Page 104 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

“No, we did stop there, though. We gathered my aunt’s pod and brought them all down with us. Maki Island is their home for now. Permanently if they choose.” He smiled. “Stopping to pick them up made our trip home stretch a bit longer.” He caressed Echo’s back, pulling his mate a little closer. “I’ve missed you like mad.” He kissed Echo slowly, savoring it.

Echo sat on his lap, leaning into the kiss. He wrapped his arms around Mael’s neck, sliding one hand higher. He twisted his fingers into Mael’s hair.

After a couple of seconds, Mael pulled away and stared into the face he’d longed to see for weeks. “Hi.”

Echo grinned. “Hi.” He brushed through Mael’s hair. “You need a haircut.” He growled. “Forget I said that.”

“Why? I do. I must look a mess to your parents. I haven’t had time to stop by a barber yet…” Mael said before pressing a kiss on Echo’s collarbone. “All I wanted was you.” He brushed Echo’s hair back to drop another kiss on his mate’s neck. “Your hair’s longer, too.” He twisted a lock of Echo’s silky strands around one finger. “I like it.”

If he’d thought Echo beautiful before, seeing his mate glowing from pregnancy made his heart clench.

“You know… my parents will likely be gone at least an hour, if not more,” Echo said. “And while we need to wait for them to get dressed and leave before we celebrate, but there’s a big, empty bed upstairs where we could cuddle until they’re gone.”

Mael’s cocks had already thickened the second he laid eyes on his mate. Echo’s suggestion only made it worse. He groaned as his shaft pressed painfully against the inside of his jeans.

“Can we? I mean, I know pregnant folks can have sex… but with two? Would it be too much?”

“Go slow and be gentle with me at first and we’ll be just fine,” Echo said, brushing Mael’s hair back. “If anything hurts, I’ll tell you to stop.”

Mael drew Echo close and inhaled his scent. It had changed a bit. Likely hormones and pregnancy caused… but Echo still smelled like home.

Echo rose and offered a hand. “You haven’t seen your omega in months…why aren’t you already in bed with him?”

Mael grinned. He stood and then dragged his mate close for a kiss. “If your parents weren’t here, I’d put you on that kitchen counter and finish what we started after our first night together.”

“We can save that for the day after they leave,” Echo said, grinning. He took Mael’s hand and led the way to the stairs.

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Mael paused at the bottom step, more than ready to go up but not needing another reason for Echo’s parents to dislike him. He tugged on Echo’s hand. “Maybe we should wait?”

Echo stood two risers above him. He spun, his brows knitted together. “I think we’ve waited long enough, sir. Don’t you?” He crossed his arms over his chest and instantly reminded Mael of Echo’s mother.

Mael scrubbed a hand over his face, mentally bleaching that thought out of his brain.

“Buddy, if this is because I look fat, we’re going to have a serious conversation.”

Mael chuckled, shaking his head. “You’ve never looked sexier than you do right now, trust me.”

“Then why aren’t we upstairs yet?”

“I meant wait until your parents leave,” Mael whispered.

Echo gave a pinched look. “I’m an adult, and I own this house. I’ll do as I damned well pleasewith my mateanytime I want. I haven’t seen you in three months, Maelstrom. March your ass upstairsnow.”

Mael barked with laughter.“Yes,sir.”

Echo pointed at his belly. “They already know we’ve had sex.”

“And they don’t seem happy about that, either,” Mael murmured. “I don’t need to piss them off any more than I already have.”

“They’ll have to get over it,” Echo said, holding out his hand. “Walk softly.”

Mael took Echo’s hand and one step.

Echo rubbed his hand down the front of Mael’s zipper. “I’ll carry your big stick.”

Mael groaned, his eyes closing of their own volition.

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