“Hey.”
Their greetings were short, nothing special. But a new awareness hummed in the air between them. They were vibrating on a different frequency now—no longer merely partners. But the rest of the team didn’t know that. Aiden rose from his seat. Determined to keep up their business only facade, he picked a topic that had no personal connotations.
“Croton is getting to be a big problem in the city. Have you run into it yet?”
“Only during that marathon patrol the other night.”
“It’s not something we often deal with in the Playground. The occasional winner taking it for an all-nighter visit to one of the bordellos but that’s it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, right? You said it’s all legal in the Playground. Drugs. Gambling. Sex.”
Aiden didn’t miss the heavy-lidded look Mike gave him and slight dip in timbre to his voice when he mentioned sex. Aiden would give him the best sex of his life. He would chain that big body to his bed and ride his dick until Mike begged to be allowed to come. And Aiden would let him, if he was a very good boy.
Unable to resist the occasional way Mike drew him in, Aiden stepped close, able to feel the other man’s body heat since he wasn’t wearing his flak vest. He pitched his voice low when he answered, so that only Mike would hear what he had to say, creating a bubble of privacy for the two of them in the middle of a room full of people.
“Of course, it’s legal. And I guess I can’t fault a man for wanting to go all night. Some people don’t have the natural stamina for it.” He paused, tilting his head to the side and letting a little smile play on his lips. “Just out of curiosity, what’s your cardio level like?”
“Hey, Mike!”
The sudden shout popped the bubble of playful intimacy he and Mike were in. Aiden whipped around in surprise. Caleb was behind him, looking at Aiden with his dark eyes wide.
“Caleb! What, uh...” He paused to clear the huskiness from his voice. “What do you need?”
“I wanted to ask Mike about his ACG tech.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Aiden moved aside, clearing the way for Caleb to speak with his partner.
“Any problems adjusting to our tech?”
Mike shook his head. “Not at all. It’s smooth, and the connection is always clear.”
“And your glasses are working okay too?”
“Yes. They function exactly as you said they would. I can probably hit dead center on a dime when I’m wearing them.”
“Good.”
Aiden chimed in on the conversation. “I can’t believe you accomplished that with a pair of sunglasses.”
Caleb’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! You weren’t here when I explained how they worked.” He reached for a keyboard with his right hand, and rapidly clicked a few buttons. A 3-D image of Mike’s glasses popped up on one of the smaller monitors and Caleb immediately dived into a spiel on how the glasses functioned.
The explanation made sense to Aiden, in as much of the techno-science talk he could follow. The prisms funneled the beams in a straight line. Sounded good. But he remembered Mike’s comment from last night.
“Yeah, the glasses are working out great. But can they do anything to help with his headaches?”
Caleb stopped his rambling and looked up at Mike, his brow creased in question. “Headaches?”
“It’s not a big deal,” Mike answered. “My eyes burn and I get headaches after I use my powers. Both problems eventually go away.”
“But we don’t want you suffering after every mission.” Caleb picked up a pen and stared off into the distance, spinning the pen between his fingers as he thought. “I’ve got it! Your powers have a magnetic polarity of exceedingly high strength and concentration. What we need is an opposite magnetic reaction to counteract their effect. I’ll install magnetic inserts on your glasses. They won’t affect your beams but they should alleviate the pressure that’s causing your headaches.”
“Thank you,” Mike said. He turned to Aiden. “And thank you for raising the issue.”
“No problem. Although, I suppose now that you’ll have something to keep you from getting those headaches, you won’t need my touch anymore.” He pouted playfully, as if he were disappointed. The fact that he actually was disappointed he kept to himself. He couldn’t wait to have Mike tucked between his thighs again.
“I can always use stress relief,” Mike replied.
Caleb coughed and suddenly got busy typing on his laptop.
