Chapter 25

At last, relaxing in his apartment complex hot tub, with a bubbly moan, Aiden sank to his eyes amidst whirling jetted streams. The last beams of the setting sun lit the upper floors of the surrounding buildings. Shrouded by a thick hedge along a black metal fence, the waters seared him while he sank from view. As the heated jets pounded aches from his tired muscles, his heart thumped and his mind drifted back to the weekend.

After taking Kendra to her bed, he’d collapsed on his back. She’d said nothing while pushing into his arms. Even as the hot tub jets pulverized him, he could still feel Kendra’s warm frame snuggled against him, her wet petals—so soft—splitting as she ground against his thigh. The gentle puffs of air with each soft whimper into his ear. Kitten, also naked, hugging him, doing the same, rubbing his hardness against Aiden’s other leg while his lips sucked on Aiden’s neck.

If they hadn’t all three been so exhausted, there would’ve been more. Always hungering, the ring craved, but they hurt. Kendra was raw. And Kitten was beyond tired. Even this far from them, Aiden moaned, blowing bubbles in the swirling waves; his entire body was still sore from their exploits.

In the morning, after sliding from their arms, he’d smiled as they swept in to hug each other while staring at him. While he’d dressed, Kendra had slipped from the bed to help him into his shirt before trailing him downstairs.

“I’ve got to study,” Aiden said.

“I know, master,” she replied, sweeping disheveled raven tresses behind her gleaming dusky shoulder. Aiden thought about challenging her continued use of the word, but only sighed. She added. “I could ... I could come with you. Keep you company.”

“Oh. That wouldn’t go over too well.” With a laugh, Aiden turned to her as she chewed her shiny lower lip and gazed up at him. Her hopeful black eyes twinkled. “Thanks again for the grad school, but I’ve still got finals and need to study. And you...” As Aiden cupped her breasts, she thrust her chest into him with a hungry moan. “You would be far too much of a distraction.”

So here he was. Alone, again. The tub’s surface frothed as Aiden chuckled. Though not for want of Kendra’s persistence. God knows, she’d tried, pressing into him, clawing at his back, and mewling. But Aiden had kissed her on the cheek before leaving her—and sleeping Kitten—behind. All day Sunday, he’d crammed as much knowledge into his brain as it could hold, before spewing it right back out over the past several days.

And those last days had been complicated by Mrs. Davis’ return. He shifted on the molded seat when she lashed him with yet another wave of desperate need. She’d been so—restrained while he’d been taking his tests, but her ache was boundless. It had been that way since the night after Jimmy’s. For both of them. He needed her as much as she needed him.

And then there was Catherine. She’d called as soon as she and Dan had returned to town. Ravenous, she didn’t care about Aiden’s finals. Aiden let out a bubbling sigh. No, that wasn’t fair. She cared, but she was needy. And being—her words—”trapped with only Dan” for a week had ... Well, made her starved for Aiden. Also her words.

Dan? With school out for the summer, at least there’d be no more awkward lunches on the commons. Nor did Aiden expect any calls for him to come over and play more computer games. But the way Dan had looked at him before they’d left town? Aiden gulped. For a second, Aiden had thought his friend would ask him to accompany them, but the moment passed and he’d waved goodbye.

With a grunt, Aiden shifted, rolling over to settle atop his crossed arms and stare at a line of black ants trooping across the concrete in the shade of the dark green shrubs. On a warm gust of air, shouting and laughing wafted from the brunette’s apartment. A crowd of cars had arrived late in the afternoon, bringing guys, and a few girls, with beer to watch the game. All of which brought him back to one simple fact. He was still alone.

After a quick glance towards his bedroom window, his eyes fluttered shut. Illuminated, orange flickers encircled the ring as it surged in size. For the first time in a long while, it wasn’t quiet and its music grew more strident.

“Why?” Aiden murmured into the warm skin of his arm. “What do you know?” While it continued to flare and sing at him, at a girl’s loud voice from the apartment, Aiden squeezed his eyelids shut and added. “Fuck off.”

Blackness.

At a soft splash and a series of small waves slapping against his shoulders, Aiden lifted his head and blinked open his eyes. With the sun long gone, the only light was a few scattered rays passing under the shrubs from the illuminated main pool and one overhead bulb on the far side of the deck. After flickering for weeks, the lamppost above the hot tub was dark.

When Aiden rolled to spot the new tub resident, his heart flew into high gear. Wow! Brilliant topaz eyes gleamed in the dim lighting. Only then did he focus. His heart raced, spun, then sped faster. It was the brunette. The heart racing slammed to a halt, replaced by an icy chill.

“Great,” he mumbled. With a sigh, he let his eyes drift closed once more. Another girl. With another boy, who wasn’t him. “No thanks.”

Though the ring’s music blasted him, Aiden slapped it away. Refusing to be silenced, it remained strident as it twirled in the corner, sending looping flames of blue-tipped snowy white to lick at the ceiling of its cage. No. what could he say? Hi, join my other—lovers? No! Enough. Besides, she seemed nice. No secrets—probably. Hopefully.

Other than the call of a night bird and the bubbling jets, there was nothing but silence as he remained motionless, unable to sleep with the ring’s brilliant glare searing his—soul. Other than sweeping her arms across the surface, pushing small waves over Aiden’s back, the brunette hadn’t moved since settling into the distant seat.

“My name is Kim.”

At the soft voice, Aiden’s frame shuddered. Not just the way the four words slid so far into him they wrapped around his heart, but the ring’s screaming music. No! He grunted and ground his head further into his arms.

When she shifted, he exhaled. Now that she’d tried, she’d leave. She’d clamber from the tub and be gone.

The ring—detonated. It flung radiant beams of white fiery flame deep into Aiden as he struggled to hold the ring back. The strident melody was deafening. Water dripped from her as she lifted from the tub. The ring cried. It actually sobbed aloud. And Aiden’s breath hitched.

“I’m Aiden,” he said while spinning around to take in her sleek, rivulet-covered frame in a red two-piece suit. He nodded towards her apartment just as a roar left it to echo across the complex. “Not watching the game? Sounds like a good one.”

“No.” One word. Enough. She glowed. Once again, his heart raced. The ring’s music—swirled.

With a grin, she lowered herself back into the jetted water until only her face remained above the surface. At last, remembering to breathe, Aiden gasped while every sore muscle pulsed. Even as they reddened under his lingering gaze, her angular cheekbones glistened. Matted, the long brown tresses shrouding her toned shoulders gleamed. Those eyes—sparkled as her shiny white teeth sank into the corner of her lower lip.

“Was that your, uh, girlfriend?” She flicked her gaze to Aiden’s bedroom window while red flowed up to the tips of her ears. “The other night.”

“Who?” Aiden managed to ask, after prying his eyes from her glossy red lips as they emitted such melodious words. His heart spun. Catherine. Of course, it was her. The window had been open. She’d serenaded the entire complex. Several times.

“The screamer a couple of nights ago.”

When her twinkling topaz pools swelled, his whole frame ignited. As a wry grin slipped onto her face, heat roared upwards along both of Aiden’s cheeks.

“No.” The searing warmth peaked while he shook his head. He hesitated, again clenching his fists while glaring at the ring. It wanted his silence; no complications. Aiden chuckled at that; the ring was nothing but complications. “Not mine. She’s my best friend’s girlfriend. Why?”

“Just curious,” she replied.

“Uh, huh,” Aiden murmured before letting his eyes close once more.

The ring flared. It sung. It screamed. And it sobbed. Then it shared.

Though he was frozen in place, every nerve in Aiden’s body lit as the ring flooded him. So many desires. There were so many hungers. And so much fear. All the fantasies. All the secrets. The darkest secrets of hundreds—thousands of people. Bearers of the ring and those they’d touched. Over how many years? Countless. So many had worn the ring. And this one time.

The ring begged. Aiden deserved this singular chance.

Alright, ring. Its blue-tipped flames licked higher as the music settled. With a grunt, Aiden opened his eyes to gaze at her.

“How curious?” Before she could reply, he slid his trunks free and splatted them onto the rim of the hot tub.

There, ring. Happy? She’d run screaming, and you can take your pleading flames and nerve-rattling music away. Because the ring was hiding its own secret. As it shuddered, Aiden let a grin slide across his face.

Kim thought he meant the taut grin for her; her lips disappeared into her mouth as her eyes widened. It was her turn now. Would she flee, screaming, back to her boyfriend and his buddies? Of course. Or the guy would soon be calling for her, anyway.

Except she didn’t move. High above, in the gloom beyond the one lamppost, another pair of birds called out to each other. As his eyelids closed once more, the jets continued to bubble. And the occasional gentle breeze brought more game-night cheering to them from her apartment.

Oh well, it’d been worth a try. Satisfied, ring? Tada. After a lengthy sigh, he narrowed his focus on the ring. Though it remained lit by blue-white flickers, it had quieted. Fear? How many knew its secret? While Aiden couldn’t discern the details, it had one.

Just as he was about to fling his arm behind him to retrieve his swimsuit, Aiden jolted; air hissed from his lips when trembling, soft fingers slipped onto his rod, trying to encircle his root. With a loud cry, the ring leaped. After a gasp, Kim’s breathing raced, blowing across the surface as she glided closer. Despite the slow strokes of her gentle hand, Aiden snarled and struck back at the ring’s forceful struggling. While blocking his feelings, Aiden sought to tamp the sensations swirling from her

Except, it didn’t work.

It wasn’t simply the ring. Kim was—powerful? Something different, that’s for sure. When another shaky hand followed to stroke Aiden harder, his sighing breaths sped. Hers staggered and hitched before racing as unfettered emotions, thoughts, and feelings whirled between them.

Nothing had been damped. Nothing. Aiden saw her pain. All of it. The way her boyfriend, the latest in a long line of similar boys, treated her when nobody was watching. Even in the dimness, Aiden’s eyes found the faint red marks on her neck. The father who’d taught her that was love. The mother who’d remained silent, happy it wasn’t her each time. The siblings who’d looked on and said not a single word.

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Aiden and The Ring

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