Chapter 29

At the ping of the phone, Aiden jumped. With his insides still shaking, even after another much longer run and icy shower, he couldn’t shake the feel of gliding over Mrs. Owens’ glossy dark skin. It had been over a week since, mind spinning and world blurring, he’d torn from their home. After speeding far faster than was safe, he’d dashed into his apartment.

By the time the door had thumped closed behind him, Aiden had fled for the freezing shower spray. Still dressed, he’d hung there, clawing at the tile for—hours, maybe even days. Her fear—so profound—had shaken Aiden to his core. It still did. Each time the ring had attempted a murmur, Aiden backhanded it into a dark corner. It would spin until its glowering countenance simply stared.

No flames.

No music.

No nothing.

Of course, Mrs. Davis had called. Her calls began almost as soon as he’s stumbled from the shower, his skin like ice and teeth chattering. And Catherine continued her regular bombardment: calls, texts and even DMs on MyBook. With waves of shame alternating with shattered flickers of desire whirling inside him, he’d ignored them all.

For a week.

Especially—her. He’d avoided Mrs. Owens. Mrs. Owens. No longer Kendra. After he’d almost ruined her life, she deserved more—respect. And he damned sure didn’t need her husband to keep texting and calling to remind him how close he’d come to doing just that. He’d also deleted every message from Kit—Mr. Owens.

Though the ring tugged at him, Aiden groaned, refusing to glance at the phone as it sounded once more. He’d miss Kitten. The beautiful man had been so innocent in all this.

“No.”

With a snarl, he uncurled from the couch and leaped for the phone. Enough. He’d do it. At last, block their numbers. Heart pounding, he snatched it from the kitchen counter and glared into the glass.

His core staggered to a halt, flipped, and sank. It was Dan.

“Hey, uh, Aiden.” His friend’s low voice was shaky. “Um, look, you wanna come over? The tournament’s kicking off tonight.”

“I, uh...” Something snapped. Aiden simply needed to get away from his apartment. It would be great to do anything—routine. Normal. They always watched online game tournaments together. “You know what, Dan? Sure. I can be there. I’ll bring the beer?”

“Yeh. Yeh, man. That’d be good. I’ve got some salsa. Home-made. From ... From, uh, Kate’s aunt.”

“Cool.” Aiden replied, noting the tremor in Dan’s voice when he’d mentioned his girlfriend. “Uh, Kate’s not gonna be there, right?”

“No, man. You know how bored she gets with that kinda stuff.”

“Okay. I’ll be there.”

After hanging up, Aiden sighed, his pulse slowing. Sure, he’d known she didn’t like gaming, but if she’d known Aiden would be there? He couldn’t face Kate. Not yet. One day ... Well, one of these days, they’d have to ... Again. But it was too soon. As another lengthy sigh left him, he ran fingers through his hair and looked across at Kim’s apartment. Since he’d returned, she hadn’t been around. Neither her nor her boyfriend. Nate? With a shrug, he turned and slipped into the shower.

As he washed, he let a smile slide onto his face. With a chuckle, he tamped the ring’s connection; Mrs. Davis would be there. He’d surprise her again. Not that they’d get to do as much as his earlier visit, what with her stepson there, but just being close to her as she—pined—would be...?

Entertaining? Yes. As he slipped into a tight green polo and loose blue shorts, Aiden smiled. Even if nothing happened, simply teasing her would...

Plus, she’d be close. And that would make them both—better.

When Dan tugged the door open, his friend’s pale gray eyes expanded.

Aiden had forgotten. Or chosen to forget.

Though slight, Aiden caught the tremor wriggling through his friend. When the ring leaped, Aiden raced to smack it away. No! This would only be a friend thing. No more. He glared at the ring, even as he paused on the threshold. His unkempt dirty blonde hair waving in the breeze, Dan was no longer looking at him. Instead, he’d dropped his head to focus on his own bare feet.

“You okay, Dan?”

“Yeh. It’s just. Uh, nuthin’. Come on in.”

Once Dan opened the door further and gestured him inside, Aiden swept past him. He caught Dan’s heart thumping in his chest and the skip in his breathing. This had been a stupid idea. Aiden should have thought about...

“Chips and salsa are already on the coffee table.”

Before Aiden could reply, Dan closed the door and moved to the living room. The tension faded as his friend settled on the distant couch. The widescreen was on. Announcers were trying to pump up the crowd with their usual inane chatter. His eyes on the screen, Aiden placed the case of chilled beer on the table before slipping to the couch beside Dan. Dan had quite the spread. On the table were circular green and yellow striped bowls. The smaller ones with chunky salsa, while a larger one contained a heap of triangular corn chips.

As the matches began, Dan started his usual banter, and soon Aiden was laughing and tossing out barbs at the screen. It was an hour into the competition when things changed.

First, as much as Aiden wanted to hide himself, he caught Mrs. Davis’ flaring hunger as she got closer to home after leaving work. As each of her waves battered him, he jolted. Such strength.

And second, Dan’s tremulous tone. “Aiden, man?”

“Yeh,” Aiden answered while popping open a fresh beer; he should’ve brought two cases.

“Look about the other day...” When his friend’s voice tapered off into a sigh, Aiden shifted from the screen to him. Dan kept his own gaze fixed on the tourney. “Uh, I’m not gay...”

The last word echoed around the room, piercing the chatter from the TV while the can in Aiden’s hand shook. After a dry gulp, he tilted it to his lips and sipped. As the cool liquid slipped down his throat, Aiden’s heart hammered. Although the ring shoved, Aiden thrust it back. One touch. Only one. And Dan would be his. Catherine would never know. Nobody’d ever know. Just the two of them—more than friends.

He was different from Kitten, Dan ... Aiden gulped air, not beer. Dan was more like his step-mother. He craved control. His girlfriend was perfect for him. His girlfriend. Right, Catherine. Turn Dan’s focus to Catherine—Kate. “Kate” to him.

“Doh, with that hot piece of ass you have for a girlfriend.” Aiden joked, ignoring his shaking hand before adding. “You’d better not be.”

With a swift nod, Dan laughed. Though it wasn’t a happy laugh, nor did it provide much relief to the tautness in the air, he followed up with a swift nod. For a while they sat in silence, again focused on the matches, Aiden sipping and Dan munching.

“Uh, Kate hasn’t, um, stopped by, has she? I mean ... Uh, at your place.” Dan’s low voice pulled Aiden back to the living room. Once more, the tension spiked.

Rather than answer, Aiden swigged the last of his beer and tossed the can aside. Mrs. Davis was getting much closer and her hungry waves pummeled his mind. As he gazed at his trembling fingers, he sighed.

Since Aiden was still quiet, Dan turned to look at him; his pale eyes were glossy and lower lip quivered. When his eyes flicked to Aiden’s crotch for the briefest of seconds, the ring flew. But Aiden smashed it away.

“You would tell me.” Dan muttered before hesitating and adding in a lower voice, “Right, bruh?”

Even the ring murmured as Aiden let a grin slip onto his face. After everything ... The Owens. His stepmom, now almost home, desperate to throw her naked frame against his. And Kim. Oh, Kim. Where were you? The best answer would be “yes.” The second best would be silence. But, the cruel answer, the one Dan needed to hear...

“Nope,” Aiden replied.

At Dan’s sudden gasp and the blood draining from his face, the ring flared with white-tipped flames. When Dan only turned away to stare at the screen while sucking on his lips until nodding, Aiden’s grin faded.

“Okay. I guess,” his friend mumbled, before grabbing a handful of chips.

It had been both brutally honest and the correct answer. Dan didn’t actually wish to know what, or if anything, went on between Aiden and Catherine. He’d be fantasizing, anyway. Dreaming about Aiden taking her from him. Using her. Riding her into a screaming wreck again and again. Perhaps Catherine would share details, but that’d be her decision. If they ever got together again.

At the thumping pulsations battering him, Aiden clenched the can so tight, foam flew from the slot; Mrs. Davis was much nearer. At Dan’s sidelong glance, Aiden tensed. The ring was again poised. Aiden lifted his hand; the ring backed down. Dan’s entire body vibrated when, after a lengthy sigh, Aiden leaned closer to set his beer on the table.

The ring twisted, jolted, and jerked forward, tentative, but Aiden held his hand back, letting the heat of its flames warm his palm. Could he? Another. And keep another secret? From everyone? Almost everyone—Mrs. Davis was almost there. And should he use Dan like that? To taunt her? Was that fair? To him? To her?

Since when was life fair? After every single promise the ring had shit from its flame-addled little-freak metallic mind, Aiden was still alone.

“So about the other day. With Kate,” Aiden said. “You really seemed to enjoy—everything.”

“Um...” Dan gulped, his eyes widening and fingers clenching. “Uh, well ... Look, I mean, it was...”

“Her idea. Yeh, I figured. But afterwards.”

“Oh.” A tremor crawled through his friend and Dan flicked his gaze to Aiden’s shorts again; his own were tightening. “Uh ... Yeh, about that.” Dan’s voice was an airy whisper as his pale face darkened, the blood racing upwards under his skin. “I mean you were ... And I’d never ... You know, um, touched a ... I mean only mine. And I was, uh, only, um, curious and...”

When the garage door began to rumble, Aiden froze. Dan didn’t appear to notice, his eyes intent on Aiden’s. Now was the time to stop, to move away. Wander to the kitchen. Taunt his friend’s stepmom as usual. Forget about Dan’s—needs. Aiden didn’t need to know any more than he’d already surmised. Or the ring had hinted.

While it curled tighter, readying to leap, Aiden dropped his hand and let it flare. In the living room, he sighed and slid his hand over Dan’s shaking wrist.

No more hints.

No more secrets.

Not from Aiden. A groan shot from Dan as his eyes fluttered. Frozen, his core bared, he let Aiden wander along the darkest aisles, guided by the ring’s blue-tipped white flames. While air hissed from Aiden, it hitched in Dan’s throat when Aiden slid his friend’s fingers into the waistband of his shorts. At the touch of Dan’s fingertips, Aiden’s cock pulsed. Chest heaving, Dan’s breathing sped.

As the door to the garage squeaked open and Dan’s fingers curled tighter, Aiden’s pulse raced.

“I see you’re still curious, bud.” Even as the click-clacking on the kitchen skidded to a standstill, Aiden flashed a grin at Dan. Dan gulped, then returned the smile. As music resounded, flames raised to encircle them.

“What the...?” slipped from her trembling lips as Gina staggered to a halt.

Though she’d detected Aiden’s presence just after leaving the office, the weird sensations when entering the neighborhood had puzzled her. At a stoplight, Gina shoved her skirt high around her waist so she wouldn’t soak through it as the choker tightened over her pulsing neck. After stumbling from the car, every motion drove her taut nipples into the scratchy lace of her bra, sending lightning deep into her. She hadn’t even pushed the slippery black satin skirt down until after she’d rammed the shaking key into the blurring lock.

The weird sensations? They no longer puzzled her. Wide and shiny, Dan’s eyes were locked on Aiden’s crotch as her master leaned back on the couch. The TV was on, Asian kids were playing computer games, but Aiden was looking at her stepson. When Aiden said something, Dan nodded.

I know you’re there, slut.

After easing her purse and keys to the counter, Gina slipped into the kitchen just far enough she could still peek into the living room. While holding in a moan, she squeezed her slick thighs tight.

Master. Why? I can ... Be with you.

Even as Dan moved closer, his arm pumping, Aiden ... The ring. Both. Pierced her with plunging white flames. And images. Shadowy images. Dan’s dark ideas. Even darker hopes. Her chest heaving and eyes screwed shut, Gina gnawed at her lips as she swayed against the wall, her fingers pressing into her crotch. While quivering, holding herself on the very edge of release, she shifted her eyes to the couch.

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Aiden and The Ring

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