Echo, Mine (11 page)

“It depends.” His voice drifted to her from
the dressing room. Moments later, he walked out wearing jeans, a
tee and sneakers, his untied damp hair brushing his shoulders. His
gray eyes skimmed over her. “Good, you're ready.”

“You’re not making any sense this morning,
you know that?” she grumbled. “Wait, why are you wearing
that—where’s your swim trunks?”

“Who said I need trunks?” He cocked an
arrogant brow and pulled her to him, sliding his arm around her
waist. Before she could open her mouth, the room spun, and the next
moment it disappeared as he dematerialized them. She clutched him
tightly around his neck.

Several moments later, they took form. A
groan slipped out as she held onto him, so sure she’d left her head
and a part of her body back in their bedroom. She tried to get her
heaving tummy to settle.

“I'm never gonna get used to that,” she
grumbled. “Why couldn’t we just walk down to the pool—”

Soft laughter reached her. Lips brushed
hers, then she looked about her. What the heck? Decadent, tan
wood-paneled walls made up the surroundings, along with a huge
sumptuous bed with cream covers. On the right was a seating area
with matching cushions. She spun around, and through the scenic
windows, she found miles of glorious blue seas surrounding her.

“We’re on a boat?”

“A yacht. It’s the only way I can have you
all alone and get you to slow down.”

She scrunched her face as he drew her close,
his expression filled with tenderness. “Happy birthday,
me'morae
.”

“You remembered…” A happy smile tipped up
her lips, then her eyes rounded and her mouth dropped open in
shock. “Wait—you bought a boat?”

“No.” Amusement brightened his gray eyes.
“This
yacht
is leased. If you like it, then we’ll see about
getting one. But this”—he crossed to the built-in cupboards, pulled
open a drawer, and drew out a soft black cloth pouch with
drawstrings—“is for you.”

He handed it to her. Her heart in her
throat, she released the ties and pulled out a silver bracelet made
up of intricate swirling patterns. Melded into the center was the
amber stone with the white leaf of a Rean tree that grew only in
Empyrea trapped inside. One that she’d had all through her
childhood, unaware of the significance of it all. He could have
given her anything, but he’d given her this—this stone that tied
them together.

“It’s beautiful.” She put it on her wrist
then went on her toes to kiss him.

He lifted a brow. “What about the
other?”

“There’s more?” Eagerly, she shoved her hand
back into the bag and pulled out a smaller pouch in the familiar
robin’s-egg blue of a high-end store. Opening it, she found a
platinum necklace, Diamonds by the Yards, inside.

In her entire life, the only people who’d
ever given her anything were Kira and Gran and… Damon. But he’d
walked away. Sadness filled her.

Aethan took the chain from her, stepped
behind her and fastened it around her neck. As he pressed his lips
to her nape, a shiver skated over her skin and drew her mind away
from her guardian. Blinking her damp eyes, she hurried to a mirror
and stared at the platinum chain that circled her neck with several
diamonds an inch apart.

“What do you want to do?” Aethan asked, his
image joining hers in the paneled mirror.

“Swim in the sea,” she said without
hesitation, wheeling around to him. The soft sounds of an engine
droning finally pierced her haze of happiness. Echo glanced around
the luxurious cabin. “Ummm, Aethan, who’s navigating this
vessel?”

“C’mon, then, he’s waiting to see you before
he leaves.”

He led her upstairs to the helm, and she
laughed at whom she saw there. “Hedori?”

“M’lady,” he said with a little smile.
“Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.”

He gave her a slight bow before turning to
Aethan. “Everything is in place. I’ll be back at noon tomorrow to
take this beauty—I mean, the yacht back to the marina.”

Aethan snorted.

Laughing, Hedori shimmered and
dematerialized.

Echo turned from staring out the window at
the tranquil seas and faced him again, leaning against the
porthole. “We got here quite fast, so where exactly are we? And
where did you get this floating house?”

Amusement flickered in his dark eyes. “We’re
several miles from the East Hamptons. This
floating house
is
usually moored at the Marina there. I was here this morning, I
wanted to make sure everything was in place before I brought
you.”

“You were? And I thought you had gone
jogging on the beach.”

Echo hurried down to the sprawling main
center deck. A sumptuous seating area was spread along the sides,
and the far end of the deck held a raised Jacuzzi. She made her way
to the center and looked around, a cool, briny breeze playing with
her bangs.

Though they were far from the shore, she
could still make out the coastline. The rest was just miles of
gorgeous sapphire-blue sea surrounding them. “Hedori brought the
yacht out here and waited for us?”

“Yeah.” Aethan pulled off his t-shirt and
tossed it on a cushioned seat. The sun beat down on his tan skin,
making his hard muscles glisten. He toed off his Nikes and undid
the button on his jeans. He pulled out a thong from his pocket and
tied back his hair, revealing the tiny silver hoops in his
earlobes. “It seemed like the best way to organize this. Navigating
yachts is not something I know, but Hedori, on the other hand,
does—he has a sailboat moored at the estate…” He looked her over,
his brow furrowing. “Why are you still dressed? I thought you
wanted to swim?”

“Tell me you have a birthday cake
first?”

“You don’t eat dessert.”

“On my birthday, I’ll try anything.”

“Well, now…” his tone lowered to a seductive
rumble. He stalked her. “Is that so?”

Laughing, she took a hasty step back.
“Nuh-uh—cake first, Aethan.”

“All’s in the galley—undress and come here,
me’morae
.”

“No.”

He feinted right, and she did too, instead
of moving left as he shifted left, laughter spilling free when he
growled.

“That is such a guy move,
Aethan—
eeek
!” She jumped back and darted behind the sunbed
as he leaped over the lounger and grabbed her. His mouth clamped on
her nape, he bit her. A light caress of his power streamed through
her body, her breath caught. “You can run,
me’morae,
” he
whispered, languorously sucking away the slight sting. “But I will
always catch you.”

Her snort turned into a sigh and she leaned
into him, rubbing the damp spot. He stepped back, hands on his
hips, an arrogant tilt to his brow. “Now, undress.”

It was the naked hunger in his expression
that had her heart clipping like the very devil.

Unable to resist him, she grasped the end of
her tee and yanked it off, then unzipped her shorts, aware of his
gaze trailing her every move. Sliding them off, she tossed the
shorts aside.

Barefoot, he prowled closer, reached out,
and pulled her close. Her breath caught at the dark desire in his
gray eyes. Lowering his head, he ran his tongue along her clavicle.
She sank into him, his other hand loosening the ties of her bikini
top. “What about swimming?”

“You wear that, what did you expect?”

She blinked and eased back as much as his
arms would allow. “
You
chose this!”

His mouth came back to nip her earlobe. “And
so I did.”

She heard the smile in his voice. Swimming
would have to wait for a while, because right then, she was exactly
where she wanted to be.

Absolute Surrender Bk1

Coming in September.

Breaking Fate (Bk 2)

A South African, Georgia Lyn Hunter has been
creating stories from the moment she could string two words
together. And no matter the tale, they always have romance woven
through them.

When not writing or plotting her next book,
she can be found reading, travelling, painting, or trolling flea
markets where she loves to buy things she might never actually use
because they're so pretty.

After working in a few jobs, all Art related,
she’s finally found her passion: writing.

There really is no other job she’d rather be
doing.

Come find her here:

Website:
www.georgialynhunter.com

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