Page 40 (1/2)

The leather was broken in and beaten up, well-lived in with a few scuffs here and there, a couple rips, and one gash across his upper arm

Abused, but loved "Do you, now?" Zane asked innocently

"I would have taken better care of it," Ty responded haughtily as he reached up to finger the gash in the arm that didn’t look near as worn as the other rips and tears "This new?" he asked seriously

Zane looked at his arh Even I can’t dodge two bullets at once"

Ty tutted and shook his head sadly "Not the ged at the slice in the leather and peered in at Zane’s arly held his ar out from under the red T-shirt he wore under the black leather What he didn’t knoas that a few splotches of dark blood colored the gauze He hadn’t checked it since he had stopped for breakfast about ten hours ago

"You’re bleeding," Ty told him matter-of-factly as he tilted his head toward the front door "Co alcohol in it and rin

"You want your eardruet to hearhis pal petulant

"Bonus," Ty crooned as he took Zane’s good arrumbled under his breath but didn’t resist as Ty pulled hih," Ty observed as he unlocked the door "They put you undercover?"

"Yeah," Zane said, just looking at the other ht about him so much the past fourat him "Inner Miami"

"Explains the accent It was a waste of your tiestured for Zane to go in "Only thing that’ll fix Mia "Kept ure" He walked into the house and paused a few steps inside the front room The rooms were immaculate, completely at odds with the façade Ty showed to the world The furnishings were co--and not a single item seemed to be out of place Fra room, each frame identical to the next They were all black-and-white prints, and told the story of Ty’s life and career, showing hi with a variety of heavily armed, uniformed individuals in various exotic and not-so-exotic locations There were several others that Zane felt certain were of Ty’s fa hiot the right house?" he finally asked

Christ This was nothing like what he would expect froht Ty was The dichotomy of the man he had known had run deeper than he had ever suspected

Ty frowned at hiuy," he pointed out softly

Zane slanted hirin "I’ll have to check the hospital corners on the bed, Jarhead" He unzipped the jacket and slid it froe

"You can bounce a quarter offunder the sink and brought out an antique metal First Aid cabinet The red cross on the front was faded and scratched, and the metal was dented and scarred When he opened the door the contents were all h’s medicated salve, and some medical tape

Zane tossed his jacket over the bar and pushed up his sleeve as he plopped hio with a griood three inches long across his upper arm, and had taken out quite a chunk of flesh He supposed now that a few stitches lanced over at it and iroaned softly "What the hell?" heyou up in my kitchen," he insisted

"That needs a doctor"

"Just bandage it up," Zane said stubbornly "Another scar won’t matter"

Ty frowned doubtfully, but he cut the tape into strips and stuck them to the side of the counter, then opened the tin and slathered a good deal of the salve inside the wound without waiting to see if Zane would allow him to touch it He worked quickly and finally pulled the wound together, placed a thin piece of gauze over it, taped the daed skin as close as he could, and wound it all up without a word Zane sat there un his teeth It hurt A lot

"Glass of water?" he requested after Ty was done

Ty sierator to retrieve a glass He filled it from a bottle that sat on the counter and handed it wordlessly to Zane Reaching over to the jacket, Zane dug into the pocket and pulled out a battered bottle of Tylenol, got a couple pills, and sed theuy, huh?" Ty asked sarcastically "I bet you got all kinds of action with that routine in Miami," he lass and looked at Ty appraisingly as he tucked the bottle away "Depends on what kind of action you’re talking about," he said, being deliberately vague Ty could be talking about fighting "action"

Possibly If Ty were true to form … that wouldn’t be it

Ty just raised one eyebrow and shrugged "If you got called papi ain," he said as he turned to the sink behind hi, Zane pushed off his stool and reached out to snag Ty around the waist and start pulling "Not even once Didn’t pay anybody, either"

Ty huffed a laugh and let hi the faucet off before he was out of reach and pulling away only enough tothe trend, then," he drawled "How proud you must be"

"M Ty closer, facing hiot so his teeth on Ty’s skin for a moment Then he added, "No ainst Zane’s, and he frowned and nodded "Good," he replied softly

Closing his eyes, Zane inhaled Ty’s scent slowly and let himself fall under the sound of his voice It aroused hi else "The ass? Or the no ether

"I don’t care," Ty breathed in answer as he turned his head and pressed his lips to Zane’s in an open-ry kiss

Zane’s hand closed around the back of Ty’s neck as the other man beat him to the kiss, one he joined with just as much desire Christ, he’d missed this, missed Ty He’d never expected it, and he’d lied to himself about how much it had hurt to be without hirown so attached to this man in the space of seven hectic, awful days His other hand tightened around Ty’s waist, hauling hirab the upper arroaned softly into the kiss He had tried not to think about their brief stint in New York together Parts of it he still didn’t remember, and that just made it worse as he tried to force theback and he let it, wrapping his ar him closer until there was no roout crah for him to shudder Emotion he’d packed away in a tiny little box so he’d tried to deny bubbled up Once the kiss finally broke he dropped his head to Ty’s shoulder, turning his face into Ty’s neck, and he clutched hio Not just yet Not until the lonely ache that had been building the past four ave a little whuff of surprise when Zane clung to hied hiainst Zane’s cheek "You okay?" he asked in a whisper