Page 22 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

Echo shuddered, the rough treatment turning him on again. “I did.”

“You didwhat?”

“You say you’re not a bully… but here you are bullying me into an answer.”

Mael wouldn’t be denied. “You… did…what?”

Echo scowled. “I liked it rough. I liked the danger. The harder you were on me, the more it turned me on. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Itiswhat I wanted to hear.”Mael’s smile slowly widened. He stroked Echo’s cheek with his fingertips. “I want to knoweverythingthat turns you on. I want to make your fantasies come true.” He rubbed his thumb over Echo’s bottom lip. “Don’t ever hide or be ashamed of your needs,pepi.Not with me.”

“You make us sound like a done deal,” Echo murmured.

“You’re my forever, Echo.”

Echo held Mael’s gaze.

“Unless you tell me to leave,” Mael said, his voice almost a whisper. “I’m going to take a nap. I have a reputation to uphold, and I need rest before I fuck you again.”

Echo chuckled, shaking his head. “You fucked me senseless earlier. Your reputation is safe.”

After turning off the light beside the bed, Mael dragged Echo against him. “Senseless isn’t good enough. Brains must be melted, or I’ve not done my job.” He slid his hand under Echo’s sweater vest. “Let’s get the rest of these clothes off.”

“I’m too tired,” Echo said, brushing Mael’s hand away. He spun to his side, little spoon to Mael’s big one. “I’ll take it off later.”

“Get some rest,” Mael murmured, wrapping an arm around Echo. “It’s going to be a long night.”

Echo struggled to sleep, though.

While he might be safe from breaking the treaty, a war might still be coming because of them. He hoped that wasn’t the case. Once Mael began to lightly snore, he traced a finger over one of the orca’s big hands. Big, strong hands that had killed… and been gentle, too.

Could he trust the boogeyman to be strong enough to protect them and their futures? He wasn’t sure.

6

Mael wasn’t sure of the hour when he awoke. Echo was curled up against his side, warm and soft. He glanced down at the omega’s face, his chest tightening. Echo was so fucking gorgeous it took his breath away. With his features softened in sleep, it only made it worse. Reaching up, he traced Echo’s lips with his thumb in the barest of caresses. Echo murmured something incoherent, his lashes fluttering, and then drifted back to sleep.

The weight on Mael’s chest grew, fear coiling in his belly.

If Echo was that terrified of them being together, did they stand a chance? He was strong enough to fight off the slings and arrows from both pods if he had to, but if Echo wasn’t brave enough to stand at his side, then it would be all for naught.

Mael had never anticipated finding a mate of his own. With the things he’d done, he hadn’t expected fate would favor him. Of course, fate wasn’t making it easy in giving him a dolphin, but he’d damned well been through a lot harder battles in his life.

Too many battles. Most of which he never should’ve been forced to wage.

He stared down at Echo and sensed this was the fight he’d been born for. Echo stirred something in him he’d long thought dead. A desire for a future.

A life lived instead of one survived.

If that wasn’t worth fighting for, what was?

When he’d first looked in Echo’s eyes, he’d seen forever in them—along with a lust that had rocked him to his core. It was then that he’d known his initial instinct had been right all along. Echo was his.

He brushed back Echo’s long, golden locks and worried he wasn’t good enough. That he didn’t deserve what destiny had brought his way… but he’d denied himself so much in life. He couldn’t let go of the gift he’d been given. Not when it was wrapped in such a sweet little package.

Mael had always been protective of his family, but what he felt for Echo surpassed that. Was it his little dolphin’s small stature that brought that out in him or the simple fact they were mates?

A purr caught his attention, pulling him from his thoughts. There was a furry little monster lying near his shoulder on the pillow he was using. He glanced at the cat who’d run from him earlier in the night. The cat lifted his gaze and hissed.

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