Evans, Gabrielle - Reckoning [Fatefully Yours 9] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (10 page)

“What if he’s being forced to do those things, though?”

“They didn’t beat him.” Echo growled under his breath.

“Baby, he was covered in bruises and cuts.”

“I didn’t get the impression that they’d beat him to make him help. His thoughts were almost smug when he was pushing them at me.” Here came the hard part. “I lied. Well, not so much lied as just withheld some things, but our relationship was so new at the time. Even though he hurt me and tried to hurt you, and I guess he was my friend at one time, and…”

“Shh, baby.” Hex pulled him closer and smoothed his palm down Echo’s spine. “Take a deep breath, and just tell me.”

“I was afraid if I told you the truth, that you’d hurt him or worse. He was my friend, and I thought I loved him in the beginning. Even if he hurt us, I didn’t want him dead.” Echo took a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly. “He knew exactly what he was doing, and he was eager to help. He was, or maybe still is, sleeping with the head of security.”

No one said anything for a long time, and Echo buried his face in Hex’s neck so he wouldn’t have to see the scrutiny or disappointment in their eyes. “I’m sorry. I was too pissed off at the time to realize it, but I think he
wanted
me to believe that he was just doing it for candy bars and video games. There was something dark inside his mind, though. I don’t know how to explain it, but I knew we couldn’t trust him. I don’t think anyone forced him to do those things in Spokane, either. There’s something bad going on. I just don’t know what.”

“Get Gage,” Hex said quietly. His strong hands never stopped in their stroking, and after a few minutes, Echo began to calm down. “Just breathe, Echo. I’m not upset with you.
That
is the Echo I fell in love with, and I understand why you didn’t say anything. I got the same impression from him, and it would have been damn hard for you to talk me into helping him, anyway. We’ll get the residents out, and I even promise that we won’t purposely hurt your friend until we find out if he’s acting on his own or being used by someone else.”

“He’s not my friend,” Echo stated firmly. “I just don’t want anyone to die if there’s a way around it. He is definitely the enemy, though. I really just want my friends out unharmed.”

“I won’t lie and promise you that. We’ll do our best, though.”

Echo clung to Hex’s shirt and nodded against his mate’s shoulder. “I know you will. I trust you, big guy. I’m sorry that I lied.”

“Hush. It’s all over with, and none of it matters anymore. We need to talk to Gage and work out a plan. Do you want to stay?”

“Yes. Where is Gage anyway?” Mac and Sony were in the kitchen, and the three were usually inseparable.

“Sleeping,” Sony said icily. “Sleep wasn’t exactly easy to come by last night.”

“Don’t start,” Echo said just as coldly as he looked up to glare across the table at his friend. “Syx feels bad about what happened, so just drop it.”

Sony shook his head. “I wasn’t talking about Syx.” His lips snapped together, and he looked in the opposite direction when Gage entered the kitchen.

Echo didn’t know what the big werewolf had done to land himself in hot water, but apparently Echo wasn’t the only one with trouble in paradise. Though the curiosity ate at him, he kept his mouth closed, and didn’t ask the questions that were burning his tongue. It wasn’t any of his business, and if Sony and Mac wanted him to know, they’d tell him when they were ready.

“You wanted to talk to me?” Gage didn’t sit at the table or acknowledge his lovers’ presence in any way. He stood in the kitchen doorway, his hands shoved in his pockets, and his head hung like a whipped dog.

“What did you do?” Echo closed his eyes and groaned at his outburst. Damn it, he hadn’t meant to say that. It hurt to watch his friends suffering, though. It might not be any of his business, but he wanted to help. He knew from experience just how stubborn alpha males could be.

“Echo,” Eyce chided softly from the chair beside Hex. “Not now.”

Echo sighed, but winked at Mac when the man giggled. “You see what I have to put up with? I can’t even ask a simple question.”

“You talk too much.” Fiero grinned as he said it, though, then turned his attention to Gage. “So, what did you do to land your ass in a sling?”

“Fiero!” Hex, Eyce, and Syx all yelled in unison.

Echo was having a hard time containing his laughter, and Mac was right there with him. Even Sony was biting his lip as he stared resolutely in the opposite direction.

“What?” Fiero demanded. “I see what Echo means. A guy can’t even ask a damn question around here.” He waved his hand toward Gage. “The man looks like someone dick-punched him. Sony looks like he wants to shake the person’s hand who did it. Mac’s about to fall off his damn chair from trying not to laugh. I just want to know what happened.”

“Did it ever occur to you that it might not be any of your business?” Onyx asked.

“No.” Fiero crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head stubbornly.

Echo lost it. He fell against Hex’s chest and laughed until he couldn’t breathe. Of course Fiero wouldn’t understand that the world didn’t revolve around him. The demon wanted answers, and he just expected everyone to serve them up hot with a side dish of ass-kissing.

“Gage told Sony that—”

That was as far as Mac got before Sony reached over and covered the guy’s mouth with his hand. “Don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it.”

“Oh, and the plot thickens.” Fiero rubbed his hands together and sat forward in his chair. “So, what did you tell the runt?” He jerked his head from Gage to Sony as though there was no question as to whom he meant.

“Nothing,” Gage grumbled. “I said nothing.”

“Should I just dig it out of his head?” Syx volunteered.

“No!” Sony, Hex, Eyce, and Gage all shouted together, while everyone else yelled in the affirmative.

Syx started choking. “You did not!”

Gage winced, but nodded.

“Well?”

Syx looked at Echo, back to Gage, then back to Echo again. “Gage told Sony…”

“He told me that his ex-boyfriend used to do this thing with his tongue when he was giving Gage head, and asked if I could try it.” Sony glared at Gage for a moment, then flopped back in his chair and averted his eyes.

“Oh, wow,” Echo breathed. He didn’t even know what to say to that, but he could definitely understand why Sony was so upset. He hoped to hell his men had more brains than that.

“What wrong with that?” Fiero asked. “Don’t you want to know what he likes?”

Echo rolled his eyes. Well, there went that theory. “Fiero, sometimes you have all the social sophistication of a bag of rocks.” He looked his mate right in the eye as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “My ex-lover did this thing where he swiveled his hips while he was rid—”

Fiero jumped up from his chair and snarled. “Shut up! I do not want to hear about you having sex with someone else!”

Echo arched an eyebrow and smirked.

“Yeah, I get it.” He pointed his finger at Gage. “You’re a bastard, and you should be on your knees groveling.”

“Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“Well, try harder,” Echo countered. “Would you rather be with your ex?”

“No!” Gage roared. “I don’t want anyone else.”

Hex chuckled as he combed his fingers through Echo’s hair. “We’ll meet again later. I think you have more important things to do right now.”

Gage nodded once, strode across the room, and lifted Sony over his shoulder. He left the room without a word. Sony wasn’t nearly as quiet, though. “Put me down, asshole!”

Mac stood from the table and smiled at Echo. “Sony’s not really that mad about it. He just likes the attention.”

“Oh, I get it.” He winked at his friend and mouthed, “Watch this.” Then he glanced over at Onyx and took a deep breath. “Screw you.”

Onyx didn’t even blink, but his voice was deep and commanding. “You know the drill. Upstairs, naked, and make your choices.”

“Yes, sir.” Echo hopped out of Hex’s lap and darted out of the room, smiling like an idiot the entire way up the stairs and to the playroom.

Chapter Nine

“You know he’s playing you, right?”

Onyx rose from the table and shrugged. “I know.”

“It’s not exactly the same if he asks for it, though.”

Onyx cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Why is that? It’s all a game, Eyce. I have no desire to dominate him outside of that room. We can give each other something that we need. I don’t think it really matters how we get there, as long as we’re both on the same page.”

“I just…” Eyce trailed off and looked away. How could he tell Onyx that he was feeling a bit jealous? It wasn’t as though he resented the time Echo spent with the warrior, but sometimes he wanted to be the one to give their mate what he needed. However, it seemed Echo turned to him less and less these days.

If he made a big deal about it, he looked like an overbearing, jealous idiot. If he said nothing, things would continue on as they were, and it would eventually drive a wedge between them. Either way he lost, and either way, he’d end up the bad guy.

“Eyce?” Onyx rested his hip on the table beside Eyce, and looked down at him. “You just what?”

“I…just want you to be careful with him. I know you wouldn’t hurt him, but I don’t think he knows his own limits.”

“Go.”

Eyce jerked his head up to stare at the demon. “What? Go where?”

“Go get Echo.” Onyx cupped Eyce’s cheek and smiled. “You’re not fooling anyone. I was right where you are a couple of months ago, and I know how much it sucks. Echo needs you just as much as he needs the rest of us, but I know you won’t believe me. So, go get him and talk it out.”

Syx shuffled over and bent to kiss Eyce’s cheek. “Don’t let it build up and do something stupid like I did.”

“You’re not stupid.”

Syx chuckled quietly. “I didn’t say that. Now go.”

“I still need someone to play with,” Onyx announced.

Myst was the first out of his seat and running out of the kitchen. Fiero and Vapre bolted as well, pushing and shoving at each other in their attempt to be the first through the doorway.

“Gentlemen.” Onyx tipped an imaginary hat. “If you’ll excuse me.” Then he swaggered out of the kitchen.

“He’s an idiot,” Syx said with a laugh.

“Do you think Echo’s going to be disappointed? I mean, he wanted to play with Onyx. I can dominate him, but not the way Onyx can.”

Syx smacked him in the back of the head. “Do you really think that little of Echo?”

“No. I just don’t want him to be pissed, disappointed, or feel like we’re passing him around like a fucking salt shaker.”

“Well, I’m going to be really disappointed if someone doesn’t play with me.” Echo walked into the kitchen stark naked and crossed his arms over his chest. “They kicked me out.” His bottom lip protruded as he glanced down at the rigid cock between his slim thighs. “What am I supposed to do with this now?”

Several ideas went through Eyce’s head, but he couldn’t help feel like he’d been set up. Had Onyx told Echo of his worries? Was this simply a pity fuck? “Damn it!” Eyce rubbed the back of his head and glared up at Syx. “Would you stop doing that?”

“I will when you stop acting like a moron. I’m hoping if I hit you enough, it will shake loose all the idiotic thoughts in your head.”

“Never mind,” Echo whispered. His shoulders slumped, and he hung his head as he turned to leave the kitchen.

And like the moron Syx accused him of being, Eyce let him go. “Damn it, Syx!” Eyce jumped up from his chair so fast that it fell over and crashed to the floor. “Stop hitting me!”

“Stop being a dickhead!”

“What the fuck do you want me to do? If he doesn’t want me, I’m not going to force him. I don’t want to be the next best option, either. You and I both know that he wouldn’t be here if Onyx hadn’t sent him.”

“Enough.” Hex rose slowly from his chair and motioned for Syx to leave.

Syx glared at Eyce for a moment longer, then huffed and stormed out of the room. With the demon gone, Hex turned to Eyce and just stared at him for a long time. “Your mate walked in here with his dick in his hand and his heart on his sleeve…”

“He didn’t have sleeves, and his dick wasn’t in his hand,” Eyce argued. He growled when Hex cuffed him in the side of the head. “I’m getting really fucking sick of people slapping me around.”

“Well, then I guess you should pull your head out of your ass. Did it ever occur to you that Echo would welcome you in on the little games he likes to play with Onyx? Or did you stop to think that Onyx needs that time with Echo? Did it even cross your mind that not a damn one of us can make Echo do anything he doesn’t want to do?”

“I never said that.” It was just like he knew it would be. Now, he was the bad guy. “It’s not like I imagine Onyx could force Echo to want to be with me. I do know that Echo will put everyone else’s needs before his own. He shouldn’t feel like he has to hold my hand and stroke my ego just because the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head.”

“And why is that? There’s never been any jealousy between us before, so why now?”