30. Ecco

30

ECCO

T he heavy door swings open with a hushed whoosh as Graeme and I step into my apartment. Minx leaps gracefully from my arms, her paws barely making a sound as they touch down on the polished floors. She pads cautiously through the space, her big eyes wide and wary, her glowkitten senses alert.

It's only been a few weeks since we were here, but I can't blame her for not recognizing her home.

It's not very homey to me, either.

I try to shake off the unease that settles over me as I gaze around at the familiar yet foreign surroundings. The minimalist sofa, sleek kitchen appliances, the jaw-dropping windows and that incredible city view—it all so cold and impersonal compared to the warm, intimate charm of the Moonflower Inn.

Forcing a cheery smile, I turn to Graeme. "Well, I guess you can upgrade to the master bedroom with me now! No more cramped little guest room for you."

But Graeme's features are etched with somber lines as he takes my hands gently in his larger ones.

"Ecco," he starts, his deep voice brimming with pent-up emotion. "You know I can't live here with you. You know about the agreement I made with my uncle."

I nod slowly, my throat constricting painfully as I fight back the sting of tears.

Of course I know about his sacred pact, his oath to return to his clan, to take up his rightful place as their leader and protector. But I've been shoving that knowledge down, down, down, clinging naively to the hope that if I just pretended it wasn't real, everything would somehow magically resolve itself.

Standing here now, seeing the tortured look in Graeme's eyes, I know I can't hide from the truth any longer. The future I've been imagining for us, together, here—it's splintering apart before my very eyes.

"When do you have to go back to the stronghold?" I manage to choke out.

"Tomorrow," Graeme says.

My heart clenches violently, but I swallow the desperate pleas rising in my throat. I can't ask him to abandon his responsibilities, his family, his very purpose—not for me.

Not even for us.

"Then tonight," I declare, my voice surprisingly steady despite the tremor in my hands, "we can just be two lovers enjoying each other's company. We'll deal with tomorrow when it comes."

Graeme nods solemnly, then pulls me flush against his sculpted chest, his strong arms encircling my waist as he buries his face in the crook of my neck. I melt into his embrace, my own arms stretching up around his broad shoulders, my fingers digging into the unyielding planes of his back, where his shoulder blades and wings meet.

He frees his wings and I caress the base of them, lightly scratching with my nails through his thin t-shirt. Graeme hisses and scoops me up, carrying me straight to the big king bed in my bedroom.

The city skyline stretches out beyond the wall of windows in my bedroom, a dazzling canvas of light and chrome, but I barely register the view. My entire world has narrowed down to this—to Graeme.

Every touch is electric, every caress searing, imbued with a desperate intensity, a fevered urgency.

Graeme pushes my shirt up to my neck, nipping a line up my stomach and over to my left breast, before latching onto my nipple, worshiping it with tongue and teeth.

I moan and squirm, grabbing ineffectively at his shirt.

"Take this off," I order breathlessly. "Take everything off, now." I wiggle my own shirt up and over my head, unlatch my bra and toss it to the floor.

He sits up, kneeling on the bed over me, and gives me an amused look before shucking out of his clothes with swift efficiency, dragging my jeans off my hips while he's at it. And then his head is between my thighs and his tongue is lapping at my clit through my cotton panties and I think I might die from how good it feels.

"Inside me, now," I groan, grabbing his arms and heaving him toward me, as if I could possibly make him move anywhere he didn't want to go. His erection is already huge and hard, and with one swift thrust he's inside me, claiming me.

His tail winds around him to caress my neck and I turn my head to take the tip into my mouth, sucking gently and then harder, loving the growl that comes from his throat.

We cling to each other like drowning souls. I lose myself in the grasp of his hands mapping my curves, the scrape of his teeth against my throat, the delicious stretch and burn as he fills me again and again.

Graeme's thrusts are almost punishing in their force, his hips surging against mine with ferocity. An inferno rages in the depths of his eyes, dark and all-consuming, threatening to reduce me to ashes.

There's no room for gentleness in this moment, no place for soft sighs or sweet nothings. This is raw need in its purest form, a physical manifestation of the ache in both our souls.

I meet him stroke for stroke, my body bowing into his touch, my thighs clenching around his waist as if I could somehow fuse us together, make us one in every sense of the word. One of my hands winds around his tail, stroking in time with his thrusts, bringing the tip to my mouth again for a long lick.

Pleasure builds at the base of my spine, hot and sharp, coiling tighter and tighter with each rough snap of Graeme's hips against mine.

My release hits me like a hurricane, sudden and explosive, tearing a ragged scream from my throat. I shatter in his arms, my entire being reduced to nerve endings and sensation. Graeme follows me over the edge just a heartbeat later, his own hoarse shout mingling with mine.

In the aftermath, we collapse into a boneless heap, sweat cooling on our skin as we struggle to catch our breath.

I burrow into the solid planes of Graeme's chest, listening to the furious pounding of his heart, trying to inscribe the cadence into my very bones.

Graeme's voice breaks the silence, his words a soft murmur against my skin.

"I'm in love with you, Ecco," he says, his voice thick. "I know it might seem fast, but these past few weeks with you… they've changed everything for me."

My heart swells with a joy that's almost painful in its intensity, the tears I've been holding back finally spilling down my cheeks.

"I'm in love with you too," I whisper, my voice shaking. "And watching you leave tomorrow will be impossible."

Graeme shakes his head, his granite features set with conviction.

"No," he says firmly. "I promised I would never hurt you, and I meant that. We'll figure this out, Ecco. Long-distance relationships can work. I'll come back to the city as often as I can to see you, and you can visit me at the stronghold whenever your schedule allows."

He's clinging to hope, desperate to find a way to make our love last despite the miles that will soon stretch between us.

And I want so badly to believe him, to trust that our bond is strong enough to weather any storm.

But as I lay my head on Graeme's chest, his heart beating steadily against my cheek, a small, faithless voice whispers in the back of my mind.

I'm not sure how we can keep time and distance from eroding what we have.

And Graeme, for all his intention, has never been in a real relationship before. He doesn't yet understand the work and sacrifice required to nurture a lasting love, especially from afar.

As much as I want to have faith that we can beat the odds, I have a sinking feeling that eventually, we'll drift apart.

The very thought makes me want to scream and weep, to rail against the unfairness of finally finding my soulmate only to have the universe conspire to tear us apart. But I refuse to let my fears taint the perfection of this moment, wrapped up in Graeme's arms and wings.

So I take a steadying breath and burrow closer, breathing in his familiar scent of stone and earth.

For now, this is enough. It has to be.

And I silently vow to savor every second of our time left together, to pour a lifetime's worth of love into however many hours remain.

I'm encased in a thick mental fog as we say our goodbyes in the morning. Graeme assures me he'll be back to visit very soon, that I'll be so busy I won't even know he's gone.

Numbly sitting in Natalie's office later that morning, I keep finding myself losing the thread of what she's saying as my thoughts return to Graeme over and over.

When we finally parted, his eyes had glistened with unshed tears, his voice rough with emotion as he swore that this wasn't goodbye. Not really.

But even as I cling to that promise like a lifeline, I can't ignore the yawning ache in my chest, the sense that a vital part of me is missing. It's as if Graeme took a piece of my heart with him when he left, leaving behind a gaping wound that throbs with every heartbeat.

I can still feel the ghost of Graeme's touch on my skin, the memory of his farewell kiss seared into my very soul.

Natalie's voice cuts through my melancholy, sharp and impatient. "Ecco, are you even listening to me?"

She stops in front of my chair, her perfectly manicured hands planted on her hips as she fixes me with a pointed stare.

I blink, forcing myself to refocus. "Sorry, Nat. I'm just… a little distracted today."

Her expression softens a fraction, but her tone remains brisk. "I know you've been through a lot these past few weeks. But we need to capitalize on all this media buzz you've been getting. Strike while the iron's hot, so to speak."

I nod, gazing around at her gorgeous modern office distractedly.

The mid-century furniture is chic and expensive-looking, stained wood and smooth black leather. Her massive desk curves around so that she can swivel her chair toward the stunning view of the city when she's not in a meeting.

But there's no time for gazing at views today. Natalie slides a stack of papers across the desk, the sheer volume making my head spin.

"Your PR team has you booked solid for the next month. Interviews, appearances, performances… we're going to make sure your name is on everyone's lips in the lead-up to the tour."

I nod mechanically, my gaze skimming over the daunting schedule without really absorbing the details. If I'm honest, the thought of throwing myself into work is almost a relief—a way to keep the grief at bay, to stop myself from dwelling on Graeme's absence.

"I'm in," I say, hoping Natalie can't hear the slight tremor in my voice. "Whatever it takes. I'm ready to dive back in."

She smiles, satisfaction in her eyes. "Excellent. We'll start this afternoon with a round of radio interviews. I'll have your stylist pull some looks for the TV spots later this week."

Natalie launches into a rundown of the various outlets clamoring for a piece of me, and I let her words wash over me, my mind already racing ahead. If I'm too busy to breathe, too busy to think, maybe I won't have time to feel the gaping hole Graeme's absence has left in my life.

Maybe I can outrun the heartbreak nipping at my heels. And if not… well, at least I'll have my career to fall back on.

Even if it's a cold comfort in the face of all I've left behind.