Cut & Run 05 - Armed & Dangerous (5 page)

He twisted as Zane pounded into him, unable to do anything but open himself up to the vulnerability of pleasure. Breathing hard, Zane started to slow, changing the hard thrusts to long, smooth slides. He lowered himself to lie against Ty, reaching up with his other hand to pull Ty’s wrists down. Zane kissed him, slow and sure. Ty moaned and spread his captive hands, letting Zane’s fingers thread into his, feeling helpless in Zane’s grasp but loving that he could trust Zane with that feeling. Not once did it cross his mind to panic or try to escape the grip of Zane’s fingers. At that moment, he was totally Zane’s.
“I love to see you like this,” Zane whispered against Ty’s ear, causing a shudder to travel through Ty’s body. “So fucking perfect.”
Zane must have felt Ty’s reaction, because he gasped and snapped his hips hard and then moved back up on his knees. He let go of one of Ty’s hands, then reached down to slide his free hand against Ty’s hip, holding on to him. Ty arched into his touch, reaching out to drag his fingers over Zane’s shoulder and down his chest. Short, tortured breaths escaped his parted lips. He couldn’t force himself to open his eyes as Zane started to move inside him again.
“Ty,” Zane said as he released Ty’s other wrist and moved his hand to splay his palm across Ty’s chest. “Look at me. Open your eyes, baby.”
Ty whimpered with the words, almost a pained gasp as he forced his eyes open.
Zane swallowed hard as he drew a shaky breath. “Are you feeling this too?” he asked, breathless as he rolled his hips against Ty.
Ty met his eyes for a brief moment before the pleasure and the proximity caused his eyes to fall shut once more and his body to jerk as he reached for Zane’s neck and pulled him close. Zane’s fingers tightened in his hair, holding him there.
“Yes,” Ty answered, surprised at how desperate the honest answer sounded. He moaned, licking his lips as he tried to process through the haze, and then pressed his mouth to Zane’s ear. The flare of heat had Ty’s blood pumping so hard that at first he couldn’t be sure the words were coming out. He couldn’t hear a thing but his own heartbeat.“I’ll always be yours, baby.”
Zane shuddered against him, managing a dozen more thrusts before tensing hard. He shouted as he came, and his hips stuttered with each abbreviated thrust as he moaned Ty’s name. Through his climax, Zane continued rolling his hips, providing the friction Ty needed, and it was enough to push Ty over the edge. They held tight to each other as they shared their pleasure, letting the world spin out of control for a few short moments together.

Z ANE stood on the bathroom threshold, looking out into the shadowed hotel room at the man he’d left sprawled across the bed in a mess of sheets and sweat. The light shining from behind Zane lit Ty’s face, highlighting long lashes that lay against flushed cheeks and lips Zane could tell were swollen.

He smirked as he turned the small box over and back in his hand. He’d discovered it in his duffel bag, tangled up in a clean undershirt from the drawer where he’d kept the box hidden.

It was like Fate had intervened and tossed it into his bag while he wasn’t looking.
Zane wanted to be angry at Ty, he truly did. But dammit, he just couldn’t hold onto it. He was in love with a man who was flighty and spontaneous and headstrong all wrapped into one gorgeous, fun, frustrating package. Ty was a walking emotional hazard, and Zane had known that from the start. Zane huffed and leaned against the doorframe, wanting to burn into his memory the vision of Ty lying there after being thoroughly fucked.
Ty stretched, and the tangle of sheets muffled his low hum. He didn’t look back at Zane, but he turned his head. “You’re lurking.”
“Admiring,” Zane said as he took his time looking Ty up and down.
“Well. Go ahead, then.”
Zane allowed himself a small smile. “I expected to be angry at you for longer,” he said as he moved to the bed and settled on his side next to Ty.
Ty stretched again, his muscles tensing, body flexing like a large cat sunning. He smiled at Zane, eyes sparkling. “But then?”
Despite the fact that he had just about fucked Ty into oblivion not fifteen minutes before, a stroke of heat ripped through Zane as he watched the play of Ty’s muscles, and he rolled his eyes in resignation. “Too happy to see you.”
Ty reached out to slide the tips of his fingers down Zane’s cheek. He scooted himself closer until he could press his nose to Zane’s, and he draped his leg over Zane’s hip. “I did miss you. And I
am
sorry.”
Zane nodded as he slid his hand down Ty’s hip and pulled him close. He knew he needed to let the anger go; it wouldn’t change what Ty had done. “Did it hurt so much?”
Ty’s expression softened into sadness, but it passed so quickly that Zane could have imagined it. “Sometimes I… I just need a break. Up here,” he said, tapping his forehead. “I have to go somewhere on my own to let life hit me. If I don’t, too much piles up and… I end up not really able to deal. I just have to get away sometimes.”
Zane didn’t understand; he wasn’t sure he could without having seen the things Ty had seen or living the things Ty had lived. He supposed that when he had to take something apart and analyze it from all sides, it was his way of coping with an issue that would otherwise be too big to deal with. Ty’s way of coping was to walk into an open space, either figuratively or physically, and let the problem hit him with its full force. It was one of the ways he and Ty were wired so differently.
Ty sighed and rolled to his back again. “Running for a few days is better than the alternative.”
“Meltdown.”
“Yes. It’s happened before, and it’s not pretty. Taking off gives me time to think, gives me clarity.”
Zane totally believed that. He couldn’t imagine living inside Ty’s head was easy. He laid his cheek against Ty’s chest, listening to the steady heartbeat as he tried to convince himself not to brood about it. His hand clenched on the small box he still held.
Ty’s arm snaked around him, pulling him close and tight. Zane shifted and moved his head to Ty’s shoulder.
“Zane?”
Zane realized he’d been staring at the headboard without really seeing anything, and he blinked back into focus to look up at Ty by resting his chin on Ty’s chest. Ty’s fingers curled around a lock of Zane’s hair to play with it.
“Next time… next time I need to go, will you go with me?”
Whatever remnants of anger still lingering had no chance against a request like that. Zane would have sworn that he felt what remained of that hard knot he’d carried in his chest for the past several days melt away. “Yeah,” he said, reaching to trail his fingers over Ty’s cheek.
Ty gripped his hand and smiled, looking relieved. “Even if it involves the wilderness?”
Zane couldn’t help but laugh. “Even if it involves the wilderness.”
Ty hugged him tight and let out the breath he’d been holding in a rush. “I love you. I will always be yours, Zane—no matter where I am or where you are. I promise you that,” he said, the words as serious as Zane had ever heard Ty utter.
Zane felt flushed all over, light-headed, and more than a little offkilter. What Ty promised… it was more than Zane had ever expected to want from anyone ever again. But he did want that from Ty, desperately. He drew breath to speak, but it caught, and he had to try again before he could get anything out. “You—you grovel pretty damn well.”
“I do everything well.”
“Ha!”
“See, that was one thing I thought a lot about while I was gone,” Ty said as he rolled Zane to his back and gave him a quick kiss.
“Groveling?”
“No”
“Being awesome?”
“No, Zane, shut up and let me talk.”
Zane bit his lip to keep from smiling. He looked up into Ty’s hazel eyes and found himself getting lost in them as Ty spoke.
“See… there’s no reason you shouldn’t know exactly how I feel about you. Or how I feel about bagels or loafers or the color blue.”
“Bagels?”
“Yes. There’s nothing we need to hide from each other. And I know it’ll be hard for both of us, and we might need to share some things gradually, but I think we should give it a try.”
Zane settled, his arms curving around Ty’s waist, his gaze still riveted to Ty. “I think that sounds pretty damn good,” he said, knowing it would help keep insecurity—and jealousy—at bay. He slid his hand over Ty’s hip and up his side. “How do you feel about bagels?”
“Zane.”
Zane smirked and ran his hand down Ty’s arm.
“But that means you have to do the same for me,” Ty continued. “No more hiding from me.”
“I don’t hide.”
“Yes, you do.”
Zane looked up into his eyes, wondering how he’d found a man who knew him so well inside and out. “You know, once I make my mind up about something….”
“I know.”
Zane nodded. “I love you.” Then he lifted his head enough to press a kiss to Ty’s lips.
“I know,” Ty said with a smirk as he pulled Zane closer. “And what the hell do you have that’s poking me?”
The hand still clutching the box was pressed against the small of Ty’s back, and Zane shifted enough to pull his arm free, propping himself up on that elbow as Ty lay back and watched him. “You know how I spent all that time… crunching the numbers?” he asked as an odd calm swept over him.
“I was aware, yes. Why?”
Zane smiled and then placed the little wrapped box on Ty’s belly. He’d been envisioning this moment for months. In every permutation of his imaginings, they’d been wearing more clothing.
Ty had to duck his chin to see what it was, and he was looking at Zane oddly when he reached for the box. “What’s this?”
“I bought it for you while we were on the cruise ship.”
“And all I got you was this stupid T-shirt,” Ty said as he lifted the tape at one end of the box.
“Don’t fuss.” Zane poked him in the ribs. Ty grunted and jerked away, reminding Zane that he was probably still sore from his collision with a very large fireman at home plate a couple of weeks back.
Ty glanced at him and opened the box like it might be rigged to explode. He set the lid aside and opened the case.
Set off against gray velvet and still gleaming after all those months was an elegant, polished white gold slide pendant hung on a length of tightly wound black cord. The slide was about the size and shape of a nickel, and the inset boasted a two-tone compass rose. Each of the eight points terminated in a tiny diamond chip set into the round seal.
Ty stared at it, speechless as he took in the intricate, uneven detailing of the hand-tooled piece. The imperfections reflected that it was one of a kind. Just like Ty.
“Zane,” Ty finally managed to say. He sat up, not seeming to notice that he’d disturbed Zane’s lounging, and looked down at Zane, agape.
Zane waited, feeling a slight trepidation niggling at him as he tried to decide what the reaction meant.
“This cost you a fortune,” Ty said, aghast, as he lifted the necklace off the pad.
Zane edged up one shoulder in a tiny shrug. He hadn’t even looked at the price tag. He’d seen it and known he had to get it. And seeing the amazement on Ty’s face just now was worth every cent.
Ty just looked at him, his hazel eyes boring clear into Zane’s soul. Sometimes Zane found himself wondering what Ty saw when he looked into him like that.
“Thank you, Zane.”
“You’re welcome,” Zane said, swallowing hard as he sat up. “Want to see how it looks?” Because he did. Desperately. He’d visualized it uncounted times now.
Ty gave him a crooked grin and handed him the necklace. He sat so Zane could hook it around his neck. Zane unwound the leather cord and unfastened the clasp before moving it to settle it around Ty’s throat. It took a few seconds to get the clasp closed—Ty’s gaze on him was too distracting for Zane to get his fingers to work—and finally Zane pulled the pendant down so the necklace hung as it was supposed to.
Ty was still watching him. Zane touched the compass rose as it fell below the hollow of Ty’s throat.
“Looks great,” Zane said, starting to feel a little self-conscious under Ty’s unwavering gaze.
“Why a compass?” Ty asked. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Zane’s yet.
Zane smiled and ran his thumb across the pendant. “Because you gave me direction when I was lost. You showed me the way.” He looked up to meet Ty’s eyes. “You’re like my very own compass.”
“Zane.”
“I know, I know. I’m a sap.”
“Maybe. But you’re my sap,” Ty said fondly. He reached for Zane and leaned in to kiss him.
Zane laughed against Ty’s lips. “This from the man who asked me to slow dance in his living room. I think you’ve still got me beat.”
“You loved it.”
“Yeah.” Zane touched the compass rose again. “I hope you’ll wear it sometimes,” he said, reaching to trail his fingers along the leather cord.
Ty reached up and gripped Zane’s hand, meeting his eyes. Zane gazed at him; he couldn’t get over how handsome he was.
“Thank you, baby.”
Zane allowed himself a moment to soak in that smile and those sparkling eyes before pulling Ty into another consuming kiss. He didn’t want to brood about the future or be embarrassed about the past anymore. He was taking a page out of Ty’s book and concentrating on the now. And right now, the only thing he wanted was Ty.
He laughed as Ty wrapped his arms around him and pushed him back to the bed, then climbed on top of him to straddle him and hold him down. Zane gripped his hips, more than eager to see if Ty would ride him wearing nothing but that necklace.
“Now,” Ty said with a grim note in his voice. “About this beard you’ve got going.”

A FTER being convinced that the beard and mustache only lent to the image that they weren’t Feds, Ty insisted that the best place to find Zane something else to wear for the job was the Magnificent Mile. Later that afternoon, they exited the cab away from the stores in order to stroll, because they had the time and why the hell not?