Page 26 of Connected

“Kat, you know what I mean. Now stay there,” he frowns, gesturing her back to the hideaway. “What, do you want me to be eatin’ Zak-dick-pie with my balls? Cos, seriously, if you don’t stay put, then that’s what Digby’s gonna be servin’ up.”

She smiles and nods as Zak strips out of the oversized pants and disappears into the jungle.

Chapter 9

The large brown wolf heads directly towards the gunfire, then standing at the jungle’s edge—with a clear view of the compound—he watches and studies the unfolding situation.

Everything goes silent and he can see Bud and QT standing guard overseveral men who are laid, their hands bound tightly behind their backs, on the ground.

Turning around, Digby sniffs the air and scans the tree line behind him. “Zak?”

Darius, his large boot planted squarely on one of the captives, pinning him into the dirt frowns as he watches him. “Zak… Is he here?”

Digby takes another breath of humid jungle air and nods, “Yeah… Yeah, I think it’s him I can smell. Wait, hold up. Zak… Zak, you there, brother? It’s okay, you can come out now.”

With the brown wolf gone, a naked Zak appears at the edge of the clearing, and standing in the warmth of sunlight he smiles, “Hey.”

At the sound of his deep and familiar voice, both Bud and QT turn around. QT’s face beams with relief and his cheeks flush with embarrassed excitement as he can’t help but stare at Zak’s naked muscular body. It’s Digby that’s first to grab and welcome him back and holding him tight, he slaps his hands against his back.

“You all right?” Darius acknowledges his return with a reassuring nod.

“Yeah, I will be. I’ll go back and get Kat. Hey, no, don’t look at me like that, I made sure she was safe before I left her.”

“Tell you what, I’ll go. You stay and get somethin’ to eat, clean yourself up. And, you might wanna find some clothes first.” Digby smiles.

“That sounds like a good plan. Man, am I so glad to see you all. That was a pretty close call back there for a while.”

“Oh that’s right, I see you come back now that all the hard work’s done,” Bud smiles, grabbing at his friend—hugging him tight and slapping his shoulders in relief. “I’ve noticed how you always uh, disappear when anythin’ needs doin’—like uh, capturing bad guys.”

“Yeah, well you know me, Bud, it’s all about delegation,” Zak laughs. “Now, how about you go get me some food cos I’m damn starvin’.”

“Sure thing. Here…” Bud reaches inside his utility vest and retrieves a candy bar, “have this for now. I’ll get finished with these assholes, then get some food started. You and Kat are gonna be hungry, right? So uh, is she okay, yeah?

“Yeah… kinda. She’s a lil’ beat up, but she’s a tough cookie—she’ll recover but food would be very welcome right now.” Zak grins gripping Bud tight. “Hell, I missed you, cousin.”

“Yeah, I missed you too.” Bud seeks Darius’s approval to leave his post—permission granted—he hurries away.

“Speakin’ for myself, I’m damn ravenous. Hey, you got any water there, QT?” Zak asks.

“Y-yeah su-sure, here.” QT hands him a hipflask and he can’t help but trail a line over the muscles of Zak’s chest—brushing his fingers along the red blistered lines drawn on his skin. He frowns, watching as Zak greedily guzzles the water and his strong masculine scent fills the younger wolf’s nostrils. QT can’t stop thinking about how much he adores him and how good it feels to have him back in one piece.

Zak can see the look on QT’s face and he returns his smile, then hooking his arm around the shorter man’s neck, he pulls him close. Almost suffocating him with his strength as he wraps his arms around him, he squashes QT tight against his naked chest and holds him.

QT closes his eyes, enjoying the warm feel of Zak’s body wrapped around him and he’s tempted into a hug. Taking a deep breath, Zak doesn’t smell so good and QT sneers before taking a step back. “Y-you know you st-stink?”

“Yeah, I’m sure I probably do,” Zak laughs. “There’s not been much chance to take a bath out here.”

His body is bruised, bloodied, and dirty with severe burn marks all over it, and QT can’t help but wonder what happened to him. Then, with everyone else occupied elsewhere, QT’s overcome with emotions at having Zak returned alive, and reaching forward, he brazenly kisses him full on the lips. “I-I glad you o-okay. I was worri—”

“—ed, I know. But hey, I’m perfectly all right. You don’t get rid of me that easy. Now…” Zak smiles and placing his arm around QT’s shoulder again, he pulls him close and kisses the top of his head. “Go fetch me some damn clothes,”

Oz watches the pair from where he’s stood in the doorway at the entrance to the concrete building. “Hey, Zak…” he smiles, “you finally made it back then? How’s Kat doing?”

“I have to be honest, she’s not good. I mean she’s intact but… well somethin’ happened.”

Darius, hearing Kat’s name, swings around and takes more of an interest in their conversation. “Hey, what do you mean she’s not good? Why what the hell happened to her? Digby was pretty vague when he came back—just ranted about killing Alvarez. What the hell did he do to her?”

“She’s okay—just a little beat up, no thanks to that asshat.”

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