“I’m sorry,” he said. “I—”

  “Shut up.” I stepped toward him and reached for his face. “Just…shut up.”

  I pulled him to me, and he didn’t resist at all. He wrapped his arms around me, and in a heartbeat, we were lost in a hungry, passionate kiss. I was angry, I was hurt, I was relieved, I was turned on, I was ecstatic just to be in his arms again, and I let it all out in that embrace, gripping his neck and his hair as he willingly granted me access to his mouth.

  Fuck it. We could talk when this was over.

  We dragged each other down into a breathless heap on top of the pillows and blankets. Aiden’s kiss was frantic. Desperate. So was mine. I dug my fingers into the sleeves of his suit, needing him as close to me as I could get him. The suits needed to come off—oh God, I needed to touch him—but I couldn’t make myself let him go.

  “I missed you so much,” he growled, grinding his body against mine. “You have no idea. No fucking idea.”

  “Don’t count on it.” I hooked my leg around his and ground back against him. “I’ve been going out of my mind.”

  “Then tonight, we make up for lost time.” And he claimed my mouth in another deep, unrelenting kiss.

  The fact that neither suit wound up torn or with a broken zipper was a testament to their durability. Anything flimsier would have been ripped to pieces with the way we forced them off each other’s bodies. Once those were out of the way, we weren’t any less frantic, clawing at each other and digging in nails and, more than once, teeth.

  Aiden pinned me down and bit my shoulder just below the base of my neck. “Fucking hell, I want you so bad.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?” I breathed.

  “Who said anything about waiting?” He nipped me again, then raised his head and looked down at me. “I have you, don’t I?”

  “Yes, you do.” I drew him down into a kiss.

  Why do I want you this bad, you asshole?

  He broke the kiss again and murmured, “Don’t move.” Before I could protest or even come up with a witty retort, he pushed himself up and shifted around so not only could he suck my cock, but his own was tantalizingly close to my mouth, so I didn’t hesitate. Aiden groaned softly. “My God…” His breath warmed my own dick, and a second later, his lips and tongue were on me, and I was in heaven. He sucked my cock and I sucked his. When he started stroking, so did I, following his lead and mirroring every move he made. If it felt good for me, it must have for him, and it did, judging by the helpless sounds he made.

  I couldn’t stay still, not even if I wanted to. My hips moved of their own accord, and Aiden groaned softly as he took more of my cock into his mouth. And, I realized, he’d done the same thing, and he was fucking my mouth just like I was fucking his, and I groaned too because I was so goddamned turned on.

  His hand slid over my testicles, so I did the same for him, and we were both shivering, moaning, trembling, thrusting gently into each other’s mouths. Nothing had ever been more erotic. Pleasuring him the same way he did me, an endless cycle of giving more and receiving more.

  Aiden’s whole body tensed, and his moans reverberated across my hypersensitive flesh, and when he came on my tongue, I very nearly did the same. He thrust unevenly, his hips moving like they had minds of their own, fucking my mouth until his orgasm faded, and I’d have come myself if he’d kept sucking my cock.

  “Holy shit.” I rolled onto my back beside him. “Much more of that, and I was going to come too.”

  “I know.” He was over me again and kissing me as I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer. I thought he might go down on me, but when he broke the kiss, he whispered, “Fuck me.”

  Didn’t have to tell me twice. “Lube.”

  “Right here.” He reached for his suit.

  He turned onto his hands and knees.

  I stroked some lube onto my cock. Then I guided myself to him, and I held my breath as I pressed in. I breathed slowly, trying to stay in control; I was so turned on I was sure I couldn’t last.

  I fucked him so hard it must’ve hurt, but he didn’t protest. The sounds he made—those soft, helpless moans—told me even if it did hurt, he didn’t want me to stop. I fucked him fast. Deep. Hard. Muscles ached in ways they never did during a sim, protesting the furious exertion and adding endorphins to the delirious mix.

  “Oh God,” he breathed. “I want… Fuck, Keith, I want you…”

  “Hmm?” I held on to his shoulder and slammed into him faster.

  “Let… Oh, God…” He shuddered. “Let me get on my back.”

  “I do like fucking you that way,” I said and slowed to a stop. I withdrew, and we shifted positions, but then he started to get up again.

  “Wait.” Aiden reached for his suit again and riffled around in the pocket.

  “What are you looking for?” I picked up the tube. “Lube’s right here.”

  “Oh. Right.” He grinned as he took it from me. “See what happens when I’m around you? Can’t concentrate on a thing.”

  I leaned in. “You’re not the only one.”

  Aiden grinned again but didn’t say anything. He kissed me, teasing my lips apart with his tongue. As he stroked some more cool lube onto my cock, I groaned, and he kissed me even harder. I was distantly aware that I’d been angry at some point tonight, but all of that meant nothing when Aiden’s mouth was in control of mine this way and his hand was on my cock like that. God, he was amazing. I needed to be inside him right now.

  I shoved him back. “I’m not waiting.”

  “I wouldn’t make you,” he said with that classic Aiden grin, and relaxed onto the cushions. He spread his legs, and my heart went crazy as I guided my cock to him again.

  I was against him. Over him. And finally back inside him. He moaned and ran his hands up and down my arms as I found a smooth, fluid rhythm, moving in and out of his tight ass.

  One of the doors shut, and we both jumped. Aiden’s head snapped toward the door, and he held his breath for a second, but then relaxed.

  “What’s wrong?” I turned his face back toward me.

  “Nothing. It’s—” He glanced back once more, then shook his head and laughed softly. “Never mind.” He kissed me again. “Harder.”

  “With pleasure,” I growled, and fucked him harder. He grabbed my arms and held on, gripping them tightly, painfully tight, and I groaned as I gave him everything I had. He dug his nails into my muscles. One of them seemed sharper than the others, biting into my skin hard enough to sting, but I didn’t give a damn because I was inside him, deep inside him, giving him one forceful thrust after another.

  The world spun around me. My orgasm closed in, but so did something else, a heavy blanket of bliss and darkness, and the only thing more inevitable than my climax was the collapse that would follow it. I had a vague inkling of worry about how I’d get home tonight when I was already so tired, so tired, yet I still fucked him hard and deep and…

  My legs were turning to lead. My body was heavy. Weak. Inertia carried me through, kept me moving, but I was slowing down. The mind was eager, but the body was fading, and a heavy black fog worked its way into my mind too.

  “Just rest,” Aiden whispered from a thousand miles away. “Relax.”

  My body obeyed him, and I slowed to a stop. I had just enough energy and presence of mind to withdraw, and then I slumped over him. We sank onto the cushions together. I lazily draped my arm across his sweaty stomach. More than ever before, postcoital lethargy washed over me, and my eyelids were as heavy as my limbs.

  “Oh my God,” I slurred. “I am so tired.”

  “I know.” He stroked my hair but then lifted my chin. “Look at me. Look in my eyes.”

  I could barely keep my eyes open, but something in his voice sent a chill down my spine, and I forced myself to look at him.

  “If anyone asks,” he said quickly, his gaze darting toward the door before meeting mine again, “you don’t remember. You don’t remember coming here, ever, or anything that’s happened here.”

  “What?” I had almost as much trouble speaking as I did understanding what he said, and I fought to keep my eyes open. “What are you—”

  “Listen to me,” he said in a desperate, sharp whisper. “You don’t remember anything. Not tonight. Not any night. Do you understand?”

  Forget keeping my eyes open, I fought to hold on to consciousness now. “What’s going on? I’m—”

  “Do you understand?” he asked. “Come on, Keith. Tell me. Please.”

  The urgency in his voice worried me. Scared me. Made me tired.

  What’s happening?

  “Keith, come on. You don’t remember, right? You understand?”

  My tongue wouldn’t cooperate, so I just nodded.

  He kissed my forehead, and I thought I heard him whisper, “I’m sorry.”

  And everything went dark.

  Chapter 18

  “Hey, we’ve got someone in here!”

  The voice was hundreds and hundreds of miles away. But still close by. Somehow.

  “Might need a medic in here,” the voice said again. “I think this guy might be drugged.”

  Something touched my shoulder. The vague squeeze implied a hand, but that wasn’t skin.

  A glove. Of course.

  “Sir?” Someone shook my shoulder. “You all right? Can you hear me?”

  It took more effort than it should have, but I opened my eyes. It took even more effort to focus them. The world was blurry and distorted. Shadows loomed over me, and slowly, those shadows solidified into three men in tactical gear with black rifles—all downturned, but menacing nonetheless—standing above me. A third knelt beside me, his hand on my arm.

  Panic brought me farther out of the stupor. I tried to get up, but thanks to dizziness and the man’s hand, didn’t get far. The gloved hand on my arm nudged me back, and I was suddenly aware of the bare skin he was touching. Realized I was completely naked except for the blanket thrown haphazardly over my lower body.

  “What’s going on?” I slurred. “What the hell?”

  “Just relax. We’re going to get you out of here. What’s your name?”

  “Keith,” I whispered. “Keith Borden.”

  “What’re you doing in a place like this, son?”

  I licked my lips, wondering when they’d gotten so damned dry. “I…”

  “If anyone asks, you don’t remember,” Aiden’s voice echoed in my head. “You don’t remember coming here, ever, or anything that’s happened here.”

  I looked at the man beside me. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?” His brow furrowed. “Do you even know where you are?”

  The wireless lounge. Back room. On pillows and blankets with the vague scent of sweat still lingering in the air.

  “You don’t remember anything. Not tonight. Not any night. Do you understand?”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  My skin tingled with the distant, blurry memory of Aiden’s hands all over me. Of his cock rubbing against mine, our mouths pressed together and our bodies all hot and tangled.

  “Do you understand? Come on, Keith. Tell me. Please.”

  What’s happening? Where are you? Aiden…

  “Keith, come on. You don’t remember, right? You understand?”

  “Keith?” The cop inclined his head. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  I licked my lips again. “I was at work. After that? Nothing.”

  “Where do you work?”

  “A simhouse.”

  The cop glanced at the other two, then looked at me again. “You’re a simtech?”

  I nodded. I pulled the thin blanket up over more skin, trying to counteract some of this disconcerting vulnerability.

  “Let’s get some clothes on you, son.” He handed me my suit. “Then we’re going to get you looked at, and once we’re sure you’re okay, we’ll have some questions for you.”

  I didn’t say anything. The men cleared out, leaving me behind the flimsy curtains. Those curtains had offered enough privacy for Aiden and me to fuck earlier, but now, just getting dressed behind them was humiliating.

  Putting on my suit while still sitting on the pile of blankets and pillows was a challenge, but my head was too light for anything else. My balance was completely fucked.

  As I pulled up the zipper, the officer said, “Can you stand?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe.”

  He offered a hand. I clasped mine around his forearm, our skin shielded by dual layers, and he helped me to my feet.

  I was still dizzy, my mind clouded. My legs felt like they were different lengths. The more I tried to regain my equilibrium, the more my stomach twisted and turned. I swallowed a few times. Held my breath. The nausea started to recede, so I took a step.

  That was a mistake.

  “Oh shit,” I croaked and gripped his arm tighter.

  “You all right, son?” he asked.

  “I’m—” I had just enough time to turn away before I vomited, not giving a damn what it landed on. When I’d recovered, I swept the back of my hand across my mouth and then spat. “I’m okay now. I think.”

  “Let’s get him out of here,” the officer said to another. “He’s too fucked up to give us anything worthwhile.”

  “Might be the best time to talk to him,” came the muttered reply. “He’s too fucked up to lie.”

  “Yeah, and when he starts telling us about the walls changing colors and purple gremlins dancing on our heads, we won’t be able to take anything he says as credible testimony.”

  “Fine. Let’s go.”

  A firm hand tugged at my arm, and I was led out of the back area and into the lounge, which was mostly empty now. A few more heavily armed cops loitered around the edges. Two of them questioned a man in a half-zipped suit and a pair of handcuffs.

  Aiden was nowhere in sight.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind, though, I heard the last thing he’d said to me before the darkness had closed in:

  “I’m sorry.”

  * * * *

  I’d never been so glad to put on my suit as I was after the hospital staff finished their examination. This thing usually felt so suffocating and confining, but right now, what I needed was a protective shell between me and the world.

  What I really needed was for them to release me. I needed to get back to my own apartment so I could collect my thoughts.

  And somehow, I needed to find Aiden. Make sure he was safe. Find out just what the fuck had happened back there.

  “Mr. Borden?”

  I looked up, and couldn’t help scowling as a gentleman came in with a tablet under his arm. “Yes?”

  “I’m Detective Santos. San Angeles PD.” He extended his hand. I didn’t take it. As he withdrew it, he asked, “Mind if I sit down?”

  You’re going to anyway. What do I care?

  I glanced at the chair beside the examination table. “Go ahead.”

  He took a seat. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I missed a day or two of my life.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a second.” He tapped on the edge of the tablet. “I know you’re not feeling well, but I need to ask you a few questions.”

  “Then can I leave?” I rubbed my temples. “I feel like I’ve been here all damned night, and I’d really like to sleep.”

  “As soon as we’re done here, you’ll be released, so the sooner you answer my questions—”

  “Fine. Fine. Ask what you need to ask.”

  Santos studied me. “Have you ever engaged in wireless sexual contact?”

  I gritted my teeth. “Pretty sure my medical chart will answer that.”

  “Let me rephrase that.” The detective folded his hands on top of the tablet. “Have you ever knowingly and willingly engaged in wireless sexual contact?”

  “You don’t remember anything. Not tonight, not any night. Do you understand?”

  “No. I never have.”

  “I see.” He cocked his head just slightly. “How do you feel about the wireless underground, Keith?”

  “What about it?”

  “Well, how do you feel about its existence?”

  “It’s sickening.” My mouth dried. “That people would go into places like that. For perversion with other people.” I’d never felt so fake, parroting the philosophy that was the foundation of my career, of the entire San Angeles culture.

  “So you would never engage in that behavior.”

  “What? No.” I scoffed. “God, no. The fact that I apparently did—” I let the shudder finish my thought, and hoped it was convincing.

  Santos eyed me. Then he held up his tablet. “Do you know this man?”

  My heart jumped into my throat, and something tingled at the base of my spine. “He comes into the simhouse where I work.”

  “What’s his name?”

  I debated playing stupid, but they’d know damn well I was lying. Every simtech knew his patients by name and face if they’d been coming in for any length of time. I cleared my throat. “Aiden Maxwell.”

  “What’s your relationship with Mr. Maxwell?”

  “My relationship?” It’s amazing. It’s beyond anything I ever imagined. Except… Where is he? “I’m sorry.” I cleared my throat again. “He’s a patient. What kind of relationship would I have with him?”

  “You tell me.”

  I sighed and rubbed my temples “Look, I don’t know what you want me to tell you. Aiden is a patient. I don’t know how I ended up at the wireless lounge. I don’t know what the fuck happened tonight.”

  “I see.” The skepticism in his tone crawled under my skin. “You might be interested to know that the police have been monitoring the lounges in that quadrant for some time.” He furrowed his brow at his tablet as he, I guessed, searched for something. “And you appeared on the surveillance footage.”

  My blood turned cold. “What?”

  “More than once, in fact.” The detective turned his tablet around, and a grainy video played.

  There was no mistaking it. Aiden had his arm around me, and the camera caught me pulling him closer and kissing him. I wasn’t a passive victim by any means. An undeniably active participant.