Pushing the Limits (29 page)

“I don’t feel like going home. At least not yet.”

I zipped my jeans. “You can look now.”

Echo turned and her smoldering emerald eyes drifted to my bare chest. She licked her lips and quickly focused on folding a blanket Beth had left on the couch. “You’re still wet.”

She wanted me—just not as badly as every throbbing muscle in my body wanted her. Behind the hunger in her eyes rested a quiet pain. Echo placed the expertly folded blanket back on the couch and smoothed it several times, insisting on finding perfection in a world where none existed.

“If you don’t want to go home, what do you want to do?” I asked, sitting on the bed.

Echo plopped down on the couch, wrapping her arms around herself. “Lila told me I could stay the night with her, but Stephen ended up coming over …” Her tone indicated she’d rather embed nails in her forehead than return to that.

“Antonio’s parents are out of town. Beth and Isaiah are already there and plan on spending the night.” I didn’t need to mention the amount of pot Beth had taken with her.

I barely heard her muffled comment of “Yay,” but the sarcastic jazz hands were hard to miss.

“He specifically called and asked if I was bringing you.” And that would be the reason I never brought up the party to Echo.
Homeboy or not, he was too friendly with my girl. But if hanging with another art guru made her smile, I’d take her.

“Can we …” Her knee bounced. “Can we stay here?”

“Yes.”

She stretched her sleeves and stared at the ground. At least she didn’t wear the gloves around me anymore. I could think of plenty of things to do with Echo in a house alone. Hell, I’d fantasized about moments like this, but damn if she didn’t make me want to be a better man. “Want to do normal?”

A curious flicker crossed her face. “You want to study?”

“There are other normals.” Discreetly readjusting my jeans, I picked up the remote, joined Echo on the couch and pulled her slender body next to mine. I relished the feel of her melting into me as I flipped to a promising channel. “I’ll even make popcorn.”

Throughout the movie, we moved to eat popcorn, shifted to get comfortable, only to end up uncomfortable; an awkward dance of keeping my hands and parts from familiar and unfamiliar areas of Echo’s divine body. I was capable of being a gentleman for the length of one movie, at least. The credits rolled and my left hand, which I’d placed behind my head to avoid her tempting tummy, tingled with numbness.

My patience finally snapped. “This is ridiculous.” I swept her up and swung her over my shoulder, her bare feet dangling in front of me.

Tinkling laughter filled the room. “What are you doing?” I tossed her onto the bed. Her fire-red hair sprawled over the pillow. My siren smiled up at me.

“Getting comfortable,” I said.

Echo blinked and raw hunger replaced the laughter that danced in her eyes moments before. Her delicate fingers glided
up my arm, exciting every cell. “You don’t look very comfortable.” The sultry tone caused something deep within me to stir.

I swallowed, attempting to push away the unexpected flutter of nerves in my stomach. “Echo …”

My heart swelled, causing my chest to ache and breathing to become nearly impossible. Paralyzed by her beauty, I hovered over her. She was no nymph, but a goddess.

Her hands continued their burning climb up my arm and onto my chest. Bold moves for her. Echo’s breasts rose and fell at a faster rate. “I want to stay with you tonight.”

I sucked in a breath as her fingers trailed down the indentations of my chest muscles and willed her to continue as they made their slow descent. Caressing the warm redness forming on her cheek, I sank onto the bed beside her. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“What about your dad?”

She whispered, “I’ll handle my dad.”

Tender hands wove into my hair, guiding my head to hers. I inhaled her delicious, warm scent: cinnamon rolls, straight out of the oven. The first taste of her lips didn’t disappoint. Sweet sugar teased my tongue, heightening my awareness of the gift Echo offered to me.

This girl owned my soul and stole my heart. She’d opened herself to me, giving me love and never asked for anything in return. I deepened our kiss, the words
I love you
stuck in my mind.

Echo

Noah trailed a line of blazing kisses along the nape of my neck, confusing my brain. Part of me responded to him, clung to him, held him tighter to me. The other part froze in fear, absolutely terrified of the unknown, horrified of disappointing him. “Tell me what to do.”

His warm breath tickled my ear. “Relax.”

But against my will, my muscles did the exact opposite. Underneath Noah’s typically inviting touch, I went rigid. “Please, Noah, I don’t want to do this wrong. Tell me how to make you feel good.”

He shifted so that his body rested beside mine, his leg and arm still draped over me. I felt small under his warmth and strength. His chocolate-brown eyes softened. “Being with you feels good. Touching you—” he tucked a curl behind my ear “—feels good. I have never wanted anyone like I want you. There’s nothing you can do wrong when just breathing makes everything right.”

I wanted to believe him, but Noah was experienced and I
… wasn’t. He could be trying to make me feel better, yet bored with my lack of knowledge.

His hand framed my face and his tone was edged with husky authority. “I want you, but only if you want me.”

“It hurts the first time. My friends, they all told me that.” And the second and the third, and eventually, sometimes, it didn’t hurt. “And I should tell you, I’m on birth control. So … you know … I’m protected from …” Babies. “Stuff. But you should use something too—because.”

The wicked smile I loved spread across his face. His lips touched mine, tenderly drawing a response. “Relax and I’ll take care of everything.”

I kissed him back, allowing my arms to wrap around him. His fingers gently massaged my neck, releasing the tension, erasing my unease. The kiss became a drug and I craved more with every touch. Our bodies twined so tightly to one another, I had no idea where I began and he ended.

Noah felt strong and warm and muscular and safe and he smelled, oh, God, delicious. I couldn’t stop kissing him if my life depended upon it: his lips, his neck, his chest, and Noah seemed as hungry as me. We rolled and we touched and we shed unwanted clothes. I moaned and he moaned and my mind and soul and body stood on the edge of pure ecstasy.

And I waited. I waited for that moment of pausing for protection and then the burning pain my friends described, but Noah never stopped and the pain never came, not even when I whispered his name and praised God several times in a row. Both of us gasped for air while kissing each other softly and I struggled to comprehend I was still a virgin.

He shifted off of me and tugged me close to him. My entire body became lazily warm, happy and sated. I listened to his
heartbeat and closed my eyes, enjoying the relaxing pull of his hand through my hair. “Noah,” I whispered. “I thought …” we were going to make love.

He tipped up my chin, forcing me to look at him. “We have forever to work up to that, Echo. Let’s enjoy every step of the way.”

My mind drifted this way and that. Mostly between focusing on his heart, his touch and the sweetest word I had ever heard:
forever
.

One clear thought forced my eyes open again. “You’re putting me to sleep.”

“So?” he asked a little too innocently.

I swallowed. “I’ll have nightmares.”

“Then we’ll have an excuse to do this again.”

NOAH

The familiar ring tone jerked me awake. My arms and legs were wrapped like tentacles around Echo, my nymph who lay sleeping with her back pressed against me. I released my grasp of her stomach to reach for the cell in my jeans, which had been tossed during our earlier activities.

“Hello?” I cleared my throat.

“Noah?”

“Yeah?” I didn’t recognize the man on the other end. Echo remained blissfully asleep. I edged away from her, tucking the blanket tight around her slender form. Millions of thoughts raced in my exhausted mind. Had something happened to Isaiah or Beth? Were they hurt or in jail? Keesha or Mrs. Collins would have called if it were my brothers.

“It’s Owen Emerson. Echo’s dad.” He paused.

Rubbing my head to wake my brain, I kept my mouth shut as I walked to the other side of the basement. It wouldn’t be a
good conversation starter to mention that his daughter lay in my bed, half naked.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but Echo left this morning rather upset with me and she hasn’t come home.” I craned my head to check out the clock radio on the floor next to the bed. Two in the morning. Her dad must be on the verge of a coronary. Oddly enough, he didn’t sound like a rabid pit bull. “She turned her phone off and I’ve called her friends. Lila gave me your number and said she could be with you.”

The blanket rose and fell with the steady rhythm of Echo’s breathing. She’d come to me tonight, trusting me. If I told him, he’d come and take her away, breaking my heart and possibly her trust in me. “Mr. Emerson …”

“Please, Noah, she’s my daughter. I need to know she’s okay.” I’d never heard a man sound so desperate in my life. Almost as desperate as my own need to know Jacob and Tyler were safe.

“She’s here.” My heart stopped beating, waiting for the patented father ass-chewing.

“Is she okay?” He sounded … relieved?

“Yeah. She’s asleep. Has been for a while. I’d hate to wake her.”

He paused again. “When did she fall asleep?”

Best guess? “Sometime near one.”

“And she’s slept through?”

Good thing I knew Echo’s sleep patterns, or lack thereof. Otherwise, I would have thought this an odd line of questioning. “Yes, sir. Not a peep.”

I waited in heavy silence as he debated his options: have me wake her to tell her to go home or let her sleep. “Do your foster parents mind her being there?”

“No.” They were at the lake, but even if they were here and
paid enough attention to notice I’d brought a girl home, they’d only remind me that she couldn’t live here once she got knocked up.

“Can I speak to them?”

No. “They’re asleep.”

“Of course, of course. Echo mentioned that you have a foster sister. I’m assuming she’s sharing her living arrangements.”

Technically—”Yes.” When she was here, Beth did sleep on the bed.

“Have her call me the moment she wakes up in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And, Noah, thank you for telling me the truth.”

“You’re welcome.” I hung up and crawled back in bed, burrowing into Echo.

I WOKE TO EMPTY ARMS. ECHO had kept her warm body close to mine all night. A vise gripped my chest. Where was she?

My eyes opened to find the sexiest sight in the world. In black bikini underwear and a tank top, Echo stretched out next to me. Her sketch pad lay on the bed, pencil moving rapidly in her hand. A photo of my brothers was propped up on the pillow.

“Hey, baby.”

She gave me a quick glance and a shy smile. “Hey.”

I glanced at the clock. Ten-thirty in the morning. Isaiah and Beth would probably roll in soon, but it would be a sin to see her put clothes on. “How did you sleep?”

The smile fell, but she kept drawing. “Better than usual.”

My heart dropped. I wanted to be the answer to her problems. “You had nightmares?”

She nodded. “Not nearly as vivid, though. Plus I slept longer than I normally do.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because you’re cute when you sleep. See?” She turned the page and showed me the drawing of me sleeping.

“What are you working on now?” I snatched the pad and took her hand in mine when she tried to grab it back.

“Don’t look. It’s a work in progress. Just messing around really. Noah …”

I flipped the page to her work in progress and quit breathing.

“Please don’t be mad. I wanted to give you something. Oh, God,” she moaned. “This was a bad idea.”

I tore my eyes away from the page, cupping her face with my hand. “No. It’s the best present anyone has ever given me.” I wanted to kiss her, but I couldn’t. I had to look at the picture again. “How did you do it?” Somehow, she’d drawn my parents.

She scooted next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. “You talk about them a lot. Not like long monologues or anything, but enough that I’ve been able to create a picture in my head. You told me that Jacob looks like your dad and that you and Tyler resemble your mom. You said Mrs. Marcos reminds you of your mom. I saw this picture of your brothers and, I don’t know … I put it all together.”

I love you
. Every part of me ached to say it. I gazed into those beautiful eyes and knew I loved her more than I loved myself. I’d known for weeks, but I couldn’t say the words. Saying the words—it made Echo official. It made the attachment I already knew I had to her real.

But it was real and it was official. I was a pansy-ass for not saying the words.
Say them. Just say them
. I sucked in a breath, opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. No. Not here. I’d take her someplace nice. Someplace beautiful. Maybe back to my
parents’ fountain. “Your dad called last night looking for you. I told him you were here.”

She drew away from me, wrapping her hands around her knees. “I guess I should probably head home.” A bitter smile hung on her lips. “Think he’ll forgive me for breaking the rules for one night?”

I didn’t want her to go, ever. I wanted Echo in my bed every night with my arms and legs wrapped around her. But how? In two months she’d be a free woman. Free of high school and, if she chose, free of her father, but I wouldn’t be free.

Taking care of my brothers wouldn’t be like babysitting, it would be a job. A full-time job that required responsibility. How did I explain to young children the difference between a serious dating relationship and a committed, married relationship when they awoke to find Echo in my bed? Even better, would the judge allow me custody knowing half my heart belonged to someone else?

I wouldn’t be their big brother. Fuck, Mrs. Collins was right— I’d be their dad and Echo … Echo would be the woman I was sleeping with. The words tumbled out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying. “Marry me.”