Evans, Gabrielle - Firestorm [Fatefully Yours 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans Page A

task they had done little to prepare for since Syn and Jinx had arrived. And though no one spoke of the coming danger, Echo could feel the tension, read the worry in the lines of every man’s face as he passed them in the halls or watched them around the kitchen table.
    When his warriors weren’t distracting him in a number of inventive and delicious ways, Echo spent his time with Syn, working with the vampire and trying to help him hone his skill. He hadn’t made the connection yet, but Echo felt sure that Syn’s ability would be very useful when the war finally came. But if the man hoped to aid them in their fight, he needed to know how to control his powers.
    “Okay, take a deep breath and close your eyes.” Echo walked around Syn where he stood, tense and waiting, his feet frozen the concrete floor of the basement.
    “It’s cold down here.” Echo frowned as he shivered once again. “How do you stand it?”
    “It’s not so bad,” Syn mumbled, but Echo could see the vampire shivering as well.
    Reaching out, he ran his hand down Syn’s arm and shuddered. “You’re freezing! Why didn’t you say anything?”
    “I’m only grateful for a place to sleep. After the things I’ve done, I see no right to complain.”
    Echo smacked him in the back of the head. “Oh, just can it. We’ve already discussed this, and everyone knows you didn’t do it to cause problems. You and Jinx should have said something about how cold it is down here.” He crossed his arms over his chest, standing directly in front of Syn and frowning. “I’ll talk to Hex about it as soon as we’re finished.” His tone brooked no argument, and Syn smiled at him shyly.
    “Thank you,” he whispered.
    “Okay, well I’m freezing my balls off down here, so we’re going to take this little party upstairs.” Echo grabbed Syn around the wrist and tugged him up the stairs, sighing in relief when he stepped through the door and the warmth of the kitchen surrounded him. “Much better.”
    “Echo!” Enthusiastic greetings went up around the room, and each of his men stood to their feet.
    Echo just rolled his eyes. Sometimes he felt like freaking royalty when they did things like that. Waving his hand, he sent them his cheeriest smile. “Sit down, you big goofs. You act like you haven’t seen me in weeks.”
    “You were gone when we woke up.” Myst crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. Gods, he was so cute when he did that. Echo just wanted crawl up in his lap and kiss the petulance right out of him. “We missed you.”
    “Aww, you do care.” Echo winked at the warrior as he laughed. Then the smile dropped off his face, and his tone became serious as he addressed Hex. “It’s freezing down there.”
    Hex looked at him blankly. “So? Don’t go down there.”
    Echo’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes rounded in shock. “You insensitive asshole,” he murmured.
    Hex looked genuinely confused. “What? If you’re cold, then don’t go down there. It makes perfect sense to me. Why the hell are you looking at me like that?”
    “Syn and Jinx sleep down there,” Syx interjected quietly to their leader.
    “Oh!” Hex’s eyes widened, and he hurried forward to drop a quick kiss on Echo’s forehead. “Shit, I didn’t even think of that, baby. I swear I wasn’t being a dick. We’ll find a way to get some heat down there before the morning.”
    Smiling up at his lover, Echo felt his anger drain away, and he sighed happily. “I knew you would. Thank you, big guy.”
    Hex kissed him again, then turned to Syn as his brow creased. “Why didn’t you just say something? You’ve been staying down there for almost a week.”
    Syn shrugged, but continued to look down at his feet. “It’s not so bad.”
    Echo rolled his eyes, grasped Syn’s wrist, and jerked his arm straight out in front of him. “Feel his skin.”
    Hex looked confused again, but did as Echo asked, running to fingers along the soft skin on Syn’s forearm.