Evans, Gabrielle - Hypnotic Healing [Fatefully Yours 6] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (3 page)

“And Syn, Jinx, and Craze have been going at it like rabbits.”

“Well, they just mated. It’s new and exciting,” Vapre defended them.

Echo waved him away. “Oh, I know, and I think it’s great that Craze is staying away from you guys.” That earned him a couple of smirks, but he chose to ignore them. “Syn has gotten very good at controlling his powers. We’ve worked on it a lot, and he can shield his emotions now without even thinking about it.”

“What are you suggesting?” Judging by the light in Onyx’s eyes, he already had a pretty good idea.

“I say it’s time for Syn to unleash some of that power.”

His men groaned, and Vapre’s eyes actually rolled back in his head. “The way they’ve been jumping each other, my dick is going to be hard ninety percent of the time.”

Echo wiggled his eyebrows. “That’s the point.”

“Oh, you are evil,” Myst whispered from behind him, but he sounded almost proud of the fact.

“So, are we all in agreement?” Nods and murmurs of assent went around the group. “Okay, then I’ll talk to Syn, and tell him to let it loose and crank it up.”

Onyx groaned and shifted in his seat. “Maybe we should get naked first.”

Echo rolled his eyes. “All in good time, babe. I’m going to hold off on that part of the plan until after the party tomorrow night.”

“So?” Onyx rubbed his palm over the impressive bulge behind his zipper. “We could still get naked.”

* * * *

Onyx snapped his head around when Myst slammed his fist against the wall and growled. “Dude, what did that wall ever do to you?”

“Not now,” Myst snapped. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, but his entire frame shook with obvious anger.

Pushing up from the bed, Onyx walked over to his lover and cupped his face in both hands. He just stood there, not speaking, until Myst finally opened his eyes and looked at him. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I miss him,” Myst mumbled.

With a silent sigh, Onyx pulled the warrior into his arms and held him tight. “He’ll come around, Myst. We’ll give Echo’s plan a chance, okay? I think Hex will pull his head out of his ass pretty damn quick.”

Myst had always been the closest to Hex. Onyx knew that didn’t diminish either of their feelings for him, but he’d still always felt like the odd man out. Eyce and Fiero complemented each other, as well as Syx and Vapre. He understood it, and on some level, he was glad they all had someone who understood them so well. He just didn’t know where that left him.

He wasn’t as strong as Hex or Eyce. He wasn’t smart like Vapre or Syx. He didn’t have Myst’s charisma or Fiero’s fearlessness. Hell, maybe he didn’t fit at all.

“You really think it will work?”

Onyx leaned back so he could look Myst in the eyes. “Yes, I do. We have to stick to our guns, though. We can’t let him seduce us, or he’ll never get it.”

“Have you seen that man?” Myst chuckled and shook his head. “He’s like every wet dream I’ve ever had rolled into one. It’s not going to be easy to resist him.”

“No,” Onyx conceded. “If you want him back, you’ll find a way, though.”

“Hey.” Myst rested their foreheads together and sighed. “I don’t want him back just for me. I want him back for all of us. Don’t you miss him?”

“You know I do,” Onyx mumbled and leaned away, averting his eyes.

“Look at me,” Myst said softly. He waited for Onyx to meet his gaze once more and smiled. “You know you’re just as important to me as Hex is, right? I’d lose my fucking mind if something happened to any of you guys.”

Onyx felt the same way, but it made him uncomfortable to talk about feelings—and not just his own. He really didn’t like talking at all if it could be avoided. No matter how hard he tried, his words never came out right. He was constantly sticking his size fourteen boot in his mouth.

He had feelings and thoughts, and plenty of them. He just didn’t know how to express any of them, so it was best to just remain quiet and let the others tell him what to do. Not that he was submissive by nature, but he found it made life much easier when he let his lovers handle things. They probably all thought he was a complete loser and dumber than a slug, anyway.

“Stop it,” came a deep growling voice from the doorway.

Onyx spun around, and the blood drained from his face when he saw Syx standing there. “Hades’ hairy left nut!” For fuck’s sake, now he was cramming his foot in his mouth without even opening the damn thing. Why couldn’t he get anything right?

“Myst, out,” Syx ordered.

Myst looked a little startled but dipped his head and hurried out of the room. Syx slammed the door behind him before stalking over to stand right in front of Onyx. His hand came up, and Onyx actually flinched. He’d never seen Syx so pissed off before.

Instead of a blow to the face, Syx’s fingertips lightly skimmed over Onyx’s cheek. “You are worse than the rest of them,” he mumbled quietly.

Yeah, Onyx knew he didn’t measure up to the other warriors, but it still hurt to have it said out loud like that.

Syx’s fingers curled around his jaw, and Onyx couldn’t stop himself from leaning into the touch. It was so seldom that any of them touched him like this. He’d lived for over three millennia, battled against some of the most monstrous creatures known to the Underworld, and one gentle touch from his lovers turned him into an insecure, attention-starved ball of need.

Could he be any more pathetic? He seriously doubted it.

When he finally looked up to meet Syx’s eyes, the look on the demon’s face startled him. His eyes tightened around the corners, and his lips pressed together in a thin line. His nostrils flared, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. If Onyx didn’t know better, he’d think the warrior was in pain.

“Don’t move,” Syx whispered. He brushed his lips over Onyx’s forehead, then hurried out of the room.

Onyx shook his head and walked over to plop down on the foot of the bed. Resting his elbows on his knees, he dropped his face into his hands and groaned. He really needed a fucking drink.

Before he could debate the wisdom of tying one on, hurried footsteps sounded in the hallway outside his door, and Echo rushed inside with Syx following right behind. Letting his hands hang between his knees, Onyx looked up at them and nodded. He didn’t know why Syx had brought Echo, or what they wanted, but he figured he’d find out soon enough.

“I should kick your ass,” Echo said heatedly.

Okay, he hadn’t been expecting that one. “Why is that?”

Echo huffed and threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know. Maybe because you’re being a dipshit?”

“Echo, I didn’t bring you in h—”

Turning sharply, Echo poked Syx in the chest, cutting him off mid-sentence. “You, get out. You’ve done quite enough. Tell the others I will deal with them later.”

Syx growled and crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t do a damn thing. I’m trying to help. Stop being such a prick.”

“Uh, why are you guys fighting?” Onyx’s head was starting to spin from trying to keep up with the conversation. “What did Syx do?”

“Butt out,” Echo said over his shoulder.

Onyx clamped his lips together and went back to watching.

“You know you damn well did.” Echo poked Syx again. “I don’t even know why we keep you around.”

“Hey!” Onyx pushed to his feet and pulled Echo back from the warrior. “Echo, what has gotten into you?”

“No, he’s right,” Syx mumbled and hung his head. “I am completely useless. He has every right to say those things. I couldn’t even keep him safe out in those woods.”

Onyx’s heart broke for his lover, and another little part of him wanted to shake the shit out of Echo. No one blamed Syx for what had happened in that cave. Hell, he’d saved all their asses in the end. How could Echo be so callous?

“I’m sorry,” Syx whispered.

“How does that make you feel?” Echo asked as he turned to look into Onyx’s face.

Onyx opened his mouth to tell his mate that he felt like decking the both of them for being stupid, but nothing came out. He was starting to think that he was missing something. He just didn’t know what it was.

“You don’t see yourself clearly,” Syx said when Onyx still couldn’t speak. “When I hear things like that inside your head, it hurts. Partly because I feel like you’re attacking someone I care about, but mostly because I feel like I failed somewhere.”

Onyx understood the first part. To hear Syx say those things about himself made Onyx’s chest tighten and his gut clench. If anyone else had dared to say those things about any of his men, he’d have made sure their face had a nice little meeting with his fist. The second part just confused the shit out of him, though.

“How did you fail?”

Syx chuckled, but it didn’t hold much humor. “If you really don’t know how I feel about you, then I obviously haven’t been doing something right.”

His heart flopped over in his chest, and his palms began to sweat. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask how Syx really felt, but he reeled it back at the last minute. He didn’t want to know. Did he?

He watched Syx’s eyes dart to Echo, then the demon shook his head sadly. “Soon?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Echo answered.

“What? What’s soon? What are you talking about?”

Syx glanced at Echo again, and Onyx saw their mate shake his head fractionally. “Not yet. It won’t have the same meaning. Words said with perceived guilt don’t hold the same value.”

Onyx wanted to roar in frustration. “What the hell are you two going on about?”

Instead of answering, Echo slithered up next to him, rubbing against him and making his brain short-circuit. Then he stretched up on his toes, wrapped his arms around Onyx’s neck, and pulled him down into an earth-shattering kiss.

It took about two seconds and one brush of Echo’s tongue against his for Onyx to entirely forget about the conversation. “You fight dirty,” he panted against Echo’s mouth.

Echo smirked. “You know it.”

Chapter Three

Echo leaned against the wall beside Jet and watched the crowd of people mingle throughout their house. “There’s a lot of people here,” he commented.

Jet frowned and nodded. “This isn’t a big town.”

His eyebrows drew together, and Echo mirrored Jet’s frown. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing, I guess. I just didn’t think that so many people would be accepting of our…lifestyle.”

“You mean being gay? Or the fact that I’m gay with seven different men?”

“Both,” Jet answered immediately. “Or, do they just think you’re roommates or something?”

“Most of them saw us all making out at the New Year’s party, so they know.” Echo hadn’t really thought about it before, but now that Jet brought it up, he supposed it was kind of strange for the good townsfolk to be so accepting of their relationship. Not that he gave a fuck what they thought, but it was kind of nice to be accepted.

Catching Vapre’s eye, Echo waved him over. Vapre gave him a beaming smile and hurried across the living room to him and Jet. He stopped in front of Echo, pushed a glass of wine into his hand, and bent to kiss his forehead. “Are you enjoying your party?”

“Yes, thank you.” Echo tilted his head up and pursed his lips in a silent request.

Vapre chuckled and brushed their lips together gently. “Did you need something, sweetheart?”