“You’ve never done anyone on the team?”
“No.” Aidan stood and tucked himself back into his pants. “I’m showering. I’ll be back in a few.”
He stalked away, but for the love of God, he couldn’t ignore the image of a smug smile in Gavin’s thoughts. He wished he wasn’t glad that he’d put it there, or that Gavin wanted him to see it.
Later that evening at a local bar, Gavin did his best to keep himself shielded from Aidan. Aidan, curiously enough, hadn’t tried to touch him since their explosive coming together several hours ago. It was as if the bigger man didn’t want to know what he thought.
Personally, Gavin liked and disliked the shield. While it gave him a sense of freedom, he found he didn’t like the barrier keeping him from his Master. His Master.
Just knowing he belonged to Aidan on any level gave him tingles.
Aidan met his gaze across the crowded table and frowned.
Gavin grinned, happy to see their relationship back on normal footing. Then again, did he and Aidan really have a relationship? They were coworkers and now partners for however long this mission lasted. A few more days, a weird sex party, and then hopefully they’d have the book and be done. So why couldn’t he stop envisioning his future right next to the big guy?
Ian, Keegan, James, and Kitty walked past several empty tables and sat with them.
“I sense worry.” Kitty zeroed in on Aidan. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer her. “Gavin, anything?”
Gavin tried to focus—he did—but he couldn’t stop thinking about how amazing Aidan’s lips looked wrapped around his cock.
Aidan snapped, “Focus, cupcake. Well?”
“I hate when you call me that.” He couldn’t help blushing.
James and Keegan muffled grins but didn’t hide their laughter well behind fake coughs. Ian, of course, openly chuckled.
“Oh.” Kitty flushed a becoming pink and glanced from him to Aidan.
“Well?” Aidan repeated, looking furious.
Gavin concentrated but could read nothing from any of them. “Nope. Nothing.”
Aidan’s glare faded. “Not a thing, huh?” He turned to Ian and said, “Block me. I’m going to try to read you.”
Ian opened his mouth, but just as he refused, Aidan shook his head. “That painting needs work. No way anyone’s going to believe that’s a Matisse.”
“Bastard. I’ll have you know my art is perfection.” Ian sniffed.
Aidan turned to Keegan, and the Texan sighed. “Go ahead. Ain’t my fault if you don’t like what you see.”
After a moment, Aidan made a face. “You did that on purpose.”
Keegan grinned. “I surely did.”
“What? What did you see?” Ian pestered.
James and Keegan shared a smile before James said, “He caught an eyeful. And it wasn’t my fine ass or Keegan’s, I’m betting.”
Kitty nearly spit out her beer. “I am so telling Rory. You better not have shown him an image of her naked.”
James, Keegan, and Rory, their partner/wife—the third in their threesome—had always been nice to Gavin. He especially liked Rory and thought her beautiful, from a clearly aesthetic perspective.
“Aw, Kitty.” Keegan tipped back his cowboy hat. “Just screwing with the gay Viking.”
“Shut up, you overgrown hick,” Aidan growled. “Rory’s too good for you.”
“Don’t we know it.” James sighed. “Ow.” He glared at Keegan and rubbed his shoulder. “What did I say about hitting?”
“It won’t leave a mark.” Keegan shook his head. “Sissy.”
Gavin knew all about marks. His ass was still tender. Good Lord, had it only been that morning that Aidan had taken him?
“That, I heard.” Aidan’s grin took Gavin, and by the look of it, the whole table, by surprise.
“Shit. Aidan can smile. I knew it!” Ian laughed. “Good for you, Gavin, taming the beast.”
Aidan’s smile faded in an instant, and Gavin wished Ian had kept his big mouth shut.
“This disproves your theory, at least,” Gavin hurried to say. “I can’t read anyone’s mind. Try mine again.”
He recalled the instant he’d felt Aidan’s heart and soul entwine with his, floating all around, off the ground, and inside him. That connection had been so solid, and it made him so happy. He used it the way Aidan had told him to use the image of his mom, and incredibly it held. It brought back to mind his time in the PWP, when he used to do those mental exercises all the time. Like riding a bike, it returned to him in a rush.
Kitty blinked at him. “Wow. You are just glowing.”
“He is?” Aidan sat up and really looked at him. “That’s amazing. Earlier I could read him like an open book. Hell, like Keegan.”
“Fuck you.” Keegan flipped him off.
“A picture book, maybe,” Ian muttered. “I doubt the cowboy can read.”
Keegan narrowed his eyes, and Ian’s chair tilted back.
“Okay, okay. Just kidding.” Ian held up his hands. “Friggin’ kinetics…”
“So you’re saying Gavin can shield himself from you, but we can’t?” James asked. “Interesting.”
“Very.” Kitty gave Gavin a knowing glance. “Oh crap. We need more beer. Gavin, give me a hand.” She reached over Ian and yanked Gavin with her.
“Um, sure.”
Once away from sight of the table, Kitty walked him past the bar and into the hallway toward the restroom.
She leaned close to whisper, “Be very careful. He’s like a powder keg about to explode.”
“What?”
She swore and looked right and left. Then she pulled him with her into the women’s room. The bar wasn’t too crowded and had an upper-class clientele, so finding the two-stalled bathroom and adjoined powder room both clean and empty didn’t surprise him.
“Kitty, what the hell?”
She locked the door and faced him. “Look, I wanted to warn you. This mission is dangerous, and you’re going into it with a man so repressed, it’s a wonder he’s not in a straitjacket.”
“Aidan?”
“I’m not talking about Ian.” She pulled at her hair, one of Kitty’s telling signs that suggested she wasn’t comfortable with the conversation. “I don’t like doing this, but I want you two to succeed.” Her emphasis on two told him she meant more than the mission.
“Tell me.”
She spoke quickly. “Aidan had an abusive childhood, and he has trust issues. You’re going into a dangerous situation with a man who doesn’t trust easily. He’s putting that aside for the mission, because to Aidan, it’s all about the job, all the time. He’s successful, and people like his successes. But he takes it personally.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Aidan equates success with acceptance. If you guys fail at this, it will damage more than his reputation. He doesn’t have friends here, because he won’t let anyone in. You’re closer to him now than anyone has been in a long time. And it’s going to bite you in the ass.”
“Hey, anyone in there?” a woman asked through the door. The knob jostled.
“Cleaning up in here. Out in a minute,” Kitty yelled.
“Oh, I’ll come back.”
“Explain what the heck you’re talking about.” Gavin didn’t like this.
“He’s trusting you, Gavin. But he’s not comfortable with it. You’re going to have to take charge of Aidan at some point. Don’t you wonder why this assignment is perfect for him? Why he’s so into control? Because no one can hurt him if he doesn’t let them. You’re a tool to him right now, a means to an end. But you love him. I can feel it.”
Gavin gaped, stunned she could think he felt so deeply for a man he hadn’t even liked much before yesterday. “Please. How can you love a person you barely know?”