Two hours later, they’d secured a perimeter and had the tents up. The first order of business was to collect a bunch ofsamples from the plants and water so that the ground team could run tests and determine if they were safe for consumption. Darren took charge of the camp’s command room, while Nyle, Bea and Kristen cozied up in the ‘strategy room’ behind it, negotiating with George the best way to bring the cruisers down.
Since Aiden didn’t seem to be needed, he circled the perimeter to ensure everything was in order. Just as he was finishing and about to head back, the lights they’d set up flickered and went off, plunging everything into eerie darkness. It lasted only about a minute, and soon enough the generators kicked back in, illuminating the stretch of wild land on the wild planet that they’d claimed as their new home.
“Any idea what caused that blackout?” Aiden commed the strategy room, tracing his way back to the Maine after the camp’s command room texted him that Darren wasn’t there anymore.
“Yep. Interference,”Nyle said, his voice suspiciously hoarse.“We found a bunch of glowing rocks around. They seem to discharge tiny amounts of condensed energy, and I’m pretty sure that’s what’s messing with our frequencies.”He paused there, forwarding Aiden a picture of a glowing blue rock. “We are still running analytics, but as soon as we’ve got their wavelengths, we can calibrate our tools around them… or maybe even incorporate them to power up some of our stuff.”
Leaving that matter to Nyle, Aiden boarded the Maine. He didn’t even bother checking the mess hall and headed straight for the cockpit’s elevator and then the commander’s quarters. He found Darren there, sitting on the edge of his bed and cradling the wooden box containing his ring, Sara’s chip and the two crowns.
“Hey,” Aiden said, walking in.
Darren looked up at him and offered a tight smile. “Hey.” He put the box on the nightstand and laced his hands on top of his knees. “Do they need me outside?”
Did they?
Aiden thought about that for a moment as he removed his jacket and placed it on the desk chair’s backrest. “No. And I don’t think they need me either, so I came looking for you. What are you doing?”
A contemplative look settled on Darren’s face as he glanced at the box again. His features tensed up a little and remained so even as he looked at Aiden and something dark and enticing intensified his indigo gaze. “Hiding… and waiting for you to find me.”
Aiden knew that wasn’t it and that Darren was deflecting. But he decided to bring up the real issue later as a wave of want flooded him, too tempting to resist now that it was just the two of them alone. “And now that I’ve found you?” he said and licked his lips, heat pooling to his groin when Darren’s eyes zeroed in on his mouth and filled with hunger.
“You get to decide what to do with me.”
Aiden’s cock twitched in approval. He undid the top button of his shirt and then the one below, reveling in the way Darren’s entire demeanor shifted, turning from interested to outright desperate. “And if I said I wanted you to be the one to decide?”
Darren inhaled sharply, the muscles along his arms flexing as he stood up. He didn’t say anything and neither did Aiden, content to simply hold Darren’s gaze and carry on stripping.
Since meeting George and the other Valrais supporters, it had been mostly quick fucking when they managed to catch a break. The multiverse discovery, the heist preparations, the jump drives, trying to stay alive and keeping Marcus distracted… there had been a million other more important things to do than explore this budding thing between them.
But now, they were no longer on the run. They were safe for the first time since Darren had flipped Aiden’s world upside down on that night in Horizons. Now, nothing else mattered but them. They didn’t have to worry about anyone else, they could slow down and just be with each other for a while, and then they would join the efforts of the rest so they could build a home together.
Aiden dropped his shirt on the floor and shimmied out of his pants and underwear, slipping into the bathroom. He beckoned Darren over and started the shower, though didn’t get to even check the water temperature before Darren crowded him against the tiled wall. Being caged like this did something to his insides, heightening his arousal even further.
“Tell me you want me,” Darren rasped, kissing a line up Aiden’s neck. It sounded like a demand and a plea at the same time, and its contradicting nature sparked a rush of heat down Aiden’s spine.
“I want you,” Aiden said, his heart speeding up as he felt Darren shudder.
The need within him intensified, turning into burning desire to have this man he’d promised to kill but could no longer bear to lose. There was no Marcus here, yet it didn’t change the history between them. Didn’t negate it, nor invalidate it. But this time, Aiden didn’t lose himself to the guilt and the grief; he acknowledged them and let them pass, because deep down he knew—and had always known—that despite her lies and love for him, Claudia would’ve wanted him to be happy.
Aiden cupped Darren’s face and tipped it up, memorizing it. Darren’s pupils were blown, the midnight purple just a rim along their edge, and his lips were pressed into a line Aiden wanted to disrupt.
“Darren,” he whispered and leaned in, licking that seam until he coaxed Darren’s mouth to open.
On a groan, Darren let him in and Aiden didn’t waste time taking charge of the kiss, licking around and chasing Darren’s tongue. The taste of them hit him, enticing and thrilling and making him reach between them. Darren had lost his clothes on the way here and so Aiden splayed his hand against his muscular chest first, then slid it down, feeling every inch and every ridge. When he reached Darren’s dick, he found it already fully hard and begging to be touched.
“Kiss me again,” Darren pleaded in a low and sexy voice.
Aiden grabbed him by the arm and shifted their positions, pressing Darren’s back into the wall. He took Darren’s mouth and brought their cocks together, jerking them both off. Darren moaned, deepening the kiss, though still letting Aiden lead. He arched into Aiden and pressed their chests together, the skin contact sending pleasant shocks across all of Aiden. Hands roamed his back, seemingly unable to get enough as they touched every inch of it.
Chest heaving and eyes blazing with desire, Darren pulled back for air. He looked where Aiden still had hold of their dicks and wrapped his fingers around Aiden’s hand, then latched onto Aiden’s jaw with his mouth. Open kisses and gentle nipping led him to Aiden’s right ear, and there he paused because he saw it, that tiny piece of Aiden that belonged to Claudia.
Aiden held his breath, fear and anticipation coiling his stomach as Darren’s hot breaths crashed into the skin behind his ear. He let go of their cocks and simply waited. Darren looked at it for a while, not saying or doing anything. He reached for the shampoo dispenser eventually, squinting some into his hand and lathering the shampoo into Aiden’s hair while kissing the tattooed ‘C’.
Aiden relaxed and closed his eyes, throwing his head back when Darren moved onto his shoulders and chest. Once he was done washing them, he reached for Aiden’s dick, a few quickpasses first that grew into deliberate and slow strokes once the water had washed off the soap. Sighing in pleasure, Aiden rolled his hips and fucked into Darren’s palm.
“I love how you aren’t shy about what your body wants. That you don’t hold back when we are together,” Darren murmured, sliding his tongue along the curve of Aiden’s ear.
“I know,” Aiden countered, biting off a moan when Darren chuckled and squeezed a little harder.
