Kell

 

“Did you pass?” Kell asked Ty the moment he stepped out of Duke’s door. He’d been waiting for him to finish the Georgia exam on Brian’s computer. He was sure Ty had passed, since it had taken him less than twenty minutes to complete the one-hour test.

Ty turned in his direction. His smile was full of that ’swagalicious charm when he said, “If it weren’t for your bright eyes, Kell, I wouldn’t be able to see you in the dark.”

Kell stood still as Ty approached him. His golden-brown skin and sweet almond eyes got darker the deeper into the shadows he walked. Kell retreated farther, pulling Ty where he felt the most comfortable. His partner followed. Kell leaned against the side of the building with his hood low and his scarf over his mouth. Ty towered over him, his bulk shielding Kell from the wind.

“Yes, I passed.” Ty’s harmonious laugh drifted across Kell’s face. “We’ll be in the gun range in the morning with Dana, then we’ll observe him doing a couple of those backlogged retrievals.”

“Sounds like fun,” Kell said.

“Agreed. I’m looking forward to it as well.”

“I like the way you talk, ya’know,” Kell confessed. “You’re very intelligent.”

Ty smirked. “You’ve commented on my style… my language.” He stepped closer to Kell and put one hand against the brick wall next to his head. He leaned in close, his eyes blazing, “Did you think I’d wear my pants hanging off my ass and a puffy black coat loaded with Uzis and Tech9s underneath it? Did you take one look at me and believe I’d only be able to speak Ebonics and street slang?”

“What the hell are you talking about? Why would I think—?” He shoved at Ty’s chest, realizing his partner was messing with him. Ty caught his hand and held it. Kell exhaled sharply. He felt his wrist squeezed before Ty pulled his hand closer to him. He couldn’t see anything in the dark, but he knew Ty felt them. His blades. The hunters all had their own arms, whatever they were most comfortable with. These were his.

“You just keep surprising me, don’t you? I think you like doing it,” Ty purred rubbing over Kell’s wrist. “Are these…?”

“Demon’s Daggers,” Kell said breathlessly. “Throwing knives.”

Ty’s strong hand still held his palm up while he blindly caressed the stainless-steel blades around his wrist. “Are you a master with these too?”

Kell could’ve sworn Ty was turned on, but he couldn’t see his facial expressions. He could only feel him. That’s why he’d lured him there, into the darkness of the night where the face could lie, but the body could not. Kell was in the shadows in order to feel Ty’s body’s response to him.

Ty may’ve said he wasn’t ready to have Kell up in his head, but his body was saying something else. It wasn’t a lie how close Ty was standing to him. He couldn’t fake the heightened rise and fall of his chest, or the slightly labored breath ghosting across Kell’s cheek with every hushed syllable he spoke.

“Would you like to see?” Kell asked.

“I can’t see anything right now.”

“You don’t need to see.” Kell took a chance and placed his other hand on top of Ty’s. He was thankful for his fingerless gloves as he gently brushed his fingers over Ty’s smooth skin. “You just need to listen.”

Kell turned so his back was to Ty’s chest. He didn’t lean in, wanting to see if Ty would fill the small gap. He did. Felt Ty lean over him and place his lips against his temple. Kell removed his hood. With Ty’s hand on his waist, his body vibrated.

“Show me,” Ty ordered gently.

“You ready?” Kell smiled into the dark.

“I am.” He could feel Ty’s smile behind him.

“Place your hand lightly on my left shoulder. Don’t press. Just touch,” Kell instructed, coolly leaving Ty’s other hand on his waist.

When he felt Ty’s warm palm on his shoulder, Kell flung his left arm out as if he were tossing a dart. The sounds of his blades slicing through the air before piercing the bark of the tree several feet in front of them broke the silence. Ty’s breath hitched next to his ear.

“Where’d it go?” Ty asked. His voice heavy with something else besides wonder. “Do you know?”

Kell kept his hand outstretched in the direction he’d thrown his blades. Of course I know. He placed his other hand over Ty’s, telling him to keep it there and led him into the shallow forest around Duke’s building. When Kell got to the tree, he took Ty’s hand and placed it on the cool handles of his daggers. Both of them.

“You threw two at a time?” Ty pulled the devil’s tip from the bark.

“Yes. Would you rather I’d thrown more?” Kell admitted to himself he liked showing off for Ty. “And, by the way, yes. I like surprising you.”

Ty gave Kell his seven-inch blades and let him replace them in his wrist sheath. He took his hand and led them back out the way Kell had brought them. When they were in the parking lot under the street lights, Ty turned and faced him.

They were silent. Neither of them speaking, just watching each other.

“What are you doing to me?” Ty whispered.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Kell responded. He had no clue what was happening between them but whatever it was it was fast and it was consuming.

“Hey! You two need a ride? Kell?” Quick called out, walking beside Duke. Kell turned to see all the lights out in the building. They’d locked up and Ty and Kell had been lost in each other.

It was almost nine. He hated the MARTA at night. The next one to his neighborhood would be at ten-fifteen. Damnnit. He didn’t have money for a cab. He also didn’t want to leave, just when he thought Ty was about to reveal something important; but he couldn’t walk home either. He was about to tell Ty goodnight when he spoke up for them.

“We’ll split a Lyft. Thanks,” Ty called back, still facing him.

“Says who?” Kell lifted a brow in challenge.

“Says me,” Ty said it so freely, as if it was obvious.

“All right. Dana will be here at eight for you,” Duke said, slamming his truck door.

When the parking lot was finally empty Ty asked him, “Are you hungry?”

“Do you think that’s your new duty?” Kell said sternly. “Because it’s not. I can feed myself, Tyrell.”

Ty didn’t blink, he didn’t smile. Their teasing banter faded as he crowded into Kell until he not only felt the power of his glare, but the heat of his sexy body too. Ty’s voice was like dark chocolate. Decadent. But it made Kell tremble at its force, “Do not form your pretty lips to say my name like that again.”

Kell opened his mouth, but Ty silenced him with fingers to his lips. He pulled him closer and replaced Kell’s hood over his head. If it hadn’t been so endearing it would have been emasculating.

“Do not say my name like I’ve offended you. I offered you food because I want to talk with you. I need to talk with you. You are defensive towards me and I need that to stop. I’m not your enemy, Kell. Don’t speak to me like I am. I’ve shown you nothing but respect, have I not?”

Kell could only nod, caught up in Ty’s staggering masculinity.

“Then show it back,” Ty demanded.

He liked the way Ty was speaking to him. Oh god, he loved it. He was burning inside for more. To anyone else, it could appear that Ty was short and abrupt with him, but he was a disciplined man conversing with another. Kell didn’t know why he kept snapping at Ty. He unnerved him and made him question his touches. Ty’s body had been giving him amazing rhythm, but his mouth had contradicted his actions, or so Kell made himself believe. Because there was no way he could just accept that he was falling for his partner. A man he’d only met a few days ago, but had him waking each day after with a stronger urge to see him than before.

“I want to eat with you. But, I don’t. I um… I…” Kell stuttered.

“Keep it real with me, shorty.” Ty pulled Kell to his chest, “Say what you want to say.”

Shorty. Kell swallowed roughly. “Look. I live on a tight budget. I don’t have any money on me, so I was thinking I can give it back to you when I get my check. I don’t want you to think I can’t pay my own way,” Kell answered. His body betrayed his fake composure. He hoped Ty thought the sudden redness appearing on his cheeks was from the cold temperature.

“Okay. I can understand that. But, I will be honest, as well. I won’t feel comfortable turning our meals into a debt you owe me.”

Kell wished he knew where the hell Ty came from. He was the kind of man he only read or dreamed about. The one with looks, brains, self-control, goal-oriented, charming, generous, honest. Kell could keep going. And he’d seen all these amazing characteristics in mere days. He couldn’t wait to see what Ty would show him in a month… a year! Ty’s behavior wasn’t fake. This wasn’t an act. Kell had lived in some rough neighborhoods after leaving his father, and he’d met a lot of men, black, white and every race in between. Not one of them was comparable to Ty Jenkins. According to Brian—regarding Ty’s father—Ty really had it honest. He’d even seen Brian staring at Ty a few times when he’d say something profound. As if he was reminded of a precious memory of his fallen friend.

“Are we at an impasse?” Kell smirked.

“Oh no. Never that. Let me think.” Ty put some space between them.

Kell frowned.

“I can’t think clearly with you that close.” Ty’s expression was serious.

Kell blushed again. Crap.

“You are a master. A teacher. And, from what I’ve heard you’re a really good one. Patient even.” Ty’s smile brightened the night. “For every meal I pay for, you give me a lesson. I’m sure your classes aren’t cheap.”

“You are already a trained fighter.” Kell wasn’t fooled.

“True. But I’m not even close to being on the level of the company I’m in, or the other hunters. There’s room for improvement. I can also use some help with my knife throwing. I’m a bit rusty in that area.” Ty walked toward him, “In the hood I live in they don’t use knives. That’s a weapon for close combat. If a man’s got beef on the block, he’s gonna come at me like a coward from yards away. Blasting from a distance.”

“How can that man blast at you if he has a blade embedded in his hand?” Kell questioned. “Or in his eye?”

Ty slid his hand into Kell’s and began moving them down the street, “Exactly. So you’ll teach me.”