Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

jar clink down on the bar, and Ty was
    grumbling. Not really understandably, but obviously irritated now.
    “I haven‟t been on a bike in twenty years,” he said, more to
    himself than to Zane.
    “Maybe not a good idea, then,” Zane allowed reluctantly. He
    could see Ty on the Valkyrie, and it was a gorgeous vision to think
    about. But this wasn‟t a do-or-die situation, like playing chicken with a
    New York City taxicab. Zane shivered as he momentarily felt his
    stomach drop just at the memory.
    Ty sighed heavily. “I guess it is a better option than walking my
    happy ass out of the city,” he mumbled.
    Zane blinked and straightened. “What?”
    “Can I borrow your goddamn motorcycle to go to the office?” Ty
    asked, resigned.
    160 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    Zane‟s jaw dropped. “You‟re not seriously going to take the
    Valkyrie.”
    “I could hotwire one of the cars in that parking deck, but they
    don‟t take kindly to that sort of thing ‟round here,” Ty drawled.
    “All these months, all the times I‟ve asked you to ride with me,
    and you‟re finally getting on the Valkyrie when I can’t see it ?”
    “Hey, life‟s a bitch,” Ty told him without a hint of sympathy. He
    reached out and petted Zane on the top of the head. “You want more?”
    “More what?”
    “Breakfast.”
    “No, thank you,” Zane muttered, knowing he had another piece of
    toast and some bacon still to eat. “A drink, though, please.”
    Ty slid a glass toward him, already poured. “If you don‟t mind,
    I‟m going to go now so I can catch them unawares and take down the
    weakest of the herd before they can regroup,” he said with a certain
    sadistic relish. “I need the helmet, jacket, and keys.”
    Zane sighed. He felt more than a little cheated. “The helmet‟s on
    the bike. The jacket‟s wherever it fell last night.” Ty didn‟t answer as
    he moved past. In short order Zane could hear the creak of the leather
    as he put on the jacket and zipped it up. Zane wished like hell that he
    could see Ty on the bike. Talk about fuel for jacking off.
    He could smell the leather as Ty came closer, hear it moving as
    he checked the pockets. No doubt it would fit; the jacket had been Ty‟s
    originally. Ty stood right in front of him and leaned in to kiss him
    briefly. “If you‟re good I‟ll do this again when you can see,” he
    promised, mischief lacing his words. “Keys?”
    Zane blinked. “Really?” He smiled despite the current
    disappointment. “How good do I have to be?”
    “Very,” Ty whispered, just a breath away. “You can start by
    giving me the keys.”
    Zane let a few heartbeats pass as awareness tore through him,
    then swallowed as he set both palms on the leather covering Ty‟s chest.
    “In the dish on the bookshelf by the door.”
    Divide & Conquer | 161

    “Thank you,” Ty murmured with another teasing kiss. Then he
    moved away again, his footfalls barely there in his Converse sneakers
    and the leather jacket still creaking. The keys tinkled as he picked them
    up. “I‟ll call you when I‟m done,” Ty said to him as he passed on his
    way to the back door. “Keep your phone on you in case you need
    anything. Two hours, tops,” he guessed as the door opened.
    “I‟ll be here,” Zane said wryly, and then added, “Hey, Ty?”
    “Yeah?” Ty responded as the door groaned open. A vision flashed
    in Zane‟s mind, what Ty must look like, standing in the open doorway,
    wearing his beat-up jeans and Western-style shirt and Zane‟s leather
    jacket, looking back over his shoulder at Zane expectantly. He probably
    had one eyebrow raised.
    “Be careful. I want that chance to see this again,” Zane replied
    easily.
    “Yeah, yeah, love you too,” Ty groused flippantly, shocking Zane
    into silence as the door clicked behind him, and he was gone.
    Zane blinked hard several times, realized his mouth was hanging
    open, and let out a long, slow breath, sitting there until he heard the
    Valkyrie start, idle for a minute or two, and then purr away. When he
    couldn‟t hear it anymore, he ate the toast and cold bacon automatically,
    absorbed in thinking about— feeling about—what Ty had said so
    casually, and how he himself hadn‟t found a way to say it at all.
    He was so absorbed in his thoughts that when someone knocked
    on the front door, he jerked in surprise and sent the dishes sliding, the
    plate knocking into the glass and crashing to the floor, sending the
    orange juice