Karrie

“Nick pressed a finger onto the table. “Would you bust him out of prison?”
“No,” Zane answered immediately.
Nick sat back, eyebrows climbing high. “No?”
“No,” Zane said again. He poured another glass, gritting his teeth. “I wouldn’t let him make it to a cell.”
“How is that not enough?”
― Abigail Roux, Touch & Geaux

“You’re . . . you’re going back to the Marines?” Alston stuttered. “I thought SOCOM was defunct.”
“It’s MARSOC now,” Ty mumbled.
”But that’s special operations. You don’t have a choice?”
“No. I don’t.” He studied the orders. “I report in forty-eight hours. Immediate deployment.”
Zane stood. His hands shook as he gripped the edge of the desk. Ty looked up, seeking Zane out. Zane could see it in Ty’s eyes. There was no choice. No way to wriggle out of it. No way for anyone to save him.
“Oh God, Ty,” Zane whispered.
Ty stared at him for a moment longer as the others broke into outraged babbling. Then Ty shook himself. He tossed the packet of orders onto the desk and stalked over to Zane.
He grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him.
The room spun to a halt. The babble ground to a stunned hush.
Ty’s hands moved to the small of his back and he held him tight, bending him just enough for Zane to have to wrap his arms around him to keep from falling. He kissed him again. In front of their coworkers. In front of King and Country and anyone who would watch. It was the first purely honest kiss they’d ever shared.
And it was a kiss good-bye.”
― Abigail Roux, Touch & Geaux