Echo (The Player Book 3)

by Nana Malone

  Now she half-wished he didn’t answer; then she could chicken out and leave a note. She desperately wanted to get all the things she needed to say off her chest, and the sooner the better. But as she heard his footsteps approaching, she started to second guess the wisdom of surprising him at his apartment.

  “Echo?” he asked when he pulled the door open. “What…what’re you doing here?”

  Holy hell. It was a good thing he normally didn’t answer the door this way, because he was dangerous. She could do nothing more than stare at his bare chest. Lean, chiseled, toned. Smattering of tattoos. His jeans hung low, revealing his hip bones, and those sexy obliques seemingly pointed the way south, along with a light smattering of hair on his lower belly. As if she could get lost.

  Why was she here again? Something about boning…? No. No… Talking. “I…I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t realize it was so late. I…I can go, and talk to you tomorrow. I just…I think my family will show up again to watch, and there were a few things I wanted to say to you…privately.”

  He squinted at her as she rambled. He was either tired or plain old confused, but neither was a state of mind she wanted him to be in while he heard what she had to say.

  Damn. This was not how she wanted this to go. As Cece, she was confident, bold. As Echo, not so much. More awkward and full of the holy inappropriates. “I’ll just…go. I’m sorry,” she repeated, and turned to leave.

  “No. Come on in,” he said, opening the door wider to allow her to enter. “I was just playing some video games,” he reassured her. “My mind is still a bit wrapped up in…never mind. What was it you wanted to talk about?”

  Oh… So he expected her to focus, what, with his eight pack on display? Riiight. Echo cleared her throat as he led her into his living room. “Looks better with everything unpacked.” A few fitness magazines sat on the coffee table, along with the video game controller. A blanket and pillows adorned the sofa, and there were DVD and video-game cases lined up on the shelves of his small television stand. She didn’t dare peek through the open door to his bedroom. Don’t go there.

  “What did you have to say?” Cole prompted, and she flushed.

  “Right, sorry. Actually, ‘sorry’ is one of the things I wanted to tell you. I’m sorry for my grandfather and the way he’s treated you. The way my whole family has treated you, to be honest. Mom and Dad are just distracted with…everything, so they can be dismissive. Dax and Bryce are fine. Ignore Fox, the rest of us do. But Gramps. I love him, I do, but asshole is his middle name.”

  Cole didn’t say anything, so Echo pressed on. “Their behavior… They don’t always think of how they might come across to other people when they want things a certain way. They can be forceful when it isn’t necessary. So, I’m sorry you’ve had to put up with so much of it, and thank you for…putting up with it.” She finished, flushing deeper.

  “It’s fine. They’re fine. I’m used to it. There is nothing they can say or do that I haven’t encountered before. I’m a grownup, Echo.”

  “Right.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Um, also, there’s going to be a party,” she blurted. “Next weekend, after the qualifiers are finished. It’s not just for me. My youngest brother Gage has finally settled on a school, so it’ll be a lot of family friends and some business associates. You’re invited, of course.”

  “Me?” His brows snapped down. “I’m pretty sure I’m not on the guest list.”

  She frowned at him. “You’re my coach. Why wouldn’t you be invited? Regardless, I think you should come. I can introduce you around to some people who might prove useful to you down the line.”

  “You mean when you become a fabulous designer and I need a new runner to coach?” he asked with a smile.

  Echo sighed. “We’ll have to see how things work out.” She needed to go before she jumped him. Seriously, she might lick him soon if she stayed. She inched toward the door. “I should go. I told my parents that I was going to celebrate with Jen tonight. Please promise me you’ll come to the party. I want you to be there.” Damn, she sounded desperate. Get out of Dodge before you say anything stupid.

  His gaze locked on hers and rooted her to the spot. Why was it so hot in here? She swallowed hard. Getting out of the building and into the fresh air would help clear her head. She hoped he couldn’t hear the pounding of her heart from where he stood, which was a bit closer than a second ago.

  “You know, we didn’t get to celebrate your qualifiers. You want a protein shake to celebrate?” he asked. His voice was quiet and low like hers.

  She peeked up at him and his gaze was trained on her lips. She licked them briefly before agreeing. “Got any hot chocolate? My trainer is a bit of a food Nazi, and I deserve hot chocolate.”

  His bark of laughter cut through the tension. “I think that can be arranged.” He backed up a few steps and disappeared into his microscopic kitchen.

  “I might even surprise you with Kahlúa and marshmallows,” he called.

  Echo laughed. “Okay. Just don’t tell my trainer.” She waited a moment before following him. He had one of the cabinets open, and had set two mugs on the counter. He poured milk into a pot on the stove, and added chunks of dark chocolate to the heating liquid.

  Echo watched in awe. “Seriously, you don’t have to go to any trouble.” It was just a drink, nothing more…no matter how her stomach fluttered at the mere thought. She glanced around the kitchen as he stirred the pot.

  “If you’re gonna cheat, go big. Make it worth it,” he chuckled. “Besides. I’m not a coach right now. I don’t have my whistle.”

  Even as she laughed, her gaze landed on a piece of paper in a small wooden frame hanging on the wall, and her breath caught. “You held on to it?” she asked. “Why?”

  He shrugged as he stirred. “I like it,” he confessed. “You’re…talented. In more ways than one. I’d still like to see some of your more professional sketches.”

  She blinked back tears. “I’d need a model, first,” she teased, leaning against the kitchen counter.

  Echo watched Cole’s throat work as he turned off the stove. He poured the hot drink into their mugs and inched closer to her. The heat of his body warmed the space around her. Her heart thundered, and the blood rushed in her skull. Why couldn’t she think around him?

  “When did you say you were supposed to be meeting Jen?”

  “I didn’t. I told my family that’s where I was headed, but Jen…well, she’s used to me showing up on her doorstep, unannounced,” Echo whispered. “Or not showing up at all…” her voice trailed away.

  In one swift move, Cole pulled her close, and pressed her against the counter with his body. With a groan, Echo arched into him. His hips pushed against hers and he dipped his head. Cole teased her with a glide of his lips on hers, and Echo moaned. Taking advantage of her parted lips, he slid his tongue in to taste her.

  As their lips and tongues played with one another. She slipped her hands around his waist so she could pull him tighter to her. With a low growl, Cole slipped a knee between her legs, easing them open. The press of his erection against her was enough to make her knees wobble. Even as she whimpered, he cursed low.

  She slid her hands up, teasing her fingers into his hair and gently tugging. His hand caressed her hips as he kissed along the column of her throat.

  “Jesus. Fuck, you taste so good.” Dragging up the layers of her skirt, he hissed when he reached her panties. Echo parted her legs as he pulled them down off her hips. She gasped as his hand found her slick center and he used his fingers to part her slippery flesh, teasing her.

  One of her thighs slid up his until his free hand hooked beneath her knee and lifted it higher and wider onto the counter. Oh God. She needed him inside her. “Cole, please. I need—”

  But he kissed her again, swallowing her request. He pulled back and dropped his forehead to hers. “You feel fucking amazing. Do you know how many times I’ve thought about that day in the bathroom? Sing
lehandedly, the hottest moment of my entire life.” He breathed against her cheek. “Maybe I can repay the favor? Hmm?” When he slid his fingers over her clit, Echo shuddered. “Why don’t you show me how to do this like I showed you?”

  He wanted her to show him? Oh, God. Despite her nervousness. She lay her hand over his, intertwining their fingers. Could she do this?

  “I want to know. Show me how you like to touch yourself.” His eyes were hooded as he spoke, as if he were entranced in the spell he wove around them.

  Biting her lip, she widened her thighs. He licked his lips again as he watched, his harsh breathing the only noise in the room. Heat spread through her as he watched. She was so aware of every breath, every movement, every sound. All her senses heightened.

  With Cole providing an assist, she slid her finger up and down her cleft over the slickness. Back and forth, up and down. Her fingers stayed intertwined with his. The rough callouses on his hands and fingertips only served to heighten the aching need. He so easily took her to the edge it scared her. She paused, unsure of herself.

  “God, princess, please don’t stop. I’m begging you.”

  With her gaze locked on his, she widened her thighs even further, to give him the view he wanted. When she dipped a finger inside, one of his followed and he cursed low. “What are you doing to me?”

  “Cole, I need you to help me.”

  “Oh, princess, I am helping you.” He tugged of her top and tossed it over her shoulder.

  She reached for the top button of his jeans, popping the metallic disc through the loop. “Not what I meant.”

  His brows rose when dawning hit. “You want to use something else to play with, instead of my finger?”

  She bit her lip, even as she nodded.

  Happy to oblige, Cole worked his jeans and boxers down, freeing his straining dick. He guided himself to her, and Echo hissed on contact. Yes. God, she needed this so much. When Cole smoothed the tip of himself from cleft to clit, she threw her head back, moaning.

  She slid her fingers over her clit while he teased her with his cock, driving her to the brink of madness. “Some days, this, with you, is all I can think about.”

  Echo reached for him as he drew back. But he tugged on the zipper of her skirt and helped her work it over her hips.

  He didn’t say anything as he watched her step out of the skirt, but the way he was looking at her, and the way one hand dropped and began to absentmindedly rub his cock, reassured Echo as she stood naked before him.

  “The couch?” she suggested.

  Cole picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He sat them back on the couch. Reaching into his pocket, he dragged out his wallet and grabbed a condom. Sheathing himself quickly, he pulled her to him. Echo smiled down at him. She felt beautiful when he looked at her. Strong. Capable. Sexy. She took hold of him, looking down to guide his cock. He watched her as he guided himself into her and they both groaned as they settled into each other. Echo looped her hands around Cole’s with a groan, his arms locked at the small of her back.

  Riding him, Echo used her thighs as she rose over him and sank back down. Cole’s grip tightened on her hips, and his head fell back as he thrust up and into her. Their rhythm was uneven at first, but after a minute the initial desperation—to touch and be touched, to give and take—settled into the slow but steady push and pull as they clung to one another.

  Cole’s muttered sexy words echoed hers. He rocked his hips over hers faster, and she took him deeper as she chased a thread of ecstasy. All the sensations were too much.

  The thrum of her blood was too loud in her ears. She would have missed Cole’s hushed chanting of “Echo, Echo, Echo. God, you feel so good. Want to come so bad,” if not for the tightening of his hands on her hips.

  He buried his face in her chest, his tongue seeking out her nipple. When he latched on, she cried out, the tug of need hitting her deep. She bowed her back, as he moved one of his hands from her waist to her clit, pressing his knuckle to the swollen button that craved more friction. Echo arched her body toward bliss, as she shifted her position just enough to rock against his knuckle, her breath coming out in moans. She shuddered with each stroke of his knuckle until the muscles in her abdomen and legs seized and spasms wracked her body, clenching and releasing Cole’s cock. With a low moan, he dug his hands into her hair and tugged. With deep strokes he filled her. And then he groaned, his body going stiff as he kissed her deep.

  Too tired to move, Echo whispered against his shoulder. “So you’re going to come?”

  “I think we both already did,” he laughed, tilting his head to kiss her jaw, his laughter rippling through the both of them.

  She shook her head slowly. “I meant the party. I want you to be there.”

  “You want me there?” he asked. “As what?”

  Echo frowned, uncertain. “This…whatever this is…” Shit. She had no idea how to do this.

  He kissed her nose. “Relax, I don’t know, either, but I know I want to keep touching you. It’s been torture to not touch you all this time,” he said. “I’m sure I’m crossing a boundary, but I don't give a shit.”

  “Cole, I didn’t come here to confuse things.”

  He nodded even as he pulsed inside her. “I know.” He kissed her softly. “Right now I just want to hold you, okay? We’ll figure it out later, yeah?”

  She nodded and her inner walls clamped around him. “Okay. Maybe. Until we figure it out…let’s keep it to ourselves.”

  His voice was impassive. “So as your coach then, nothing more,” he confirmed. “As your coach I will be at this party.” He nuzzled her neck. “But maybe after, I can be more than your coach.”

  She nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered before kissing his shoulder.

  They’d grabbed their mugs of hot cocoa, and their clothes, and headed for the bedroom. Cole now stood in the small open area between the bed and his bathroom, his hands fisted on his hips and his chest puffed out like some sort of superhero.

  Echo was having a hell of a time sketching a suit onto his naked form. For one thing, the faces he was pulling were making her laugh too hard to draw a straight line. And for another, she would much rather let the tip of her pencil trace the lines and contours of his nakedness. So she took the sketch in another direction, holding the pad of paper over her chest to keep him from seeing the finished product when he crossed the room to investigate.

  “What the hell? What am I? You drew me as a superhero? Who am I supposed to be?” He squinted at the picture.

  “Superheroes always wear spandex,” she told him.

  “It’s a bit revealing, don’t you think?”

  “Not for Cock-Man,” she giggled. Her phone rang on the bedside table, but she ignored it.

  He tickled her mercilessly. “If I’m Cock-Man, what does that make you?” He laughed and slipped his hand between her legs. Her phone rang again, and she groaned. Holding up a hand, she reached for it, her body going cold when she looked at the caller ID.

  “Gramps,” she answered, sitting up in bed and pulling a sheet over herself as if he could see. “What—why are you calling me so late?” There was only one reason she could think of to explain such a call. Fear ripped through her chest as she struggled to keep her voice calm. “Is everything all right at home? Dad… Mom… Everyone’s all right?”

  “Of course. Everyone’s fine,” he answered gruffly. “I’m calling because I want to talk to you about this week’s races. Your father said you were out. But I think we should strike while the iron is hot. You did well, and I’m proud of you. You’ve shown what great things you’re capable of accomplishing.”

  “Well… Thanks, Gramps. But maybe we can talk tomorrow when I’m home?”

  He ignored her. “Which is why I think you should reconsider—”

  Hell. This wasn’t about her at all. It was about him. “I’m not reconsidering anything,” she was firm, but he wasn’t deterred.

  “The half-marathon, th
en,” he pressed. “It won’t be as strenuous as training for the full marathon, and you did so well in Boston it would be a shame to just give up. Worse, to never even bother trying. If Cole won’t allow it, we’ll get you someone else.”

  “I’m not changing my mind on this one, Gramps. And I’m not changing coaches,” she pushed back.

  “Where’s Jen? I want to talk to her. She’ll understand and be able to talk some sense into you.”

  Echo hung up and tossed the phone onto the bed beside her, rather than throw it across the room the way she wanted to. She reached for one of Cole’s pillows and flopped backwards onto the bed, screaming into it then letting her arms drop to her sides, the pillow still covering her face. “Just…put me out of my misery, please,” she jokingly begged Cole. “I cannot stand it anymore.”

  “Well,” Cole said, lifting the pillow from her face and setting it back at the head of the bed, “I think hanging up on him like that was a good first step.” He took the notepad she’d been drawing on and went to put it back on his desk in the corner.

  “I’m going to do it,” she insisted. “I’m going to put my foot down after the Olympics and just stop letting them push me where they want me to go. You know, my mom’s already started downloading applications for MBA programs for me. Now that they know where Gage is going, it’s like they need the next project to focus on, and they keep coming back to me.”

  She squealed as Cole grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her to the edge of the bed, his torso smooth against the soft skin of her inner thighs. He slid his hands up to grab her beneath the knees, a thumb skimming over the red carpet burns on her kneecaps, left by what they’d done earlier on the floor, and eased open her legs.

  “I have the cure for your frustration. I know just what you need to focus on right now.” He kissed her inner thighs. “I believe you dubbed me Cock-Man. If I’m Cock-Man—” He made quick work of another condom, then used the tip of his cock to slide along her slick opening, while she arched on the bed and dug her fingers into his blankets. “—then I think that makes you, Wet Woman.”