Once inside the club, narrow stairs led them into a dimly lit parlor where two thick-necked bouncers were checking ID-s before letting the guests through a set of metal doors that did little to muffle the loud rock music coming from the other side. For a moment, Aiden worried if their fake ID-s would hold, but the boring look on the bouncer’s face as he scanned them abated such concerns. He waited for Darren to be okayed too, and the two of them entered the heart of the venue.
As soon as they stepped inside, Aiden’s senses were assaulted by the deafening music. Smoke from the burning décor, sweat, alcohol and perfume all mixed in together to create a stuffiness in the air that made him crave the freshness of the outside, but he forced that urge down and focused on locating Raj. It proved impossible almost immediately, the flickering lights and constant movement of people around him making his head spin. Feeling irritated at that, Aiden pinned his gaze on Darren, who, unlike him, didn’t seem to mind either of thosemuch. Or the blasting music, the beats of which Aiden could feel reverberating through the ground below his boots.
“Howe,” Aiden yelled over the cacophony, trying to get Darren’s attention, but the screaming voice of the woman on stage drowned out his words.
“Howe,” he tried again, this time gripping Darren’s upper arm.
That seemed to do it, Darren’s eyes immediately cutting to Aiden like laser sights. In the dimness of the club, they looked almost black, though the occasional flick of light hitting the side of Darren’s face gave away their true color.
“Do you see him?” Aiden asked when Darren leaned in and offered his ear.
“Yeah,” Darren shouted back, his breath warm against Aiden’s cheek. It caused a shiver down his spine, but he did his best to ignore it. “He’s close to the stage. Dancing with some of the people he came with.”
Aiden searched the dance floor in front of the singing woman, spotting Raj only when the strobe light illuminated his green hair. “We should observe.”
“Agreed.” Darren turned toward the bar. “Let’s grab something to drink and see what he does.”
Claiming two empty stools and a glass of whiskey and coke each, they watched Raj enjoy himself in the company of two slender guys in leatherwear. There was a lot of physical contact involved, brushes and touches and lingering glances, which told Aiden they had to act before Raj’s two new and eager friends had snatched him away to who knew where.
“Howe, look,” Aiden said when Raj went to the smoking area and left his two companions to grind against each other.
“Yeah. I see him.”
Darren chugged down the rest of his whiskey and led the way. Unlike the bar and main area of the venue, here the musicwas a muffled buzz, making conversation possible. A couple of tables and chairs were scattered around, and extraction fans littered the ceiling, while grotesque photos with ritualistic depictions decorated the black walls. In front of them, people in groups or alone smoked while chatting, with only half of those discussions centered around the pictures.
Raj Leven was at the back of the room, leaning forward onto the edge of the bar counter spanning the left wall. He was smoking a lean cigarette while playing with the rim of an empty beer bottle. There wasn’t anyone else in his vicinity.
With a subtle nod at each other, Aiden and Darren approached him.
“Hey.” Darren slid next to Dr. Batbayar’s son, flashing one of his flirty smiles. “Having fun?”
“Hi, yourself,” Raj greeted back, his eyes doing a slow roam of Darren from head to toe. He moved onto Aiden next, repeating the same just as deliberately. “I am. And you two?”
Darren threw a glance Aiden’s way and his grin widened. “We are. Although…” He lifted his hand and tucked a stray strand of the man’s chin-length hair behind his ear. “We were hoping you’d join us for a drink or two.”
Raj regarded them for a few moments, probably contemplating whether to abandon the dates he’d already scored for the night. He seemed hesitant, so Aiden placed his hand on Darren’s shoulder, brushing Darren’s neck with his knuckles and offering what he hoped was a seductive curve of his lips.
“Perhaps we could have some fun in private afterwards,” he proposed in a voice hoarser than he’d intended. But the contact with Darren, the heat of his skin and the solidity of his body so close was bliss and torture, making him crawl with tingling goosebumps all over.
Raj’s eyes lit up at the invitation and he smiled impishly. He finished his cigarette and the three of them plunged back intothe deafening club, veering straight for the bar where Raj ended up sandwiched between them.
Immediately, Darren got a round of shots, dunking one as Raj did the same. Aiden followed suit, the strong alcohol burning its way down his throat and bringing with it memories of the night he’d gotten drunk when Marcus’ men had broken into his apartment and chipped him. A phantom pain in his shoulder had him reach for it and rub it, and then he slid his hand down his arm until it rested above his elbow.
He was fine. The chip was out. The patrol at the Valrais Palace hadn’t noticed them either, so Marcus didn’t know they were here.
A few deep breaths later, Aiden reached for another glass, but Darren leaned forward and wrapped his fingers around his hand, stopping him before he’d had a chance to lift it up. With a steady motion and without breaking eye contact, Darren guided the glass they were both holding to Raj instead, making the college student drink it in one go.
From there, Aiden took a backseat, watching the two men drink and flirt while he nursed a glass of water. It didn’t take long before Dr. Batbayar’s son started slurring and swaying on his stool, his hands darting out to touch Darren’s face or neck. In contrast, Darren didn’t look drunk at all, and in fact probably wasn’t, still slowly sipping his whiskey while Raj downed yet another shot.
Feeling it was time to get Raj alone and do the earring switch, Aiden draped his hand atop Raj’s. The man abruptly whipped his head Aiden’s way, his brown eyes sparkling with interest.
“I was thinking”—Aiden squeezed Raj’s fingers, leaning into his personal space—“maybe we should change venues.”
“Already?” Raj protested half-heartedly, one eyebrow shooting up. “But we were just getting started.”
“We can carry on at the hotel my partner and I have booked for the night. Or your place, if you prefer,” Aiden said with a bit of that authority he knew Darren liked. If he was lucky, it would have the same effect on Raj.
He caressed Raj’s cheek and dragged his fingers to the man’s ear, rubbing the small golden ornament. It was smooth, but bigger than it had looked on the pictures, and its gleam was dulled in the dim club.
