Evans, Gabrielle - Shades of Black [Fatefully Yours 5] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (8 page)

“Then I guess you should keep them happy.” Hex sighed and pushed to his feet. He was a damn fine person to be giving advice. He couldn’t even keep his own men happy.

“So, when are you leaving?”

This was the hard part. In the dreams, Craze was with them inside the cave. He was integral to helping Syx complete his task. Hex knew they needed him there before the new moon, but he was loath to leave his lovers behind while they searched out the evil in the forest. He was their alpha, their leader, and their protector. He couldn’t just abandon them.

“You should leave before Echo wakes up,” a voice said quietly from behind him.

Fuck! He hadn’t even heard the zipper on the tent flap. Turning slowly, Hex peered up at Syx with a mixture of guilt and admiration. He could see it in Syx’s eyes. The man was prepared for whatever was to come. He wouldn’t make waves.

Syx dipped his head resolutely. “I’ll help you pack.”

* * * *

Moving about the tent quietly so as not to wake his mates, Syx rolled up one of the sleeping bags and carried it back out to Hex where he was waiting beside Echo’s SUV. “You know he’s going to kill you for taking his new toy, right?”

Hex didn’t even crack a smile. “I figure he has a lot of things to be pissed off at me about. One more shouldn’t make much of a difference.”

Syx pushed the roll into Hex’s hands and sighed. “He’s worried about you, not angry. We all are. I wish you’d let me help, but I can see you won’t.”

Hex tossed the bag into the backseat and rested his forehead against the top of the doorframe. “How much did you hear?”

Moving in behind his lover, Syx wrapped his arms around Hex’s waist and kissed the back of his neck. “Enough to know that you’re dead set on doing this alone. I’m not going to try to stop you, but please be careful.”

Turning slowly, Hex cradled Syx’s face in his palms and pressed their lips together softly. “I don’t deserve any of you.”

Syx’s heart broke for the man in his arms. Hex didn’t see himself the way the rest of them saw him. He never had. “Yes, you do. I don’t want Craze here, and you know that. If he can help keep us together, though, I’ll deal with it. Once this is over, we’re sending his ass packing again.”

Surprisingly, Hex chuckled softly. “You got it, babe.” He seemed a bit surprised at the endearment that slipped through his lips, but Syx resisted the urge to dip into the warrior’s head. “I’ll do my best. Just keep an eye on Echo. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it up to you guys when I get back. I just can’t explain right now.”

“No need to explain. Just come back to us in one piece, even if that means you come back alone.”

Hex brushed their lips together again then sighed and eased away. “I’ll have my cell phone. There’s no reception out here, but if you get in trouble, find a way to call me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Gathering his resolve, Syx nodded firmly and took a step back as he watched Hex ease into the driver’s seat. He didn’t want Hex to go, but he couldn’t stop him. The man was stubborn to a fault, but his heart was in the right place. Besides, he’d been having the same dreams about Craze in the cave with them. That more than anything convinced him that letting Hex leave was the right thing to do.

Hex shut the door quietly and began mumbling orders about how to search for the cave, questions to ask the shifters, things to do to protect themselves. Syx rolled his eyes and smirked. “We can take care of ourselves, Hex. You don’t have to hold our hands through everything. Now go bring that dickhead back, and do it quickly.”

His lover gave him a crooked smiled and started up the engine. “Yes, sir.”

“Oh, I like that. Say it again.”

Hex opened his mouth to reply, but his gaze slid past Syx and his eyes rounded. “Fuck,” he spat.

Syx looked over his shoulder just in time to see Echo scramble out of the tent and sprint toward them. “Go,” he urged Hex. “I’ll handle it.”

“I’m sorry,” Hex mumbled then threw the vehicle into reverse.

Syx caught Echo up around the waist, lifting him off his feet and holding him tight as his mate kicked and struggled. “Hex!” he screamed. “Stop! Hex!” Broken sobs bubbled up from his chest, and tears glistened off his pale cheeks in the moonlight. “Come back! You can’t just leave! Hex!”

He continued to struggle and scream until everyone in the camp came hurrying toward them to find out what all the commotion was about. Syx kept a firm hold on Echo as he watched Hex turn the car around, and the taillights grew smaller and dimmer until they disappeared completely.

His lovers gathered around him. Jet and Pax stood off to the side with Gage and Mac. And Echo continued to wail. “Why? He can’t just fucking leave! Bring him back. Make him come back.”

“I can’t,” Syx whispered into his mate’s ear. “He has to do this. You have to let him do this.”

“I don’t have to let him do a goddamn thing!” Echo started struggling again, clawing at Syx’s arms and kicking his feet wildly. His heel caught Syx in the shin and pain radiated up his leg.

Gasping in surprised pain, Syx lost his hold, and Echo slipped free. Dropping to the ground, he gained his feet quickly and took off sprinting down the narrow path. “Damn it!”

“I got him,” Myst mumbled.

In the next instance, Echo froze in midstride and began cursing a blue streak as he screamed out imaginative threats to Myst. “Let me go, or I swear to the gods, I’m going to rip your balls off and shove them into your nasal cavity.”

“Is that even possible?” Vapre muttered.

“Well, I don’t want to find out.” Myst winced and actually covered his cock and balls with both hands.

Syx groaned and jogged toward Echo. He really didn’t want to do this. Echo was going to hate him for it, but he couldn’t stand the distress in his lover’s voice any longer. Moving around in front of him, Syx brushed the hair back from Echo’s face and looked into his eyes. “Don’t hate me,” he pleaded.

Echo’s eyes darted back and forth, but he still couldn’t move. “Don’t. Syx, please don’t.”

“I have to, baby. I’m so sorry. I can’t stand to see you like this.”

“Then bring him back.”

“I can’t do that either.”

“Syx, no, you have to let me go.”

With a heavy heart, Syx bent until they were eye to eye and dropped his shields. Almost immediately, Echo’s eyes took on a vacant expression and stilled in their movements. “He’s out,” he called quietly to Myst.

Myst released his hold, and Syx scooped Echo up before he could sag to the ground. His delicate eyelids were closed, and his body rested limply against Syx’s chest.

“How long will he sleep?” Fiero asked as Syx walked past him, carrying Echo to their tent.

“At least until sunup.”

Then their problems would really begin.

Chapter Seven

When Echo awoke the next morning, consciousness didn’t come to him slowly, but slammed into him like a freight train. The horrible events of the previous night flooded his mind, and he cried out before he could stop himself. The pain of Hex’s departure ripped at his heart and shredded his chest.

“Shh,” Syx murmured from behind him as he cuddled closer.

Echo wanted to be mad at the demon for putting him to sleep, but he just didn’t have it in him. He’d have done the same thing in Syx’s position. He also understood that he wasn’t the only one hurting. His men felt the sting of Hex’s leaving as much as he did. They were just better at hiding their emotions.

“We’ve had a lot more practice,” Syx whispered into his hair. “It’s not quite sunrise yet. Go back to sleep, baby.”

“Stay out of my head,” Echo replied, but his words lacked heat. Syx couldn’t help his gift any more than Echo could stop breathing. Sometimes it was actually kind of nice to have a lover know what he needed before he even asked for it.

Damn, he just felt so disconnected. Not only from his men, but from the world in general. It was like the whole damn planet had gone insane and left him behind. Maybe that was a good thing, but he’d rather go crazy with everyone else than be left alone.

“Not sleepy.” Echo wiggled his ass over Syx’s hardening cock. Sex wouldn’t cure everything, but it would let him forget for a little bit and give him that connection he needed. He just wanted to stop thinking and feel. It was low-down and manipulative, and it wouldn’t solve any of their problems.

He’d deal with the guilt later.

“Someone is perky this morning,” Fiero whispered from Echo’s other side.

The warrior rolled closer, molding himself to Echo’s front and slowly lowered the zipper on the sleeping bag Echo and Syx shared. Then he moved even closer, rubbing until their chests pressed together, and his hand disappeared below the covers to palm Echo’s morning erection.

“Mmm, very perky.” Fiero’s breath fanned across Echo’s ear and caused him to shiver. It always amazed him that his lovers never had morning breath. Maybe it had something to do with their natural resistance to all kinds of germs.

Then all thoughts fled when Fiero’s hand slid under the waistline of Echo’s boxers, and he felt the first brush of heated skin against his throbbing cock. “Did anyone think to bring lube?”

“I did,” Myst announced as he popped up to look over Fiero’s shoulder. He grinned broadly and wiggled his eyebrows playfully. He looked so damn cute Echo couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped his sleep-swollen lips.

“Only you would think of something like that.”

“Probably, but aren’t you glad I did?” Myst shimmied out of his sleeping bag and crawled to the corner to rummage through his knapsack. It took him only seconds to come up with the small bottle of oil, and he let out an appreciative sigh as he moved to press himself against Fiero’s back once more.

“Where’s Vapre?”

“Guard duty,” Syx answered. “Do you want me to get him?”

Echo didn’t even have to think about it. “Yes, please.” He needed all of his men, but he’d settle for the ones close enough to get his hands on.

“Vapre!” Myst yelled, causing them all to jump. “Get your ass in here, then get it naked.” Myst looked back at their shocked faces and shrugged. “What? It was faster, and no one has to move.”

Echo’s laughter turned into a breathy moan when Fiero began licking his way down Echo’s neck and across his collarbones. Syx grinded his hard cock against Echo’s ass, his hands moving restlessly over every inch of skin he could find.

“What the hell are you yelling at me for?” Vapre demanded as he pushed into the tent, bringing a gush of cold air with him. He paused just inside and let the flap drop closed as his eyes widened and a visible bulge began to grow behind his zipper. “Oh.”

He immediately began shedding his clothing, and Echo was eager to follow suit. With a lot of wiggling, grunting, and accidental elbow jabs in the confined space, they eventually managed to get undressed.

Myst wasted no time in lubing up his fingers and tossing the bottle to Syx. He looked like he needed this as much as Echo, which was a little scary. Though Myst was definitely a horndog, he’d never looked so…desperate.

“He’ll be fine,” Syx breathed into Echo’s ear as two slick fingers slipped between his ass cheeks and caressed his twitching hole. “Just relax and enjoy this.”

It wasn’t hard to forget everything including his own name when those fingers pushed inside his needy channel and began pumping in and out. Echo moaned, rocking against the digits and driving them further into his heated opening.

Fiero groaned as well, his eyes rolling back in his head as Myst stretched his hole and laved kisses along the side of his neck. Then he bent forward, claiming Echo’s lips in a smoldering kiss. He pressed closer, leaving just enough room for Vapre to wiggle his head between their groins and capture the leaking head of Echo’s cock in his warm, wet mouth.