Read Online Echo, Mine by Georgia Lyn Hunter - Free Book Online

Rover’s console, unscrewed it and drank some, then handed it
to her. She rinsed off the grit from her feet. He handed her a
t-shirt from the back. She dried off and pulled on her
footwear.
    The roar of an engine broke the quiet,
startling her. Moments later, a blue Porsche careened down the road
leading to the restaurant, squealing to a halt mere inches from the
Range Rover.
    His expression hardening, Aethan glared at
the car.
    Loud guffaws of laughter drifted from the
open car windows. With another screech of rubber and grinding
gears, the driver reversed and parked opposite them.
    Aethan turned back to her as she zipped up
her boots. In her peripheral view, Echo was aware of the three men
staggering out of the car. Doors slammed, drunken voices rose as
they jostled about, cussing and shoving each other, then they
glanced across and saw her.
    “Hey sexy,” a slurring voice called out.
“Nice pins!”
    She ignored them. Aethan stiffened.
    She couldn’t even blame this on her
over-excessive pheromones—okay, maybe a little—but the idiots were
drunk and probably had no off-switch. Better they left before the
fools started a fight. She swung around to get into the SUV.
    “Yo, doll face.” The voice took on a leering
note. “Why don’tcha ditch the vampire slayer and let us show you a
good time?”
    Damn, she spun back. Aethan’s features were
cast in stone. He turned slowly, keeping her behind him.
“Leave.”
    As if the word was an invite, they fanned
out. Sensing Aethan’s growing anger, Echo quickly moved to his side
and put her palm on his chest. When it came to her, his cool lasted
just so long, and she could already feel him teetering on the
edge.
    “ Vampire slayer? Good one, bro!”
Another man chortled, slapping his friend on the back.
    “Yea, doll, keep him back,” the dumb-head
said. “Don’t wanna mess his pretty face.”
    Liquor handing him all kinds of fool
bravery, the idiot staggered closer, unaware of the truly dangerous
predator barely leashed at her side. The damn flea brains had no
idea it was for their own protection she held Aethan back.
    “Hey, sweet thing, did you sit on a pile of
sugar?” he crooned. “You sure have a sweet ass. I want a taste of
your—”
    Aethan moved—Echo spun around faster, her
irritation spiking, and lashed out her own fist, connecting hard
with the man’s face. Owww , she bit back a curse, pain
strumming through her abused hand.
    “Fuck!” The drunk stumbled back into his
wary pals, blood streaming from his nose. “What the hell, bitch—we
were just havin’ some fun.”
    Aethan grabbed the fool by the neck and
lifted him in the air.
    “Go find your fun elsewhere or I’ll break
your fucking neck.” His tone could have cut steel. He flung the
drunk clear across the parking lot, and he landed with a thud on
the hood of his Porsche. The other two scampered off, casting
panicked looks Aethan’s way.
    Flexing her aching fingers, Echo climbed
into the SUV. Her hands were never going to get a chance to heal at
the rate she was using—and abusing them. When Aethan made no move
to shut her door, she met his frigid expression with a worried one.
“What’s wrong?”
    Without a word, he took both of her hands
and examined the bruises on her knuckles. “Why didn't you tell me
you hurt your hands?”
    She shrugged, feeling the tension in him
curling around her like a noose. “It’s nothing—”
    “It’s not nothing, you are in pain. That I
won't have.”
    She sighed. “Aethan, I am going to get
bruised sometimes. You have to accept that.”
    His mouth compressed. He remained silent for
several long seconds, and her own anxious breath caught in her
throat. A rough sigh escaped him. “Don’t push it, Echo. Whatever
abilities you’ve been gifted with may take a little time to show
up. In the meantime…”
    He held his palm over her knuckles, and the
silvery-blue light of his healing power coalesced over her wound,
healing the bruises within seconds.