. I quieted, so I slipped my arm around Echo again, but this time I felt a sticky wetness covering my hand. I lifted my hand up and saw it was covered in blood.
"Oh shit!" I yelled as I fell onto the floor. "Echo!"
"Help me, Ryan!" she cried as the gunfire exploded around us and the bedroom filled with the smoke from fired rounds. I could hear Echo screaming, but I couldn't find her through all of the smoke. I called her name and heard her screams from a distance.
"Fuck! Where are you?" I shouted as I sat straight up and realized I was still laying on the couch. I was sweating so hard the sheet underneath me was soaked. I shook my head and looked around trying to get my bearings before jumping up off the couch and dropping to the floor to do rapid-fire pushups.
"Are you okay?" Echo called in a voice thick with sleep.
"Yep, just fine," I replied as I pushed myself up off the floor and began pacing in the small space. I needed to get out of the apartment. I needed air. I needed to do something; find out something.
So, I pulled on my clothes, grabbed my keys and phone, and headed for the door. With one hand on the doorknob, I stopped and looked around the apartment. Then I went back into the kitchen pulled out a pad of paper and pen from Echo's junk drawer and scratched a short note. I nodded as I read it, and then headed for the door. This time I didn't stop.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Echo
The next
morning I woke up disappointed to find the other side of the bed empty. I'd slept soundly all night after helping Ryan fall asleep, but I felt tight and tense after sitting on the couch for several hours waiting for him to fall into a deep sleep. I'd hoped to wake up next to him, but realized I should have known better. Ryan wasn't the kind of guy who would show up in a girl's bed uninvited.
"Ryan?" I called hoping that he was somewhere downstairs and would come bounding up the stairs ready to join me. There was no answer, though. "Ryan? Are you down there?"
When I got no reply, I pulled on my robe over my nightgown and headed down to see what was going on. I saw my laptop open on the counter and a slip of paper lying next to it. I picked it up and read:
Echo,
Sorry I couldn't stay. I need to take care of a few things. Be back in a few days. Don't worry.
Ryan
I slammed my hand down on the counter and swore under my breath before I ran to my purse and pulled out my phone. I quickly typed out a text and hit send. He'd have to respond to me at some point.
I sent a second text to Cece asking her to come over, if she could, before I headed into the bathroom to shower and get dressed. Fifteen minutes later there was a knock at the door, and when I opened it, Cece was standing there holding a carrier with two coffees and a bag of pastries from the bodega down the block.
"You rang, chica?" she grinned as she stepped through the door and set the food down. She gave me a hug and then grabbed a coffee and the bag of pastries as she made her way to the couch. "So, what's up?"
"Thank you for the coffee," I said with a grateful smile as I grabbed mine and joined her.
"No hay problema, chica," she smiled as she pulled a cheese danish from the bag and took a huge bite. "And again, I ask, what's up?"
"I don't know what the hell is going on," I said as I took a sip of coffee, then proceeded to tell her about the funeral and what happened afterwards. "And when I woke up this morning he was gone. I have no idea where he went or what he's doing."
"The boy doesn't want to be found," she said as she chewed thoughtfully then said with a mischievous grin, "But that doesn't mean we can't find him."
"I know we can find him, Cece," I said shaking my head. "But does that mean we should? I'm worried about him. He's lost his friend, his father and now the money and his father's company. And I'm getting cryptic emails from his dead father giving me information about the project he was working on, but no insight into why he was doing what he was doing or what I should be doing with the information."
"That is bizarre," she said as she brushed the crumbs off of her blood red tank top. Her nail polish matched the top perfectly as did her lipstick. I felt mousy and plain next to her bold look. "But lay out the details, chica. Your boss dies, his son comes home, and you start getting classified information that you are not supposed to share with the man who fired you just before you get fired. How does this all fit together?"
"Well, now that you put it that way," I laughed. "It seems kind of obvious that Dr. Powell was doing something that he didn't want Mr. Baines to know about, but Mr. Baines must already know something about it and thinks I do, too, or else he wouldn't have fired me, right?"
"Ooooh, you're a regular Sherlock Homes," she said taking a second pastry and biting into it. "I love that guy, by the way."
"My evil ex-boss?" I asked.
"No, Sherlock Homes," she laughed harder. "Stay with me, chica."
"Cece, you're crazy," I laughed with her. "But what does this all mean? Now Ryan's gone AWOL and I need to figure out what to do with the emails."
"Maybe it's part of a larger puzzle," she suggested as she licked her fingers. "What else could be going on? Think about it, chica!"
"I don't know, maybe Julian Baines had Dr. Powell murdered so he could get his hands on the research?" I said feeling completely foolish for even thinking such a ridiculous thing. When on earth had someone murdered? That was a plot device for television shows, not real life.
"Could he have done it?" Cece asked.
"Cece, that's just plain stupid," I said. "Why would Julian Baines want to kill his best friend the man who also happens to be his business partner?"
"You're asking me?" she said. "I can think of a hundred different reasons for why people want to kill one another; old grudges, money, sex, power...want me to keep going?"
"But what could Dr. Powell have that Baines would want enough to kill him for it?" I asked.
"Not a clue," Cece said as she peeked into the bag and asked, "You want this last one?"
"No, it's all you," I said turning the problem over in my brain. I had no idea what Baines's grudge could be, but all of a sudden I thought of someone who might know. I turned to Cece and asked, "Want to run an errand with me?"
"Sure, why not?" she smiled. "I'm fed and caffeinated, so I'll be great company for a few hours!"
I laughed as I gathered my things. I hesitated before loading the laptop into a bag and throwing it over my shoulder. I wasn't sure how this would turn out, but if I had a chance to install the program I'd spent the past several days coding, I didn't want to miss the opportunity.
"Alright, Cece, let's ride," I said as I pulled open the door and crossed my fingers hoping that what we were about to do wouldn't get anyone in trouble.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ryan
I left Echo's apartment in the early hours of the morning kicking myself for thinking my dream could ever become a reality. She was Mando's girlfriend and she'd been kind to me. My mind replayed my dream and the way her body had curved under my hands as I'd stroked and caressed her leaving me with the same ache I'd had last night. In my dream, she'd wanted more, and so had I, but there was something about crossing that line that felt like a total betrayal, and I just couldn't do it.
"You idiot!" I muttered as I rubbed the stubble I hadn't had time to shave off before leaving the apartment. My conscience wrestled with the erection in my pants, and, this time, my overactive conscience had won. I couldn't guarantee that it would win again, though, so I'd packed up and left Echo a note telling her I'd be gone for a few days. I needed to remove the temptation and get some answers to questions about my father.
It had been a week since I'd had a good workout, so I ran the distance between Echo's apartment and Eva's mother's townhouse in Murray Hill. By the time I rang the doorbell, I was sweating like crazy and fairly sure that Eva would find this offensive, but I was past caring. Now I wanted answers.
The maid that answered the door looked me up and down and asked me to wait on the doorstep until she called Miss Eva down. I nodded and leaned against the railing as I caught my breath. Eva appeared a few minutes later.
"Oh my, goodness, you are rather sweaty, aren't you?" she said as she handed me a towel and backed away. "Dry off before you come in or you'll sweat on the carpet and Mummy will have a fit."
"Thanks," I said taking the towel and wiping away as much moisture as I could. I'd never understood Eva's relationship with her mother or why she and her siblings all called her "Mummy" when they had been born and raised here in Manhattan.
"How are you doing?" Eva asked as she led me up a flight of stairs to a room that was situated away from the main area of the townhouse.
"I'm okay," I said eyeing her. She was wearing a black tank top and a long black skit both of which clung to her like a second skin. Her hair had been dyed an unnatural shade of black and I wanted to ask her if she wasn't taking the widow in mourning thing a little to far.
"Do you need anything?" she asked.
"You mean besides a place to live?" I replied drily.
"Don't get mad at me about the apartment," she retorted. "I had no idea what was going on with the finances. Do you need some money? I have a little cash."
She walked over to a small writing desk in the far corner of the room, opened a drawer and rummaged around for a few seconds before extracting an envelope. She crossed the room and handed it to me.
"That's all
I've got right now, but I can get more if you need it," she said as I examined the contents and found five crisp hundred dollar bills inside.
"Thanks, I appreciate that, but I'm fine, really," I said as I pocketed the money. I didn't want to take money from her, but I knew that Echo could use the cash now that she was out of a job. "How are you doing?"
"Oh Ryan," she said as tears welled up in her eyes. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but I could tell that this was a performance she'd been giving for audiences that expected her to play the part.
"Eva, knock it off with the crocodile tears," I said. "I know you're sad, I know you're devastated, I know you're a widow. What I really want to know is what happened to my father. Why is he dead?"
"How the hell would I know?" she hissed as she quickly shifted from grieving widow to possibly accused. "I didn't have any control over what that man ate or drank or who he screwed, and I warned him about all of it."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded. "My father never played around!"
"Oh God, you are so naive," she laughed without humor. "Darling, your father and I had a marriage of great convenience. I loved him, and I'm fairly certain that he loved me, but he was not crazy mad in love, and I realized it too late to be able to change things. Your father loved only two things, your dear departed saintly mother and his goddamn research."
"Be very careful where you tread," I warned her.
"Oh please, I've been treading carefully for years," she said as she stood up and walked to the bar. She poured herself a generous shot of whiskey from the crystal decanter on the bar, and then offered me a drink. I shook my head and she shrugged as she replaced the stopper and picked up her tumbler. "Ryan, it's hard to find out that our parents are not the saintly people we've been led to believe they are, but sometimes that all comes crashing down at the most inopportune time."
"What the hell are you babbling on about, Eva?" I said through gritted teeth.