BAB 18

Zaki hurriedly shut the gate and headed after Gizmo only to find him up a fucking tree, meowing plaintively.

"Well, dummy, you got yourself up there. You can get yourself down."

"Meow," the cat yodeled in response.

Fuck. The tree was tall but spindly. Zaki tested the trunk. Yeah, no way was it holding his weight.

"Stay right there," he lectured the cat as he ran at top speed back into the house, grabbed a pop-top can of tuna from the cupboard and hightailed it back to the tree, where the cat still cowered and whined.

"Here, Gizmo. Kitty want a treat?" Zaki tried to keep his voice nice and sweet. This shouldn't be this hard. He'd rescued plenty of animals before. Hell, most of the time they were desperate to come with him. Easy peasy. And the food should do it.

He wafted the can around before setting it at the base of the tree and waiting. Slowly, the cat picked its way down the tree until Zaki could almost grab.

"Ow!" The cat, who up until that point had been nothing but nice to Zaki, warming his bed and coming in for pets, swatted a huge scratch down Zaki arm right before darting under the back deck.

"All right, you overgrown ball of fur, now we get real." Zaki crouched next to the deck. It was dank and dark under there, but he'd crawled into way worse. He got down on his belly and slithered under the wooden deck, getting his front all muddy but not giving a shit. Getting this cat back inside before Pino got home was his goddamn mission right then and he was not going to fail. He reached the cat, who had slithered all the way up against the foundation, and snatched him up, not giving a shit about the hissing and scratching. He pulled him back out, keeping him clutched to his chest as he stood up even as the cat dug his claws in.

"Fuck. I'm setting up a vet appointment for you. Declaw you, you overgrown raccoon. See how you like that"

"Hey. Hey. What's going on?" Fuck. Pino was right behind him, bemused expression on his face.

"Cat got out," Zaki admitted. "But I got him back."

"Thanks." Pino gently extracted Gizmo from Zaki arms. "But you're a bloody mess. Damn cat." He glared down at Gizmo, who yawned. "You're a troublemaker."

"Hell yeah, he is." Zaki followed Pino up the deck and into the house, stopping to shake the worst of the dirt off.

"And now you're injured"

"It's nothing."

"You're bleeding from your arm, your neck, your foot, and judging by the stain on your shirt, I'd bet chest too. Come on, let's clean you up." Pino tugged Zaki toward the bathroom.

"What? No. I can do it," Zaki protested even as he followed along.

"My cat injured you. Least I can do is clean you up. Sit." Pino gestured at the closed toilet, using a voice that not even Zaki lieutenant would argue with. Pino fetched the first aid kit Zaki had stashed in one of the drawers by the sink. "I already had to bust this out after a bad run-in with a carpet tack." He showed off a bandage on his forearm.

Zaki had the strangest urge to reach out and touch the arm, make sure Pino really was okay. He distracted himself by taking in Pino's rather unusual appearance. Unlike Pino's usual wardrobe of T-shirts and tight jeans with a wide punk leather belt, Pino had on a sedate light blue button-down shirt, gray and blue striped tie and gray pants. His normally spiky hair had been subdued with a harsh side part and a lot of gel.

"What's with the outfit?"

Pino made a pained face. "First faculty meeting. I'm trying to fit in. Speaking of clothes, take your shirt off. Let's see how bad the damage is." He glared heavily at Zaki until he pulled the shirt off. That one was surely toast as it had blood from his neck and chest all over it.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Zaki gave a little laugh.

"Fuck." Pino let out a low whistle. "Let's start at your foot and work our way north."

Shit. That shouldn't sound so dirty, but dripping from Pino's full lips, the words made Zaki shiver. And Pino kneeling in front of him, shoving a towel under his foot before putting it in his lap, God, that just made Zaki all kinds of crazy. Being...serviced like this, even if the alcohol pad Pino swiped over his skin hurt, made Zaki pulse flutter.

Hell, after a while Zaki started anticipating the sting of the alcohol. First his foot, then his hand and arms, all with Pino's gentle yet efficient touch. Touch. Sting. Slippery touch with antibiotic cream. Touch. Sting. Fuck. This must be why some of his friends were so gung ho for tattoos having someone this close to you, working on you, was a bit of a turn on, the pain doing strange things and morphing into little licks of sensation.

He let out a low moan as Pino worked a particularly deep scratch on his forearms.

"Sorry," Pino said in a low voice. "It'll be done soon."

Zaki didn't have the words to tell Pino that he was okay if this never ended, so he simply nodded.

"Gizmo had all his shots," Pino assured him.

Like I care. Just keep touching me. Zaki nodded, fighting to keep his eyes from drifting shut. And when Pino touched his chest, Zaki couldn't keep in the hiss of pleasure pain. He really should have insisted on doing this himself, not let Pino turn this into some kind of erotic dance.

No, that's all you. Pino just doing his civic duty. And indeed, Pino did seem very focused on the task at hand, cleaning the scratches and punctures on Zaki chest, then frowning. "Do you want a Band Aid here or no? It'll stick to your chest hair."

Zaki peered down. He didn't have a thick pelt of hair like some of the guys, but he did have a fair smattering of blond fuzz, getting thicker and darker around his belly button heading south. And yeah, a bandage was going to hurt coming off. "I'm good."

"That you are." Pino shook his head, the first hint of a leer on his face. "You know I could work out five hours a day and not get that kind of chest definition."

Resisting the urge to preen, Zaki snorted. "I mainly work out on base with my team, but if you want me to show you some stuff, just ask."

"Do I get a hands-on demo?" Pino's eyes sparkled and Zaki was acutely aware of how close their bodies were in this small space. He opened his mouth to answer but Pino held up a hand. "Wait. I said I wouldn't flirt. Ogling you working out would probably violate that."