Protecting Braden (Custos Securities Series Book 2)

by Luna, David

  Cade caught hold of him and gently settled him down on his chest. He groaned as the new position moved Cade’s cock within him, cum leaking from his body as Cade’s cock continued to impale him. Loving how slick Cade’s cum made him, he sighed, boneless, not caring a bit that he was laying in his own cum on Cade’s chest; only caring that Cade’s arms wrapped around him so tightly, he almost lost his breath. They lay there for a while, recovering, unable or unwilling to voice their thoughts and intrude upon this moment.

  Braden woke to Cade smoothing his hands up and down his back and whispering in his ear. “Baby, I’m gonna go and get a washcloth to clean us up.”

  It wasn’t until then that Braden realized he’d drifted off and that Cade was no longer hard and inside of him. He groaned when he pushed himself slowly off of Cade onto his side and whispered, “Sorry. I’m honestly not sure if I fell asleep or if I blacked out.”

  Cade chuckled and leaned over to kiss Braden senseless. “You and me both. Give me a second. I’ll clean you up and make you comfortable, so you can get some sleep.”

  Braden smiled sleepily up at Cade and turned over onto his back. He whispered, almost too quietly for Cade to hear, “Always taking care of me.”

  Braden smiled dreamily at Cade’s response. “Always, love.”

  Braden woke when he felt the warm, wet washcloth glide over his skin and was just about to drift off again, when Cade brushed his hand across his cheek. “Baby, can you sit up? I have your testing kit.”

  That woke him right up. He reached for the kit, shaking his head. “Wow, you sexed me into a stupor. I would have forgotten completely.”

  As Braden got out the supplies, Cade asked, “Can you show me what to do?”

  Braden’s head popped up and he looked wide-eyed at Cade. “You wanna learn how to give me my insulin?”

  “I do.”

  Braden blushed and smiled. Oddly pleased that Cade would want to learn enough to be able to administer it for him. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he walked Cade through the process of testing his blood. Braden handed Cade the syringe, told him what dose was needed and pinched some skin on his stomach while Cade dialed the dose he required. He explained what Cade needed to do and watched intently as Cade inserted the needle and slowly pushed down on the plunger.

  As Cade waited the few moments needed before pulling out the needle, they gazed at each other, the look they shared filled with a burning intensity. Cade glanced back down, gently eased the needle out and handed it back to Braden. Cade rubbed Braden’s stomach, as he’d seen Braden do himself, many times. Braden smiled again and blushed as he placed everything back in the kit except the needle, which he’d extracted. He walked to the bathroom to dispose of it properly in the container he kept below the sink and walked back to bed, where Cade waited for him, holding back the covers.

  Braden crawled in, looking exhausted from the night’s events. As he scooted closer, Cade pulled him nearly on top of him, needing Braden’s weight to ground him in the here and now. Braden settled himself, getting comfortable, and let out a contented sigh that filled Cade with satisfaction and relief after the night they’d had.

  Cade didn’t want to think about how uneasy he was feeling about Braden’s nightmares and panic attacks. It was already morning, but he set his mental alarm clock for a couple hours so he’d feel rested for the day. He’d let Braden rest as long as he needed to, waking him only to test his blood and eat. As soon as working hours rolled around, he needed to be on the phone making appointments for Braden and for himself.

  He woke Braden at 9 a.m. so he could test his blood. He brought him breakfast in bed and his testing kit. They ate together in relative silence, Cade thinking and Braden still half asleep. He took their dishes back to the kitchen when they were done, happy that he hadn’t seen a hint of panic as he headed toward the door. After cleaning up the kitchen, he walked back into their bedroom as Braden was coming out of the bathroom. “You still look tired. Why don’t you continue resting? You could use it after the last few days, but especially after last night.”

  Braden looked up at him with a small smile that didn’t hide his apprehension as he glanced at the door. Cade understood immediately and put him at ease. “I have some work to do. I’ll sit in your reading chair in here with you.”

  Braden blushed. “Thanks. I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”

  “None of that, Bray. We’re handling this together.”

  Braden nodded and got back in bed. Cade left the room to get his laptop, and he was able to get several hours worth of work done. When he was sure Braden was not going to wake up for some time, he went out into the living room to make a few calls. He called Cooper to let him know that he was needed to sign some paperwork that afternoon and where to meet him. He also let him know they’d be attending his training session at Vaughn’s that evening. He also called the psychologist’s office and made an appointment for Wednesday afternoon, giving Braden a couple days before the session. He thought of something, looked at his watch, and quickly placed a call to Brody.

  “Boss man, how is Braden holding up?”

  “He’s doing alright. It’s been tough, but he’s hanging in. Thanks for asking, Brody. I just thought of something a minute ago. Did you ever search for a gun permit for Eric?”

  “No, I didn’t think of it, but I should have. Sorry about that.”

  “No, don’t be, I just thought of it myself. Listen, maybe do a check from the time he got tossed from his job. Or better yet, do a check from back when Braden left him and see if he got himself a gun. Check under his name, but also check for any permits made locally within that time frame, in case he’s got a fake ID. He’s holed up somewhere and I figure if we can find a request for a gun permit, we might catch him with a fake ID and find out where he’s renting, if the owners do background checks. You can relay any info to Cooper. We’ve got a composite artist coming over here this afternoon. When I have Braden’s depiction of what Eric looks like today, I’ll send it to you guys.”

  “Sounds good. Do you want me to let you know if I come up with anything for the permit?”

  “At this point, no. I can’t have my focus split, and Cooper is leading the search for him. I would have called him about this, but he just left to go on a run with Maya, and I didn’t want to forget it while it was fresh in my mind.”

  He finished the call and fixed them both some lunch. He woke Braden a few minutes later and let him know about the composite artist. They both ate and then Braden got ready for the day while Cade got a HIIT workout in and then showered. When the artist arrived at 2 p.m., he checked the security camera, and he wasn’t surprised to see Detective Miller standing next to a shorter, much slighter man.

  He opened the door and ushered them into Braden’s home. He extended his hand to the man he figured was the artist. He was built along the lines of Braden, but even thinner, with beautiful amber colored eyes surrounded by the longest eyelashes he’d ever seen. He had a bit of a swollen purplish bruise on his cheek, below his eye that his long bangs helped to conceal, when he nonchalantly, but intentionally tipped his head just so.

  “I’m Zavier McCade. You must be the composite artist.”

  They clasped hands, and the man slowly gazed up at him with those startling eyes, a bit of a shocked look crossing his face. “Uhh, yes, I’m Sebastian Phillips, it’s nice to meet you. You’re…. Wow. You’re really…. There’s a lot of you.”

  Cade laughed at that and lost a bit of the tension he was carrying for having to put Braden through this. “I guess there is.”

  He seemed nervous, was unable to hold Cade’s gaze for long, and looked down at his feet. Sebastian was a beautiful man, bruise or no bruise. His eyes took up a good portion of his face and his lips were lush and full. He had a scruffy dark beard that seemed a bit out of place on his face, but lent an air of hipster to his looks that he’d have lacked otherwise, perhaps aging him a bit, which might have been the goal.

  Braden stepped
forward, smiling widely at the turn the conversation had taken. He rubbed his hands on his pants a few times in a nervous gesture, and held out his hand to Sebastian while Cade slid his big palm under Braden’s hair to softly grip his neck. “I’m Braden Cross,” Braden looked up at Cade and then back at Sebastian. “He is quite something, isn’t he?”

  “Um, yeah.”

  Cade watched them grin at each other; they seemed to click immediately. Sebastian looked at Cade’s proprietary grip on Braden’s neck and put on an affected sigh. “He’s all yours, I’m assuming?”

  “Every last inch,” Braden responded.

  Sebastian ignored Cade, and completely focused on Braden. “Does he have any brothers?”

  Braden chuckled. “Three, actually, and they all look remarkably alike.”

  Sebastian’s face went utterly slack, his mouth gaped in comical disbelief, and both of the smaller men laughed and grinned at each other, and then looked up at him again. Sebastian lowered his gaze immediately, his grin still in place, a blush suffusing his cheeks. Cade found himself in a situation he’d never been in before, at a loss for words. He looked at Detective Miller with a plea written all over his face. “Get me outta this, detective.”

  Detective Miller lost some of the stiffness in his shoulders and chuckled. “I got nothing, man.”

  Cade shook his head as if he was crushed that the cop wasn’t going to be any help. He ushered them all into Braden’s living room and asked if anyone wanted anything to drink. No one did, and they all sat: the visitors in the chairs and Braden next to Cade on the couch. They sat for a moment in silence until Sebastian cleared his throat. “Can I drag the ottoman over and sit a bit closer to you while I work?”

  Braden smiled and nodded, liking him already. “Yes, of course.”

  Sebastian slowly pulled over the ottoman and seemed to struggle a little with the effort. He got closer to Braden, who’d grown increasingly more tense as the seconds ticked by. He pulled out his sketchpad and pencils and then looked at Cade, saying deadpan, “OK, I’m going to need you to take your clothes off now.”

  It was Cade’s turn for a gaping mouth. “What? This is for a composite sketch of Eric Pollard!”

  Sebastian grinned a ridiculously gorgeous grin, completely unrepentant. “Oh, I know, I just wanted to see you naked.”

  Braden looked at Cade’s incredulous expression and laughed so hard he had to clutch his ribs. Cade hadn’t heard Braden laugh that hard, probably ever, and took a quick look at Sebastian and realized the artist was a genius who knew exactly what he was doing. Flirting outrageously with Cade had relaxed Braden.

  Cade kept his eyes on Sebastian and saw just when the artist thought no one was looking any longer, the wattage of his smile dimmed and his continued laugh seemed more forced. He gripped his pencils tighter, took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. He continued to banter with Braden about Cade’s good looks and large size, but Cade could see this behavior wasn’t natural for Sebastian.

  The act he was putting on was a good one, but it was taking its toll on him. Cade could see sadness lurking in his eyes, which, strangely enough, seemed to be coupled with fatigue. He was curious about a man that hid so much behind silly flirtatiousness in order to make people around him feel at ease. Cade smiled in response to the quick, surreptitious, though contrived, wink Sebastian tossed his way while Braden continued to laugh, and he played along. “I have it on good authority that I am a fine male specimen.”

  Sebastian nodded his head, all mock seriousness. “Oh, honey, you are. You really are.”

  Braden chuckled as everyone settled in for the task at hand. Sebastian began asking questions of Braden that Cade never would have thought helpful. Even watching the face take shape upside down, he could see Sebastian was immensely talented at what he did. Braden had gripped his hand as soon as the discussion of Eric began, and Cade did his best to help Braden remain calm. The drawing was completed about fifty minutes later, and Cade took a picture of the sketch, texting it to his local guys and to Brody.

  Sebastian got up to leave and let them know that he’d put some finishing touches on it and have it on Detective Miller’s desk by the end of the day, so it could be used on the 6 o’clock news. Cade and Braden both got up to walk him to the door, thank him for his help, and shut the door behind him. Braden frowned and looked up at Cade. “Did he look sad to you? Even when he was joking, he still looked sad to me.”

  Cade smiled down at Braden, pulling him close, not even remotely surprised that Braden had seen some of what he’d seen in the young artist. “Yeah, baby, I saw it too.”

  Detective Miller waited until they came back in from walking Sebastian to the door. “I’d like to apologize to you both for my behavior yesterday. Braden, I was insensitive and rude to you regarding your personal choices. I did not mean to place blame on you, that was not my intention.”

  Cade was about to interrupt, but Braden beat him to it. “It may not have been your goal, but even now, you’re judging me for my choices. I can see that much, plain as day, written all over your face.”

  The detective sighed. “My sister died years ago at the hand of her rapist. She was left for dead in an alley behind a bar after being raped and badly beaten. Once she was released from the hospital, she went to get her credit card at the bar. The rapist followed her and raped her again and killed her in her home.”

  Braden shook his head. “That’s awful for you, and I’m sorry. This may sound harsh, but that should have no bearing on how you run your investigations.”

  Miller took a defensive stance by crossing his arms over his chest. “She admitted to me in the hospital that she knew who’d done it and she refused to use the information she had to bring charges against him. She could be alive today if she’d done that. So I always have a hard time not getting frustrated with others when they have the information that’s needed to put people away for their crimes.”

  Braden sighed and shook his head again. “I made the decision that was right for me at the time, and I don’t regret it. For one, I didn’t, and I still don’t, want to have to testify against him. I don’t want to relive everything that he did to me in front of strangers and be cross-examined and attacked on the stand. And two, without the circumstances being as they were, I wouldn’t have met Zavier.”

  Detective Miller nodded his head and was about to speak when Cade interjected. “Detective, if it’s so easy for you to fly off the handle and come at people like you did Braden, perhaps you’re in the wrong line of work, or at least the wrong department.”

  Miller gritted his teeth. “Now listen, that’s unfair. I’m a good cop.”

  Cade narrowed his eyes, staring the man down. “I didn’t suggest otherwise. You wouldn’t be on this case at all if it weren’t for the instincts I see that you possess.”

  Miller tried to interject but Cade cut him off. “I’m not finished, Detective. You have an enormous responsibility to the people you are trying to help. You’re doing them and yourself a great disservice if you stay in a position that you aren’t suited for.”

  Miller practically growled. “Who are you to tell me I’m not suited for this job! Who better than someone who has had it happen to someone in their family!”

  Cade shook his head sadly. “That’s exactly my point, Detective. You’re unable to remain unemotional. If you can so easily shift blame and fall back into your personal feelings, you can’t do your job effectively. Frankly, I’m surprised you’re still in the department.”

  Miller threw up his hands. “I don’t have to stay here for this bullshit. I’ve had enough.”

  Cade shrugged. “You walk out that door, you’re done with this case and most likely the SVU. Shut your ego down for a minute and just listen to me.”

  Miller crossed his arms over his chest. “Say what you’re gonna say. I can’t stop you.”

  Cade huffed out a laugh. “Man, I’m trying to help you. Don’t you get that? I think you could go from good cop to extraordina
ry cop if you didn’t have this albatross hanging so heavily around your neck. In order to be effective at what you do, you need to be able to remain objective and detached. You have to learn how to compartmentalize.”

  Cade could see that Miller was finally hearing him. His stance wasn’t so defensive and his face had relaxed. He was about to say something, but Cade didn’t let him. “I think if you were in a different department, you’d move up the ranks quickly and you’d be much happier in the long run. I’m not trying to lecture. You’re gonna do what you’re gonna do. Regarding Braden’s situation, you can continue to manage this case. I’m sure you’ll proceed as we have discussed.”

  The detective nodded. “Yeah. I’ll handle it.” He glanced over at Braden. “I really didn’t mean to blame you. The decision was yours to make. I’m sorry for handling it the way I did.”

  Braden smiled. “Apology accepted. I just want him to be found so I can move on.”

  “I get that. I’ll do my best to make sure he’s apprehended. Thanks.”

  Cade stepped forward and shook his hand. Braden followed suit and they headed to the front door to show him out. After he shut the door, Cade pulled Braden in for a tight hug. “You alright?”

  Braden nodded his head and squeezed Cade around the waist. Cade kissed the top of his head. “I have several things I’d like to do before we go to Vaughn’s. You want to get your bag ready for the gym and then we can head out? Also, before I forget to tell you, I made an appointment for you at the psychologist’s office on Wednesday afternoon.”

  Braden nodded and thanked him, and they both went into Braden’s room to gather some workout gear. They grabbed a few snacks for later and were on the road quickly thereafter. When they pulled up to an office building, Braden saw Cooper come out and approach the car. Cade leaned over. “Cooper’s gonna keep an eye on you for a few minutes, if that’s alright. I have some papers to sign. I shouldn’t be more than ten minutes, as Cooper has done the majority of the work. Will you be alright without me for that long?”