Page 41 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

Mael

Sucks to be you. You get to suffer my ugly come face for the rest of your life…

As soon as he hit send, he reread therest of your lifepart, and his mouth went a little dry. Suddenly it hit him that he’d really found his one and only. The last person he’d ever fuck. While most of him was elated, there was a tiny part of him that was freaking out. That part took over for a few seconds, whispering doubts when he’d felt absolutely sure just moments before.

Was he really ready to commit tooneperson for the rest of his life?

If he’d been asked that before he’d first spied Echo on that boat, the answer would’ve been a resounding ‘hell, no.’

But they were mates. Committing was what they were supposed to do. He felt the innate urge to draw Echo close and make the man his. It was the way of things.

They were ruled by their shifter nature.

When had he ever followed the rules, though?

Echo

You’re lucky. It’s actually really sexy. I can’t wait to see it again.

Echo

So you can’t scare me off with that for the rest of our lives.

The rest ofourlives.

Mael stared at those words, too. It had been easier to imagine a forever when Echo was sitting right in front of him, making all the blood in his body travel south, but it was another thing when he was returning to the real world. He was about to face his hellion siblings and tell them he was mated to a dolphin.

He had no idea how they’d react.

The ferry sputtered and vibrated—the telltale sign it was close to docking.

Mael

The ferry just pulled in. I’m headed to Havoc’s to prep our gear and might not be right by my phone for the next few hours. I’ll text you later tonight.

Echo

Or you could call. We could have phone sex.

Mael

You wear Dockers and sweater vests to throw people off the bad boy scent, I see. Smart.

Echo

Nerds like sex, too. Maybe even more than other folks because we don’t get it as often.

Mael

Those days are over. I’m gonna wear that ass out.

Echo

The door to the interior room opened, and one of his distant cousins who worked the ferry peeked his head in. “Come on, Maelstrom. Let’s get it moving. We’re on a schedule.”

Mael grabbed his helmet and gloves. On the way to his bike, he sent one last text.

Mael

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