Among the Echoes(64)

He drags his mouth up my chest and neck, pausing at my ear. "It’s a new day, Erica."

It’s a short sentiment. Nothing extreme. However one word rouses me into consciousness—Erica.

I open my eyes to see the golden eyes and crooked smile that I would recognize anywhere. His hair is disheveled and a thin layer of scruff covers his jaw. Yet, Slate has never looked sexier in his life. It’s a new day, and even after all of the filth I divulged last night, he’s still at my side.

"You ready?" he asks, enabling me to tell him yet another truth.

"Yes," I answer, and morning breath be damned, his mouth slams over mine.

He immediately uses one hand to push himself up to hover above me and the other to drag the sheet from between us. The morning sun is bright as he settles back on top of me, but this is Slate. For the first time ever, I don’t care what he sees. I’m finally ready to bare it all.

He slides a hand down my body and ever-so-slowly drags it between my legs. Just before he rounds the final curve, he pauses to catch my gaze. I don’t want to think about the scars or be nervous with Slate, but I feel it anyway. I clench my eyes closed and nod for him to continue. Only his hand never moves another inch.

"Erica, I love you. I never knew you before you had these scars, but that doesn’t mean I won’t spend my entire life trying to erase them from the inside out." My heart swells and my voice catches in my throat. "You see my nose, beautiful? Well, it’s been broken three times. I swear, a few years ago, it was perfectly straight. I was a sexy bastard back then," he teases before becoming serious again. "Everyone has scars, Erica. Don’t for a second think yours are any different based on how you got them. I love you—scars and all."

The hand that was only seconds ago trailing down my body shifts direction and slides back up and into my hair. As his mouth seals over mine, Slate Adam Andrews tells me a truth of his own without even uttering another word.

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.