Page 25 of Echo, the Sniper (Men of PSI #2)

Tour Guide

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B Y THE TIME ECHO AND I walked into the silence of our hotel room, I’d left second thoughts in the dust and had moved on to fourth and maybe even fifth thoughts. Sadly, each new thought resembled the older ones.

What am I doing?

What if he doesn’t like anything about me?

What if I really am bad at this?

Where are we supposed to go from here?

That last thought was actually something that didn’t bother me too much.

If anything, it was just a lingering echo of my conservative mother’s sensibilities—namely, that sex wasn’t something a woman gave away without some sort of understanding that the relationship had to be on the Very Serious Business path.

No thanks, Mom. Never again.

When it came to Dane, I’d done everything my mother’s way.

I’d gone to my marital bed a virgin, and look how well that turned out.

I’d had no experience, no sophisticated understanding of adult relationships.

That meant I’d been completely blind to all the red flags Dane had on display by the time we’d gotten married.

After that disaster, I lost track of how many times I’d thought, is this how it’s supposed to be?

This was what being sheltered did to a person. I didn’t want to live a sheltered life anymore. What I yearned for now was... everything. I wanted to experience it all. Life. Freedom. Sex.

Sex with Echo.

I could do this. I could do it because I wanted to.

It didn’t have to be any deeper than that.

“One thing I want to establish before, um... before we get started,” I began the moment Echo closed and locked the hotel room behind us. I watched him shrug out of his coat, reminding me belatedly to do the same. “No strings. Okay?”

“Strings.” He sampled the word like he’d never heard it before as he moved deeper into the room. Closer to me. So close. “What kind of strings are you talking about?”

“The kind that can tangle things up and make things messy. Things like... like promises. Or expectations. I don’t want any of those, and I don’t want you to have any of those, either. No promises. No expectations.”

He took all that in with his usual solemn expression before he nodded and reached for the TV remote. I blinked. Good grief, he wanted to watch TV now? Now ? Had I said something so offensive he’d rather watch TV than have sex with me?

I really was bad at this.

“Echo—”

“What I said earlier about taking baby steps is exactly what’s going to happen from here on in, so to get us started we need to establish some ground rules.

First and foremost, we’re both going to be totally upfront with each other, not just now in this bedroom, but always.

No games, no hidden agendas. Just the two of us being painfully honest with each other, always. Okay?”

Ground rules. I could totally get behind ground rules. “Okay.”

“That being said, here’s my honest take—if you think we’re going to hit it and quit it tonight, you’re going to be disappointed.

I’m not in the mood for that, and I have a feeling you’d never want that, either.

So what we’re going to do is order up a couple porn flicks along with some top-tier room service, and we’ll find out what you like. ”

Well, this conversation was taking all sorts of unexpected turns. “Porn... flicks?”

“And room service.” He nodded toward a padded folder on the bedside table. “Check it out and see what you’re hungry for. We’ll make a night of it.”

I couldn’t seem to get my jaw off the floor. “Uh... porn flicks?”

“I’ll bet you’ve never seen one, have you?

” When I could only shake my head—my brain had apparently decided to be forever stuck on porn flicks —a devilish gleam lit his light eyes.

“Tonight we’re going to find out what turns you on.

What you like. What you fantasize about.

What you need . Think of what we’re about to watch as browsing through a travel catalog full of exotic new places you might want to go to, but have no idea how to get there. I’m the one who’ll get you there.”

Why was it suddenly so hot in here? Why? “So... what does that make you, my porn tour guide?”

He grinned. “Yeah, it does.”

“And you believe yourself to be qualified?” Oh, wow. Now I was issuing challenges like I knew what I was doing. Go me.

His grin turned so hot it was a wonder the walls didn’t melt.

“Baby girl, I’ve been to all the exotic places you’re about to visit and then some, so don’t you worry.

You couldn’t ask for a better tour guide than me.

” He nodded once more toward the menu. “But we have to keep up our strength for this journey, so go ahead and order us some dinner, yeah? I’ll take whatever steak they’re offering, medium rare, and a couple Coronas with lime wedges, if they’ve got them.

” He turned his attention back to the TV, which began flicking through various menus, clearly on the lookout for something specific.

“Once you’re done with that, feel free to change into something more comfortable, because that’s what I’m going to do.

I picked up some sweatpants and loose tees for you to sleep in, so that’ll be good to kick back and watch some movies in. ”

This man kept throwing me curveball after curveball. I’d thought we’d get back to the hotel room and strip naked, get through some awkward banging, and then maybe be politely weird for the rest of the evening. The one thing I hadn’t expected was for him to suggest I change my freaking clothes.

Silly me, I’d thought the whole point of this was to get un dressed, but what did I know?

Clearly nothing.

I guess that was why I apparently needed a tour guide—a porn tour guide, of all things—to get this ball rolling.

So, fine. If slipping into the equivalent of jammies was the way to go, then so be it.

Jammies it was. At least it would make the awkward banging easier to get to without battling through all the layers of winter clothing.

With our dinner ordered and scheduled to arrive in an hour, I went to the bathroom to change into a loose black T-shirt and a pair of thin, heather-gray sweatpants.

I thought about putting on socks since I had no slippers and Dane had always raged at the sight of bare feet, to the point where I’d considered wearing shower shoes to bed.

But Dane was dead and had no right to influence any part of my life anymore, so I left the bathroom with bare feet and a reckless sense of do-or-die. Sure, I was nervous to start my so-called tour. But I was ready. Ready to see what was out there for me to explore.

And what was out there was Echo.

With my heart performing Olympic-level gymnastics in my chest, I walked out to the main room on my rebelliously bare feet, only to discover Echo hanging up the room phone.

While I’d been in the bathroom, he’d also changed into an outfit that was similar to mine, with bare feet and gray sweatpants.

The only difference was that he wore no shirt, leaving his long, muscle-sculpted torso bare and ready for me to feast upon with my eyes.

And, oh, did I have a lot to feast upon.

“I just confirmed with room service that they should leave our food by the door, in case we’re too busy to answer.”

“Good.” All I could do was stare at him like I’d never seen a man before while listening to my heart pound. He probably heard it, too, even with the room separating us. “Good thinking.”

“I’ve got a couple movies queued up,” he went on, and while I expected him to look toward the television, his light-filled gaze never left mine.

Feverish heat prickled over my skin, and I had to work at stifling a shiver, his locked-in attention was so intense.

“First thing you need to know about porn flicks—don’t expect a plot.

The point is to get to the fucking as soon as possible.

Suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow. ”

My mouth was so dry I had to peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth. “Right.”

“Second thing, there’s a lot of swearing. I’ve noticed you don’t usually swear, even when your house is on fire and someone’s trying to kill you. I don’t want you to be shocked or offended by what I’d call straight-up dirty talk.”

He thought that was what would shock me?

Really? “I used to swear, but that was pretty much the first thing D... I mean, my late husband disabused me of.” I bit my lip hard.

The last thing I wanted to do was say Dane’s name.

Not in this room. Not in front of Echo. Dane didn’t belong here in this space, this moment.

From here on in, it was only Echo and me.

“Believe me, dialog from an X-rated movie isn’t going to give me a fit of the vapors. ”

“Good to know. For the record,” he added, giving me a sidelong glance as he once again picked up the TV remote, “I’m good with dirty talk, both saying it and having it said to me. You need to know I get off on hot shit like that like you wouldn’t believe.”

My pulse spiked, and heady anticipation swirled even as the muscles low in my belly tightened into an achy ball of need. “Really?”

“God, yeah. Nothing hotter than a woman who knows exactly what she wants—a woman who tells me to give it to her because she knows I can deliver.” With a smile loaded with smoldering promise, he moved to the foot of the bed, sat down on the edge, and held out a hand, palm up. “Join me, Rory.”

Oh... wow.

This was happening.

God, I was so wet I was sorry I put underwear on beneath the sweatpants. Why had I even put them on?

Because I was a good girl, and refusing to go commando even in a situation like this was something a good girl did. I only hoped he wouldn’t laugh when he found out, because I’d be willing to bet Echo was as bare as the day he was born under those thin sweats hanging off his hips.

Lord, those stark ridges of muscle outlining either side of his lower abdomen and disappearing into his pants made my mouth water...

I couldn’t look away from him as I closed the distance between us. The hottest man I’d ever known was half-naked and looking at me like I was his favorite snack. Better yet, he wanted me to watch porn movies with him. This was my actual life now.

About time I finally got a win.

The closer I got, the more breathtaking Echo became.

His skin was a uniform dark gold, with a tattoo on his right biceps that was clearly a military insignia, and on his left forearm a series of identical tally marks made a visual brace from his wrist almost to his elbow.

There was also a scar mass along his shoulder that went under his arm, making me think he must have had his arm almost ripped off at the shoulder at some horrifying point in his life.

That thought sent a chill through me, one I couldn’t fully understand.

All I knew was that the world would have been a terrible place without Echo in it, and the possibility of never getting the chance to meet him—to have this time with him—was intolerable.

Then I slid my hand into his, and nothing else entered my brain.

There was only enough room for him.

“I’m proud of you for not hiding in the bathroom and making me feel like I’m forcing this on you.

” To my surprise, he pulled me around to his front and settled me on his lap—my legs between his and his arm coming around the small of my back so his hand rested like a brand against my hip.

My breath strangled in my throat while I tried to remember the last time I’d sat on anyone’s lap, only to realize this was a first in my adult life.

Okay, then . “As usual, you’re showing me how brave you are. ”

In that moment, I swore I’d never tell him I almost hadn’t come out of the bathroom.

“You’re not forcing me to do anything I don’t want to do.

” I had no clue what to do with my arms, so I looped one around his broad swimmer’s shoulders and immediately became obsessed with the warm silk of his flesh pulled taut over his muscular frame.

How was such masculine perfection even real? “So, um... How do we begin my tour?”

“We press Play.” He pointed the remote at the screen, then set it aside to rest his hand in quiet, calm possession on my thigh. I nearly passed out. “This first one is your basic deliveryman trope—pizza guy shows up with a pizza, and the woman pays him with a good time.”

“I thought you said there would be no plot.” I couldn’t stop the nervous giggle if my life depended on it, but it helped. The frantic tension buzzing through me ebbed as if by magic as the screen flickered to life.

The hand at my hip began drawing lazy circles, learning the contours of my hipbone as if he were fascinated with it, even as a doorbell sounded from the TV.

“Here we go. Now remember, this is about you, not me, yeah? So let me know if you see anything that makes you uncomfortable, and we’ll stop the video right away. ”

There was an extreme level of awkward discomfort to this whole thing, but at least I knew enough that my discomfort had more to do with my own hangups than anything I was watching.

I could do this.

With my face set on permanent blush, I forced myself to be calm as I watched.

I didn’t stop the video when a lovely woman in a see-through paisley robe came to the door.

I didn’t stop it when the door got closed, the pizza box set aside, and the robe slipped off.

I didn’t stop it when the delivery guy smacked her booty and she squealed with such a look of rapture I wondered if it was acting or if she’d really enjoyed it.

There would be no stopping tonight.

Generally speaking, nudity had never bothered me one way or another.

That was one thing Dane had never shamed me on, probably because he’d been too busy shaming me on so many other issues.

But watching two people on TV getting naked, while sitting on the lap of the sexiest man I’d ever known, was an entirely different affair.

I had never been so painfully aware of my own body—from my skin that felt too feverish wherever I made contact with him, to my breasts with tips so hard and tingling I was grateful for the darkness of my shirt, to the achy pulse between my legs, the intimate folds feeling so swollen and wet I couldn’t help but squirm.

And they hadn’t even started.

“There’s a lot of foreplay involved before things get really cooking.

” Echo’s voice was deliciously intimate, as if we were in a crowd and his words were meant for my ears alone.

That intimate rumble made my bare toes curl into the carpet, and the hand I had at his shoulder started caressing him with a mind of its own.

“What are your feelings on foreplay, baby girl?”

“Since I’ve never really experienced it, I’m open to experimentation.” That sounded loads better than my more truthful response of, “What’s foreplay?”

At this point, I was in no mood to be laughed at.