Echo, Mine (9 page)

The demonii had the twin against the wall,
his mouth on hers. She thrashed about, hitting him. Nope, that
lip-lock wasn't about passion, and yeah, that feeble hitting
wouldn’t work either. The twin’s eyes bulged as he attempted to
suck out her soul.

Instead of collagen, self-defense classes
would have been a far better use of the woman’s money.

“Hey, you,” Echo called out to the fiend.
“What about me?”

The demonii stiffened. He wheeled around
then stopped and sniffed, obviously catching a whiff of her
pheromones. His forehead had shifted partly, jutting out and
revealing his demonic nature. Lust pulsing in his red aura.

“You smell so goooood.” His rusty tone
scraped her sensitive hearing like nails on a chalkboard.

“Yeah, that’s me, tasty human.” She snorted,
ignoring the whimpering woman. “Why don’t you come and get me?”
Echo summoned her obsidian dagger, concealing it against her skirt.
Another demonii crept out from behind the SUV. Crap. She could take
them both, but the woman would be in danger if one chose to go
after her.

Hastily, she mind-linked with Aethan.
I
need you.

She fixed her attention on the fiends
circling her like damn coyotes. “Go,” she yelled to the sniveling
twin.

“Wh-what is th-that man—
thing
?”

Really? Now, she wanted to know? “Run,
dammit!” Echo snapped, her gaze pinned on the demoniis as she
countered their moves. “Or they will kill you!”

With a stifled shriek, the woman hightailed
it out of the alley.

Echo let her mental shields suppressing her
allure drop and tightened her grip on her dagger. The demoniis
getting a full whiff of her pheromones let out low moans of sexual
hunger. Their eyes sparking a neon red in the dark, they came,
charging for her...

Aethan strode out of the club into the
heated night, his jaw clenched. He stumbled to a halt as a familiar
strain touched his mind.
I need you.

At Echo’s telepathic message, panic took
hold.
Where are you?

Near the SUV,
she shot back, sounding
almost breathless. About to flash, a figure came barreling out of
the shadows and slammed into Aethan, taking him back several feet.
A sharp pain burned across his forearm. Cursing, Aethan faced the
demented, scarred demon with a dagger in his hand.

“Did you think I would not find you?”
Rahvert snarled, looking like he’d crawled out from a trash heap.
Clothes rumpled, expression malevolent, his eyes taking on a red
tinge. “So easy to track your scent,
Guardian
!” he spat the
word like it was something vile, waving his blade coated with blood
in full view of the patrons. “It was all over your vehicle. I have
my demoniis watching it, and we have your woman, too—”

Terror knotting his belly, he mind-linked
with her.
Echo?

Stop talking, Aethan, I need to
concentrate.

Fuck! His mate was determined to give him
heart failure!

She
was
fighting demoniis! The
heavens knew how many. Right then he wished for Blaéz’s power to
kill with a thought so he could end this fucker and get to her.

“I will avenge my brother!” Screeching, the
demon dove for Aethan, his blade flashing in the moonlight. Aethan
evaded the attack. He grabbed hold of the demon’s arm and twisted
his hand—a howl filled the alley. He yanked the blade from the
fucker and punched the demon in the throat. Rahvert lurched back.
Gurgling, he grasped his neck, unable to breath.

“Your brother was a fucking demonii. If he
hadn’t died that night, then I would’ve killed him another
day.”

Anger made most people reckless and stupid.
It was almost too easy to take Rahvert down. Aethan thrust the
dagger into the demon’s heart, then jerked it free and slashed
Rahvert across the carotid. Blood poured as the body fell. Aethan
didn't bother looking back. The fucker was history. In death, his
corpse would soon be hauled back to the Dark Realm, or sent to
Purgatory.

Tossing the demon’s bloody blade into a
nearby dumpster, Aethan flashed to his mate, his blood pounding in
his head, his heart in his throat. He staggered to a halt.

Echo fought a demonii twice her size. She
jumped back as the fucker tried to grab her and smirked. “Is that
all you’ve got?”

His protective instinct kicked in. About to
sprint over, she slammed into his mind, stopping him dead.
Aethan, this kill is mine.

It was the hardest thing for a protective
male like him to do, stand by and let her take on this scourge. Gut
instinct warned him to let her be. It was important for the both of
them. Knowing his mate, she would never forgive him if he
interfered.

Movement stirred in the shadows as if giving
life to more evil. Two more demoniis took form and joined their
cohort. Fuck this. He wasn't letting her fight three. With
preternatural speed, he was beside her.

The demoniis’ red eyes glowing feverishly
with lust had Aethan’s irritation soaring.

“Never look at my mate that way!” He lashed
out a kick, sending one crashing against the wall, and punched the
other in the throat. The one he’d kicked charged him. Aethan
slammed a booted foot into the demonii’s belly, dropping him to his
knees. He snapped at Echo, cutting her a quick glance. “Why the
hell did you keep me out of your thoughts?”

“I needed to focus. Besides, I was killing
them long before I met you—” She ducked a punch and swept out her
leg, knocking the hulking demonii’s feet out from under him. He
dropped like a rock to the asphalt, a raucous snarl escaping
him.

“You may think I'm still green when it comes
to fighting,” she threw back at Aethan. “But I
can
kill
these fiends. And I'm frustrated as hell with you!” She wiggled her
fingers at the demonii, who jumped up and circled her. “Come and
get me.”

Urias
! This female of his would drive
him batshit crazy! Frustrated? She had no idea what true
frustration meant. His teeth ground together and he ducked a blow
to his face. The demonii’s lust corroded Aethan’s gut like acid.
Just because the fuckers needed new souls to survive, didn't mean
their other body parts didn't function.

The demonii held out his palm to the earth,
stealing nature’s energies to form a lethal hellfire bolt. Shit!
Aethan summoned his sword. It materialized in his palm, the black
blade gleaming in the moonlight. He lunged, his sword descending in
a deadly arc. He decapitated the demonii and made short work of the
other asshole, too.

As their bodies turned to ash and crumbled
to the asphalt, he whirled to his mate.

“Stay back, Aethan,” she warned.

“Then kill the fucker, or I will.”

As long as there was no damn dark portal
shimmering nearby, he’d let her have her way. His fingers clenched
the hilt of his sword so he wouldn’t go over and finish off the
horny bastard.

But dammit, he didn't like seeing even a
scratch on her.

The part of him that wasn’t going caveman
protective—his fighter side—took in her movements and checked her
for weakness in her reflexes. She ducked another blow from the
demonii, spun around, and kicked him hard in the chest. The
dickhead grinned. He probably considered it a prelude to some
sexual fantasy of his. Asshole.

As much as Aethan wanted her safe, he
realized she needed this. Hell, she trained even harder than he
did. The only time he’d seen Echo in action was when the demonii
horde had come after her at the castle months ago and she fought
them—but that had only been for a few minutes, before he’d hauled
her to safety…she’d been mortal then. Now she was faster, even with
her dangerously high heels. And she moved like a dream.

She was so fucking hot—hell, who wasn't
turned on by a fighting female?

She cut him a knowing look as if sensing the
shift in his thoughts. Aethan let his sword shimmer and settle back
on his biceps and crossed his arms over his chest.

She kneed the demonii in the groin. His
guttural roar echoed in the alley. “Did you think I was some
hapless woman you could prey on, a victim whose soul you could
steal?”

“I’ll tear out your throat—and drink your
blood before I reap your soul!” the demonii screeched. He lunged
for her. Echo didn't sidestep but met him dead on—yanking Aethan’s
heart to his throat at the danger—her obsidian dagger glinted in
the pale moonlight, and she plunged the blade into the demonii’s
chest. He dropped to his knees in shock.

“You gave up yours when you stole that first
soul, you’re definitely not getting mine.” Yanking him back by his
hair, she sliced right across his carotid in a brutal swipe. Black
blood sprayed. “Tonight, the streets will be much safer without
you!”

“I was barely a minute behind you and you
get into trouble,” Aethan growled, exhaling a harsh breath, needing
an outlet for his fear. “You took on a demonii.”

She turned from the decomposing body and
snorted, crossing to him in those high-heeled boots with a sexy
sashay of her hips, her chest still heaving from the fight—the
buttons still undone. “I believe you doubted me the first time we
met, too.”

At her cocky response, he closed the
distance in a heartbeat, hauled her to him, and covered her mouth
in a deep, hot kiss. Needing to reassure himself that she was safe,
and because he simply had to have her.

Echo sank into him and kissed him harder,
her tongue tangling with his. Pulling his shirt free from his
pants, she slipped her hands beneath the fabric and stroked his
back.

His hunger soared, consuming him with a
fiery need. His power roiled within him, but he knew too, it would
be okay—she would ease that part of him. He picked her up, and she
wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked toward the Range Rover
and set her on the hood.

Aethan slid his mouth along her
jaw and down her neck. Hands on her hips, he pulled her closer and
sucked on her fast-beating pulse. Breathy little sighs escaped her.
Her arms tightened around him as she pressed her heated center
against his aching cock.

“I missed you.”

He knew exactly what she meant. “You drive
me crazy, you know that?”

“Good.” Her gaze hazy with desire, she ran
her finger along the edge of the waistband of his leathers, teasing
the taut skin of his abs. “Because I'm done with being treated like
an invalid.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” he growled. “Let’s
go home.”

“Why?” She arched a brow. Lowering her
fingers from his waist, she stroked his painfully rigid erection.
He bit back a groan. “You’re a big bad warrior with scary-ass
powers. What are you afraid of, huh? We’re alone.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“I see. So it’s okay for you to get me off
in a public place.” She deftly unbuckled his belt. “Fine.” She
rolled her mismatched eyes. “I’ll protect you. I mean, I just took
down a dangerous demonii.”

She conveniently left out the two fuckers
he’d annihilated.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have said that...” With a
hand on her chest, he pushed her down to lie on the hood of the SUV
and slid his palm beneath her skirt and up her thighs to stroke a
thumb over her over her damp, silk-covered cleft. A stifled gasp
left her.

“I haven’t even started, and you’re already
wet.”

Before she blinked, he pulled off her
panties and dropped them beside her.

“You, my mate, had best use that power I
sense growing within you and keep any stragglers away from us.” He
propped her feet on the grill of the Range Rover, spreading her
thighs open, and ran his fingers down her cleft. “Or they’re
getting a free show.”

Echo bit her lip, her skin flushed from her
exertion, her sexy bicolored eyes glowing brightly with arousal. He
lowered his head and sucked on her lower lip then licked a path
across her jaw. “I love how you taste”—another lingering lick—“how
you smell; all warm, wet female.” And with that hint of sun-ripened
berries he now knew was her shampoo. He eased back but kept
stroking her lightly between her thighs. “First, why were you angry
inside the club?”

“Because you kissed my nose. In situations
like those, it’s the lips, Aethan, with tongue!”

He flicked her clit and smiled as her eyes
dilated with need. “Shall I take you back in there and kiss you
like you want?”

She squirmed and glared at him. “Aethan,
stop teasing—inside me already!”

His gaze locked on hers. “Are you ordering
me,
me’morae
?”

“
No. God—no!”

He sank two fingers into her drenched core,
his thumb playing with her clit. A whimper escaped her.

“Aethan, please…” She grasped his wrist,
tried to pull him close, her fingers fumbling on his zip.

“Not yet.” He brushed her hand away from his
fly. “I want my mouth right on this delectable part of you first…”
He lightly stroked her swollen nub. “Hmmm, I think I need to start
all over again.”

“I’m going to kill you—”

“Later. After I’ve pleasured you with my
mouth, fucked you with my fingers, and let you come again all over
my face…”

***

Christ
. Just hearing Aethan say those
raw, edgy words had desire pulsing through her body like a sizzling
flame. Echo had no idea if she’d last this storm taking hold of her
body. Her mind, her thoughts, everything locked onto the pulsing
ache between her thighs.

He lowered his head and ran his tongue down
her folds, around her clit, then lapped at it, keeping her on
brink.

“Oh, God.” She squeezed her eyes tight,
drowning in a sea of desire as his wicked tongue hauled her deeper
into pleasure.

“No, Echo, eyes on me.” At the taut demand,
her eyelids flickered open. His gaze burned hotter than the desert
sun, stealing her breath. “Watch what I do to you…”