Chapter Thirty-Nine
" you okay," Echo asked.
"I'm fine, and if you ask me that one more time, I'm going to lose it," I said as I scooped up a huge bite of carnitas and beans in a tortilla and shoved it in my mouth. It had been days since I'd eaten anything more than the horrible fare served by the hospital dietician and I was starving. I knew I was probably going to pay a price for this, but I was willing to pay it.
"Sorry," she said looking down at her plate as we ate in semi-uncomfortable silence. Quietly, Echo said, "So, what's next?"
"What do you mean?" I replied. I was having a hard time focusing on my food when she was sitting just a couple of feet away from me and looked and smelled so fresh. Everything about her made me want to gather her up in my arms and carry her up those stairs, but I knew better than to let those thoughts find a home in my brain, so I shook my head and tried to conjure up images of what I would be doing once I returned to my SEAL team.
"What are you going to do now?" she asked without looking up.
"Go back to the SEAL team and figure out what I missed," I shrugged.
"What?" she said looking up shocked. "You can't do that!"
"The hell I can't," I said shoving more food into my mouth and staring straight at her.
"But you were seriously injured," she replied staring at me. "Are they going to let you go back?"
"Lady, there are tons of us who have been hurt far worse and gone back to serve," I said as I kept chewing. "My injuries are minor compared to what some have suffered."
"You seem so blasé about it," she said frowning.
"Nope, just practical," I shrugged looking out over the balcony onto 13th Street. "I mean, it's not like there's anything keeping me here now, is there?"
"What about TriCorp?" she asked. "Aren't you going to try and keep it going while they look for a new CEO?"
"Huh?" I said genuinely surprised by what she was saying.
"I would have thought they'd have come and told you that they arrested Julian this morning," she said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."
"Arrested Julian?" I said.
"Eva gave him up as the one who'd masterminded the kidnapping and the attempt to steal the hard drive," she said. "Her lawyer got the State to take the death penalty off the table for Butch Wilson's death if she'd turn over Julian."
"Jesus, all of these secrets," I said shaking my head.
"Secrets are what kill us," she replied as she took a big swig of her beer.
"Who the hell are you to judge people for keeping secrets?" I demanded to know. "You're the one hiding the secret boyfriend!"
"Boyfriend? What the hell are you talking about?" she said looking completely confused.
"Don't play act with me, Echo!" I yelled as I shot up out of my chair and began pacing the balcony. "You and Mando are an item and you've been using me for — I don't know what!"
"What? Me and Mando?" she said with a look of genuine surprise. "We're not a couple! God, he's like my brother!"
"But he said..." I began.
"What did he say?" she demanded. "Tell me, and I'll skin him alive! What did he say?"
"He said..." I began again and then stopped.
"Yeah, I'm sure he did," she said as she rolled her eyes. "He's way too overprotective of me and Cece, and we both feel smothered by him sometimes. I'm sure he was trying to put the fear of God into you so that you wouldn't take advantage of my innocence or something."
"But you kissed him and told him I'm totally safe," I said trying to recall everything that had gone on.
"I was teasing him about his protectiveness," she said. "But that was it."
"Crap," I said as I ran a hand through my hair and then I remembered, "But he said watch out for our girl."
"He says that to every guy one of us dates," she chuckled as she shook her head. "It's like some kind of big brother insurance policy against bad things."
"And it works well..." I said trailing off. "So the night on the couch and the day you came to see me after I got shot and then the other day when I was back in the hospital..."
"Yeah, I wondered why you kept pushing me away," she said as she stood up and moved toward me. She lowered her voice as she reached out and ran a finger down my arm, "Because quite frankly, you've been driving me crazy since you arrived, Mr. Navy Seal."
The next thing I knew, she reached up and wound her arms around my neck pulling me down so she could kiss me hard and deep.
"Oh God," I groaned as I wrapped my arms around her and pressed her body against mine, then winced as I felt the tug on my stitches.
"Oh no! I'm sorry!" she said as she pulled away.
"No, no," I shook my head. "We just have to go slow, take it easy."
"I can do that," she grinned as she took my hand and led me into the apartment and up the stairs where she proceeded to gently pull off my shirt and shorts before shedding her own.
"Uh, that's was quick," I said.
"Do you have any idea how long I've been wanting to do that?" she asked as she pulled me down on the bed and carefully pushed me back against the pillows. I could feel her hands lightly roaming my body and felt the results of her ministrations immediately.
"No idea," I said as she straddled my hips and leaned forward to kiss me.
"A long time," she whispered into my lips as she kissed me again and ran her fingers though my hair. I groaned as she pinned the arm on my injured side to the bed with her knee and reached up with the other hand to stroke her cheek before slipping my fingers into her long thick hair and holding her head so I could kiss her more deeply.
I felt her moving lower as we kissed until she stopped and quickly grabbed a condom from the nightstand drawer, laughing as she did it.
"Safety first, Seal," she whispered as she kissed me and then moved aside so she could roll it onto my rock hard erection. Before I knew it, she had swung her leg over my hips and was guiding me to her opening as she moaned softly pressing down and then rising up teasing both of us before she sank down and took me in one swift stroke. She smiled at me as she said, "Take it easy, and let me do the work."
"Oh God," I groaned as I felt her heat around me.
"Mmm hmmm," she leaned forward and kissed me as she began moving her hips in a slow rocking motion. The movement nearly drove me over the edge until she slowed a bit and kissed me harder. She speeded up and slowed down over and over until both of us were groaning with the need for release. Then she pushed herself up and braced her hands on the wall above my head as she began rocking hard and fast. I could feel her muscles tensing and releasing as she drove us both closer and closer to the edge.
I knew I shouldn't do it, but I couldn't stop myself. I planted my feet and thrust up hard and deep and felt it set off her orgasm as she moaned. The pulsing of her muscles set off my own release as I groaned and thrust up into her one more time holding it there as I exploded inside of her.
In the few minutes it took for us to catch our breath, Echo laid across my chest with her face buried in my shoulder. I could feel the wound in my side stretching and while I hoped that I hadn't opened it yet again, I knew that if I had, it would have been completely worth it.
"My hand," I whispered into her hair a few minutes later. "Can't feel it."
"Oh God, I'm sorry!" she cried as she quickly moved her knee and slid off of me to the side. She sat up and looked at my injured side, gasped and grabbed a towel from a drawer under the bed. "You're bleeding, but not too badly. Does it hurt?"
"I can't feel anything," I said.
"Oh shit! Do I need to call an ambulance?" she asked as the worry turned to fear.
"No, it's a good thing," I said. "I can't feel anything but my incredibly happy friend down there."
"You jerk," she said swatting me lightly with a pillow. "You had me worried!"
"I'm fine, seriously," I said as I lifted the towel and showed her that there was no blood only a little bit of clear fluid leaking out of the incision site. "I'm good. No, better than good. I'm great."
"I'm great, too," she smiled as she laid her hand on my cheek and then lay down beside me in the space I made with my good arm. "This is the best ever."
"Indeed it is," I smiled as I turned and kissed the top of her head.