Chapter 14

"Good afternoon, Mr. Howe. You are two minutes late," Aiden said, his voice and tone the perfect combination of playfulness and detachment. Too carefully regulated to be anything other than intended, especially after his sexy smile which seemed to have caught them both off-guard.

Fuuuck. Darren wanted to see it again. He tried to coax it by flashing one of his own, desperate for it, but Aiden simply waved him toward the couch, keeping his lips pressed in a line and his eyes focused on the screen. They didn't stray from it for a few minutes as Darren sat down, his gaze not leaving the other man's face.

Why was Aiden on edge? Why did his eyes look even more haunted than before when they settled back on Darren? Why did they turn hard and evaluating, like they were trying to figure out his secrets?

Fear clutched Darren's chest, hot and cold shivers surging through his body. No, Aiden didn't know. He couldn't. If he'd been sent here, Darren would've figured it out by now. He knew what to look out for, he knew the signs, the giveaways, the way the truth changed people. The gleam in Aiden's hazel eyes, the hackles-raising ferocity in them, stemmed from something else.

Licking his lips, he tried to guess what, but stopped himself almost immediately. Did it matter? If it wasn't that, then he might well be overthinking things. Reading too much into it when he should focus on having fun. On making Aiden drop his barriers and give in, so they could get each other off. That was all there was to this game they were mutually playing. Or so he convinced himself as he lifted his gaze to the holographic clock on the wall behind Aiden.

"One minute fifty-eight seconds," he corrected, chasing away those thoughts he had no place having.

Aiden closed his eyes briefly and exhaled, seeming to settle something within himself. A smile danced at his lips and this one he let play out so expertly, Darren almost believed it was genuine rather than performed. "You are still late."

"I'll stay two minutes longer to make up for it," he shot back, folding his arms.

"Of course you will."

Darren scoffed, but not in dismissal. Exasperated amusement maybe, if he was going off what he was feeling. "So, what do you want me to do today? Inventory?" he asked, curious what petty bullying Aiden had in store for him.

"Come over here." Aiden tilted his head to indicate the space to his right. "I'll have you put through some orders for me."

Doing as told, Darren beelined for the desk, planting himself on the right side of Aiden. This close, the surrounding air charged with something, and Darren had to fist his hands by his sides to prevent them from grazing along the exposed skin of the warden's neck as goosebumps rose all over it.

Was this enticing reaction because of Darren's proximity?

A pleasant hum spread inside him as he decided to believe that the answer was yes. And the more he focused on it, the more it made sense, because just like the tantalizing smile from earlier, Aiden couldn't always control his own reactions. He tried to, but he couldn't.

"I'm restocking supplies," Aiden was saying next, pointing his cursor at the catalog he had opened, "and since you already went through the inventory for me last time, I thought I'd leave this part for you as well."

Ah, that explained why Aiden had given Darren all that crap to go through last time.

"Yeah, sure," Darren agreed absentmindedly as he moved slightly behind Aiden, leaning forward over Aiden's shoulder.

He caught the minty scent of Aiden's shampoo, and bit on his lip, wondering how Aiden would smell all sweaty and spent from sex. How he would look, sprawled on Darren's bunk and begging to be fucked. That image… fuck, it went straight to Darren's cock. He shuddered, trying to contain the desire spiking within him.

"Despite the outdated interface, it's a rather straightforward process: you choose the items and amounts, add them to the basket and check out at the end. You would need my password before you can actually finish ordering, so for now just pick out what we are in need of," Aiden said and abruptly whipped his head to the side, his mouth coming an inch away from Darren's.

Electricity danced under Darren's skin, leaving no place untouched. "Yes, warden," he whispered, dying to drag his tongue along those full lips and taste them.

"I'll…" Aiden stumbled, eyes locking with Darren's. Something dark flickered there, intensifying when Aiden's gaze dropped to Darren's hoop piercing. He cleared his throat and faced forward, ending the exhilarating stalemate. "I'll go through what's in the order before confirming it, of course."

Darren stepped to the side to put some distance between them and Aiden used the opportunity to shove his chair back and stand up. He circled the desk, picking up the tablet he'd left there, and sat on the sofa. "Any questions, Mr. Howe?"

Darren weighed his words, his body still buzzing. "One, but it's not work-related," he confessed, wondering if Aiden would play along.

"That can wait until you've finished your task."

"Do you promise to answer it honestly?" he pressed, wanting to keep Aiden talking.

Aiden pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'm not in the habit of lying, Mr. Howe."

Fuck. What was it about Aiden saying ‘Mr. Howe' that made the blood in Darren's veins thrum and pool south to his dick?

"Or give straightforward answers," he challenged, shifting in the chair to conceal his growing erection.

Aiden opened his mouth but didn't speak, seeming to reconsider whatever he had been about to say. "Interesting observation," he settled on, a ghost of a frown passing over his features.

"One that you are not denying."

"Perhaps."

With a stifled smirk, Darren let the conversation die when Aiden raised an eyebrow expectantly. He focused on the order, tapping items on the holographic screen. He contemplated having a look at Aiden's private files, but his planned intrusion of the man's privacy didn't go anywhere as Aiden had limited the accessible programs to the catalog window only. That fox. Darren could circumvent the access lock, but he didn't think he had sufficient time on his hands for that, so he didn't bother trying.

"Mr. Howe," Aiden clipped about two hours later, lifting his gaze from the tablet and aiming a small scowl Darren's way. "I'm positive I told you to order only things that we need. I am certain that two hundred clay pottery sets doesn't fulfill that requirement."

"I don't know, warden. Some of the guys strike me as the creative hands-on type."

"I take it you've finished then?" Aiden ignored the comment, tapping away on the tablet. The pottery sets disappeared from the shopping basket on the screen. After a few moments to study the rest, he placed the order. "Looks like the rest is as it should be. Delivery will be between six and seven tomorrow evening, so I'd like your assistance with that at the storage bay." He smiled, this one downright evil. "And I hope you are ready for the in-class test."

A test? "What test?" Darren demanded, arching an eyebrow in confusion.

"The one tomorrow," Aiden said sweetly.

"I wasn't aware there was going to be one."

"Now you are."

True, but it didn't make it suck any less. Darren didn't hate tests, was decent at them too, but he wasn't dying from enthusiasm to have them so often either. "Are you going to include questions from the previous lessons like last time? Or just this week's?"

"What do you think, Mr. Howe?"

"That's a yes then."

Aiden stood up and held the tablet to his chest like a clipboard. "It's a good way to make sure the material has been properly understood." A notification had him glancing at the screen. "You're free to go. And…" He regarded Darren with a mischievous glint in his eyes that felt a lot like a dare. "Perhaps my withholding of this information from Mr. Owens will allow you to place first this time around."

Darren's eyes went wide. Had Aiden noticed his and Nyle's rivalry? The man certainly was observant. "Or perhaps telling Nyle myself is what I will do instead. I don't play dirty."

Aiden hummed, unconvinced. "What you do with the information is up to you." He tapped his slender fingers on the tablet's back and Darren couldn't help the rush of images of them digging into his back as Aiden alternated between raspy moans of ‘Mr. Howe' and ‘Darren' while Darren fucked him senseless.

"I'll see you in class, warden," he said and left without asking his question, his jumpsuit already feeling too tight.