Page 27 of Liberating Love

Aiden’s breath catches, and I look over. His freckles are standing out prominently against skin that’s gone pale with my story. I rest my hands on his and squeeze his fingers reassuringly. “Believe it or not, it got better from there.”

“How? How could it have possibly gotten better?”

I snorted. “Tells you something about my marriage, doesn’t it?” Aiden lifts his brow, and I shake my head. “Later. Anyway, I was one of the lucky ones, and I know it. My cellmate was a big guy. Bigger than I am now.” I snort. “Believe it or not, his name was Python. And he was not a nice man, by any means. They told me he’d show me the ropes, but I think they knew they were landing me in a world of shit. A couple of the guards had been taunting me about turning from the law into a life of crime, so they knew who my brother-in-law was. The one who shoved me in my cell smirked at the big son-of-a-bitch waiting in there for me and said, ‘Have fun with this one. And don’t worry, his wife just left him.’”

Aiden stiffened. “What was the guard’s name?” he growls, his face going purple with anger.

Squeezing his fingers again, I lean in and kiss him on the lips. “Thank you,” I murmur against them before nipping that full bottom lip I adore so much and sitting back up. “Aiden, there are so many things that go on in prison, both good and bad. You have a career. Taking on reforming the prison system would be a job in itself.”

“So what happened?” Anger still threads through his voice, but I know what he’s expecting to hear.

Staring him straight in the eye, I tell him the truth. “I said, ‘Don’t even posture. The last several months have been hell, with no relief. You wanna fuck me, then you better have a condom and lube, but don’t think I’m going to be your bitch because I’ve had enough of living by other people’s rules in my life.’”

His eyes widen. “Holy shit. What did he say?”

“The sneer fell from his face, and he said, ‘Tell me your story. You entertain me enough, we’ll see what we can work out.’ So I did. I told him things that I had never told anyone… about my marriage, my extended family on my wife’s side, my kids, all of it. We spent the whole afternoon into the evening together and I unloaded.”

“And he listened to it all?” The expression on his face is a mixture of disbelief and wonder. Which is basically how I felt that day.

“Yep. I got there before lunch, so he showed me the ropes and told me to keep talking. Said he felt like he was listening to a real-life soap opera.” I hesitate for a minute, then say, “I’ll tell you everything too one day, if you want to hear it. There are some things I need to tell my sons first before I tell tales about their mother.” Aiden smiles sweetly and nods at me to continue. “So yeah, Python—who’s my age and in jail for involuntary manslaughter—becomes my confessional, and I spill all my shit out there on my first day in prison. Honestly, it could have gone horribly wrong doing that, but somewhere between the van and processing into the prison and that cell, I went from being consumed with fear to being angry. I was so damn mad that this was my life.”

“Understandable,” Aiden mutters. He turns on the bed so his shin is pressed against my thigh, the covers slip down exposing his flaccid dick, almost distracting me. “What happened? Did he make you…”

“Oh yeah, he did.” I snort. An image of Python’s heavy ass pressing me into the mattress of my bunk under the cover of night flashes through my mind.

“Jesus. Were you okay? Did he hurt you? God, Delaney.”

I smirk and waggle my brows at him. “Don’t feel bad. He was so in awe of all I’d been through, he actually prepped me pretty good, considering. And it really was... it was exactly what I needed.” He narrows his eyes at me incredulously, so I drop my hand to his knee. “Listen, Aiden, I always knew I was bisexual. Honestly, I was more drawn to men than women, anyway. Ending up with Francesca was…”

“Another story?” he asks with a quirk of the lips.

“Exactly. I’d fooled around with a boy before I was with her, but... Python, he was the first man who fucked me. Well, the only man who fucked me. And it was only that once. We formed a mutual respect after that day. He showed me how to exist within the walls of that place, taught me my new world and offered a level of protection, and he was scary—had the kind of clout that kept other men from messing with people under his protection.”

“And he put you under his protection?”

“He sure did. Especially once…”

“Once what?”

I clear my throat, a little embarrassed about this part. “I saw all these kids in there who had no hope, you know? Got to know them, heard their stories. Some of them were boys who were younger than my kids and didn’t even know how to read. They’d grown up destined to fail and fall into the system. Watching them get mistreated by other inmates is what convinced me I needed to bulk up. Python had my back, and he appreciated that I started taking people under my wing—helping them the best I could, but he wasn’t like that, you know? He wasn’t exactly a self-sacrificing kind of guy. But he liked the thought that maybe some of them could get out and have a chance at a real life. Especially the younger ones. But I didn’t want to just teach those men to read, I wanted to help them learn to respect themselves.” I shrug. “When it worked, and they began to grow and change, there was often some big motherfucker who wasn’t happy about it. I had to—”

“Be able to handle yourself?” he asks softly.

“Yeah,” I say, but that’s all I’m willing to say about that. My sweet Aiden would hurt if I told him about the fights, the injuries, or the times I’d been jumped by more than one man at a time. I’d never told Jameson, either, and I didn’t want any of them to imagine those scenarios.

“Um.” Aiden’s face flushes with color. “How about…”

“Sex after that?” He nods, turning an even more attractive crimson. “I messed around with people who were willing. Mostly blow jobs and stuff, but after all those years of living with a woman who I’d ceased being attracted to long before, in an environment ripe with the heat and scent of men, especially the ones who spent all their free time working out like beasts—all that hard, rippling muscles and excess testosterone just looking for an outlet… Yeah, I was definitely not celibate while I was there. And if someone was willing...” I raise my brow.

Aiden’s gaze slips over my shoulder. “Did you, uh, ever have like a steady boyfriend or anything?”

Deciding it’s enough of the heavy stuff for tonight, and understanding how much more I really need to share with Jameson and Jovany before I try to make a go of this with Aiden, I sit up and crawl onto my knees, straddling his lap. Leaning in, I let my breath ghost his ear, relishing how he shivers against me, before murmuring, “I’ve never had a real partner at all.” Then I trail kisses down his neck, while in my heart I wonder how long it will be until I can convince him that he’s the only person I want to occupy that spot in this new life I’m creating.

10

Aiden

“Ineed you to come with me today,” Jovany says from his desk.

---