Aiden spun around, shadows engulfing his face as the light from the windows wrapped around his figure, creating a full-body halo. “One that I’m certain you will enjoy,” he said, then started walking toward the gate.
Darren followed. There were no guards at the usual stations tonight, and he guessed they were busy attending the health and safety training. The corridors were as dark as the cellblock, with only the emergency signs offering eerie smudges of red and green light every few steps. His and Aiden’s footsteps echoed softly, but the quietness felt tangible, like a living thing around them. It set off shivers creeping up Darren’s back. His stomach dipped, a bad feeling spreading out from it. His skin felt as if ants were crawling all over it, and it got worse as they passed the warden’s office.
He’d assumed they were going there, perhaps for some fun while no one was around. But… he wasn’t so sure anymore about the fun part. Or was he overthinking? After today… there was no doubt in his mind Aiden wanted him.But why hadn’t he said anything about their midnight tryst then?
They turned right after the library, following the narrower hall that circled the entire cellblock. Eventually, they reached the set of reinforced glass doors that led to the newly refurbished game and field area. Darren couldn’t hold his mouth shut anymore.
“I thought you said you weren’t letting anyone out here until the checks were done?” he tossed as they stopped at the door.
“It seems I have a soft spot for you, Mr. Howe,” Aiden said. He held up one of those blue maintenance access cards and the reader beeped. After a click, he pushed the doors open and a chilly breeze of freshly filtered air hit Darren.
Nostrils flaring, he inhaled deeply and stepped outside. Even though, technically, the air was the same here as it was inside the prison, it lacked the staleness and sweat and warmth of the interior. The expanse of artificial grass in front of him also felt impossibly vast with no inmates and furniture to trip over, and so did the blackness of space beyond the thick glass dome separating him from suffocation. Millions of tiny stars twinkled in the distance, past the prison station’s gray exterior and past the renovated field and the angular stabilizing beams, all the way where Darren couldn’t ever reach them. They belonged to his past, and he’d come to terms with that, though being here with Aiden Kesley in the middle of the night seemed to shake his resolve.
It made him wonder things. It made him question if giving up and forgetting was really what he wanted, if maybe he was done simply surviving now that he’d tasted what it felt to be alive again.
Thanks to this mysterious man who carried as much secrets and darkness as him.
During Darren’s existential moment, Aiden had gone down the ramp and was ambling toward the Entertainment Unit, where a deliciously soft-looking couch and a massive media set were waiting under the green of yet another emergency light. The floor was carpeted there,though it reverted back to tiles beyond the game room and then changed to fake grass where the fields started.
Jogging lightly, Darren caught up. “This is impressive.”
Aiden muffled a snort. “Of course. I helped with the layouts myself.”
Darren’s eyebrows shot up. “You did?”
There was an awkward pause as Aiden’s jaw tightened slightly. His shoulders tensed, too. “It’s… a hobby of mine.”
Really? The foreboding feeling tugged at Darren’s insides. He had no idea in what capacity Aiden had ‘helped’ with the renovation—and why, for that matter, when wardens didn’t typically have expertise in designing structures—but he had a hunch it went beyond a simple hobby.
“Is that why you brought me here? So we can talk about yourhobbies?” he said instead of probing, opting for a flirty tone since he’d been given such an opening.
“What exactly are you insinuating, Mr. Howe?”
They reached the media zone and Aiden circled the couch, stopping in front of the table by one of the thick columns supporting the ceiling. He placed his hand on the backrest of a chair and seemed to space out as he stared out the glass enclosure protecting the station from the dangers of space.
Using the opportunity, Darren planted himself behind Aiden and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “That perhaps I don’t mind partaking in them…”
Aiden’s reaction was immediate. Goosebumps rose all over his exposed neck, and Darren, against his better judgment perhaps, ghosted his lips over the stretch of skin, inhaling Aiden’s minty scent. Aiden’s breath hitched in that startled way it did every time Darren made a move.His own nerves danced with excitement like they always did whenever he was in Aiden’s company, sending a thrill through him. It ran deep, stemmed from something beyond simple arousal, but as usual, he didn’t want to go there. He wanted to have fun and leave it at that, to forget all those things that plagued him.
Aiden’s shoulders tensed. “Sit.” It was the same stern tone from earlier, and it was enough to send Darren’s senses scrambling as blood raced to his dick.
Flashing Aiden a flirty smile, he sat down on the chair by the column with the metal brace. He watched the warden’s pretty profile as he contemplated something, lost again in his thoughts as if the fate of the world depended on whatever decision he was about to make. When he seemed to reach it, he turned around and held Darren’s gaze.
“Lean forward.”
Darren hitched an eyebrow but did as instructed anyway, placing his upper body on the table as Aiden brushed past him and moved out of sight. Long fingers ran across Darren’s back, tracing his spine in the most tantalizing way, then slid around his waist toward his hips, making his insides flutter with excitement. Finally, Aiden’s fingers reached Darren’s hands and paused there, prying them open from the fists they had made. Darren shivered as he remembered what Aiden’s hand had felt against his cock and then the next thing he knew, his arms were yanked back and cuffed behind the chair. His body jerked instinctively, not liking the restrictive position, but it only made the restraints tighten.
Heart rate elevating, he took a deep breath and tried to slip free of the cuffs again. He failed. Adrenaline flooded his blood, bringing with it the first tendrils of panic.
“What is this, warden?” he demanded, trying and failing not to sound like he was about to freak out. He really didn’t like being tied up without a warning, even during sex.
Aiden didn’t respond and when he came back into view, it was to drag a free chair and sit across from Darren. The playful mischievousness from just moments ago was gone from his pretty eyes, replaced by something dark and sinister.
Darren’s stomach sank, the foreboding feeling surging through him like a tidal wave.Something was wrong.Very wrong. Aiden wasn’t here for fun and games. He hadn’t brought Darren here to show off the renovations.
It was something else. It was something that caught him off-guard, that made him replay all their interactions so far, every word spoken so far, every look, every smile.
“Darren Howe,” Aiden spat out before Darren could make sense of what was happening. “Convicted for the murder of Claudia DuLaurent and Liu Zhihao, two years ago. Sentenced to fifty years of imprisonment instead of the death penalty.”
