“Dare I ask what you have in mind, Howe?” Aiden said casually, like the way an old friend would throw a biting remark just for fun.
It caught Darren off-guard as he stepped back to give Aiden space to stand up, making him feel warm and fuzzy inside. He noticed a few lines on Aiden’s forehead, but chose not to delve on the possible reasons behind the other man’s slight frown, because, as hard as it currently was, he needed his headin the game instead of overthinking Aiden Kesley’s accidental friendliness.
“I don’t know, Kesley, do you?” he countered, offering the same level of friendly bite as he led the way to the stairs.
Aiden caught up to him, though paused, pointing his chin back. “There wasn’t anything in the back room?”
Darren shook his head. “Only equipment.” It was unfortunate, but at least thanks to Aiden, they weren’t at a dead end quite yet.
As they headed up to the surface, Darren recounted the various devices he’d found, some known to him, some not. Aiden didn’t seem too knowledgeable either, which made sense considering neither of them was a researcher. When they reached the ground floor, they covered the passage opening with rubble and chunks of concrete, then headed back to the shuttle.
“We’ll go to Chica—”
Aiden shoved Darren behind the broken column where the ruins gave way to the garden, caging him against it. A moment later, a small two-man shuttle with blue headlights—a scouting model if he wasn’t wrong—flew overhead and came to a stop right where the rubble and plants started. It hovered there as Darren held his breath and didn’t dare move even a finger, checking for intruders. Any moment now it was going to see them and then Marcus would know they were here on Earth and he would catch them and kill Aiden and torture Darren for the answers he now had and then Sara would—
“Howe,” Aiden demanded in that tone Darren could never defy. His eyes snapped to Aiden’s, holding them as Aiden’s hand pressed on his shoulder and forced him into a crouch. “They haven’t noticed us. I… don’t think they have heat readers.”
Darren soaked the touch, using the firmness of Aiden’s body pressing into his to anchor himself to the now. It was bliss, even in this situation, the contact thrilling and pleasant.It stirred longing in his chest, twisted his stomach with anticipation.
“The materials this place was built with interfere with most types of detection systems,” he said slowly, feeling each word as it left his mouth.
The blue headlights flashed above them over the top of the broken column, reflecting off the standing wall at the far end. The beams moved left and right, scanning haphazardly as if not really looking for anything amiss. Before long, the shuttle was gone, disappearing the way it had come as silence settled across the ruins.
Blood thrumming in his ears, Darren squeezed Aiden’s forearm. They didn’t move yet. They simply stood like that in each other’s company, heat flowing between them. Darren could feel Aiden’s quickened heartbeat, the thumps just as prominent as his own.
Was it because they’d almost gotten caught or because he too liked their closeness?
Darren didn’t dare speculate. Not now when they still had a mission to complete.
“Let’s go,” he said once he was sure the shuttle was really gone.
Aiden didn’t say anything, simply nodding. They kept quiet as they made their way back to the shuttle, the run-in keeping Darren on his toes with his hearing sharpened. This had been too close and if not for Aiden’s quick reaction, they would’ve been found out. Captured, just because Darren had been too distracted and not paying attention.
It wasn’t going to happen again.
