Authors: Gabrielle Evans
“Cut the bullshit, Ares.” Fiero stepped forward, breaking ranks and growling at the god. “You didn’t just come here to shoot the breeze and reminisce about old times.”
“Watch yourself, Fiero,” Ares said icily. Then he plastered a smile on his face again and held his hands out to his sides. “The puppy told you I was coming, did he not?”
Puppy?
The corners of Echo’s mouth pulled down in confusion.
“Since when do you play nice with humans?” Eyce demanded. “What’s this shit with the government lab?”
Oh!
Ares meant Gage. Wow, what a prick.
“You are not the only one building an army.”
Echo jerked back as the voice sounded inside his head. Damn, he really wished the Oracle would warn him before she did that. “He’s assembling an army—picking and choosing those that will benefit him in the war.”
Eyce glanced down at him before quickly looking back at Ares. “I thought our beef was with Hades?”
“Well, let’s just say that my uncle made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I agree to head his army in this war, and I get something in return.”
“What could he possibly give you that you can’t get for yourself?” Echo snapped his mouth shut, regretting his words instantly. Probably not the best idea to piss of the god of bloodlust.
Ares glared at him, but Hex spoke before the god could offer his reply. “Why humans? You could have any number of magical beings at your command.”
“And I do. The humans will have their purpose, though,” Ares answered cryptically. “I am not unreasonable, however.” His gaze returned to Echo. “Give me the little one. I’ll call this whole thing off, and you’ll be free to live among the mortals here in the Top World. I only require your mate.”
In a flash, all seven men moved to form a protective circle around Echo as they hissed and snarled at Ares. What the hell did the asshole want with him? He wasn’t anyone special.
Ares just laughed. “I assumed that would be your answer, but I thought I’d give it a shot.” Then the smile slipped from his face, his features darkening and his voice becoming low, evil. “He will be ours. You have until the autumnal equinox to make your decision. Either present him to me, or prepare for war.”
“Not happening,
Commander
.” Hex spat the last word as though it left a bad taste in his mouth. “We don’t share. Or have you forgotten?”
Echo didn’t know what that meant, but he was beginning to get used to it. Not a whole lot of this conversation made much sense to him. All he knew is that Ares wanted him and was willing to go to war to have him. But why?
Ares took a menacing step toward Hex, but stopped and tilted his head to the side. “Very well,” he said slowly. “If you change your mind, you only need to call my name.” A wicked grin stretched over his mouth, and innuendo slipped into his voice. “Surely you remember how to do that. You were so good at it.”
A loud, ear-numbing roar issued from Hex’s mouth, and Echo took a hasty step away, reaching up to press his palms to his ears.
Ares just laughed, gave them another little bow, and simply vanished.
Dropping his hands to his sides, Echo wrinkled his nose in distaste. “You had sex with him? Eww!”
Hex sighed as he wrapped an arm around Echo’s shoulders and pulled him against his hard chest. “It was a long time ago, just after we were created. Hades brought Ares to the Underworld to train us. The affair ended almost as abruptly as it began.”
“Did you love him?”
“I didn’t even like the bastard.”
“He came for Hex when we escaped Tartarus,” Eyce explained as he pressed against Echo’s back, leaning over him to place a soft kiss on Hex’s cheek. “The rest of us weren’t too keen on him taking our man, though.”
Hex snorted, but his eyes softened as he gazed back at Eyce. “I had no intentions of leaving. You never had to worry about that.” Then he bent to kiss the top of Echo’s head. “I have even more reason to stay now.”
“We all do,” Eyce whispered as he kissed the same spot Hex had. “Which gives us the advantage in this war.”
“What’s that?” Echo asked, nuzzling his face against Hex’s chest.
“We have more to fight for.”
Chapter Fourteen
Fresh from the shower, Echo lounged in the sun near the kappas’ pond with his lovers, letting the warm rays dry his long hair. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what you and Vapre have been up to, are you?” Echo lifted his eyebrows at Syx and smiled innocently. “Not yet.” Syx smirked and reached over to tap Echo’s nose. “You know what they say about curiosity.”
“Curiosity killed the cat.” Echo nodded then smiled brightly. “But satisfaction brought him back.”
Hex snorted from Echo’s other side. “He has a point.”
“Not yet,” Syx repeated.
“Okay, the little bastards are fed,” Fiero grumbled as he ambled up to them and plopped down beside Syx. “I don’t know why you won’t let me just incinerate the little beasts.”
“They might come in handy.” Echo looked toward the water’s edge and rolled his eyes. “Myst, stop that!” The warrior had one of the kappas on the shore, smiling brightly as he bent over in a deep bow, then howled in laughter as the kappa mirrored him, spilling the water from the top of his head and rendering him motionless.
Myst jerked around guiltily and gave Echo a little wave before quickly dipping his hands in the water and refilling the indentation on the kappa’s head. The little, blue, scaly sprite just smiled—at least that’s what Echo hoped it was—and disappeared back into the pond with his brethren.
Jogging over to them, Myst plopped down in front of Echo and smiled innocently. “I was just being polite.”
“You were being a dick.” It was kind of funny, though. He just wouldn’t say that out loud. “How long do you think this warm front will last?” he asked instead.
“The weather says temperatures in the twenties this entire week.” Vapre shook his head as he joined them. “Plus, another snowstorm headed this way. Looks like this is our last day to soak up the sun.”
His men looked at each other with knowing grins, then turned their attention on Echo, moving toward him slowly as Eyce knelt behind him, wrapping his arms around Echo’s waist. “We want to make love to our mate in the sun. What do you say, baby?”
Seven gorgeous men, lavishing him with attention? He’d be an idiot to refuse. “Yes,” he whispered, dropping his head back to Eyce’s shoulder as his warriors worked to undress him.
Hex lifted him from the ground, waiting until Eyce and Vapre had spread out a large, fleece blanket over the grass, then settled him to it gently. Echo watched his men undress, his eyes feasting on the bounty they revealed. His cock swelled between his legs, standing at attention as his heart rate quickened and his breathing accelerated.
“What do you want, baby?” Eyce asked as he stretched out beside Echo on the blanket and rubbed slow circles over his belly. “This is your day. You name it, and it’s yours.”
“I want to watch,” Echo whispered. “Then I want us to all be connected. Can we do that?”
Eyce smirked, rolling over to claim Echo’s lips in a short but heated kiss. “You wouldn’t believe how imaginative we are.” His hand skimmed down up Echo’s thigh, his knuckles brushing over his sac, and Echo moaned, dropping his head back and arching into the touch. With so much going on, it felt like forever since his lovers had touched him like this.
Fiero settled on Echo’s other side, pressing against him and gripping Echo’s aching cock. Dipping his head, he traced his tongue over the dip above Echo’s collarbone as his hand set up a slow but steady rhythm, stroking Echo’s straining shaft from root to tip.
“You’re not watching,” he mumbled, his lips trailing up Echo’s neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive flesh just behind Echo’s ear. “Open your eyes, baby.”
Echo did as requested and whimpered pathetically at the sight before him. Hex and Syx were locked in a passionate kiss, their bodies molded together as their hands mapped and explored the other’s body.
Myst pressed against the length of Hex’s back, nibbling at the leader’s neck as his hands gripped Hex’s ass, squeezing and massaging the muscled globes. Onyx covered Syx’s back, his thick cock sliding along the crease of the warrior’s ass and painting it with his pre-cum.
Looking down his own body, Echo nearly swallowed his tongue as he watched Vapre sprawl between his spread thighs. His eyes locked with Echo’s, and he smiled seductively before lowering his mouth to suck one of Echo’s balls into his mouth.
The damp naked flesh, the sounds of panting and moaning, the feel of his men’s hands and mouths on him drove Echo crazy. His muscles tensed, his heart hammered against his breastbone, and he couldn’t seem to pull enough air into his lungs. Twining one hand in Fiero’s hair, he turned his face, searching out the warrior’s lips and crushing their mouths together in a hungry kiss.
His other hand tangled in Eyce’s hair, pulling him closer and arching into his mouth as the demon trailed open-mouth kisses down Echo’s chest, over his clenching abs, all the way to his hip.
Vapre’s strong fingers gripped the back of Echo’s thighs, spreading his legs wider and pushing them up toward his chest to reveal his fluttering opening. Then a wet tongue swiped over his entrance, and Echo cried out, the sound muffled against Fiero’s mouth.
Eyce continued to touch him everywhere. Fiero’s tongue plunged inside his mouth, swirling and sliding against his own. His hand kept up the slow, steady rhythm, stroking Echo’s pulsing cock and pushing him closer to the edge. Vapre licked and sucked at his hole then pointed his tongue, pushing it into Echo’s needy ass.
Moaning, whimpering, practically sobbing, Echo trembled as the sensations overwhelmed him. He attacked Fiero’s mouth, demanding the warrior give him more as Vapre continued to tongue-fuck his clenching hole.
Vapre’s tongue disappeared, replaced quickly by two slick fingers. Echo didn’t know where the lube had come from. He was just grateful someone had come prepared. He hissed as the digits penetrated him, loving the slight burn, the sweet friction created when he pushed back against Vapre’s hand.
His cock throbbed and jerked inside Fiero’s grasp each time Vapre’s fingers pumped in and out of him. His skin heated, his head swam, and his balls ached with the need for release.
Then Eyce’s warm, wet mouth engulfed the head of Echo’s leaking cock, dipping his tongue in the slit, and Echo couldn’t hold back any longer. Jerking his mouth away from Fiero’s, he yelled out to the sky, bowing his back as his orgasm roared through him, spilling his seed into Eyce’s eager mouth.
When he finally came back down from his high, he found himself on his hands and knees, Fiero kneeling in front of him as he stroked all ten inches of his gorgeous prick. Eyce pushed between his thighs, nudging his legs wider as he slowly fed his thick cock to Echo’s greedy hole.
Hex lay on his back beside Echo, his hands grasping Myst’s hips as the demon straddle him, lined up the blunt tip of Hex’s turgid cock with his entrance, and impaled himself in one quick drop.
Echo didn’t know who moaned louder—Hex, Myst, or him. Myst began a slow grind as he reached over, wound his hand around Eyce’s neck, and pulled him into a searing kiss that left Echo hard and aching once more.
When they finally broke apart, Onyx stepped between them, cupping the back of Myst’s head and rubbing the head of his thick cock along the man’s lips, smearing them in glossy pre-cum. Myst moaned in pleasure, grabbed Onyx’s bobbing dick, and enveloped the engorged crown in his mouth.
Returning his attention the man in front of him, Echo whimpered pathetically at the sight that met his eyes. Syx knelt behind Fiero, his hands roaming the warrior’s chest as he slowly thrust in and out of Fiero’s body.