Hogan’s head snapped up, anger flashing in his eyes.“That shouldn’t be normal for you, Kai.The thought of you being beaten and shot at makes me want to go hunting.”
Kai cracked a tired smile, lids half-shut.“Always quick to protect.Quick to anger.But me—I could always calm the beast.Don’t forget that.”
The heat that had exploded within Hogan at the thought of Kai being hurt cooled, though the edge never left entirely.He studied Kai, jaw tight, until Kai’s breathing slowed and evened.
Hogan leaned back, laptop idle on the table.Kai’s words lingered, strange and unsettling.He hadn’t told him much, not really.But it made a certain kind of sense, like puzzle pieces trying to fit.
Then it hit him.A flash of vision.A sharp pain spiking through his temple, right where the injury had left its mark.Hogan gritted his teeth, eyes squeezing shut as memory slammed into him.
A tourist shouting, shoving.Hogan ready to put the man on the ground.And then—Kai.Hand flat against his chest, voice calm, words soft but firm.Deescalating the moment with nothing but tone and presence.The anger bleeding out of him because Kai had been there to catch it before it got out of hand.
The pain subsided, leaving Hogan breathless, hands braced on the edge of the table.He dragged in air, eyes drawn to Kai asleep beneath the blanket.The steady rise and fall of his chest.The shadows across his face.
Hogan sat there, pulse still pounding, and wondered—not for the first time, and not for the last—what exactly it was that lay between them.
****
Morning light filteredthrough the van’s open skylight, the air cool and damp with the scent of trees and water, not yet tainted with the true heat of the day.Kai stretched carefully, noting the pull in his side where the staples tugged, but the rest of him felt better.Stronger.Definitely on the road to recovery.
They’d taken a walk earlier that morning, the trail down to the waterfall quiet and slick with dew.When they arrived, Hogan had stripped down to his running shorts and plunged in without hesitation, the sunlight glinting off the creamy expanse of his back and the water as he swam.Kai had stayed on the rocks, frustrated but knowing infection would be a bitch he couldn’t afford to deal with.So, he watched instead, lips quirking, his mind wandering as Hogan cut clean strokes through the water.Kai leaned forward on the rocks, shading his eyes against the sun, and couldn’t help the low whistle that slipped free when Hogan rose out of the water like the God he was.
Hogan smirked, pushing wet hair back, and called up, “You better not even be thinking about getting in here.”
Kai raised both hands in mock surrender.“Relax, Ace.Last thing I want is to tear open the staples or get an infection and make you play nurse for longer than necessary.”
“Good.Because I’d hogtie you to the bed before I let you near the water,” Hogan shot back, voice rough with authority but softened by the glint in his eyes.
Kai smirked, letting his gaze sweep over Hogan’s shoulders, the water beading and running down the defined muscles of his chest.“Not complaining about the view, though.You could charge admission.”
Hogan floated lazily on his back.“Figures.I finally get a private waterfall and I’m stuck with a heckler on the rocks.”
“Not a heckler,” Kai drawled, shading his eyes against the sun.“Just an appreciative audience.Some of us know quality when we see it.”
Hogan barked a laugh, sending up a spray.“Careful, Kai.You’re going to start drooling.”
“Already am,” Kai muttered to himself, heat curling low in his stomach.Drool later, heal now, he told himself, dragging his gaze away, though it took effort.
Back at the van, Hogan tossed him a protein shake and slid a bowl of cereal across the table.Soy milk pooled cold against the flakes, a cup of coffee steaming beside it.Kai picked up the spoon, pausing when the memory of yesterday’s grocery run tugged at him.Hogan had reached for the box before he did, hand brushing his, like it was second nature.Then the soy milk—no hesitation, no question.He had known.
Kai’s chest tightened around the thought.If Hogan’s memory was bleeding back, piece by piece, then what else might surface?
The thought vanished when a sharp chime echoed through the van.The speakers hissed to life, a low tone that didn’t belong to any normal system.Hogan stiffened, frowning.“What the hell is that?”
Kai moved fast, sliding his bowl aside.He pressed a hidden catch in the tabletop, revealing a slim panel.Hogan blinked as Kai used his thumbprint to open a secret compartment, drawing out a thin matte-black laptop.
“What the—how the hell did you know that was even there?And why did it open for your thumbprint?”Hogan demanded.
Kai didn’t look up.“Later.”He flipped the laptop open.The screen scanned his face, went dark, and then lit up with a familiar face.
“Hey, braddah,” Surge greeted, voice warm and thick with island cadence.“Been too long.You look like shit.”
Kai let out a breath that almost passed for a laugh.“I’ve been worse than thisbrahwhich you know all too well.But I’m good, and have been getting good care.”His eyes slid toward Hogan.
Surge grinned, laughter booming.“Hogan?That dude must make one big-ass nurse.Who would’ve thought?Tell me, does he wear a nurse’s uniform while he’s taking care of you?”
Hogan arched a brow but didn’t bite.“You two done flirting, or are we going to get to the part where you tell us something useful?”
Surge chuckled, but his tone shifted, more serious now.“Just wanted to update on what happened after you got that intel through to Bateman about the four assholes from Chechnya gunning for Dale.”
