“Ty’s jeans were totally soaked and clung to him like a second skin, and Zane had to swallow hard. Jesus. “Good luck getting out of those gracefully,” he rasped with a slight smile, still leaning against the wall.“Good luck thinking for the next hour,” Ty shot back with a smirk.“Shit,” Zane muttered, turning into the spray to wash before leaning and shutting the water off.”

“Zane let his head loll back and lifted one hand to gently prod his split lip. "Ow.""Whine about it. It'll make it better," Ty offered as he stood in front of his locker, his back to Zane, and unwrapped the tape from his hands with jerky, irritated movements."Bite me," Zane muttered as he dug into his locker for a towel before starting in on the tape on his own hands. He spared an evil glance for Ty. "Teaching me to advance in a fight is a bad idea.""Teaching you to fight at all is an exercise in futility," Ty responded in a matter-of-fact tone. "Luckily for you, I enjoy things like banging my head against a wall.""I enjoy banging your head against a wall too," Zane replied as he tossed the balled-up tape at a nearby trash can. He let a small smile quirk his lips as he sat on the bench to unlace his shoes."Shut up," Ty grunted at him. But even though his back was still turned to him, Zane could hear the smile in his voice. "And cut it out with the damn cat jokes, huh? They're starting to catch on.""Fine, fine. No reason to get catty about it," Zane told his partner with a barely concealed grin."A for effort," Ty conceded charitably.”

“How do you want me to touch you?" Zane asked in a voice that rasped against Ty's skin. "I just want you.”

“Ty smiled and turned his head to fully look at Zane. It was rare to catch Zane in this mood and Ty wanted nothing more right then than to head back to the luxury stateroom, lock the door, and get on his knees.”

“You totally just outed us to the criminals.-Ty to Zane”

“You were right, you know,” Ty whispered.“About what?”Ty swallowed hard. “I sold my soul a long time ago.”Ty gripped Zane’s shoulder and pressed him down,laying him out again, then stretched out over Zane, his handdragging down Zane’s body to push at his boxers.“Ty,” Zane gasped.Ty kissed him. Zane trailed the tips of his fingers downTy’s arm, sliding over the tattoo and the scars and the muscles.“Do you really believe that?” Zane asked.“I know it. I will never be the man you think I am.”Zane’s breaths came harder. “We’ve both been trying sohard to be worthy of each other.”

“Hey, give me my gun, would you?” Zane asked as he shifted, only to wince as the skin pulled. “Why, you planning on shooting me in the ass when I turn around?” Ty asked sarcastically as he reached for the holster. “Tempting, but you’d probably get off on it,” Zane said, holding out his hand.”