“Then how do you protect yourself?” His question was genuine, as he realized he had no idea what Aiden’s powers were. He hadn’t ever mentioned them and Strong hadn’t listed them during his round of introductions, probably under the assumption that Mike already knew. The fact that hedidn’tknow served as a reminder that up until now they’d only been partners in the loosest sense of the word. When he’d been with his unit, they’d known nearly everything about each other. With Aiden, they were on the verge of falling into bed together and yet, he didn’t even know how his powers worked.
“Ah. I’ll show you.”
Aiden looked around the rooftop, searching for something. After a moment he found whatever it was he was looking for. Mike watched as Aiden jogged over to pick up a rock from the ground.
“Take this,” he said, returning to Mike’s side and slapping the rock into his gloved hand. He walked backward several paces. “Throw that rock at me. And put some real force on it don’t just toss it.”
Mike’s eyebrows shot up in question. “Why?”
“Just do it.”
Aiden put his hands on his hips, the move spreading open the jacket to reveal more of his slim torso—the shadowed line of his waist flowing down to hips barely covered by those shiny black pants. Mike swallowed hard, jerking his eyes back up when Aiden spoke again.
“Throw it as hard as you can.”
Mike looked down at the rock in his hand for a moment, before pulling his arm back. He didn’t throw it with all his strength, but he put some force behind the throw as requested, keeping his eyes on Aiden to see what would happen.
The hero didn’t move or even flinch as the rock hurtled toward him. A second before it made contact with his chest, a shimmering aura appeared from thin air, surrounding Aiden in a sphere of golden light. The rock abruptly stopped when it hit the aura, as if it had slammed into a concrete wall, before falling harmlessly to the ground.
Meanwhile, Mike had lost interest in the rock. Unable to look away, his attention was completely locked on the glowing aura. It was beautiful. Soft and nebulous, with tiny golden lights dancing in the air. He wanted to touch it, but he wasn’t close enough. Mike took a step forward. Then another. Before he could take a third step, the glow faded, disappearing into the night as if it had never been. Mike shook his head, attempting to clear it of the warm haze that seemed to hypnotize him.
Aiden sauntered back to his side. Reaching up, he tapped Mike on the nose.
“I could probably convince you to kiss me again if I turned up the power enough,” he said in that sultry, teasing lilt.
Still slightly befuddled from that glow, Mike answered without restraint. “You know you don’t need a superpower to do that.”
Aiden took another step closer.
“Hmm...That’s right. You want my kisses.”
“Yeah.” Kisses. He wanted to kiss Aiden. But there was something he had to agree to first. Mike opened his mouth, ready to give an affirmative answer to Aiden’s question so that he could finally kiss those soft, lush lips again. But Aiden’s leather covered palm slapped over his mouth before he could speak.
“No. You’re a little under the thrall of my power right now so whatever you’re about to say, don’t.”
Oh. That’s why his mind felt fuzzy. Mike shook his head back and forth, snapping fully out of his daze. Aiden watched him for a moment longer, then dropped his hand from his mouth.
“Thank you for that,” Mike said.
“You’re welcome. Believe me, I want your answer. And even though I’m pretty sure I know what it’s going to be I want it freely given.”
Mike nodded. He was almost certain of his answer as well, the small doubts and hesitations he had outweighed by his desire to do as Aiden wanted, to use his body to make the other man feel good. They gazed at each other without speaking. Unlike their previous icy standoffs, this one crackled with heat and expectation. Mike took a step closer. Aiden matched the movement, his lips slowly parting...
Suddenly, an alarm blasted into the night, a piercing siren wail reaching up to their private spot above the street.
Aiden immediately pulled back from the charged moment between them. He ran over and stepped up onto the roof’s ledge. When Mike looked at him in surprise, Aiden raised an eyebrow.
“You coming?” he asked. He tugged his mask back into place then jumped off the roof. Mike leaned over the side to watch him drop. Aiden flipped in mid-air, landing in a crouch when he reached the ground.
His partner stared up at him from the street below.
“Take the fire escape if you need to,” Aiden called up.
Mike recognized the dare even if it wasn’t phrased as one. He didn’t need to take the fire escape. Many humans enhanced with special physical abilities had bodies that were stronger and sturdier than regular humans. For him, jumping from this height was no more harmful than a kid jumping off a swing set. He stepped up onto the ledge and leaped into the air. The street came rushing up at him, and a small puff of dust kicked up around him when he landed in a crouch as Stardust had, one fist pressed to the ground. Mike straightened to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow raised in challenge.
Aiden’s eyes twinkled with amusement behind the mask. “I knew you could do it. C’mon. Let’s go fight some crime.”
