Most of the tales had to do with Elias Sanchez, and Ty had to force himself to relax and enjoy it. It wasn’t hard to push the murder out of mind; that was what they dealt with every day and he’d learned to compartmentalize. He ignored the fact that Owen was ignoring him. He battled the guilt that came with every sip someone took in Zane’s line of sight. He tried to forget that he might be recognized by the wrong person and bring all kinds of trouble down on them.

The ambiance and good company were finally enough to filter through the worries, and the night wound down as a success. As they were strolling toward the hotel, Ty slipped his arm around Zane’s shoulders. New Orleans was still one of the most romantic places Ty had ever been. He couldn’t wait to get Zane alone and finish what they’d started back in Baltimore.

Nick had booked them all into the Bourbon Orleans, making a point of giving Ty and Zane their own room for the weekend. The rooms weren’t together, so they said good night to the Recon boys in the elevator at the third floor, and then rode up two more to their own room.

“It was nice of him to do this,” Zane said. He was working the key card to the room as Ty leaned against the wall beside the door.

“More like self-preservation. Nobody wanted to share a room with us.”

Zane glanced at him with a smirk. “How drunk are you?”

Ty bit his lip against a smile. He reached out for Zane, hooking him by his belt to pull him closer, and Zane left the key in the door and reached for Ty’s hips with both hands. He pressed Ty hard against the wall as they shared a languorous kiss. Ty was ever conscious of the taste of liquor on his tongue, but he supposed the cigarette taste in Zane’s mouth would combat it.

Zane broke away and opened the door, shoving Ty in ahead of him. Ty chuckled as he entered the room.

Zane gave him a smack on the ass, then shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it at the chair in the corner as he headed for the balcony doors to peer at the view. Ty hung back, enjoying the roll of Zane’s shoulders and the way his long body leaned to the left without him realizing it. Ty had decided it was a cowboy lean, something he’d never actually noticed until after he’d seen Zane in Texas over the summer. It probably had more to do with the gunshot he’d taken to his thigh than anything, but something about it hit Ty the right way.

“Ty.”

“Huh?

“You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”

Ty looked into Zane’s eyes and began to smile, shaking his head. Zane huffed.

“What did you say?”

“I was talking about how odd it is that we keep stumbling over these murders. It’s like someone has it out for us.”

“Ugh, Zane, don’t think too hard about it.”

“Fine. I’m too tired to shower and too dirty to go to bed,” Zane said. He was stripping off the rest of his clothing, tossing them toward the chair.

“That’s the beauty of a hotel.”

Zane narrowed his eyes, looking Ty up and down. “You coming to bed?”

Ty nodded, but he made no move to undress. “Will you tell me a story?”

“A story? What are you, five?”

Ty grinned. He began pulling at his buttons. “Tell me about the guy in Miami.”

Zane snorted. He reached to help Ty out of his shirt. “Why? Does it turn you on to hear about my past conquests?”

“A little, yeah,” Ty admitted.

Zane arched an eyebrow. “Really?” He tossed Ty’s shirt away and pulled him closer. “Take that shower with me first?”

Ty nudged his nose against Zane’s cheek, grinning.

It didn’t take much to convince Ty to shuck his clothing and climb into the shower with Zane. They went about it slowly as they let the water heat up, standing in the middle of the bathroom and kissing. Zane could see them in the mirror over Ty’s shoulder. He watched his hands drag across Ty’s skin, leaving red streaks behind that soon disappeared. He watched the muscles of Ty’s back slide, the biceps with the bulldog on it flex.

He grabbed Ty’s arm and dragged his teeth over the tattoo. “This might be my favorite part of you.”

Ty turned his head to press a kiss to Zane’s chin. “Why?”

“It’s who you are.” He kissed Ty again, holding him tighter. “It’s you in meta form.”

“Zane.” Ty’s voice was harsh in his ear. “Don’t speak geek to me when you’re naked. It shatters the illusion.”

Zane laughed and grabbed Ty’s ass, squeezing hard enough to force Ty to stand on the tips of his toes. He dragged him into the bathtub, kissing him messily as the water beat down on them both.

“I like seeing you with your team,” Zane said against Ty’s cheek.

“Really?”

“It’s kind of hot.”

Zane inhaled through his nose as he was thoroughly kissed, and he slid his arms around Ty’s waist to pull his lover against his body.

When Ty ended the kiss and pressed his nose to Zane’s cheek, his fingers were digging in harder, giving him an almost desperate edge.

“Sometimes I wonder who I’d be if it weren’t for them,” Ty said, his voice a whisper that barely rose above the sound of the water.

Zane swallowed hard. He’d played that game, and all too often it resembled Russian roulette. What if he hadn’t broken with his family? What if he hadn’t joined the Bureau? What if Becky hadn’t died? What if he hadn’t gone to Miami? But all those things had put him on the road that had led him to Ty.

And Ty’s road had been just as rocky, but it had led him here.

“You,” Zane said, his voice thick. “You’d still be you.”

Ty shook his head in a stubborn denial, but he kissed Zane again without offering any evidence to support his belief.

When they broke apart, the bare honesty of what Zane wanted to say hurt him all over. But it was high time these things started being said. “Things have happened to us, to both of us, horrible things that changed us. If you want to tell me, I’ll listen, or if . . .” Zane swallowed hard. He knew that Ty had endured worse than he had, but there were dark spots in Zane’s past that he didn’t want to relive, much less tell anyone about. “If you want to know, I’ll tell you.”

Ty’s hands slid over Zane’s hair and he patted him before kissing him again. The water was still pounding down on Ty’s back, running in rivulets down his face. “I want to know.”

Zane nodded and slid his hands down Ty’s back to cup his ass, then slid one hand between them.

Ty’s breath stuttered. He relaxed against Zane and kissed him again.

Zane wrapped his hand around Ty’s cock, warm and wet and firm under his fingers. Zane had been hard since Ty had touched him, and he pushed against Ty’s thigh, moaning as he dipped his head for another kiss.

Ty’s breaths came hard against Zane’s skin, gusting over his lips and warming his cheek as Ty pushed closer. Then his hands were gripping Zane’s arms hard and they separated, Ty holding him at bay in the bathtub. There was a familiar light in Ty’s eyes as he pushed him against the tile.

Zane lifted his chin as he hit the cool, slick wall with a muffled thump. “God I love it when you drink.”

Ty took one more rough kiss before letting his hands drag down Zane’s body. He sank to his knees at Zane’s feet. Zane’s head thudded back against the wall. His breath came out with a shudder as he watched.

Ty didn’t waste time. He rarely did, not when Zane was already hard and begging for it. He gripped one of Zane’s hips with one hand, taking Zane’s cock in the other and pumping him as he let his lips bump against the head. He looked up, giving a teasing lick. Zane narrowed his eyes and reached for him, cupping his palm around the back of Ty’s head, tugging. Ty didn’t make him wait any longer, but he did force Zane to be patient as he slid his lips over Zane’s cock with agonizing slowness. Ty never did anything that slow unless he was trying to drive Zane insane.

It was working.

Zane curled the fingers of his free hand into a fist and tried to breathe evenly.

Ty’s free hand splayed against Zane’s hip, and he finally, mercifully, dipped his head to take Zane all the way into his mouth. Zane bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on Ty’s tongue and the warm slide of his cock into Ty’s mouth. A clicking noise from the outer room filtered through his pleasure, like someone trying to use a key that wasn’t working. Zane glanced at the door to the bathroom, which they’d left wide open. Ty didn’t seem to care about any noises as he worked, trying to make Zane come as quickly and messily as possible—something he was singularly good at.

Zane groaned and closed his eyes, forgetting the sounds. There was something too debauched about Ty on his knees, water streaming over hard muscle and smooth skin, Zane’s hard cock sliding between his lips, forcing them apart to find his flickering tongue. To top it all off, Ty met his eyes, then ducked his head forward, taking Zane into the back of his throat, burying his nose against Zane’s groin and pulling him close as if he couldn’t get Zane deep enough.

Zane smothered a curse, and his gut clenched. He had no control around Ty; never had, never would. He took Ty’s head in both hands and pumped his hips, feeling the head of his cock forcing its way past Ty’s tongue to hit the back of his throat. He gave a plaintive grunt as Ty pulled back, tugging on Ty’s head until Ty let him thrust in again. How the hell he did that without gagging, Zane would never know. He’d been practicing, but he still couldn’t manage. What he did know was there was very little he enjoyed more than shooting a load into Ty’s mouth and watching him swallow it down. Ty always hummed when he blew him, and he moaned when he swallowed.

He half bent over in reaction as the trembling started, and he grabbed at Ty’s shoulder as he started to come, teeth gritted.

But Ty didn’t swallow this time. He pulled back just enough, holding Zane’s hip against the shower wall with one hand so Zane couldn’t chase his mouth, and he pumped Zane dry with the other hand, letting cum spurt all over his chin and neck. It hit Ty’s skin, and Zane could see it dripping down Ty’s throat, sliding off his lower lip. It just made Zane’s climax more intense, like he was marking his territory. He choked off a curse as the heat flooding him left him dizzy.

Ty kept at it until there was nothing left but Zane’s whimpers, then he let Zane slide out of his hand and looked up at him, licking his lips and wiping his palm across his chin. Zane dragged his fingers along those lips before tapping under Ty’s chin, wanting him to stand.

Ty climbed to his feet, diving into the kiss Zane had ordered with alarming obedience. He pressed against Zane, hips flexing as he delved into another, more demanding kiss. Zane could taste his cum on Ty’s lips. Ty was hard against him.

“You are too fucking hot for your own good,” Zane gritted out.

Ty made a frustrated sound into Zane’s mouth. “God, the things I want to do to you right now.”

Zane nodded, biting at Ty’s full lower lip. “Do them.” He reached for Ty’s cock and squeezed.

Ty’s hands found their way into Zane’s hair, and he continued to kiss him, holding him there by his wet curls as Zane stroked him. “Next time we do this, I’m bending you over that balcony,” Ty said. His voice was just as strained and taut as his body.

Ty bit Zane’s lip, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough that Zane knew he was getting worked up.

“C’mon, Ty. Let me see you come. So fucking gorgeous when you come.”

“Jesus, Zane, stop talking,” Ty gritted out.

Zane laughed. He heard another sound from the room and turned his head to glance out the door. “Did you hear that?”

Ty growled low in his throat. “No.” He swiped at Zane’s cum, still sliding down his neck and chest, gathered it all into his palm, and replaced Zane’s hand on his cock with his own. Zane leaned back, expecting the kind of show that Ty was so good at, but then Ty tugged at his shoulder and turned him around. Zane’s chest hit the tile as Ty pressed against him from behind.

“Fuck, Ty,” Zane gasped out as he realized what he was really going to get. “God, yeah.”

Ty’s cock was already pushing at him, Ty’s lips on his neck, his body hard and wet against Zane’s. Then the head of his cock, slicked with Zane’s cum, pressed against the tight muscles of Zane’s ass. Zane pushed his hips back and Ty thrust up against him, the slick head sliding between Zane’s legs. He didn’t enter him, though he came close.

Ty smacked a hand over Zane’s mouth and buried his face against Zane’s shoulder. His other hand wrapped around Zane’s chest. He drove his hips against Zane’s ass, using Zane’s own cum to slick the way, using Zane’s body for the friction he needed.

Ty grunted against Zane’s shoulder and dragged his teeth over Zane’s skin, tightening his hold as he came. Zane could feel Ty’s cum sliding over his ass even as Ty continued to thrust against him. He was making a messy job of it as the water ran over them. It stole Zane’s breath and made his knees weak.

Zane reached behind him, dragging his hands along Ty’s ribs. When Ty finally stopped moving, he let his hand slide from Zane’s mouth and pulled Zane’s head around into a slow, languid kiss.

“Now go see what the hell that noise was,” Zane mumbled as soon as he was able.

“Not exactly Casanova, are you?” Ty kissed him again, licking at his lips. “But if you insist.”

He pushed away and left Zane in the shower to clean up. When Zane finally joined him, he found Ty standing at the foot of the bed, still dripping wet, looking at a stack of folded towels.