“I’m not kinky.”

Zane hummed. “Want me to hold you down while I fuck you senseless? Is that why you’ve got your hands up like this?”

“Yeah.” Ty could barely get the word out as he stared up into Zane’s eyes.

“I can certainly oblige,” Zane said, voice raspy and dark. He pushed down on Ty’s wrists as he ground their hips together.

Ty whimpered at the tone of Zane’s voice and the promise in it. “I should do this for you more often,” he said in a tortured voice.

“Do what?”

“Give you everything I have.”

Their eyes met in the breathless silence. Ty could feel Zane’s heart beating fast against his chest. Zane finally kissed him in a violent rush and then pushed up and away from him.

“Stay there and spread your knees. I want to see you.”

As Zane left the bed and disappeared into the bathroom, Ty did as he was ordered, placing his feet flat on the mattress and letting his knees fall to the sides. Zane had certainly gotten comfortable with his inner Alpha. Before Ty could form another thought, Zane was back, on the bed, between Ty’s legs and licking his way up the inside of Ty’s thigh to his cock.

Ty sighed, an almost inaudible release of air. The look in Zane’s eyes was something Ty had never seen. It was intense and heated, possessive, filled with emotion that made Ty’s chest hurt all over again, like the first time he’d ever looked into that fire in Zane’s eyes and known that there would be no one else in the world for him.

Zane worked his way back up Ty’s body before saying, “I love you, Ty.”

Ty didn’t have time to respond before Zane was kissing him, his lips and tongue demanding on Ty’s, his body pressing down, insinuating himself between Ty’s open legs.

One hand gripped both Ty’s wrists as Zane rested his elbow against the bed near Ty’s head. The other hand groped its way down Ty’s body, a languorous, intimate exploration of the space between them. Ty closed his eyes as warmth and pressure spread through him. He felt Zane’s long fingers, slick with cool lubricant, slide under his balls to rub.

“Fuck yes.” Ty’s back arched and his fingers stretched for anything to grab onto as Zane held him tight. He hooked one leg over Zane’s hip and moaned into the kiss. He could feel Zane’s cock, hard and demanding against him, and every inch of Zane’s body was tense where he touched Ty.

“Zane,” Ty whispered shakily.

“It’s been too long since I got to do this,” Zane said, his voice rasping and harsh. The head of his cock pushed against Ty, and Ty pulled his leg up higher to help the entry.

“All you have to do is ask,” Ty said, unable to catch his breath over the rapid butterfly beating of his heart.

Zane nodded even as he turned his head and deepened the kiss. Ty lost himself in the sensations, submerging in the familiar scent of his lover and the absolute joy of being touched and taken like this. Then the head of Zane’s cock pushed into him with a slow rocking of Zane’s hips that forced him into Ty, little by little.

“Jesus, Zane.” Ty pulled at his hands as the pain seared through him, desperate to be able to drag his fingers down Zane’s back, but Zane held fast. His other hand came to rest on Ty’s thigh, fingers digging in, pulling at Ty’s leg as he worked himself in with infinite care.

Ty pulled his knees up higher as the pain ebbed into something dull and throbbing, letting Zane spread him wider and push deeper into him. He absolutely loved the feeling of Zane’s hips, warm against the inside of his thighs and pressing against him. Loved the sensation of the shaft of Zane’s cock sliding against tight muscles, of being pushed into as he was held down.

Grunting as he stretched out over Ty’s body, Zane flexed his hips until he was as deep inside Ty as he could get. A soft moan escaped him, and after kissing Ty again, he began to move, a slow rocking motion that built into a real rhythm. The first true thrust wrung an involuntary gasp out of Ty, and he pushed his hips into each one that followed. It spurred Zane on, his movements sliding Ty’s shoulders against the expensive sheets, the bulk of Zane’s weight on that one hand forcing Ty’s wrists to sink into the mattress.

Ty couldn’t describe how it felt to be pinned beneath Zane and taken in such an intimate, forceful way. Sex with Zane in any form was always enjoyable, but this was something different, something more than he’d ever given anyone.

He wrapped his legs around Zane’s hips, his back curling as he met Zane’s thrusts. A desperate stutter of a moan passed his lips, and he jerked his head to the side as Zane shoved into him. Zane’s free hand came up to grip Ty’s hair, pulling his face back so he had to look up. It was an odd feeling, looking into the eyes of the man who moved inside him. It wasn’t uncomfortable, though. Far from it.

Zane flexed his hips as he bit at Ty’s lip. “Kiss me,” he said, voice hoarse and demanding.

Ty nearly whimpered. His hands moved to reach for his lover, but Zane’s restraint on his wrists stopped them. Ty gasped instead and rolled his hips again, then pushed back with his shoulders to lift himself just enough to press his lips to Zane’s.

Zane crushed their mouths together, the passion flaring out of control as he sank deep. Ty’s ears were filled with the thuds of their bodies meeting, the barely there gasps that wrung out of him, Zane’s grunts of effort and pleasure against his neck. He curled to combat the brutal pounding, a cry escaping as his fingers splayed. Zane leaned even more of his weight forward on Ty’s hands, thrusting in and then grinding close before pulling back, only to push in again.

Ty writhed and let out a shameless whimper, then moved again to hook his ankles behind Zane’s lower back for lack of any other way to hold on to him. Zane moaned as the angle of his entry changed, and the soft sound ratcheted up the heat inside Ty, pleasure curling in his groin. Zane hissed before shifting to start in on him harder, his hips ramming against Ty’s ass. As it went on and on, Ty cried out, and the hoarse sounds weren’t quite words.

He twisted as Zane pounded into him, unable to do anything but open himself up to the vulnerability of pleasure. Breathing hard, Zane started to slow, changing the hard thrusts to long, smooth slides. He lowered himself to lie against Ty, reaching up with his other hand to pull Ty’s wrists down. Zane kissed him, slow and sure. Ty moaned and spread his captive hands, letting Zane’s fingers thread into his, feeling helpless in Zane’s grasp but loving that he could trust Zane with that feeling. Not once did it cross his mind to panic or try to escape the grip of Zane’s fingers. At that moment, he was totally Zane’s.

“I love to see you like this,” Zane whispered against Ty’s ear, causing a shudder to travel through Ty’s body. “So fucking perfect.”

Zane must have felt Ty’s reaction, because he gasped and snapped his hips hard and then moved back up on his knees. He let go of one of Ty’s hands, then reached down to slide his free hand against Ty’s hip, holding on to him. Ty arched into his touch, reaching out to drag his fingers over Zane’s shoulder and down his chest. Short, tortured breaths escaped his parted lips. He couldn’t force himself to open his eyes as Zane started to move inside him again.

“Ty,” Zane said as he released Ty’s other wrist and moved his hand to splay his palm across Ty’s chest. “Look at me. Open your eyes, baby.”

Ty whimpered with the words, almost a pained gasp as he forced his eyes open.

Zane swallowed hard as he drew a shaky breath. “Are you feeling this too?” he asked, breathless as he rolled his hips against Ty.

Ty met his eyes for a brief moment before the pleasure and the proximity caused his eyes to fall shut once more and his body to jerk as he reached for Zane’s neck and pulled him close. Zane’s fingers tightened in his hair, holding him there.

“Yes,” Ty answered, surprised at how desperate the honest answer sounded. He moaned, licking his lips as he tried to process through the haze, and then pressed his mouth to Zane’s ear. The flare of heat had Ty’s blood pumping so hard that at first he couldn’t be sure the words were coming out. He couldn’t hear a thing but his own heartbeat. “I’ll always be yours, baby.”

Zane shuddered against him, managing a dozen more thrusts before tensing hard. He shouted as he came, and his hips stuttered with each abbreviated thrust as he moaned Ty’s name. Through his climax, Zane continued rolling his hips, providing the friction Ty needed, and it was enough to push Ty over the edge. They held tight to each other as they shared their pleasure, letting the world spin out of control for a few short moments together.

Chapter 3

ZANE stood on the bathroom threshold, looking out into the shadowed hotel room at the man he’d left sprawled across the bed in a mess of sheets and sweat. The light shining from behind Zane lit Ty’s face, highlighting long lashes that lay against flushed cheeks and lips Zane could tell were swollen.

He smirked as he turned the small box over and back in his hand. He’d discovered it in his duffel bag, tangled up in a clean undershirt from the drawer where he’d kept the box hidden.

It was like Fate had intervened and tossed it into his bag while he wasn’t looking.

Zane wanted to be angry at Ty, he truly did. But dammit, he just couldn’t hold onto it. He was in love with a man who was flighty and spontaneous and headstrong all wrapped into one gorgeous, fun, frustrating package. Ty was a walking emotional hazard, and Zane had known that from the start. Zane huffed and leaned against the doorframe, wanting to burn into his memory the vision of Ty lying there after being thoroughly fucked.

Ty stretched, and the tangle of sheets muffled his low hum. He didn’t look back at Zane, but he turned his head. “You’re lurking.”

“Admiring,” Zane said as he took his time looking Ty up and down.

“Well. Go ahead, then.”

Zane allowed himself a small smile. “I expected to be angry at you for longer,” he said as he moved to the bed and settled on his side next to Ty.

Ty stretched again, his muscles tensing, body flexing like a large cat sunning. He smiled at Zane, eyes sparkling. “But then?”

Despite the fact that he had just about fucked Ty into oblivion not fifteen minutes before, a stroke of heat ripped through Zane as he watched the play of Ty’s muscles, and he rolled his eyes in resignation. “Too happy to see you.”

Ty reached out to slide the tips of his fingers down Zane’s cheek. He scooted himself closer until he could press his nose to Zane’s, and he draped his leg over Zane’s hip. “I did miss you. And I am sorry.”

Zane nodded as he slid his hand down Ty’s hip and pulled him close. He knew he needed to let the anger go; it wouldn’t change what Ty had done. “Did it hurt so much?”

Ty’s expression softened into sadness, but it passed so quickly that Zane could have imagined it. “Sometimes I… I just need a break. Up here,” he said, tapping his forehead. “I have to go somewhere on my own to let life hit me. If I don’t, too much piles up and… I end up not really able to deal. I just have to get away sometimes.”

Zane didn’t understand; he wasn’t sure he could without having seen the things Ty had seen or living the things Ty had lived. He supposed that when he had to take something apart and analyze it from all sides, it was his way of coping with an issue that would otherwise be too big to deal with. Ty’s way of coping was to walk into an open space, either figuratively or physically, and let the problem hit him with its full force. It was one of the ways he and Ty were wired so differently.

Ty sighed and rolled to his back again. “Running for a few days is better than the alternative.”

“Meltdown.”

“Yes. It’s happened before, and it’s not pretty. Taking off gives me time to think, gives me clarity.”

Zane totally believed that. He couldn’t imagine living inside Ty’s head was easy. He laid his cheek against Ty’s chest, listening to the steady heartbeat as he tried to convince himself not to brood about it. His hand clenched on the small box he still held.

Ty’s arm snaked around him, pulling him close and tight. Zane shifted and moved his head to Ty’s shoulder.

“Zane?”

Zane realized he’d been staring at the headboard without really seeing anything, and he blinked back into focus to look up at Ty by resting his chin on Ty’s chest. Ty’s fingers curled around a lock of Zane’s hair to play with it.

“Next time… next time I need to go, will you go with me?”

Whatever remnants of anger still lingering had no chance against a request like that. Zane would have sworn that he felt what remained of that hard knot he’d carried in his chest for the past several days melt away. “Yeah,” he said, reaching to trail his fingers over Ty’s cheek.

Ty gripped his hand and smiled, looking relieved. “Even if it involves the wilderness?”

Zane couldn’t help but laugh. “Even if it involves the wilderness.”

Ty hugged him tight and let out the breath he’d been holding in a rush. “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 flushed all over, light-headed, and more than a little off-kilter. What Ty promised… it was more than Zane had ever expected to want from anyone ever again. But he did want that from Ty, desperately. He drew breath to speak, but it caught, and he had to try again before he could get anything out. “You—you grovel pretty damn well.”