Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

LEO

We don't get started looking for Michael right away. After talking, giving each other orgasms, and driving back and forth to the city, we were both too exhausted to do anything when we arrive back at the cabin. Instead, I made us some dinner, and we sat around and watched television. Ty gave me more information about Michael Kerry—his age, appearance the last time he saw him, and what prison he was housed in. That'll make it easier for me to start a search.

June is good at hacking and taught me a few things so I'd stop calling him and Blu in the middle of the night when I took a contract. That knowledge is coming in handy, since I don't want anyone to help me with this. Ty asked me to avenge his friend and I want to do it on my own for him. This is our thing, and I'd rather not have other eyes on it. Having his trust to do this for him means more than I thought it would.

When Ty yawns one too many times while lounging on the couch, I tuck him into bed. He rolls his eyes when I undress him and help him into his pajamas, but he doesn't stop me.

Before I can leave to rest on the couch—the cabin only has one bedroom, and we didn't discuss sleeping arrangements—Ty grabs my hand and pulls me down. "You can sleep in here with me."

"You sure?"

He yawns again so hard I think he'll dislocate his jaw. "Very sure. Come on. Make me the little spoon."

Chuckling, I strip down to my boxer briefs and climb in behind him. My arm tucks around him, pulling him closer to me so I can breathe him in.

"Are you sniffing me?" he mutters with humor.

Holding him tight, I burrow my nose in his neck and draw in a long breath. A high-pitched laugh bursts from Ty's throat as he wiggles against me. "You're crazy," he says as he giggles, tucking his head to cut off my access.

"You smell good, kotenok."

He's still giggling when he says, "Thanks. You do too." He turns onto his back, looking at me with those beautiful eyes. "Is this crazy? That I'm okay with you killing people?"

"No," I mutter, placing a hand on his chest and resting my chin on it. "It's better that you accept it. I don't think you would have liked being handcuffed to my bed until you came around."

Ty searches my eyes with an incredulous expression. "You're serious."

With a grin, I answer, "Deadly."

He scoffs, shaking his head with a smile. "Yeah, you're crazy." His eyes sparkle as he looks at me. "I think I like it. It's definitely something I'm not used to. Then again, I'm accustomed to assholes that only want to fuck me. The one relationship I had was in college, but neither of us was ready for anything serious."

When he pauses to take a breath, I bend to touch my lips to his. Ty sighs against my mouth, wrapping his arms around my neck. The kiss is slow and searching, my tongue probing so I can commit his taste to memory. Ty doesn't try to deepen it, seemingly content to following my lead.

I don't want anything from this kiss. I simply want to have my mouth on his. Our kisses earlier were packed with heat and lust, done to get a rise out of each other. Now, they're gentle and slow, the touch of our mouths meant for seeking, for learning.

Ty sighs again when I pull my lips from his. "Did you only kiss me so I'd stop talking?"

"No," I tell him, dragging a finger over his plump bottom lip. "I told you, I like listening to you. I just wanted to kiss you."

"If it does start to bother you, let me know. I can try to stop."

"It won't. I don't want you to change a thing about yourself."

Ty nods, but he doesn't look like he believes me.

"Did something happen? Did someone say they didn't like it?"

He nods jerkily. "Yeah. The last guy I went on a few dates with. After we had sex, he told me he could finally stop pretending my rambling was cute because he got what he wanted."

Ty wears his emotions on his face at all times, never hiding what he's feeling. Staring down at him, I read embarrassment, shame, and hurt. I don't fucking like it.

"What's his name?" I ask casually, hoping he doesn't catch on to why I'm asking before he answers.

"Evan Hayes. Why?" His eyes grow wide. "Leo, no."

"What?" I ask, mirroring his expression. I've become quite adept at mimicking what others feel. I've had to in order to survive. I'm sure I'm not nailing the innocent look I'm going for this time, but I keep it up.

"He's an asshole, but he only hurt my feelings. He's not one of the people that deserves to die."

Loosing a dramatic sigh, I give him another kiss. "Fine. If you change your mind?—"

"I won't," he says quickly, making me laugh.

"Okay. Come on. Let's get some sleep. How's your head?"

Blu said the aftereffects of the tranquilizer should wear off before the end of the day.

"Better now. Thanks." Ty turns over, slotting his ass right over my cock. "Good night, Leo."

Kissing him gently behind his ear, I whisper, "Good night, kotenok."

I didn't expect to sleep as well as I did with someone else. I've never slept in a bed with another person. All my hookups were at their place, and I left as soon as I busted a nut.

But that's not the case with Tyshawn. The sun breaking through the thin curtains wakes me up a little after dawn, and I didn't realize how much rest I needed until I got more than four hours. I can function fine with that amount of sleep, but I have to admit that I feel better and more rested having slept longer.

During the night, Ty and I separated, and when I open my eyes, I'm greeted with the sight of him on his side, facing me. His hands are tucked under his head, soft breaths leaving his mouth.

Gorgeous isn't a strong enough word to describe him. Ty is fucking radiant. Everything about him draws me in, making me want more.

Having never been with a man means nothing now. Especially since I've stuffed his mouth full of my cock and had his at the back of my throat. It's him as a person that drew me in. That and the persistent feeling that says he belongs to me.

With a soft hand, I brush over the stubble on his face, the light hairs pricking my fingers. I think about how he looked with makeup when we went on our date, and my cock stirs. It's not something I thought I would be into until I saw it on Ty. How the highlighter on his cheeks seemed to light up his brown skin, making it look smooth and vibrant. The mascara made his eyes pop, the blue and brown irises shining as he peered up at me, a gentle smile on his glossy lips.

God, that image will live rent-free in my head. Hopefully, there will be many more dates and memories I can get with his face painted up just for me.

As I've been enjoying doing, I ghost my thumb over his bottom lip, loving how soft it is. Touching him is becoming my new favorite hobby.

He stirs, slowly blinking his eyes open. Ty smiles as I thumb over his lip, gazing at me with sleepy eyes. "Good morning, Leo."

"Morning, kotenok. How did you sleep?"

"Good. What time is it?"

I shrug, still rubbing over his lip. "Maybe seven. Not too long after dawn. I'm used to being up much earlier. But sleeping beside you relaxed me."

Ty searches my face. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No. I liked it." I pull Ty to me until he's lying on my chest. "I don't feel about a lot of things, but when I'm with you, I feel things very acutely. Blu told me it could happen, that our diagnosis isn't cookie-cutter. We're not supposed to feel much of anything, devoid of happiness, sadness, fear, and guilt. But I think with you around, that won't be the case. I can be … human."

"You are human," he mutters. "Maybe not what society would call normal, but you are. I'll convince you of it one day."

Smiling, I kiss him gently. "Thank you, kotenok. What is it about you?"

"I could ask you that." Ty sits up and stretches, his undershirt pulling tightly against his body. I reach up and stroke his chest, my hand drifting down his tight belly. He glances at me with a grin. "We're going to look for him today, right?"

Nodding, I sit up and wrap an arm around his waist. Ty leans his head against my chest, his soft hand rubbing between my pecs.

"Yep. After we find him, we'll start to make a plan for how we're going to get him. Do you have any ideas of what you want to happen?"

Ty shrugs, blowing out a shuddering breath. "I don't know, but I want him to hurt. Bad. I want his last moments to be spent in agony."

That leaves a lot that I can do. Before I killed Ralph, I longed to find a mark I could torture before I killed them. Now, I could have two in a row. That thought makes the blood sing in my veins.

I nod. "I can do that." Pulling him away from me, I tip his head up so he can look in my eyes when he answers. "Do you want to be the one who kills him? You want to land the final blow?"

Wide-eyed, Ty stares at me. "Me? I wouldn't know how."

"I can show you."

"Show me? How would you … like train me? To kill Michael?"

"If you want. Or I can do it all myself, and you can make sure it's done. Up to you."

"Can I think about it?"

Kissing his forehead, I say, "Of course, kotenok. We can get started on finding him now. We'll make a plan when we have his location."

He looks shaky, but his eyes are steely, so I know he's still in this, even if he's frightened about the actual murder.

After kissing him once more, I tug him out of bed and get the shower going for him. While he's showering, I cook him breakfast, a hot plate of bacon, eggs, and waffles in front of him by the time he exits the room.

"Yum," he mutters, sliding into one of the chairs at the dining room table. "Tomorrow, I'll make you some homemade muffins if we can go into town and get the ingredients."

I hand him the syrup. "What about some of those snickerdoodle cookies? I love those."

Ty's tinkling laughter washes over me, and something settles in my chest, making me smile in turn. Him being happy makes me happy. Outside of killing, I've never felt this kind of contentment. "I'll make anything you want. I do more than bake, you know? I can cook you dinner sometime."

"I'd like that."

We eat breakfast in silence, Ty looking out at the woods through the back window. The sounds of nature drift in through the cracked sill, fresh air blowing through, making the air smell of pine needles. Being out here makes me feel more content than I've ever been—mainly because it reminds me of Russia and where I got my start. I may have hated being in the cold ninety-five percent of the time, but it was the only home I ever knew.

Once we're done eating, I clear our plates, and Ty goes to sit on the porch. I take my laptop outside and sit on the bottom step of the porch as he perches in the rocking chair.

I pull up the prison website where Ty indicated Michael spent his time and look up the name Michael Kerry. About ten people pop up, so I enlarge all of the photos and ask Ty to pick him out.

The first five are a bust, Ty shaking his head as I scroll through them. When I get to picture six, there's a visceral reaction from Ty. He gasps, and his hands shake, tears brimming in his eyes. "Him," he mutters. "That's him."

Michael Kerry would be considered a good-looking man if he wasn't scowling at the camera that took his mugshot. Light brown hair, small green eyes and bushy eyebrows. Even pissed off, he has a smug energy, like he knows he won't be put away for long. Just looking at him, I can tell that this isn't his first offense, just the one he was caught for.

Like recognizes like. Michael and I are the same. He's a fucking psychopath, there's no denying that. Now I'm wondering if he's killed anyone before. That's probably why he hasn't had more victims. They're probably not alive to tell their stories.

Not knowing how to comfort him but wanting to try, I set my laptop down and turn toward Ty, gripping his hands and rubbing my thumbs over the soft skin. "You okay?"

A choked sob leaves his lips as he shakes his head. "No. That fucker is a monster, and he's walking the streets like he didn't fucking kill my friend. He's the reason she's dead."

Bringing his hand to my lips, I kiss the back of it and pat it, hoping this is the thing that normal people do to comfort their mates. "I'll take care of him for you. I promise."

Tears dripping down his face, Ty mouths, thank you , too overcome with emotion to actually speak the words.

Instead of continuing to gently stroke him, I pull Ty off the rocking chair and hug him to my chest. I don't have to think about this—I simply wrap my arms around him. Ty breaks down, soaking my neck with his tears, his body heaving with heavy sobs.

"It's okay, kotenok. Get it all out. I'm here."

"I want him dead, Leo."

"It'll happen, baby. I promise you that."

Ty pulls back, tears still coursing down his face. "I want to do it. I want to stab that fucker in the heart until it stops beating. Can you teach me that?"

Taking his face between my hands, I nod. "Yes."

I kiss his forehead and put his head on my chest, letting him cry himself out. Oh yes, I'll teach Ty. I'll teach him everything he needs to know.