Zane very carefully did not turn his chin toward Ty. The very words he’d spoken told Zane several things: Ty was surprised that Zane had shot the man—even though Ty’s life had been at risk—that he thought it had to have been a difficult choice for Zane to make, and that he believed his partner was suffering somehow over taking a life. For a moment, Zane felt a pang of loss for the man he’d been years ago, a man who’d agonized after killing a murderer in the line of duty.

That man was long gone.

Zane sighed softly. Ty thought he was a better man than he really was. Zane wanted him to think that for at least a little while longer.

Ty glanced over at him, looking at him in a way Zane had never seen. He seemed to be contemplating Zane’s reaction, trying to decide how to categorize it. Then he reached out slowly, taking hold of Zane’s shirt and pulling him until their noses almost touched. He turned his head slightly, almost brushing their lips together. Zane could feel the prickle of Ty’s grown-out whiskers against his lips.

“Next time you’re struggling, you tell me,” Ty said quietly. “Don’t care what it’s about. That way I don’t have to guess what you need from me.”

Zane’s lips pressed together hard, and he swallowed with difficulty, not wanting to pull away from Ty even an inch. “I don’t want you to think I can’t back you up,” he said, their lips brushing as he spoke.

“When I think that, you’ll know it,” Ty promised, and he leaned away from him just enough to be able to look him in the eye. “It’s twice now you’ve saved my life,” he reminded in a gruff voice. “Time you stopped thinking of yourself as the weaker half.”

Zane spent a moment studying Ty’s face, his eyes so close, their lips so close. “I’ll try,” he whispered.

Ty nodded, but he didn’t let go of Zane’s shirt, nor did he move away from him.

“You’re pretty damn strong yourself, Ty Grady,” Zane said softly, raising his hand to touch Ty’s scruffy cheek gently. His beard had grown to nearly a full one. It suited him somehow. Zane thought maybe anything would suit Ty. Ty snorted in amusement and released Zane’s shirt. “Strong enough to take care of yourself,” Zane added pointedly.

Ty rolled his eyes. “You think I could have taken care of myself after being shot in the back with a twelve gauge?” he posed.

“That’s why I killed him,” Zane said bluntly.

Ty nodded, still looking into Zane’s eyes unwaveringly. He smoothed down the material of Zane’s shirt that had bunched under his hand and looked away almost regretfully. “That’s why I said thank you,” he pointed out.

“There aren’t many things left that truly scare me, Ty,” Zane said softly. “But that’s one of them.”

“What is?” Ty asked without looking back at him. There was a hint of dread in his voice as he stared devotedly at the ground.

Zane looked at him longingly, the words on the tip of his tongue: Not being in time. Losing you. But just the sound of Ty’s voice carried a warning; they were too close to a line neither of them wanted to cross.

“Hell freezing over because you actually said thank you,” he tried instead.

The tension in Ty’s frame ebbed some as he looked at Zane, and he seemed almost relieved to accept the out, as weak as it may have been. “Well,” he said after a moment. “Quit being a scaredy-cat,” he advised in an almost gentle voice.

“I’ve had lots of practice,” Zane tried to joke as Ty reached out and smoothed down Zane’s shirt again. It was a tender gesture, one Zane wasn’t sure Ty was even aware of performing. Zane felt the knot in his chest relax as Ty touched him. They so rarely shared tender moments like this. When they came along, they were at the same time welcome and disturbing. Zane was never sure whether he wanted more of them or wanted to run from them. Tonight, though, he decidedly wanted more of this one. When Ty was done fussing over the collar of his shirt, Zane lowered his head until their foreheads touched, and he brushed his nose against Ty’s.

“Quit it,” Ty muttered despite the smile Zane could feel on his lips. He pushed Zane away half-heartedly and stood.

Zane got to his feet, stepped over the log, and caught Ty’s arm to pull him close again. “No more nuzzling,” he agreed.

Ty gave a token struggle just like he always did as Zane wrapped him up into a hug. He enjoyed the game they played when it came to control and power and was often disappointed when he succeeded in eluding Zane’s grasp. But it was obvious in the way he let Zane pull him closer now that he’d been missing the contact as much as Zane had while they’d been on the mountain. Zane closed his eyes, the feeling of relief almost palpable as he soaked in Ty’s touch, his scent—even though neither of them had showered in days—and the warmth of his body. He smiled as he slid his arms around Ty’s waist.

Ty sighed loudly and rested his chin on Zane’s shoulder as he slid his hands under Zane’s arms and around him. He gave his back a few manly pats. Zane knew Ty was humoring him. But at least he cared enough to be doing it.

To Zane’s surprise, Ty’s arms tightened around him, the humor of a moment ago turning into a true embrace. Ty turned his face into Zane’s neck and hugged him close, his fingers pulling at the fabric of Zane’s coat as he did so. Zane smiled in the dark as some little knot of tension inside him unfurled and began to flutter like butterflies instead. “I’ll be glad when we get home,” he murmured, his lips against Ty’s cheek.

“Shut up,” Ty muttered as he extricated himself and gave Zane’s unhurt cheek a pat. A hard one.

Zane grinned but kept his mouth shut. He reached to grasp Ty’s chin, turned his head, and claimed a short, solid kiss before letting him go.

Ty swatted at him as soon as he was free. “Just… don’t get carried away,” he reminded with a small smirk as he pointed in the direction of their camp.

Zane nodded as he tried to calculate just how many hours it would take them to get back to civilization and get naked somewhere nice and private. He’d even settle for semi-private at this point. Ty nodded as if he was thinking the same thing, but then he glanced off into the dark woods, squinting as if trying to find the campfire. They were far enough away that they couldn’t see the glow of the flames, nor could they hear anything from the other men through the dense woods.

“Actually, fuck it,” Ty decided as he reached out to Zane and pulled him close again to kiss him.

Zane’s pulse picked up immediately, just like it always did when Ty kissed him passionately. He wrapped his arms around Ty and pulled him closer, equally comforted and aroused by having him so close.

Ty gave a low groan as they pressed against each other. “Been missing this,” he said in a harsh whisper.

Zane squeezed his eyes shut and nodded before covering Ty’s mouth again, his tongue pushing in to taste him, both hands dropping to grip Ty’s ass and lift him until he stood on the tips of his toes, his arms wrapped around Zane’s neck to meet his height and kiss him possessively. Zane was addicted to Ty’s kisses. They were much like Ty himself: unbridled and spontaneous, warm and gentle at times, but with just enough bite to set them on fire.

One kiss from Ty never failed to make Zane want more.

Shifting his weight, Zane moved to press his groin against Ty. Despite being exhausted, dehydrated, and hurting, he was hard already. He wanted Ty to touch him so badly he was shaking. Ty’s hands slid down his body, finding Zane’s skin under all the layers. It seemed he wanted to take this further just as desperately as Zane.

“You sure you wanna start this way the hell out here?” Ty asked roughly, though. And he had a point. He was thinking about the logistics of it all: the hard ground was littered with sticks and dried leaves and God knew what else; the cold air would assault their bare skin as soon as clothing was removed; and it wasn’t just Deuce or Earl who could interrupt them with their pants down. There were any number of other obstacles they were sure to find as soon as they went too far to turn back without parts turning blue.

Zane groaned as he ran through them in his mind. He didn’t care about any of them. “Need it,” he managed to say as he moved his lips along Ty’s neck. “Need you.”

“Did you come out here with a condom, Zane?” Ty asked in amusement as he continued to kiss Zane slowly, almost as if he was humoring him again.

“For fuck’s sake, Ty, just touch me… please,” Zane gasped out between the kisses. “That’s all it’s gonna take.”

Ty took a small step back and searched Zane’s face in the darkness. They could just make out each other’s features in the moonlight. He rubbed his hands together vigorously, then cupped them and blew onto his palms. He smiled crookedly as he unbuttoned Zane’s jeans and pushed them down. He reached through the opening of Zane’s boxers and slid his fingers along the length of Zane’s erection. His fingers were still cold, though, and even though it was such a relief to be touched intimately again, Zane was almost afraid it was too cold for the results they wanted. Then Ty kissed him one last time and dropped to his knees without warning.

Zane’s breath hissed out in a rush, heat zipping through his body at the sudden sight of Ty on his knees in front of him. One of his hands delved into Ty’s hair as he looked down at him with widened eyes. Ty had never even hinted at this before. It was something Zane had simply considered off-limits. But Ty didn’t waste any time now; he took Zane into his mouth, pushing his head forward to drive Zane’s cock deep into the warmth.

Zane choked on a cry, and he bit his lip to muffle the sounds threatening to tear from him. If they didn’t fuck soon somewhere where he could yell as loud as he wanted, Zane thought he might have to resort to more violence. Both hands gripped Ty’s short hair, and he couldn’t help but move, thrusting into Ty’s gloriously hot mouth. Rather than fighting against it, Ty hummed and pulled at his hip to encourage him to do it again.

Holy shit, he was going to lose it before he even had a chance to enjoy this!

Zane inhaled harshly through his nose as he tried to be careful with the movement of his hips. He wanted to give Ty control over the actions rather than merely fucking his mouth, using him to get off, and probably either drowning or choking him in the process. But Ty used his free hand to pull at Zane’s hip again, urging him to thrust. He really wanted Zane to use him like that.

It was all far too much for Zane to process. The danger and stress they faced, the emotional tangles he and Ty fought, the need and desire, and now Ty going down on him for the first time in the middle of the goddamned woods was just driving every lucid thought out of his mind.

Zane lost track of everything but needing to move and remembering to breathe. His hips jutted forward, harder this time, and one of his hands scrabbled to grasp at Ty’s shoulder. He felt Ty’s cold hand on the back of his thigh, sliding up under his boxers, fingers digging into the skin as he did his best to take Zane’s cock all the way in with every thrust. Zane couldn’t see his cockhead disappearing between Ty’s lips, and he cursed the canopy of trees that hid the moon from them. He could imagine what those sinfully full lips would look like as the head of his cock passed between them, though.

“Oh God,” Zane groaned as he rocked his hips forward. “Ty—I’m gonna—”

Ty jerked his head back quickly and stood before Zane could finish the warning. He grabbed Zane hard around the back of his neck with one hand and kissed him roughly as he stroked him with the other.

It didn’t even take two squeezes to finish him, and Zane shuddered as he pulled Ty against him, remembering the imagined sight of his cock between Ty’s lips, thinking about how badly he wanted to come down Ty’s throat. His shoulders bowed as he panted and came hard.

Ty gripped him tightly, holding him on his feet as Zane’s knees went weak. He slowed his strokes to leisurely pulls, eventually stopping altogether as he continued to kiss Zane languidly. Floating along, Zane abandoned himself to Ty’s hands for a long moment, soaking in the afterglow. “Ty,” he breathed as they kissed.

Ty didn’t respond, not willing to end the kisses by talking just yet. Zane started moving his hands gently over Ty’s body. He felt Ty smile against his lips as he tugged at the button to Ty’s jeans.

Ty’s hand stilled his fingers. “I don’t expect tit for tat, Zane,” he assured Zane in a whisper. “Don’t have to do anything but find your sleeping bag.”

“And pull up my pants,” Zane muttered as he shivered and did so, buttoning them back up. But then his hands were right back on Ty, and they didn’t stop moving. One even delved into the back of Ty’s jeans, cupping his ass possessively.

Ty snorted softly, shifting closer to Zane again and pressing their bodies close. He rested his forehead against Zane’s and nuzzled their noses together before kissing him again.

Zane mumbled and shifted one hand around to cup the front of Ty’s jeans, rubbing slowly. Ty sighed, his warm breath brushing against Zane’s cold cheek. Zane kept it slow, listening to the soft sounds of pleasure from Ty’s lips as he started to unbutton his jeans despite what Ty had said.

Ty reached down and caught his wrist; the fingers that grabbed him were cold and sticky. “Don’t have to, Garrett,” he whispered again.

Zane’s lips covered his practically before the last word was out of his mouth, and he started pushing down the heavy denim. Zane had gotten a hell of a lot of blowjobs over the years, but he’d avoided ever giving one. Ty knew that much about him. What Ty didn’t know was that Zane was willing to try it for him. But out in the cold, dark woods was not the time to experiment.