It was an easy question to ask why she’d been upset, but it wasn’t one Zane needed an answer to. It was difficult when you lived a life undercover, and many people didn’t take kindly to such thorough lies, even for the best of reasons. Ty had given up someone he thought he could love to save her.
“Why didn’t you go back?”
“Well… I was sort of afraid she’d try again with a knife that was easier to throw,” Ty answered, laughing. He bit his lip, looking up at Zane with eyes that shined even in the dim light. “No. The hurricane hit. The city just got… wiped off the map, pretty much. For days we did nothing but survive. Pull people out of the water, kids and animals and old people. Me and everyone else down there cried ourselves to sleep whenever we got the chance. All I could do was make sure they were all okay, everyone I’d known, you know, undercover. But every UC in New Orleans that got blown had to be transferred after the search and rescue became body recovery and they started getting people out. They didn’t give us a chance to linger. That’s how I ended up in Baltimore. I never saw her again after that night.”
Zane didn’t understand. If Ty had really cared for her, or even thought he might have loved her, how had he given her up so easily?
Ty shifted and looked at Zane with a sigh. “You look… disturbed. You’re wondering why I didn’t try harder to get her back, right?” Ty nodded, as if answering his own question. “I cared about her, I did. But after a week or two I realized that she wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I woke up. And when something would happen during the day, she wasn’t the first person I thought I needed to tell it to.” He looked at Zane and smiled. “Not like you. I wasn’t in love with her. She deserved someone who was.”
Zane considered what to say. He wasn’t going to give Ty platitudes; they’d be dismissed anyway. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. But I’m not sorry it happened. I wouldn’t have you otherwise.”
Ty pulled him closer. “Funny how life works, huh?”
“Yeah,” Zane said as he eased into Ty’s arms. They’d both lost a lot along the way. He needed to remember that.
The warmth of Ty’s body next to Zane’s and his easy breathing were both calming and familiar, and Zane found himself sinking into him.
“You okay with all that?” Ty finally asked.
“It’s your past. Can’t be changed any more than mine can. I’m fine with it. Unless we vacation there for Mardi Gras, then I might be on the lookout. I was there once with Becky. We loved it.”
“If I ever go back I’ll have to do it locked and loaded,” Ty said. “I left too many pissed off loose ends down there, including one Cajun daddy who really liked voodoo.”
Zane barked a laugh before he could stop himself. He knew how superstitious Ty was, and something about him being afraid of the voodoo-wielding father of a former flame was intensely amusing.
Ty rolled to his side to face Zane. He reached up to touch Zane’s chin with his fingertips. “We still have a lot to learn about each other.”
Zane figured that was a hell of an understatement. He smiled as Ty’s lips brushed his. “That’s not a bad thing.”
“No.” Ty grinned against Zane’s lips. “I’m sort of looking forward to it.”
Zane closed his eyes, the warmth of contentment stealing over him as they wrapped around each other and settled down to try to sleep. “Should we set an alarm?” Zane asked after a quiet minute. Ty’s breathing had settled into a rhythm, low and even; Zane thought he might even have dropped off to sleep.
But Ty shook his head in immediate answer. He patted his chest before sliding his hand back over Zane’s. “Alarm’s built-in.”
Zane smiled as he buried his face against Ty’s chest. He drifted off to sleep, the warmth of Ty’s body and the fading smell of sandalwood filling him with a sense of tranquility he had rarely experienced.
Zane estimated that it was several hours later, still well before dawn, when he awoke to the mattress dipping and Ty getting out of bed.
He had to move carefully in the dark as he rummaged for his clothing and got dressed. It was painfully obvious that he was trying to be silent, trying not to wake Zane. Zane lay listening, almost dozing. Ty sat at the table in the corner and pulled on his boots, and when he stood, he bent over the table for a moment, writing a note.
“Fuck, Ty, not again,” Zane muttered.
Ty jumped and turned to look at him. “Jackass,” he hissed. “You scared me.”
“What are you doing?” Zane asked as he pushed up onto one elbow.
“Have you ever seen the battlefield in the moonlight?”
Zane shook his head.
“Come with me.”
Zane blinked at him, a smile forming as he nodded. “Let me get dressed.”
CAMERON didn’t even get a chance to gasp for breath. He grabbed for the arms surrounding him and slapped a hand over the fingers that covered his mouth, trying to wake up as he felt himself being yanked up from the pillow.
“You’re okay, love,” Julian’s soft voice assured him as he pulled him out of bed. There was an undercurrent of something else in his tone, though, something frightened and urgent. “Stay quiet.”
Cameron nodded and drew a shaky breath when Julian moved his hand away from his mouth. He got his feet under him as Julian released him a moment later, but Cameron had no intention of moving an inch away. Something had spooked Julian, and that was never a good thing.
Julian was tense and silent, his dark eyes riveted on the door to the room and his ear cocked toward the wall that separated their room from Ty and Zane’s. They could easily hear through the walls; they’d found that out earlier.
Julian had no weapon on him. If there was a threat now, they’d be facing it unarmed. “Get your shoes on,” Julian whispered. “Don’t make a sound.”
Stepping away from the safety of his lover’s hulking presence was more difficult than Cameron imagined it would be. He shoved his feet into his running shoes and crouched to tie them. Pulling the laces tight, he glanced up at Julian, trying to get a feel for the situation.
Julian stood stock-still, barely even breathing as he stared hard at the door. He wasn’t looking directly at it, more to the side of it, as if trying to see it out of the corner of his eye. The soft sound of voices filtered through the thick walls, and Julian moved suddenly, whipping his head to the right to look around the room. Cameron stepped back as Julian practically pounced on the desk several feet away, picking up the desk lamp and yanking the power cord out of the base. He reached into the lampshade and unscrewed the lightbulb, then pulled the cord out of the wall. Looking from Julian to the door and back, Cameron scooted out of the way, putting Julian and the heavy wooden armoire of electronics between himself and the door.