Among the Echoes (Wrecked and Ruined #2.5)(54)

I allow him to kiss me for a minute longer, but only because it would be criminal to stop him. Slowly, I lift my left arm over my head, pulling on the hand he’s using to support himself. He drops to his elbow as I guide his hand to restrain my wrist.

"I love you too. And I trust you." I take hold of his other hand and glide it down between my legs. The second he brushes over my wet core, we both moan.

He doesn’t move as his eyes hold mine, but he immediately releases the arm I placed above my head. "Tell me to stop if you need to."

"I won’t need to."





Erica’s words fuel me forward. I suddenly sit up to kneel between her legs but never look down. I don’t want this to be about the scars. She’s nervous about my reaction almost as much as I am. I have a shit temper. I know that, when I see them, it’s going to enrage me that someone hurt her in such a violent manner. I also know she will misconstrue that anger as some sort of personal judgment against her. If she is expecting me to sit between her knees and examine her old injuries, she couldn’t be more wrong.

I just want to be with Erica.

My hands start at her knees, sliding up each of her thighs and spreading them wide as they go. My eyes remain locked on hers, being sure to give her no reaction whatsoever. Her breath catches as my hands meet the lines of puckered flesh running up the inside of her thighs. They are so slight that I’ve never felt them before in all the times we have been together, but then again, she has never let me touch her like this before either. Finally, I meet her heat and her eyes nervously flash around the room.

"Erica," I growl to catch her attention. My fingers slide over her wet folds, feeling the indentations where she was cut. My blood begins to boil, but I do my best to lock it down. "Fucking perfect," I whisper, pushing a single finger inside her. I drop my thumb to her clit, making slow circles. Her tense body relaxes as she closes her eyes.

"Slate," she moans, lifting her hips off the bed to meet my every stroke.

I finally drop my gaze to my hand moving in and out of her. The red lines are stark compared to her creamy, white skin, but what I can’t tear my eyes away from is the way she freely undulates under my touch. Fuck, it’s a beautiful sight to watch her apprehension melt away as she becomes lost in the moment. I can’t take it for even a second longer.

I quickly push both hands under her ass and lift her entire lower half off the bed to meet my mouth. She lets out a startled squeak, but soon her legs relax over my shoulders. With a hand over her hips and one under her ass, I hold her to my mouth while I devour her *. I’m a desperate man. I thrust my tongue inside her, kissing and sucking every inch of her wetness. I flick her clit, starving with need to feel her come against my mouth. Not Riley or Beautiful, but to feel Erica come under my touch for the very first time.

Her body pulses around me as she rolls her hips against my mouth. With one last swipe of my tongue, she comes, calling my name as she hits her climax. It’s not loud or wild. Instead, she says it with such reverence that it hits me in a place that’s so deep I never even knew it existed before now. I slowly lower her back to the bed, continuing to taste her on the way down. She shoves a hand into my hair as I trail kisses up her stomach and over each breast. I slide up her body, covering her completely. I’m careful to read her reaction for any type of hesitance, but if she even gives it a second thought, I can’t tell.

I reach toward the nightstand to retrieve a condom, but she shakes her head. "Don’t. I started birth control as soon as you came back."

I lift a questioning eyebrow. "Then why have I been using condoms for the last four weeks?"

"Because I didn’t want to hear you call me beautiful the first time we were truly together. I wanted you to be with me." Her eyes well with tears.

"You have to stop crying in bed or I’m going to develop a complex," I tease then kiss her gently. She quietly laughs as she swipes the tears from her face. "I’ve been dating a woman, and no, she wasn’t always you. But in this bed, I’ve only ever been with Erica. This might be the only place you were ever truly honest with me."

She gives me the smallest smile and pushes her hips up off the bed, signaling to me that she’s ready for more. I move a hand between us, and this time, she doesn’t even flinch. Slowly, I guide my cock inside her tight * and she throws her head back against the pillow.

Rubbing my scruff against her cheek, I lean down and whisper, "Erica," into her ear just so there is absolutely no question in her mind about who I’m with right this second.

For well over an hour, I make love to Erica. It’s not the normal hot and frantic sex we usually have, but that doesn’t make it any less incredible. Every time she gets close, I ease up and keep her on the edge. It’s slow and agonizing, but in the end, it gives us both exactly what we need—a connection without words, without lies, and without hurt. It gives us a new beginning.





"Holy shit!" I exclaim when I walk into Slate’s Chicago apartment.

When I think apartment, even for a big, famous, rich guy, I think small and compact. But this place is the exact opposite. I knew Slate had money, but he seems like such a low-key guy that this place actually surprises me. It’s huge. There’s a private entrance and a scary security guard. I thought for a minute that Leo and I were going to be frisked before we were allowed to enter. Thankfully we weren’t, because I know Leo never leaves home without a gun stashed somewhere.