21
Aiden
Aiden stared at themirror in his bathroom for minutes, the mark of teeth on his shoulder evidence of the explosive need both he and Darren had let run amok tonight. There was still lust coursing through him, but it was now a simmering flame, manageable yet still enough to reignite the fire if he let it.
He traced the indentations with the tips of his fingers. He’d not stopped Darren. He should have, just like he should’ve turned down Darren’s request to join him on the mission to the vault. He also shouldn’t have asked Darren to go to the mansion’s ruins on Earth and more than all of that, he shouldn’t have let him use ‘Aiden’, because every time his first name came out of Darren’s mouth, his resolve wavered.
But even though he knew all of that, even though he’d fought his fall, he simply couldn’t stop it anymore. Not when he’d found someone just as broken and alone as him, who made himwantfor the first time since Claudia.
Aiden’s mind circled back to the mats, to the way Darren’s weight had felt so good on top of him. Grounding and exhilarating, it had emptied his head of every thoughtand protest, rendering him unable to fight the craving, to do anything but focus on Darren and experience him with every available sense. His skin had been smooth and cool, his breathing elevated, his scent that of sweat and citrus and his taste…Still an unknown.
Aiden shivered, holding onto the sink as his stomach did a flip. His abs tightened and his dick gave a jerk, his body demanding what he was still refusing to acknowledge. It was trying to coerce him, to tempt him to give in finally, but if he did, then where did that leave him?
If he acted on these urges and sought Darren out, this time it wasn’t going to be like the night on the Maine, because neither of them was who they’ve been back then. Piece by piece, Aiden had been crumbling since then, losing more of himself with every minute he spent in Darren’s company. Claudia was less and less on his mind, leaving behind anger, guilt and shame that still couldn’t stop the soul-deep yearning Darren caused in him.
Answers and revenge, those had been Aiden’s drivers, the only absolutes in his life. That was who he had been ever since Claudia’s death, but now as he stood and stared at his flustered face, as thoughts of Darren raced in his head, he no longer knew who he was looking at.
Adrenaline fueled Aiden’s agitation. He felt it in his neck, the side where Darren’s fingers had been pressing vibrating as he swallowed. He was lost. He didn’t know who he was supposed to be anymore, what he was supposed to do or feel, whether he was allowed to admit defeat and start anew. His anger and hate came up to the surface, but they had no power over him like they’d once had, washed away and extinguished by that same cataclysm of desire they had been trying to suppress.
Because even as everything inside him was falling apart, tearing and breaking and shattering, Aiden wasn’t aloneanymore. Darren was here with him, a part of this, an anchor that kept him tethered.
Aiden’s body moved without his input, his mind a hazy mess with one single purpose. To reach out and grasp that solace only Darren could give him. To claim it as his, to surrender to it, because he couldn’t take it anymore. His being demanded in agonizing selfishness the one thing he wasn’t allowed to have. He tried to rebel against that wish, to put it out and to replace it, but it simply didn’t work. Whatever had snapped inside him on that day on Earth when Darren had bared his soul had sealed Aiden’s fate in stone and led to this inevitable moment.
Heart racing, Aiden left his room and knocked on Darren’s door. He got no reply, which told him that Darren was likely asleep, yet he couldn’t make himself leave. He needed to confront this, to face Darren. He needed to—
The door opened just as he was about to knock again.
“Hey, I… thought it might be you,” Darren said, a slight frown on his face. His hair was damp and he looked on edge more so than confused, tension pouring off him in waves that Aiden’s body couldn’t help but soak up.
Darren moved to the side and let Aiden in. Only the desk and bathroom lights were on, but their dim orange hues chased away enough of the darkness.
“What’s wrong?” Darren said when he closed the door. “Are you hurt somewhere?”
Aiden stopped just in front of Darren. He could feel the weight of the man’s gaze and so he turned around instead of replying and met that midnight indigo head on. The intensity of it was potent, making him shake with a full body shiver which Darren didn’t miss.
“Aiden…” Darren whispered, his nostrils flaring as the air between them charged with tension.
Aiden could feel the static electricity around. It touched his skin, raced up his spine and seeped through his flesh, building up anticipation in his stomach and chest. He couldn’t move, suspended in place as Darren’s eyes roamed his face, as they drank him in and turned from hungry to starving, as they activated his fight-or-flight response. The rational part of him demanded he put a stop to this, urging him to run, but he couldn’t do that because he was a prisoner to this all-encompassing sensation that wanting Darren Howe was.
Darren stepped in closer, balling his hands into fists at the side of his body. He was mere inches away and that made Aiden suddenly aware of the dull sting of the bite marks along his shoulder, of the frissons of heat spreading from there into the rest of him, of his visceral need for this man that dominated every cell of his body.
And Darren… Darren looked about to come apart in the most breathtaking way.
Because ofhim,for himandwith him.
Once that sank in, once he’d let it, Aiden’s whole being came alive like the world at first light, his hands reaching out and fisting the fabric of Darren shirt to bring the man close, then closer, until their mouths were sealed against each other. He traced Darren’s lips with his tongue, then pushed past them, needing to taste and claim and plunder.
Darren groaned and Aiden swallowed the sound, feeling the vibrations of it trickle down his throat then settle in his stomach. His own moans Darren captured in much the same way, each one seeming to make his tongue more eager and his hands greedier as they clamped down Aiden’s shoulders.
Aiden hissed when one of them pressed the bruised area, and pushed his tongue deeper into Darren’s mouth, sweeping over every inch of it as his fingers dug into the firmness of Darren’s heaving chest. It was so different from the softnessof female curves, as was the relentlessness with which Darren returned the kiss, not letting himself be swept away but taking as much as he gave, demanding what he needed from Aiden just like Aiden was demanding of him.Devouring, the act primal and lighting Aiden up in a way he’d not experienced before.
Kissing Darren was violent and aggressive, yet there was an underlying gentleness to it, a softness stemming from the comfort Aiden found in having Darren in his arms. It elicited more desire in him until his dick was fully hard and seeking friction. Overwhelmed by his reaction yet needing more of the pleasure Darren was stirring in him, Aiden melted the last few inches between them and pressed his body against Darren’s.
Darren grunted and shifted his hips, lining up their erections. Aiden moaned deeply, the sound guttural. This felt good, too good, overwhelming his nerve endings as a surge of tingling sparks traveled through him. He lost control of the kiss and Darren took over, plunging his tongue into Aiden’s mouth. He licked and explored, leaving no inch unmapped. The taste of Darren spread everywhere then, dark and heavy like the air before a summer storm, dissipating the fruity smell of his shampoo until all that was left was just Darren’s intoxicating scent.
Aiden needed even more. He was burning for Darren, his body yearning to be even closer. He needed to touch and to be touched or he was going to lose his mind.
To go crazy and not return from it.
