Cut & Run (48 page)

“Just the bed,” Zane said straight-faced.

“Too bad,” Ty replied seriously. “That was the only part I was looking forward to.”

Zane’s lips twitched. “Still have the couch,” he said, trying to get Ty into the room.

Ty took a step into the room and stopped stubbornly. “I feel my manhood seeping out of me,” he muttered.

Zane dropped his jacket on a wingback chair after pulling the bottle of Mountain Dew out of it. The apartment was cute and quaint; somewhere no one would ever look for two FBI agents. He pulled his gun out of the holster and set it on the table as Ty ventured further into the rooms.

When Zane turned his attention back to his partner, Ty had his back to him, his jacket was off, and his holster sat snug against his pressed blue dress shirt. He was rubbing the back of his neck and looking down at the bed in front of him, his free hand on his hip. Looking at the shined dress shoes and the expensive, tailored suit he wore, from this angle he may as well have been a different person from the one Zane had worked with before.

Cut & Run | 291

Zane wondered what had happened to Ty’s crazy T-shirts. They had fit his style and his hard-ass image. He’d probably packed them away, Zane figured, packed them away with all his old habits and thoughts as the physical and mental therapy had taken over.

Zane missed those T-shirts.

Watching him, Zane considered pulling Ty into his arms in hopes the man might relax a little. But the vibe Ty was putting out clearly said that touching of any sort was not the way to relax him. Stretching, Zane sighed and dug into his duffel, looking for a clean T-shirt. Unfortunately all of his were plain ones.

He went to the bed and pulled the covers back, smoothing his hand over the sheets before heading to the bathroom. It had been a long day, and he was more than ready to rest.

Ty followed him and leaned against the doorframe that led into the bathroom as Zane went over to the antique oval mirror above the sink. Zane washed up as Ty moved closer to him, and he stiffened in surprise when Ty wrapped his arms around him from behind.

“It’s good to have you here,” Ty told him impulsively.

Zane shifted back, closer to Ty’s body, sliding his arm back and around Ty’s waist to press flush against him. Ty held him silently, settling his chin on Zane’s shoulder after several breaths. Zane turned his cheek into Ty’s and closed his eyes, and Ty waited tensely for some sort of response, flushing at the words he had uttered.

“I wouldn’t have agreed to come here, if it hadn’t been you,” Zane murmured finally. “Don’t you know that?”

Ty jerked a little in surprise, but he didn’t release him. “Why?” he asked in a whisper.

Zane closed his eyes and kept their cheeks pressed together. “I trust you.”

A flush of guilt swept through Ty with the words. He couldn’t say the same about why he had agreed to take this case. He would have come alone. It was revenge for him, pure and simple. Unfinished business. He turned his head more and pressed his nose against Zane’s cheek. “Then you’re a fucking idiot,” he said gruffly.

Zane chuckled. “Yeah, but you already knew that.” Ty was silent.

Zane pulled away gently and moved past him, figuring no other comment on 292 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Ty’s part meant the talking thing was done. He went out into the main room and reached for his duffel to dig out his shower kit.

Ty let him move away, a heavy feeling in his chest and an unsettled feeling everywhere else. He couldn’t seem to feel anything but guilt unless Zane was near him. Why was that? Why did he need Zane in order to feel?

“We do better when we’re fucking," Ty muttered to him as he followed him back out into the room.

Zane snorted quietly. “News flash,” he said as he sat on the edge of the bed and began unlacing his boots.

Cut & Run | 293

ane thumped into the room and dropped the bag of snacks and drinks he’d just picked up at the quick mart down the block. He hadn’t been Z able to sleep, and he was glad that some places were open at four in the morning. He tossed his jacket to the side and headed to the table to unload his gear. He glanced over at Ty, who curled on his side on the bed, apparently sleeping. As Zane watched him in the light from the street that filtered through the window, Ty growled in his sleep and rolled, tangling in the sheets as he did so.

Smiling slightly, Zane stopped to look down at him. Ty never seemed to sleep easy, except when Zane was in bed holding him. He wondered what Ty dreamed about. Usually Ty woke as soon as Zane moved. The fact that he was still asleep meant he’d either already been awake and discerned he wasn’t needed, he was very tired, or he was sick. Thoughtful, Zane took care of his gun and wallet, setting them carefully aside.

Ty muttered in his sleep and tossed his head fitfully. Frowning, Zane walked over and crouched down beside the bed, looking over Ty’s face as it twisted slightly. Zane wanted to wake him just to interrupt the bad dreams, but he wasn’t going to reach out and touch until the other man knew he was there, just in case. Ty had all kinds of ingrained military training that his body instinctively followed, and Zane didn’t relish getting attacked by a Recon Marine having flashbacks.

“Ty,” he murmured, prompting the other man to wake up a little as he shielded himself with the side of the bed.

“Hmm?” Ty responded as he tossed his head again and rolled back toward Zane.

“You’re tossing around so much, you can’t be resting,” Zane said quietly.

Ty’s eyes fluttered open and he looked at Zane without seeming to recognize him. He stared for a moment and then closed them again. He sighed and shifted slightly in the bed, then opened his eyes again. They were clear 294 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

when he met Zane’s eyes. “Shut up,” he muttered sleepily.

Zane chuckled. “You’ll be crankier than you were when you went to bed.”

“I’m not cranky,” Ty insisted drowsily as he closed his eyes again and rolled onto his back. He stretched with relish, yawning and curling his toes contentedly. “I was dreaming,” he muttered.

“Mm hmm,” Zane agreed, shifting to sit on the edge of the bed and lay his hand lightly on Ty’s abs. “Dreaming of?”

“The desert,” Ty answered in a mumble. He shifted again, arching up into Zane’s hand like a dog getting his belly rubbed.

Zane started rubbing agreeably, watching Ty move. “Desert, huh?”

Ty inhaled deeply and then sighed, opening his eyes again to stare at the ceiling. “Makes my trigger finger itch.”

“Sand does itch,” Zane replied blithely. “One of the reasons I chose Miami over western New Mexico.”

Ty turned his head slightly and looked up at Zane in confusion.

Zane raised a brow. “What?”

“What?” Ty asked in a lost voice.

Zane shook his head. “You’re definitely not awake. One of the reasons I refused the assignment in New Mexico is because I hate eating sand.

And I don’t like rattlesnakes.”

Ty blinked at him rapidly and then looked around the room before pushing himself into a sitting position. “What assignment in New Mexico?”

he asked as he rubbed his eyes.

Peering at him in amusement, Zane decided to explain even though Ty was still out of it. “The one I was offered before they stuck me in Miami.

Bilingual agents are scarce lately,” he said.

“Oh, yeah,” Ty responded flatly with a little nod as he moved. “That’s very important,” he assured Zane gruffly as he flopped back onto his side and buried his head under his pillow.

Zane chuckled and pulled away the pillow. “Cranky?” he teased.

Ty groaned softly and then huffed in irritation. “Can’t a man sleep in peace around here?”

“Apparently not when he dreams of the desert,” Zane drawled. He Cut & Run | 295

leaned to press his lips to Ty’s temple. “Sleep, then,” he murmured.

“I always dream of the desert,” Ty muttered sulkily as he pressed his face against the mattress, refusing to be roused.

Zane’s lips drifted to the corner of Ty’s eye. “Why?” he murmured.

Ty twitched and turned to elbow Zane in the ribs. “That’s where I lived,” he grumbled.

Zane smoothed his hand over Ty’s arm in a soothing motion and turned his face to lay his cheek against Ty’s for a moment.

Ty sighed again and relaxed under the pressure of Zane’s body.

“You’re very high-maintenance,” he mumbled against the pillow.

Grinning, Zane curled his arm over Ty’s back and rubbed slowly over his hip. “Yeah, so I’ve been told.”

“Shut up,” Ty ordered.

Zane coasted his hand over Ty’s cheek and rolled away. “Sleep, oh cranky one.”

Ty groaned and rolled back onto his back. “Well fuck, Garrett, I’m awake now,” he muttered disconsolately.

“Sorry,” Zane murmured, letting his arm fall between them and looking down at Ty.

Ty looked up at him in irritation for a moment before letting the façade fall away and smiling slightly. “You’re a damn sight better to wake up to than what I usually do,” he admitted.

Zane smiled crookedly. “And what’s that?”

“You don’t really want to know, do you?” Ty asked dubiously.

“I already know about the woman who was screeching on the phone,”

Zane pointed out.

Ty cleared his throat and looked away, staring up at the ceiling with a frown. “Usually,” he finally said with a scowl, “I don’t wake up to anything.

So, I guess you’ll have to do.”

“Is there a compliment hidden in there somewhere?” Zane asked mildly.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Ty muttered with a small smirk.

Zane whapped Ty’s hip. “I don’t beg,” he asserted.

296 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Ty jerked and laughed softly, turning slightly away in case Zane decided to smack him again. “I beg to differ,” he snickered.

Zane smacked him again, a little harder this time. “I can’t think of an instance. Not a legitimate one, anyway.”

“What’s an illegitimate reason to beg?” Ty asked as he continued laughing softly.

Zane’s hand stilled, as did his face. His eyes shifted across the room blankly. “They exist,” he said vaguely.

Ty narrowed his eyes up at his companion and then rolled them as he looked away. “Moody,” he accused as he sat back up again and stretched.

“Moody?” Zane’s face scrunched. “I was sort of thinking about the last time I begged for my life and could really have cared less. Just figured if I told you, I’d get the violins treatment again.”

“You were right. And that’s not an illegitimate reason, moron,” Ty told him as he swung his feet over the edge of the bed.

“I was referring to the ‘could really have cared less’ part, actually,”

Zane said, closing his eyes and letting his head lean back against the wall.

Ty sat with his back to Zane, looking at the opposite wall with his head cocked thoughtfully. “Fuck,” he commented with a slight shake of his head.

Zane opened his eyes and looked at Ty’s back. “Maybe later,” he said as he picked up the file folder again. “Told you I was fucked up while we were apart.”

“Why not just let them kill you?” Ty asked. “Why beg at all?”

“Gut reflex, I guess,” Zane said quietly. “Didn’t really think about it, except that there was something I’d miss. Was scared, too. Being shot in the head doesn’t appeal too much.”

“It’d be quicker than a lot of other ways,” Ty pointed out as he turned around slightly and met Zane’s eyes. “I was always afraid of dying slow,” he said thoughtfully.

Zane’s mouth quirked. “I played that game, too.” He curled his hand into a fist as his fingers started twitching.

“What game?” Ty asked in confusion.

“Figuring out what will kill you slow and easy,” Zane said, opening his fist and rubbing his palm against his thigh. “Pain wasn’t a consideration.”

Cut & Run | 297

Ty stared at him for a long moment. “Why’d you want to go slow?”

he finally asked.

Zane’s mouth quirked. “So I could enjoy it.”

Ty raised one expressive eyebrow. He licked his lips and looked away. “My daddy used to mind the mines when I was little,” he said suddenly.

“I used to dream that I was stuck down there. I wouldn’t mind freezing to death,” he claimed abruptly. “Going numb and then going to sleep. But I think I’d want it quick. I got too much to look back on and regret to want time to ponder it all.” He glanced back at Zane. “Just another thing we don’t have in common.”