Echo in the Hall

by Cricket Starr

  The strange guy show had finished with a romantic dinner for two, including candles and wine. Nina had helped her find both at the store. She’d set the table with a small jar candle but had been unable to find stemmed glasses or fancy plates in Alex’s cupboards. Small plain glasses stood by the simple place settings, but bathed in the warm candlelight, it still looked nice.

  Now if only he thought so too.

  Nervously Echo checked on dinner again. It was almost ready. Hopefully Alex would be home soon…

  The key in the lock announced Alex’s return.

  Chapter Six

  Dumbstruck, Alex stared at what had been his untidy sanctuary. Was it the same place? He resisted the urge to go back out into the hall and recheck the door number, just in case he’d somehow opened the wrong door. This had to be the right place. His key had worked for one thing.

  The beaming presence of Echo standing behind the counter in the kitchen was even better proof that this was his home.

  Trying not to gape, he stepped into the room and removed his coat, putting it and his camera cases on the table near the door. Smiling, Echo came forward and took the coat, moving it to a new set of hooks on the wall.

  What a great idea! Since there wasn’t a closet, it was an excellent place to put his stuff. Quickly Alex took advantage of it, hanging the bags he normally carried with him to and from class. When done, he turned to once again try to take in the modifications surrounding him.

  Clean. That was the first thing he noticed, and it was orderly. No piles of papers on the tables, no laundry on the floor waiting to be done. The kitchen had been scrubbed and dishes washed and put away. It looked great, and even smelled wonderful, particularly with the aroma of dinner cooking.

  Echo put her arms around his neck, temporarily distracting him. Alex gazed down into her beautiful face and shy smile.

  “Welcome…home,” she said in her halting voice.

  “Hey, babe,” he answered, meaning to question her about the changes she’d made. Then she kissed him and all other thoughts fled. By the time he could think again, he was sitting on the couch holding a glass of wine.

  Not a wineglass, of course. One of the many things Melody had taken was all of the fancy glassware they’d bought together. For a moment Alex wondered why he hadn’t simply purchased some inexpensive replacements. Had he been that intent on allowing Mel’s actions to hurt him that he’d continued to live as she’d left him rather than taking simple steps to fix matters? It was an interesting question.

  The tart-sweetness of the icy cold amber liquid tasted fine, even if it was served in an old jelly jar. He sipped appreciatively, watching Echo busy herself in the kitchen. Whatever dinner was, it smelled wonderful.

  She was a minx who insisted on having her own way. Like the way she’d convinced him to share the bed with her. He had to admit, making love this morning was a lot more fun than trying to sleep with blue balls. And now, with the apartment looking so nice, and a good dinner…

  Maybe having her around was going to be a lot better than he’d expected.

  She finished her immediate task and joined him on the couch with her own wine. For a moment they both just sipped and relaxed.

  Alex examined the outfit she wore. It was obviously new and looked expensive. “New threads?” he asked, pointing to her skirt.

  “New…yes. Shopping.”

  “Shopping?” The word caught him off-guard and he almost choked on his wine. “Where’d you get the money?”

  “Nemesis…took me. Paid.”

  Wait a minute…some guy took her out shopping? Alex most certainly didn’t like that! “Who is this Nemesis?” The name sounded familiar, like something from one of the old Greek myths he’d read, trying to find out information about Echo. “I told you not to leave the apartment, how did you meet him?”

  Echo seemed startled by his vehemence. “Not leave…well, not to meet.” She struggled with her words. “Nina was on television. She came here.”

  Hold on…Nemesis was a Nina, a woman? And she was where? “Show me where you saw her.”

  Echo turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Well, at least she’d learned to master the remote. The channel changing stopped and she pointed to the screen.

  “Nina was there.”

  Alex’s jaw dropped as he realized Echo had managed to find the twenty-four-hour pornography channel he subscribed to. Two hundred channels and she’d found this one. He watched the writhing bodies and Echo’s bright-eyed interest uneasily. What must she think of him if she knew he watched this kind of stuff?

  Taking the remote from her, he turned off the set.

  “So you saw this Nina on this channel and then she came here. She’s someone you know?”

  Echo beamed at him. “My sister.”

  “Sister?” Echo’s sister worked in porno films? Suppose she talked Echo into doing that kind of thing. He didn’t want her involved in making sex films.

  She nodded eagerly. “Nemesis is Nina and sister. Took me shopping. Food, clothes. Helped laundry, apartment.” Echo shook her head and rose to return to the kitchen. “Needed so much.”

  “Laundry?” All of a sudden Alex realized how much had gotten done in the few hours he’d been gone. Echo and her sister had been very busy.

  He was about to sit down to a good meal in a clean apartment with a beautiful woman wearing a lovely outfit, and for once he hadn’t paid for any of it. So why didn’t that feel as good as he thought it would? He’d always thought that having to spend money on Melody was why he’d gotten fed up with her.

  When he’d taken Echo in, he’d expected to have to buy stuff for her and take care of her. Now with her sister’s help it seemed like she was taking care of him and he wasn’t sure he liked that.

  He should have been the one to take Echo shopping and buy new clothes for her. She was so proud of the ones she was wearing, he could see it in the way she smoothed the fabric over her knees when she sat down, and the admiring glances she gave her sandal-clad feet. It would have been fun to watch her try clothes on.

  As he thought about it, this was her first dinner since becoming human. He should have taken her out someplace nice, where they’d serve the wine in real glasses and where she wouldn’t have needed to cook.

  Alex felt unexpectedly disgruntled when Echo called him to the table.

  * * * * *

  What in Hades was wrong with Alex? Echo watched him eat his dinner as if each bite soured in his mouth. Was there something wrong with the food?

  She took a big bite of the stuffed grape leaves. Delicious!

  Her first real meal, alone with Alex. Did he have any idea how romantic this was? Maybe not. She took another glance at the way he scowled at his dinner and sighed.

  How was she going to get him to love her? She knew he hadn’t really wanted her here, but she expected him come around eventually. Still, it was getting awfully hard to wait for him to do so.

  He hadn’t even kissed her since the one by the door, nor thanked her for the work she’d done.

  Maybe her new wardrobe would help. Nina had helped her pick out some very nice things.

  It was funny thinking of Nemesis as Nina. Her sister had explained why she’d changed her name. Nemesis had become a word that meant one’s worst enemy, just as her name meant a reflected sound.

  In fact, Echo was thinking she should maybe do the same thing. But what kind of name could she pick?

  She watched her silent dining companion with speculation. Maybe Alex would have some ideas.

  “Name. Need new name,” she said, pleased that the sentence she wanted came out almost the way she’d envisioned it.

  “A new name? For you?”

  “Like Nemesis is Nina. Echo not…” her voice trailed off, unsure of how to say what she wanted.

  “Yeah, Echo is a kind of strange name for someone these days. Everyone would think it’s a joke.” Alex seemed to ponder the matter carefully. Suddenly he smiled and the change in his
mood made the whole room seem brighter.

  “Hey, I guess since I’m responsible for your becoming human, I get to pick a name for you.” Alex thought for a moment. “There is one name I’ve always kind of liked…Chloe.” He grinned. “It even has most of the same letters as your name.”

  Chloe? Echo turned the name around in her mind. She’d never heard it before, but she liked it. She particularly liked that Alex had picked it for her.

  “Chloe,” she said softly. It rolled gently off her tongue. “Nice.”

  “Yeah, it’s a nice name. You want me to call you Chloe?”

  She glanced down, suddenly feeling shy under his now friendly gaze. “Yes. Please.”

  “Okay, Chloe.” He picked up another forkful of dinner, eating it with gusto. “This is pretty good. A kind of Greek dish isn’t it?”

  Chloe nodded, wondering what had changed. Why would a man be grumpy one minute and pleased the next? She watched as he dug into his meal, his whole mood changed. Maybe he’d just been hungry…sometimes that made a man cranky.

  “Watched TV. Saw cook, clean.”

  “Yeah, babe. I noticed the cleaning part.”

  She looked up to see a sheepish grin on his face.

  “The place looks great… I should have said something.” Alex took a deep breath. “I’m not real good with words, babe. I don’t know how to tell someone how I feel. You did an amazing job fixing up my apartment, and I appreciated dinner. Thank you.”

  Tentatively Chloe reached over and touched his hand. “Not good with words, either. Like to cook, clean. For you.”

  “For me?” He didn’t seem to know how to take that. “I’m not used to that, either.”

  He fingered the fabric of her blouse. “This is nice.”

  “More nice…in bedroom.”

  “You have more new clothes? Like these?” At her nod, Alex leaned forward, an interested look in his eye. “Echo…I mean Chloe, would you mind posing for me? There’s a photo project I need to do for my Master’s thesis and you’d be a perfect subject.”

  She didn’t know what a photo was, but she was happy to help. “Help, Alex? Yes. I’ll help.”

  “Great!” Alex jumped up and went for the black cases he’d carried in. In moments he was setting up all sorts of equipment in the living room, long poles with lights on them and a three-legged stand with a small box on top. From the way he handled the small box, it was something very precious to him.

  A small surge of jealousy slipped through her. Why would Alex find a box so much more exciting than she was? Well, at least he felt passion for something.

  While he set up, Chloe cleared the table, rinsing the dishes. She’d yet to figure out how to operate the machine for dishwashing. Perhaps Alex would show her?

  “Hey, babe, leave those. I’ll get to them later. Right now I’d like to get some pictures of you.”

  Somehow she doubted Alex would really wash the dishes, but she was happy to move to the couch. As he directed, she sat up straight, one arm along the back of the couch, the other resting on her knee.

  He held another box smaller than the one on the tripod. “This is a digital camera. I want to get some quick shots with it so I can see the results right away.”

  Holding it to his face, Alex pressed a button on top of the box. A bright light flashed, temporarily blinding her, and she heard a whirring sound.

  As her vision cleared, she saw Alex examining the back of his box. A big grin broke out across his face. “Oh babe, you photograph even better than I expected.” His big body exuded excitement as he held up the camera to her. “Take a look.”

  The back of the camera had a tiny screen, like that of the television. It showed a still picture of…why it was her! It was an instant picture of her, just as she’d seen herself in the mirror earlier. Her blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders framing a face dominated by green eyes wide with curiosity over what Alex was going to do.

  “It’s me.”

  “Yeah, it’s you, babe, and you look great.” He caressed her chin, holding it to turn her face into the light. For a moment Chloe wondered if he was going to kiss her. “You are so beautiful. Gorgeous body and a lovely face. You’d make a great model.”

  He let go of her chin and she fought her disappointment as he busied himself with the rest of the equipment. It wasn’t quite a declaration of love, but she clearly had his interest. According to Nina, that was half the battle in getting a man to love her.

  Now to fight the other half.

  Alex turned on the standing lights and used his other camera to photograph her, the bigger one that wasn’t digital. Occasionally he used the flash but mostly he didn’t. The camera made a click and a whirring noise whenever he pushed the button. He positioned her a couple of times, sometimes having her lie on the couch, sometimes sitting. At one point he pulled the bottom of her skirt up to show more of her legs.

  It grew hot under the lights, uncomfortably so. Not used to wearing so many clothes, Chloe unbuttoned the top of her blouse, trying to cool off.

  She caught the flash of interest in Alex’s eyes, and getting cooler stopped being the focus of removing her top. She unfastened another button and spread the opening of the fabric. Just the top of her breasts showed but she heard Alex’s quick intake of breath.

  He lifted the camera to his eye. Click, whir. “Oh babe. Yeah, like that.”

  Chloe smiled. This could be fun. She sat up and leaned against the back of the couch, letting the blouse gape open. A hint of her bra showed, black lace against her pale skin.

  Click, whir, whir. Alex licked his lips and gave her a hungry smile. “More, babe. Show me more.”

  Happy to oblige, Chloe unbuttoned the last two buttons, letting the blouse gape further. Click, whir, whir. She opened the blouse, fanning herself slowly as if to cool down. Alex’s eyes blazed and the heat from them scorched her bared skin.

  Click, whir, whir, whir. “Okay, now take it off.” Alex’s voice sounded harsh and his breathing had picked up.

  She did as he asked, letting the fabric caress her shoulders as it went, taking it slow. The softness teased her skin as it slid down her back. Involuntarily she arched her back, her breasts poking higher in the air. Her nipples pebbled prominently in their black lace holders.

  “Oh, babe.” Click, whir, whir, whir, whirrrr. “That is a nice bra you’ve got. What else do you have on?”

  Hiding her smile, Chloe reached for the fastening of her skirt. Watching the anticipation in Alex’s eyes, she tugged on it, pretending to have trouble with it. His breath stopped as she finally managed the button and zipper closure. Climbing onto her knees, she let the skirt slide down her hips, revealing the barely-there black lace panties that matched the bra.

  The look in Alex’s eyes turned predatory.

  Click, whir, whirrrr, whirrrrr.

  She dropped the skirt and blouse on the floor and stretched out on the couch, one leg bent. Leaning up on one arm she gave him a meaningful look.

  Click, whiirrrrrrrrrr. Alex put the camera down and moved to the couch. “Chloe, babe, I’m dying here.”

  Chloe stretched her arm and patted the now straining crotch of his pants. “Doesn’t look dead.”

  With a groan Alex dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms. “Nope, not dead, but it’s going to be very busy making you come.” He buried his head in her hair. “You look wonderful but you smell even better, babe.”

  He smelled pretty wonderful, too. Hands on his cheeks, she explored his mouth with her tongue. He tasted even better.

  “Enough photos,” she told him, hands still framing his face. “Make love.”

  Alex stood, Chloe cradled in his arms. “Yeah, babe. I like the way you think.”

  Chapter Seven

  Placed in the middle of the bed, Echo turned to unfasten Alex’s pants, setting free his engorged cock, proud and ready. It was a magnificent sight. If she’d wondered before about his wanting her, he most certainly wanted her now.

  She
closed her mouth over the plum-shaped purple tip. He tasted just as good tonight as he had this morning. Swirling her tongue over the narrow opening at the top, she picked up droplets of his sweet pre-cum. Alex groaned and slipped his fingers into her hair, urging her to take him deeper in her mouth.

  Enthusiastically, Chloe complied with his unspoken request. Impossible as it seemed, his cock grew larger in her mouth, filling it even as she took as much of him as she could. He whispered instructions, then approval. Finally all he could manage were low moans of delight.

  A shiver ran through him and he seized her shoulders, pulling her away. Wordless, he stared down at her, his eyes blazing with passion.

  “I’m not ready to finish quite yet,” Alex told her when he regained his ability to speak. “And when I do finish, I want you screaming along with me.”

  He pulled his shirt off over his head, the black t-shirt flying to the corner. Again Chloe enjoyed the view of his smooth chest and the sprinkling of fine hair that covered it. Since he wouldn’t let her lick his cock anymore, she contented herself with teasing his flat male nipples into erections of their own. Against her belly his cock felt solid and ready.

  Alex pulled her up by the elbows, kissing her hard. “The things you do to me, babe. Let me finish getting undressed, please?”

  Grinning, she settled back on her heels while he untied his shoes and removed the rest of his clothing. Finally naked, Alex moved onto the bed and approached her, hands outstretched to capture her in his arms. Willingly she let him take hold of her waist, rubbing his hands across her flesh to slide under the black lace underwear Nina had talked her into this afternoon. After a lifetime of being bare under her clothing, it had been difficult to see the need for panties and a bra.

  “If there’s one thing a man likes,” her sister had told her, “it’s seeing a woman decked out in lace. Makes him think about how much fun it will be to get her out of it.”

  Alex’s face told her how right Nina had been. Chloe giggled. These weren’t even the most interesting set of underwear she’d gotten.