After staring at his outstretched palm for what felt like forever, Echo tentatively placed her hand on top of his. Alex pulled her up and led her out of the hall, one arm around her shoulders.
Apparently forgotten by the pair, Aphrodite watched them leave, a sly smile stealing across her face.
“This is going to be fun,” she said quietly to herself.
“Fun for whom, Aphrodite?”
The harsh but seductive male voice made her turn, her eyes narrowing as she spotted its source. From the shadows stepped a figure, folding his arms across the coarse hair of his massive chest. A narrow strip of fabric covered his loins, but otherwise he was garbed only in hair, from the top of his head to the thick curly pelt on his legs, which had an odd shape to them, more the legs of a goat than a man. As he moved forward, a soft clip-clop echoed in the hall, the sound of cloven hoofs against a marble floor.
His face was handsome in spite of the narrow unkempt beard, with compelling eyes whose expression matched the frown on his sensuous down-turned lips. Nestled in the short curly brown hair on his head were two horns, tiny and barely visible.
She kept her voice amused as though his presence wasn’t an issue. “Pan, god of the woodlands and fields. What are you doing in an urban setting like this?”
“I seek what was stolen from me. Echo the nymph was mine to have, given to me.”
“She was given to the forests, Pan, as all nymphs were. You could dally with them, but only if they were willing. She wasn’t willing, if I remember it correctly.”
“She was stolen from me,” he repeated angrily. “Stolen by that lout, Narcissus, whose love she couldn’t win.” He reached to touch the statue of Echo, her image in stone, discarded for the moment. He stroked the arm of the figure with an injured air.
“She let herself fade to nothing as a result, rejecting me who would have given her the attention she craved.”
Aphrodite folded her own perfect arms and glared at the god. “You know that love doesn’t work that way, Pan. Just because one forces love on another doesn’t mean that they will return it. Echo found that out with Narcissus, you should learn it too.”
Pan’s hand drew back from the statue and became a fist. “I won’t give up so easily, nor will I fade to nothing or turn to stone.” He returned the goddess’s glare. “You think that Echo will find love with this human man, but he will disappoint her just like all men do. When that happens she will seek the same oblivion she had before, but I’ll be waiting for her. Let him teach her to appreciate the sensual arts…no one is as good at those as I am.”
As if to illustrate his point, Pan pressed himself against the statue and ground his crotch with loving skill along its backside. When he stepped back, Aphrodite could see the long ridge his engorged cock made inside his loincloth. In spite of herself, the goddess was impressed.
“I’ll win her, you wait and see.”
He disappeared into dust as suddenly as he’d appeared, leaving Aphrodite with a hint of a smile on her face.
This could even be more interesting than she’d thought.
Chapter Four
Alex wrapped the blanket around Echo’s shoulders and settled her back on the couch. Pouring a mug full of coffee, he held it out to her. Her hand shook as she reached for it, and he had to hold it for her as she took first one hesitant sip, then another. Surprise and appreciation was in her face as she finally took the mug from him and held it to her chest.
“It’s good?” he asked her.
“Good,” she repeated, nodding. Alex watched as some of the color returned to her face, although she still seemed pale, a thin wispy figure sitting on the couch.
Was this the same woman who’d been with him just an hour ago, who’d screamed her pleasure as they’d made love? And then, later, she’d shouted at him that she wasn’t an “easy babe”. There’d been a spirit in her then, a strength of purpose.
She seemed so uncertain now. Of course, she’d expected to return to her statue and now she couldn’t and that had to be a difficult change for her. She had to learn to be a human woman.
Echo took several deep sips and appeared to melt into the cushions. The look she gave him made him distinctly uneasy. It was a “you’re my hero” kind of look, the kind of look a guy got that was supposed to make him want to do something for a girl.
Ah, heck. He did want to do something for her. And to her. And with her, on the couch, or on a desk…
Suppressing a groan, Alex closed up his thermos and stuck it back into his locker. What was he going to do? He’d agreed to take her back to his place in the morning, and help her learn how to be a modern woman. The first was easy. It might even be kind of fun to have her around…
No! He had to stop thinking about her that way. Sex was how he’d got into this mess in the first place. If he’d let her go back to her statue without making love to her, then she’d be as she had been and he wouldn’t have her to worry about.
Of course, then he’d still have an erection hard enough to pound nails. Right now he was actually somewhat…well… satisfied. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman, and he couldn’t remember any time that he’d had this kind of pleasure. Even now he couldn’t help the stirring in his groin.
He still wanted her, bundled in a blanket and clutching her cup of coffee. She looked so cold—maybe he could warm her up…
Shaking his head, he tried to dispel the thoughts of laying her down on the couch and making love to her again. It would make her warmer, but keep him from his job. He needed to make his rounds of the museum.
“I’ll be back in a little while. You stay here and rest.”
Fear filled her eyes, but she nodded bravely. “Stay here and rest.” She held up her cup. “Good.”
Words were still hard for her to come by, but Alex knew what she meant. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll be back.” He headed for the door.
Echo watched him go, controlling her anxiety over being left alone. After all, she’d been alone most of her life…such as that had been. In the past three thousand years, she’d rarely spent time with others. Only Nemesis, her sister, had come by to visit and even then the conversation had been one-sided. Between being linked to a block of stone and not being able to form her own sentences, she’d generally just listened to her sister rail about this or that without putting in any input of her own.
That was pretty much the fate of an object of art, to be seen and not heard.
At least that was over with. She, the infamous Echo, could talk now, and did she have a lot to say! Or at least she would, once she remembered the words.
She tried a little more of the coffee Alex had given her. It really was quite hot and her first taste had nearly scalded her tongue. This time she sipped just a little of the beverage from her cup, letting it linger in her mouth until it was cool enough to swallow.
It really did have a rich taste, just like everyone said. Over the years she’d heard so many people talk about coffee, particularly those who worked at the museum on their way back to their offices. They would rave about how it smelled, how it tasted, and how much they would give for a really good cup right now. The way they talked, the way they got so excited, it might have been sex they were talking about.
Echo sniffed the cup in front of her. It did have a nice smell. She took another sip and resisted the urge to moan her appreciation. Well, maybe not quite as good as sex…but close. And it was hot, the cup warming her hands. As it traveled into the pit of her stomach, empty all these years, it became a centerpiece of heat spreading outward. She’d been so cold, she hadn’t realized how much. Now she felt warm, cozy in her blanket.
She finished the last of her coffee and reached to put the cup on the low table next to the couch. Weariness crept along her limbs, dulling her mind. Not quite the dull emptiness of becoming one with her statue, but familiar anyway. Echo yawned, only remembering at the last moment to cover her mouth.
It had been so long since she was alive. She would have to watch
herself to avoid embarrassing blunders, actions rude in the modern world. So much to learn.
Would Alex really let her stay with him long enough for her to gain his love? Echo had her doubts. He would have to see it was in his interest to keep her there. She knew he liked sex. At least she could keep his interest that way for a while, but soon that wouldn’t be enough. Men tired of women they only used for sex…she’d have to come up with other ways to make him want to keep her until he fell in love with her.
At least for now she was safe. Drawing the blanket around her, Echo rested her head against the small hard pillow behind her, and for the first time in centuries let sleep claim her.
She was still asleep when Alex returned near dawn to take her home.
Alex’s car was a beat-up sedan that had clearly seen better days. The color was a faded metallic green and the cracked black vinyl inside smelled old and dusty. Still wearing a blanket as a cloak, Echo climbed into the passenger side. She startled when he reached over her and fastened the seatbelt around her. Never before had she been secured into a seat, and for a moment she wondered why he felt the precaution was necessary.
He took off out of the parking lot of the museum and swung the car into the early morning traffic, and she quit wondering. The ride to Alex’s “place” was unnerving, scary, and thrilling all at once. Echo dug her fingernails into the armrest as they sped down the highway at what seemed like a breakneck speed. Never before had she moved so fast! When her statue had been transported, she’d been locked away inside of it and unaware of the world speeding around her.
She felt Alex’s gaze when they stopped at an intersection. A frown crossed his face. “Are you okay? You look kind of pale.” His eyes widened. “You aren’t going to be sick, are you?”
The coffee she’d drunk hours ago rose from the pit of her stomach and she grabbed the armrest tighter, fighting the sensation.
“Okay… not sick,” she told him, and prayed it would be true. The last thing she needed was to be ill in Alex’s car. She pointed outside, mimicking with her fingers the world moving past her window. “So fast…”
His frown deepened, but when they moved on, he drove slower, and took the curves more cautiously. Echo breathed a sigh of relief when they finally pulled in front of a long two-story building and came to a stop.
She peered up at the vast, uninspiring brick front broken by small windows. One door opened into the place. “Your home? It’s so large!”
A short laugh escaped him. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t own the whole building. All I have is a small one-bedroom apartment on the second floor, nothing fancy.”
Clutching the blanket around her, Echo followed him into the building and up the stairs to stop outside the door as he fumbled with his keys. As little time as she’d known him, she thought Alex looked anxious. Finally he got the door open and let her step inside.
“It’s so…” Echo faltered, trying to find in her limited vocabulary the words to describe the sight before her. “…full,” she finally said.
Grimacing, Alex threw his keys on the table just inside the door. “Yeah, well…it’s kind of been the maid’s day off for the past several months.”
What did that mean? She moved past piles of papers and dirty clothes that littered the floor. A couch held more clothes, and books and papers. Large flat cardboard boxes smelling of leftover spices had been left on the low table in front of it. To one side a narrow counter separated what seemed to be a food preparation area, with a sink and oven. Storage areas covered the wall above, all of which must be empty since everything that should have been put away was either piled on the countertop or occupied the sink.
Alex led her into a smaller room he called a bathroom. It held white porcelain fixtures, one of which he explained was used for physical relief. At least that was the gist of his explanation, once she understood what piss and crap meant. To her surprise she actually needed to use it, probably the result of the coffee she’d drunk earlier.
Alex was waiting for her after she emerged from the bathroom. Behind him was a large black plastic bag, and much of the trash that had littered the place was gone. The couch was empty, its contents having been moved to the floor nearby, a sheet and blanket decorating it.
Disappointed, Echo stared at the makeshift bed. She’d looked into the room at the end of the hall and seen the large bed that Alex obviously used. Apparently she wasn’t going to share it with him.
“Mine?” she pointed at the couch.
He shook his head. “No, I’m giving you the bed in my room.”
“No need. Share.”
“No share.” He stopped. “Look, what happened between us was a mistake. I’m not looking for a girlfriend right now. My life is complicated enough as it is.”
“Mistake?”
She couldn’t keep the hurt from her voice and he grimaced at it. “Look, I’m sorry. I’ll put you up, but I don’t want us to get serious. What happened was supposed to be just for fun.”
“For fun.” She tried a reassuring smile. “I know fun.”
“Yeah, I guess you do. All those old Greeks spent a lot of time just having sex for fun from the sound of things.”
Yeah, just for fun. But it didn’t always stay that way. Some god got really possessive, especially when they didn’t get their way. Take Pan for example…
But no, thinking about Pan wasn’t going to improve this situation at all. Thank heavens he’d finally given up trying to possess her.
“Fun good. Sleep together good.”
“This isn’t up for debate…you’re sleeping in my room and I’m on the couch.” He rubbed his face, weariness obvious in his stance. “I’m too tired to argue more.”
Directing her into the bedroom with a firm push of his arm, Alex opened a drawer and pulled out a large white shirt. “Here’s a t-shirt for you to sleep in. Be a good girl and go to bed so I can get some rest.”
Defiantly Echo dropped her gown to the floor, standing naked in front of him. Alex might have been tired and claiming disinterest, but she saw the quick widening of his eyes and how he caught his breath. A quick glance below his belt gave her further evidence as he turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Echo smiled to herself. He was still interested.
She pulled the t-shirt over her head. It fell to halfway down her thighs. Good enough for a nightdress, at least for now. Turning back the covers of the wide bed, she slipped between them to luxuriate on the cool sheets. They weren’t clean; she could smell Alex’s scent on the pillow, thick and musky. Desire rose, hot and intense, and she ached between her legs.
Echo groaned. Just the man’s smell was an aphrodisiac. She needed him, no matter how he felt about her, and for more than just the roof over her head or the t-shirt on her back. Staying in his home was going to be a torture if he didn’t accept her as a bed partner from the beginning. She’d have to convince him of that—and there was no time like the present to do so!
She heard Alex stumbling around, apparently getting ready for bed. Creeping out the bed, Echo went to the door and opened it crack to listen. There was a soft thud of a knee hitting the low table followed by a mumbled curse, and then the couch creaked as if something heavy was stretching out on it. After a while she heard a heavy sigh.
She waited until his breathing grew even before slipping through the door into the living room. The room was in shadows, the heavy drapes across the windows filtering out the early morning light. In the gloom Alex was a dark lump on the couch. Echo crept closer and saw that while his head rested comfortably on a pillow, his legs were too long for the couch. He’d solved the problem by sticking his feet over the end of the sofa where they hung in the air.
Echo pondered the situation. He’d have a crick in his back for certain if he continued to try and sleep that way. Alex was cranky enough as it was…the last thing she needed was him acting like an old bear with a sore back. She should seduce him back to his bed for his own good.
Resolution in her step, Echo moved to the couch and crouched next to him.
Alex had removed his shirt and pants, and lay covered only by a thin blanket. It was bunched up over his crotch…or was that bulge all him and not the blanket?
She let one tentative hand reach to discover the truth. Not only did the bulge get bigger, but Alex made a small moan in his sleep. Alex might be tired, but he was still interested in her. Or at least he was interested in sex, which was good enough for now.
Carefully she peeled back the covers. When they’d made love earlier she’d hadn’t had a chance to really look at his body. Now with him asleep, the hard planes of his chest and flat belly were available for her examination, and she took advantage of the opportunity.
He was much older than the usual men she’d seen. Memories of the lithe bodies of the village youths she’d dabbled with and the rock-hard torsos of the various gods who’d been her lovers so long ago faded in the reality of this man. His chest was wide, with a coarse dusting of hair that traveled down to his waist in a narrowing trail. His belly was hard, but had a small softness to it, and there were hints of more softness at the edges of his waist. He looked strong, but well-fed.
Here was a man who worked out, but still enjoyed his dinner. A man with appetites for more than just sex.
Perhaps there would be more than one way to win this man’s heart. From the smell of the trash that had littered the place, Alex was living off pre-made food. It had been a long time since Echo had prepared a meal and she’d need to learn how to work the complicated equipment in his kitchen. A challenge but not an insurmountable one.
In the meantime, the bulge still under his blanket jerked again. Alex was dreaming and it wasn’t about food.
Echo finished pulling back the covers to find that he’d left his shorts on. She could see his nascent erection, stretching the tight, thin fabric. She blew on the tip and watched the fabric darken with pre-cum.
Again Alex moaned and stretched, one arm falling across his face, covering his eyes. His erection stretched too, nearly filling his undergarment. It looked uncomfortable. Probably it would be a good thing for her to free him from such confinement.
Echo in the Hall Page 4
