Page 21 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

Echo ignored the little voice in his head.

“It won’t come to that,” Mael said. “My family might not like it… at first… but there’s no way they’d exile me or stop me from my fate.”

“I’m glad you’re that confident. I’m not. I don’t think my pod would be as accepting.”

Mael sighed. “Do you really want to lay down and accept defeat before the fight even begins?”

Echo let out a tremulous breath. “You’re asking me to potentially give up my home, my family, my friends, my work—all for a man I don’t know.”

A man who made him feel wanted like no one ever had.

“Give up now and we’ll never have a chance to know if we’re worth fighting for,” Mael replied. “You might be willing to walk away from your mate, but I’m not.”

Your mate.Hearing the word come from Mael’s mouth was a shock to his system.

“I’m just… scared,” Echo whispered.

“I know, baby,” Mael murmured. “This won’t be easy for either of us, but it’s worth the attempt. Isn’t it?”

“Fate or not, I stand to lose everything.”

“What do you stand to gain?” Mael asked.

Echo blinked a few times, struck by the question. Whatdidhe stand to gain?Love? Children? A family of his own?There’s no way he could turn his back on that. Could he?

“Could we…” Echo sighed, almost too embarrassed to ask the question. “We don’t even know if we’re… compatible. Dolphins and orcas aren’t in the wild. I’ve never heard of those two shifters mating, either.”

“I can’t answer that,” Mael said. He rolled off Echo and lay on his side, pressing his palm to Echo’s belly. “But I don’t imagine fate would throw us together if there wasn’t a chance.” He caressed Echo’s flat stomach. “Two seconds ago, you called me a stranger. Now you’re already thinking about carrying my children?”

“I’m not ready to carryanyone’schildren. But what if an orca and a dolphin can’t have calves? Someday in the future, I want a family.”

“We won’t know if we can until we try, but that’s way off in the future.”

Echo sighed. “You’d really leave your entire life behind… for me? The man you called a danger to your people less than an hour ago?”

“I knew you weren’t dangerous.”

“So why’d you suggest I was?” Echo asked.

“I wanted answers. I pushed until I got them. It worked.” He grinned, sliding a hand under Echo’s ass. “I hadn’t planned on pushing quite that hard, but I got the impression you wanted me to.”

He glared at Mael, frustrated to be that transparent.

“You’re even cuter when you’re flustered,” Mael murmured, grinning.

“You’re damned straight I’m flustered. I don’t often have strangers break into my house and bully me into bed.”

“Bully you into bed?”Mael chuckled. “The rougher I was, the wetter you got. I caught scent of your slick in the bar, and it’s only gotten stronger as the night progressed.”

Echo’s cheeks burned.

“You wanted rough. I could see it in your eyes,” Mael murmured. “You liked the danger. Didn’t you?”

Echo closed his eyes, embarrassed he’d enjoyed it so much.

A rough hand clasped his chin.

“Answer me, Echo.”

---