“Who are you, Zane?"Zane cocked his head. "I'm an artist. I'm a geek." He felt Ty smile. "I am one badass motherfucker on a motorcycle."Ty began to laugh.Zane dipped his head until they were staring into each other's eyes. "And I'm yours.”

“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.”

“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 flush all over, a little light-headed, and more than a little off kilter. What Ty promised.. . It was more than Zane had ever expected to want from anyone else ever again. But he did want that from Ty, desperately.”

“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.”

“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.”

“What are you two up to today?""Oh, I just figured I'd show Ty some more of Texas. Head down to San Antonio and visit the Bureau office there," Zane said. He shot a sideways look at Ty. "Maybe spend the night in Beaumont."Ty smacked his forehead and turned his head away. "Not much in Beaumont to see," Harrison said with a frown. Zane grinned. "Even so, we're going to try to get it in." Ty had his hand over his mouth, his head down. He was either going to throw up or he was laughing. Harrison felt he'd missed a joke, but he thought maybe he didn't want to know.”