“That would also explain why there are not women in the compound.” Eyce curled his fingers around the back of Myst’s neck and massaged gently as he spoke. “It has nothing to do with Ares being honorable, either. He just thinks women are inferior, beneath him.”
“Well, that’s stupid.” Echo huffed when everyone turned to look at him skeptically. He held his arms out to his sides and twirled in a circle. “Just look at me. I’m no bigger than a woman, and smaller than some. Just because I have a dick doesn’t make me any better, stronger, or more skilled.”
“No one is disagreeing, babe.” Hex moved over to him and kissed the top of his head. “We’re just explaining why Ares would want men instead of women. I think it goes back to his rivalry with Athena.”
“Because Zeus likes her better?”
“I don’t know all the details, but I would imagine that has something to do with it.”
Echo nodded. He supposed that made sense. Some men were just chauvinistic like that. “I don’t really know much about women,” he admitted. “They seem pretty fierce, though.”
The men in the room nodded their heads solemnly. “Did Athena say anything about Hades?”
Echo turned to look at Fiero and dipped his head, paused, and shook it. “I asked about Hades. She got this weird look on her face and just said that I would have all the answers when the time was right.”
“Weird how?” Eyce asked.
“I don’t know, just weird. I guess almost afraid, but more…” Echo trailed off, his brow wrinkling as he tried to put an emotion to the expression on the goddess face. “I guess she looked kind of guilty?” He didn’t mean to say it as a question, but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he was interpreting his memory correctly.
The guys chewed this over for a minute, but no one appeared to have any answers. “Anything else?” Hex asked eventually.
Echo glanced at Gage, Mac, and Sony. He wanted to talk to his lovers about why their eyes had changed colors, but it was a conversation best had in private. He didn’t see the importance of it in relation to the war either, so they could probably hold off on discussing the topic for a bit longer.
“Well, if that’s all for now, we need to have a little word with Echo,” Onyx said, pushing to his feet and motioning for Myst to join him.
“I didn’t do it,” Echo responded immediately.
The room erupted into laughter, and Echo bit his bottom lip and blushed. Onyx walked to the door and opened it, waving Myst through then crooking his finger at Echo. “Come along, little one.”
The deep, commanding tone in Onyx’s voice brooked no argument, and Echo found his feet moving before he’d given them permission to do so. “Yes, sir.” He couldn’t stop himself from falling right into the role he knew Onyx wanted him to play.
“Much better,” Onyx murmured silkily. He slapped Echo’s butt and nudged him through the door. “You have been very bad, baby.” Onyx smirked at him as he pulled the office door closed. “Go to my room.”
* * * *
Following Echo up the stairs, Onyx’s eyes locked on the man’s pert little ass. Damn, he was one lucky guy. Not one, but seven insanely gorgeous men loved him. He’d never done anything in his whole miserable life to warrant the affections of someone like Echo, but that wouldn’t stop him from soaking up every bit of happiness he could get his hands on.
“Okay, really, what did I do?” Echo asked when they stepped through the door of Onyx’s bedroom. He went and sat on the end of the mattress beside Myst and bumped their shoulders together. “You want to explain to me what this is all about? And should I be naked for the lecture?”
Onyx chuckled under his breath and shook his head. “No one is getting naked just yet. You have questions, so ask them.”
“Why?” Echo blurted. “You said that Myst needed something from you. I don’t understand.” He looked at Onyx as he spoke then cast his eyes to the side to include Myst. “What do you need from each other that you can’t get from the rest of us?”
Deciding it would be better to show Echo than try to explain with words, Onyx walked over to the bed and took his mate’s hand. “Stand up.”
Echo popped up off the bed like he had springs on his butt. Taking Echo’s vacated seat, Onyx point to the floor between his and Myst’s legs. “On your knees.”
Just like that, Echo made a graceful descent toward the floor and knelt in front of them, his hands resting on the tops of his thighs. Onyx could see the confusion in his little man’s eyes, but waited for Echo to ask his next question.
“Why did I just do that?”
Myst reached down and stroked Echo’s creamy cheek with his fingertips. “Because you’re tired of being in control. You don’t want to think anymore. You don’t want to have all the answers, or even pretend that you do.”
Their mate’s brow wrinkled further and his button nose scrunched adorably. “I guess that’s true. I’m so tired of always being brave.” He sighed dejectedly and his shoulders slumped. “My brain hurts from thinking so much. I know I’m supposed to help, be this great, infallible weapon in the war, but I just want someone else to take care of all that and tell me what to do.” The corners of his lips twitched. “Well…sometimes.”
“Now imagine that you were a three thousand year old demon warrior, born from the Underworld, and your only purpose in life is battle.” Myst continued to stroke Echo’s cheek, and the pad of his thumb drifted over the man’s plump lips. “I don’t always have the answers, and I don’t always want to, Echo. Sometimes I just need to forget that all this exists and let someone else take over. Otherwise, my brain would probably explode.”
“It’s a bit of the opposite for me,” Onyx tried to explain. He’d spoken some about it with Echo before, but he didn’t think the little man truly understood it yet. “No one expects me to have the answers. Hell, I don’t think anyone expects much at all from me.” He ignored Echo’s frown and Myst’s low growl. “Hex is in charge, and everyone else seems to have their place in the group. Every day I deal with shit that I have no control over and it just eats at me.”
He hoped like hell he wasn’t just talking in circles. It was hard to put his feelings and needs into words, but Echo watched him intently, so Onyx continued. “I need a way to take back some of that control occasionally. I have no desire to lead us, and I don’t mind being dominated, either. When things get to be too much, I need a way to take back that control, or I start feeling like I’m falling apart.”
Echo stared at him for a long time before he finally shook his head. “If that’s all it was, you wouldn’t have felt the need to explain it to me twice. I don’t know if you’re trying to convince me or yourself, but I’m not buying it. Not all of it anyway. There’s more to it, Onyx. I know there is.” He turned his eyes to Myst. “Same goes for you. What are you two leaving out?”
Reaching out to cup Echo’s other cheek, Onyx rolled his eyes at his lover. “You are too perceptive for your own good. However, I’m not leaving anything out—not anymore. For a long time, that room was my solace, the one place where the men I loved actually saw me. When I was in control, dominating them, putting them at my mercy, they paid attention, knew who I was, and really looked at me.”
“We always looked at you,” Myst whispered.
“I know that now, babe.” Onyx leaned over and ghosted his lips across Myst’s. “You and Hex have a special connection, same as Syx and Vapre, as well as Eyce and Fiero. I was never jealous, but it was hard not knowing where I fit.”
“With us,” Echo said firmly. “You fit with all of us.”
“I get that now. I’m just trying to answer your question the best I know how. I can’t change the way I felt, but I also think things are different now. Plus, I have you. You fit with me, and I’m not the odd man out anymore.”
Echo nuzzled into his palm and purred. “I’m glad I found you.”
“Not nearly as glad as we are.” Myst bent at the waist and placed a chaste kiss on Echo’s f
orehead. Then he sat back and sighed. “I don’t really have any hang-ups. I just like being able to let go and not think or worry for a while. I also like that bite of pain that comes with being paddled or flogged. It lets me step outside of myself, and all I can do is feel.”
Onyx winced as Myst fudged the facts a bit. He didn’t like lying to Echo, but they weren’t his secrets to tell. He guessed it wasn’t technically a lie. Myst had just left out a few crucial details. “Everyone goes to the playroom at some point in time, baby.” Onyx pulled his hand back and rubbed it over his short-cropped hair. How much did he tell his mate? “I think me and Myst just need it a bit more often than the others.”
“So, what’s your story?” Myst arched and eyebrow and smirked at Echo. “You are such a little hellcat most of the time. You don’t take shit from any of us, and you’re usually the first one to start barking orders or coming up with a solution.”
Echo shook his head. Onyx could tell from the look on Echo’s face that the little man knew he was only getting part of the story. Instead of making a big deal out of it, though, he went on to answer Myst’s question. “I guess the same as yours. Onyx gave me a taste of what it’s like to step outside my comfort zone, and I like it. Like I said, I can’t be brave all the time. I can’t be the answer man for everything. With Onyx—in that room—I don’t have to pretend I’m either of those things.”
“Baby,” Myst sighed. “No one expects you to know everything, and we damn sure don’t expect you to be fearless. This is some fucked-up shit we’re facing. We’re all a little afraid whether we want to admit it or not. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“We are a messed up trio, aren’t we?” Echo rolled his eyes, but his lips stretched into a wide smile.
Onyx supposed they were. Then again, every man in the house had some type of quirk that made him just a little insane. It made life interesting at least. He didn’t need to dominate his men for the same reasons anymore, but that didn’t mean he wanted to give it up all together. Luckily, he didn’t think he’d have to—not if the wicked smirk on Echo’s face was any indication.
“So, can we get to the naked part now?”
Onyx laughed in spite of himself before he could rein it in. He sobered quickly and adopted a low, demanding tone. “Go to the room, remove your clothes, and pick a paddle and a toy. Place them on the padded table then kneel on the floor until I get there.”
Echo cast his eyes down, but his body trembled visibly in his excitement. “Yes, sir.” He pushed to his feet and hurried out of the room without a backward glance.
Myst fell against Onyx and laughed when they heard Echo’s footsteps running down the hallway toward the attic stairs. “He’s eager, isn’t he?”
Onyx sighed. “He’s perfect.” Now, he just had to work out Myst’s issues before the demon imploded on himself.
Chapter Twelve
The next two weeks flew by, the full moon passed without incident, and still, tension hung heavy in the air of their home. They were no closer to discovering what Onyx would face, let alone how he would walk away victorious.
They’d spent a lot of time in Onyx’s playroom, Echo needing the grounding and sense of well-being it gave him to turn over his control. The closer the new moon crept, the more he craved the stability Onyx gave him.
But they only had ten days to prepare for the task ahead, and Hex still refused to let anyone out of the house. Winter had finally let go of its stranglehold on northern Montana, giving way to the first warm days of spring, and Echo couldn’t even go out and enjoy it.
“Damn it, Hex! He has to practice. If it’s that big of a deal, everyone can come out with us. You’re being completely unreasonable.”
“You do remember what happened to Gage and the others, right?”
“It’s the middle of the goddamn day! If everyone is together, I’m pretty sure we’ll notice if there is two of someone. It’s not like I’m asking to go to California. I just want to go out in the backyard!”
“Nothing has happened since we wiped out the vampires,” Eyce reasoned, opening the refrigerator and extracting a bottle of beer. “I think if we all stick together, it’ll be fine. Like Echo said, we’d realize if there were two of us.”
“And what if Jet comes strolling along while we’re out there? How do we know it’s him?”
“How do we know it’s him if he rings the fucking doorbell?” Echo wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but he was damn frustrated, and their dear alpha wasn’t making a bit of sense. “Hex, please. Everyone has been cooped up in this house for weeks. I’m just asking for an hour out in the sunshine. That’s all I want. You’ll be right there to protect me if anything happens.” Echo sashayed up to his lover and stroked his chest—much the same as he was stroking his ego. “You’d never let anything happen to me, would you?”
Hex sighed and wound his arms around Echo’s back. “You fight dirty, and you know I’d never let anything hurt you. One hour, Echo. That’s it.”
“That’s all I’m asking for. Thank you, big guy.” Echo turned his face up and puckered his lips for a kiss.
Hex chuckled, but bent and pressed their mouths together. “You are trouble.”
“I try.” Echo winked and spun out of his lover’s arms to go find Onyx. He didn’t have to look far, though. The big demon strolled into the kitchen just as Echo was rushing out, and it was like colliding with a freaking brick wall.
“Easy there.” Onyx’s hands gripped Echo’s shoulders to keep him from toppling over. “Where’s the fire?”
“Hex said we could go outside!” Echo beamed at him, bouncing up and down on his tiptoes like a child on Christmas morning.
“Oh, we got permission.” Onyx cast Hex a scathing look, but deflated almost instantly and smiled back at Echo. “Then let’s not waste it.”
“Eyce, tell Gage that no one gets in this house until we’re back. If someone shows up, he’s to let us know immediately.”
Eyce dipped his head curtly at Hex and took off to find the werewolf.
“I agreed to this as long as we stay together.” Hex lifted an eyebrow at Echo and waved a hand toward the kitchen entryway. “Go find the others.”
“Guys!” Echo bellowed. “Get your asses in the kitchen!”
Onyx rubbed at his ear and winced. “Sweet hell, you’ve got a set of lungs on you.”
“All the better to scream your name, my love.”
Ten minutes later, everyone assembled in the field behind the house. Echo turned his face up to the sun, delighting in the bright rays that heated his face. He really hated winter. If there was even the slightest possibility that they would go to rest in Elysium one day, he wanted it. Even in his dreams, the place was a beautiful paradise, and his heart beat rapidly with the thoughts of roaming those fields for the rest of eternity.
A silly dream perhaps, and probably not practical, but he couldn’t help what he wanted.
When he finally opened his eyes, he found all seven demons staring at him with soft smiles on their faces. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the attention and the knowledge that he could bring that look to their faces. If something as simple as watching him enjoy the sunshine made them smile, he wasn’t about to complain.
“So, what do we do first?” Onyx stepped forward and held a hand out for Echo. “Do you want me to move the trees? Maybe make the grass grow again?”
“Nope.” Echo took his lover’s hand and looked out toward the tree line. “I want you cause an earthquake.”
Hex choked, coughing and sputtering while Eyce beat on his back. “You want to do what?”
“Hey, it could come in handy.” Echo shrugged. “I don’t think the prophecy meant crops in the literal sense. Even if Athena did mean the harvests, I seriously doubt they’re going to die from drought or toxins. So far we’ve faced tangible beings. It only stands to reason that this won’t be any different.”
“I love it when he talks all smart.” Myst winked and blew Echo air kisses w
hen he glared at the warrior. “Love you, snookums.”
“Oh, kiss my ass.” Echo stuck his tongue out before returning his attention to Onyx. “I’d kind of prefer if you just gave us a little tremor, nothing too big.”
“Yes, because I can control that,” Onyx scoffed.
“You can.” Echo squeezed Onyx’s fingers and closed his eyes. “You have the power, babe. Now, stop being so pessimistic and just do it. Close your eyes and hold on tight.” He didn’t give the demon a chance to protest before dropping all his shields and sucking Onyx’s power into himself.
He let it build and grow, filling him and recycling through his body, then pushed it at Onyx like a locomotive. What would have taken him several minutes before his transformation, now took mere seconds, and Echo found himself panting at the energy that coursed through him.
Onyx cried out, and his fingers wrapped around Echo’s hands convulsively as the tendons in his neck strained. The warrior dropped to his knees, gasping for breath and sweating, before turning his head and heaving up the contents of his stomach.
“Shit!” Echo dropped down beside him and caressed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Onyx. It got away from me.”
“I’m okay,” he answered shakily as he pushed to his feet and stood on wobbly legs. “I just feel like I got struck by lightning.”
Echo bit his lip and looked down at the ground. Not since he’d first had the idea of redoubling their gifts had he allowed his own to take over him like that. He didn’t even know he’d done it until it was too late and Onyx was on the ground puking up lunch.
“Echo, I’m fine,” Onyx assured him. He shook his arms and legs out, rolled his head on his shoulders, and cracked his knuckles. “Okay, everyone stand behind me.”
Without a word, everyone moved several paces behind Onyx. Syx wrapped his arm around Echo’s shoulders and pulled him close. “Stop beating yourself up, baby. He’s fine.”
Echo gave a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders and moved away from his mate. This close to the war, he couldn’t afford mistakes. Zapping the shit out of the man he was supposed to be helping definitely counted as a mistake in his book.
Evans, Gabrielle - The Hunger [Fatefully Yours 7] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) Page 10
