And freaky.

And sometimes hot.

Ty continued, undaunted by the lack of supporting evidence or the need to breathe. “So a year or so after planting Del, I"ve got all their info from him and the dirty Italians, and I suggest this cruise and a special meeting, dangle something as bait that they can"t resist. Found treasure? Something from a shipwreck around one of the islands?

Something they"ll want to be able to get their hands on and sell. But that"s irrelevant,” he said with a violent wave of his hand. “I set up the meet in the market and make sure it"ll go bad for Porter and Bianchi.

There doesn"t actually have to be anything to sell if I kill them before the end of the cruise.”

The word “kill” diverted Zane"s attention from wondering if he and Ty looked like a couple in social situations—dinner at a local restaurant, the occasional shopping trip, even working out in the gym.

Ty was still talking. “Even if the planned meet fails, I know their itineraries, I have men on board the ship, and they have nowhere to run.”

“But they"re only trying to kill you. So far. Not me. Not Corbin,”

Zane pointed out.

Ty stopped short and stared at him, then narrowed his eyes. “Del may be a problem because I"m beginning to suspect he really does love Corbin,” he responded. “So we get rid of him first.”

“That would certainly upset Corbin,” Zane said. It was upsetting him, and Zane already knew what it was like to deal with losing a loved one. He turned his gaze to lock on Ty. “Depending on how attached they are, Corbin could be seriously out of commission if he lost Del.”

Ty"s gaze went distant, and he shook his head slowly. “Both attempts were sloppy. Not at all a guaranteed kill. The fall from the wall would have broken bones, done a lot of damage, not to mention the fact there was no way of knowing I"d go first. And there was no way to know if I"d react to the screwy air or if it would kill me. Yeah, there"s drowning, but more than likely you"re looking at a case of decompression sickness or some hysteria-induced respiratory distress.”

He shook his head. “Maiming him is just as good as killing him as far as they"re concerned. Why? How does that help them get to Corbin?”

“My mind certainly wouldn"t be on business,” Zane murmured, thinking of the sense of possessiveness and the need to protect that gripped him when Ty was in trouble. His mind definitely wasn’t focused on the business at hand.

“No,” Ty agreed. His eyes brightened suddenly, and he looked at Zane. “Unless they intend to take you by force. Armen knows Del is a hired thug but suspects his motives now. He thinks Del would protect Corbin because he loves him. But with Del out of the way, they"re free to take Corbin. That must mean they need him for something, something physical.”

“Something that Del couldn"t steal,” Zane said as he nodded.

“With dirty businessmen, who knows? It could be names, account numbers, passwords. Hell, it could be a voice print or retinal scan, for all we know. So Armen would have to have Corbin in person, under his thumb.” He leaned his head back against the wall. “If he thinks they"re in love,” he mused, “why not just take Del hostage?”

Ty"s intent eyes focused on Zane for a long moment, his face unreadable. “Maybe he knows you"re not in love,” he posed evenly.

Zane tried to hold Ty"s eyes, but he was quickly forced to look away. The intensity of the gaze made him more uncomfortable than he would have expected, because he felt something behind it. Something to do with Ty not being Del and Zane not being Corbin. Something about what would happen to either of them if the other were gone and how that made Zane"s chest hurt even without throwing the word

“love” around, which truly scared the shit out of him.

That was what bugged Zane about Ty"s claim that Armen had come to a conclusion while looking at the Porters. He hadn"t been looking at Del and Corbin. He"d been looking at Ty and Zane. And Ty had looked like he was in love….

Zane shook his head and drew a settling breath, because he was on edge now, and he wasn"t quite sure how to fix it. “So Del has outlived his usefulness.”

Ty thumped down heavily beside him with his shoulders slumped and a dejected feel about him. “I"m not worried about Del. He"s safely in jail,” he murmured. He glanced at Zane, one eyebrow raised. “But the Bianchis?”

Zane lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “He doesn"t seem too hardcore. More like a European high roller who dabbles in crime on the side.”

Ty sat forward and turned so he could look at Zane more closely.

“Zane,” he said impatiently. “I meant what if they"ve outlived their usefulness too? They"re mixed up with bad people, but they don"t deserve to die for it.”

“No, they don"t.” It was obvious, seeing Lorenzo and Norina together, how very much in love they were. Either that or they both deserved Oscars—or whatever the Italian equivalent was. “So you think Armen wants the entire ring,” Zane posed. “And he"s orchestrated this trip tomorrow to clean out his partners and meet the buyers at the same time.”

“I do.” Ty was silent, continuing to peer at Zane with a thoughtful frown. “Where"s your head right now?” he finally asked. It wasn"t the caustic tone he would usually have used when he suspected Zane"s mind wasn"t where he wanted it to be. It was a gentle inquiry, which in itself was odd enough to make Zane answer honestly.

“I was… thinking about what Armen must have seen,” Zane said somewhat reluctantly, plucking at the belt of his robe.

“Seen where?” Ty asked in earnest confusion.

“Watching us.”

Ty snorted. Neither his face nor his normally expressive eyes betrayed a thing before he looked away and stood up. “Well, clearly, he saw that I"m a better actor than you are,” he said haughtily as he stepped away.

Zane didn"t know how to interpret that response. It wasn"t often that Ty stonewalled him anymore, which meant his partner was hiding something. “I thought you said you didn"t think you were acting anymore.”

“That was in reference to being flamingly gay,” Ty answered wryly. His back was still turned to Zane. His hands were on his hips, and his head was cocked just a bit as he looked out the balcony doors.

Zane pushed himself off the couch to his feet and walked up behind Ty. He knew Ty could hear him moving, so he didn"t worry about getting smacked. He also knew that Ty was deflecting like crazy.

And Zane thought he might know why. He slid his arms around Ty"s waist and loosely clasped his hands. “No, it wasn"t.”

Ty tensed ever so slightly, and he turned his head toward Zane.

He seemed surprised that, for once, Zane had called him on his smoke and mirrors act. “What was it, then?” he asked evenly.

“You want me,” Zane murmured, feeling remarkably secure about it. That was the reason Ty had looked so convincing to Armen. This wasn"t “want” as in wanting to fuck explosively every half hour, although that was certainly part of it. And it wasn"t quite “want” as in being lonely in the evenings. It was more. Zane smiled slightly as he pressed a tiny kiss to Ty"s ear.

Ty snorted loudly and turned his head away, and Zane knew instinctively that Ty was rolling his eyes and probably trying not to smile. “And what is that, a crime now?” Ty asked in a low voice.

Zane chuckled. “I couldn"t care less if it is.” He tightened his arms, not wanting Ty to move away. “It"s more than just fucking around now,” he said. “Isn"t it?” He made sure the tone of his voice emphasized that it wasn"t really a question.

Ty was motionless in response. He didn"t even seem to be breathing. The silence stretched on, edging toward tension. Finally, he let out his breath quietly and lowered his head. “No,” he lied blithely, just as he"d done in a hotel in New York City over a year ago.

Zane chuckled. A classic Grady response, and definitely the one he preferred to hear. A “yes” just might have given him a heart attack.

He held Ty close. “You owe me.”

“Owe you?” Ty repeated in a rough, questioning voice as Zane felt his heartbeat begin to speed up.

“Mm hmm. How I"ve wanted you,” Zane breathed. “It scares the hell out of me.”

“I know,” Ty murmured as he turned in place and nuzzled against Zane"s neck.

Zane"s hands trembled as he cupped Ty"s face and kissed him softly, over and over. He didn"t know where he"d found the guts to say what he just did. But it had been worth it. Ty wrapped his arms around Zane and pulled him closer. Zane could feel the desire starting to build, quivering like a live wire between them, and he moaned hungrily, fingers clenching at the waistband of the worn jeans hanging on Ty"s hips. He was torn between this scary tender side to their relationship that he was seeing more and more and the long-standing desire to tackle Ty to the carpet and fuck him senseless. “Ty,” he breathed.

“Come on,” Ty urged softly. He tugged at him and started pulling him toward the bed.

Zane"s gaze focused on Ty"s, which made his heart pound even harder. It was almost too much, letting himself think about what more this could mean: he wanted Ty, Ty wanted him, and… and to avoid thinking about it anymore, Zane took two long strides to catch Ty around the waist and claim another kiss.

Ty pushed at the robe on Zane"s shoulders. The heavy material slid and caught on Zane"s elbows until he straightened his arms to let it fall to the floor, leaving him nude and aroused. Ty unfastened his jeans and pushed them down. As soon as they were undressed, Ty dug his fingers into Zane"s hips and shoved him toward the bed.

Zane stumbled the two steps, and his knees hit the side of the round mattress, throwing him off balance enough that he had to catch himself with both hands to avoid a face-plant in the duvet. Ty took advantage of the precarious position by placing a hand in the center of Zane"s back and pushing slightly as he stepped up behind him. His other hand glided over Zane"s skin, up the side of his ribs and back down hard muscles.

Zane could feel the head of Ty"s bare cock rubbing against him.

He pushed back against Ty"s thighs, moving his ass to rub close as he arched and practically purred under Ty"s hands. Goddamn, it had been too long since he"d been fucked, and now he needed it.

Ty gasped, following the sound with a low groan and a slow thrust of his hips against Zane. “You want it like this?” he asked roughly.

“Yes!” Zane bit out.

Ty ran his hands across the skin of Zane"s back again, his fingers tracing the line of the tattoo. “Stay,” he ordered in a low voice before moving away to the bedside table.

Zane obeyed, mostly. He reached out and caught Ty"s arm. “Just the lube,” he said hoarsely. They"d already sort of talked about it. They were both tested with such regularity there was no question as to safety.

And he wanted to have Ty inside him with nothing between them.

Ty looked back at him. “You sure?” he asked seriously.

Zane met his eyes and nodded. “Just you.”

The sound Ty made in response was more of a growl than anything else. He whirled and began rummaging through the drawer where they had stowed their supplies. While listening to the bottle snap open, Zane pawed at the duvet and pulled it down until it crumpled in a pile against his chest. “Ty,” he said urgently, leaning his weight on one hand so he could stroke himself.

“God!” Ty huffed incredulously. He moved back over in one long stride. “Be patient!” he ordered in exasperation as he reached around Zane and stilled his hand, kissing his back as he bent over him. His cock nudged at Zane as he moved.

Zane growled low in his throat but let go of himself as he shuddered under Ty"s lips.

“Patience,” Ty reminded as he shoved the duvet away and pressed Zane fully onto the mattress and down into the sheets.

Zane let Ty move him around, wanting nothing more right now than to be under him. To have Ty want him. To have Ty show him how much he wanted him. Zane"s breaths broke as his knees spread, his cock brushing the sheets. Ty pushed him to his chest as he bit at Zane"s shoulder and slid one finger into him. Breath catching, Zane stilled as his chest rubbed the soft sheets and Ty seemed to attack him from two sides at once. He gasped at the tiny bite and shifted back against Ty"s finger, making a deeply needy noise. Ty murmured nonsense into his ear and then scraped his teeth over the skin of his shoulder again as he twisted the finger inside him. He pushed at him from behind, using his whole body, and forced Zane"s hips to thrust down against the mattress.

Crying out sharply, Zane dug in, rutting his hips against the sheets to stimulate his hardened cock. If he had to hump the mattress in order to get Ty to fuck him, he"d gladly do it.

Ty added another slick finger impatiently and twisted them wickedly.

“Jesus! Ty!” Zane hissed as his ass clenched around Ty"s long digits. Ty hummed in response and dug the fingers of his free hand into Zane"s hip. He pushed against him demandingly and bent over him to bite into the tender skin under Zane"s shoulder blade. Ty knew what kind of response he"d get. Zane yelled again and drove his hips back and then down against the bed. Ty pressed against him and murmured to him again, asking him if he was ready.

“Fuck, yes! Please!” Zane answered mournfully, trying to get more friction against his cock, but the angle was wrong. “Please, baby,”

he begged hoarsely.