Trusting Cade (Custos Securities Series Book 1)

by Luna, David

  Nana gave Cade a sweet smile, one that lit up her face. He blinked at the unexpected acceptance in her eyes. “At first I thought you were being strangely proprietary, marking your territory, as it were. Then I realized that you’re just hyper-aware of everything that has to do with my grandson. You’re extremely gentle with him and I can tell that you’re the type to take care of him and protect him. So again, I’ll have to beg your forgiveness for being so rude earlier. I’m scared for him, but that’s no excuse for my behavior. I hope you can forgive me, because I have a feeling that you’re going to be in his life for a long time to come.”

  Cade smiled widely. “There’s nothing to forgive, Nana. I care more for him than you know. He’s everything to me.”

  Tears came to Nana’s eyes, her voice watery, as she managed a tremulous smile. “Well, now, that makes me incredibly happy, for you both.”

  The rest of the lunch went smoothly. Nana told stories of Braden when he was younger and had them all in stitches. Cooper left several minutes before the check arrived to scope the outside before they headed out. The thing with having the rental and Braden’s car is that they constantly had to be checked for any sign of electronic location devices, in case Eric was tracking their movements. While highly doubtful he was tracking them with a LoJack or something similar, it was a possibility they had to check into. They weren’t trying to keep their vehicles a secret, or hidden in any way, so they had to remain constantly vigilant.

  Braden and Cade brought Nana inside her building to ensure she got home safely. Cade went to move back and give them some private time for a couple minutes, but she placed her hand on his arm to stop him. She reached her arms up, and damned if he didn’t feel like a giant next to her tiny 5’4” frame as he bent down for her proffered hug. “Please, keep him safe for me.”

  “You can count on it, Nana. I’ll guard him with my life.”

  She patted him gently on the cheek. “Take care of yourself, too. He’ll need you, after this is all said and done.”

  Cade grinned and kissed the back of her hand again. “I need him, too. It was so nice to meet you.”

  Nana blushed and smiled and Cade. “You too, Zavier.”

  With that, he stepped back and Braden came forward. They said their goodbyes, and Cade led Braden out to the car. Braden thanked Cade for the day and they sat holding hands in silence for several minutes. Braden finally couldn’t wait any longer to ask. “Tell me about McCade Military Watches.”

  Cade told him of that night, years and years ago, when his family was all sitting around their big kitchen table on some holiday or other, when they were all in the same house between deployments, which was so very rare. He explained how everyone in the family had learned about McCade Watches from the time they were young. At the time, Cade had just begun his career as Special Forces. His unit had gone on a few missions, and he’d realized he wanted some kind of watch that was better able to do what he needed it to do, so he’d been looking, and had found nothing. He brought that up at the dinner table and a discussion ensued about what everyone thought was needed from a watch from a military and technical standpoint.

  Pretty soon his grandfather and father were talking about how they could try to come up with something and then his mom joined in. His mother was a retired electrical engineer, and he had followed in his mother’s footsteps when he went to West Point to study micro-electrical engineering. He knew he wanted to be in the Army from a young age, but his parents had rules about getting an education. They could join the military, but it was understood that they would not delay their college education to do it. So he killed two birds with one stone, knowing that upon graduation from West Point, he’d be required to be on active duty.

  His sister was a computer engineer, so she started discussing making it a sort of “smart watch.” That dinner lasted hours and hours, everyone having input, everyone writing down ideas, requirements, drawings. He smiled now, remembering it, how excited everyone was, sitting there discussing this new idea. They’d always been a close family, but there was something magical about that night, something that drew them even closer together.

  One of his younger brothers, studying to be a doctor at the time, mentioned it would be good to be able to have the watch be able to monitor your heart rate and temperature and also be fully waterproof. His older brother mentioned it should be secure with thumbprint technology in case they were stolen or lost. His youngest brother said that the data from the watches should all be able to be monitored from another location, meaning, base ops could keep track of that information, real time. Cade wanted there to be a location device so that troops wearing one could be located, which is actually the impetus for his development of the tracers that Custos Securities used and would soon be selling, now that all of the legal patent issues were dealt with. He also wanted there to be a way to communicate with his group using code so that while on missions, when splitting up, they’d be able to let the others know without using a radio what was going on via their satellite uplink.

  He went on to explain that with the military, things are all about time; when you do something and how quickly you do it. There was always a need to keep track of timelines on missions. Having his unit split up to do different portions of a mission would require him to be able to plan the operation down to the minute, so that everyone was back at the landing zone on time, and everyone could be safely evacuated. He needed to know how much time to give each group and had to time each one of them and plan accordingly so they all ended up at the LZ at the same time, or close to it.

  After everyone had given their input and they’d mapped out how each of their ideas could possibly be placed into the hardware or software of the watch, they began the tough work of actually creating multiple prototypes. Their family was large and they all took to working on it. Even while on deployments, they were able to keep up with communications and further development. Once they had their prototypes, they tested them within their own military units to see how they held up and if they had included everything they needed to. There were several iterations of the prototypes as a result of the testing, and they finally were able to come up with their final military watch prototype. His father, who was a retired colonel, had enough clout to get their final prototype seen by the upper echelons in the Army. They offered steep discounts to the military to get their foot in the door, and the rest was history.

  Cade mentioned that the watch Braden had was the Militis watch also known as the soldier’s watch, which was sold to civilians. The watch Cooper had was the Bellator watch, also known as the warrior’s watch, which was sold to the military. The watch that he and his family wore, they called the Imperator watch, also known as the emperor’s watch, which was the type only his family wore. Like the military, they had used the Latin language to name each of their different watch types. He’d carried that naming convention through to the company he created with Cooper and they’d named it Custos Securities, using the Latin word for guardian and protector.

  Braden, having listened raptly to the whole fascinating story, had to ask, “I can understand not simply retiring on the money from McCade Watches, as I can’t see you enjoying a life of leisure. But, why go into security at all? You’re an engineer; why not do that?”

  “I became an engineer because I had an aptitude for it; I became a soldier because I had a passion for it. My parents required us to get a college education, even if we were joining the military, so I wanted to get it all done as quickly as possible and choosing West Point was an easy decision, as I was literally getting education and training at the same time. Being in the military is about serving your country, but to me, being a soldier was about protecting our country’s civilians. Our security business is a continuation of that. I didn’t want to continue in a capacity where there was more red tape and politics, meaning after the Army, I didn’t want to be in the FBI, CIA, or be a cop of some kind. That gets old regardless of my willingness to serve. There came a time, after I’d ser
ved for years, when I felt I wanted to make my own decisions regarding missions and what I wanted to take on. When I began to feel that way, I knew it was time to move on.”

  Braden had turned in his seat to face Cade while he talked, and he held Cade’s hand in both of his, idly tracing his fingers along the lines of Cade’s tattoos. Every time Cade shared something of himself, Braden felt closer to him. He was feeling more and more at ease with Cade and instead of constantly comparing him to Eric, or any of his other exes for that matter, he realized that was a waste of time, as there was simply no comparison. Cade was nothing like any of them and that thought was so wonderful that he could feel his remaining walls coming down. He knew that there were still some issues that they needed to talk about, mainly the conversation that Cade had wanted to have regarding control, which still made him uneasy, however, he was willing to have the discussion with Cade and see what he had to say.

  The remainder of the day consisted of a lot of resting and watching a couple of movies. Braden knew that the stress of the last several weeks was wearing him down, and he had no qualms with spending the rest of the day doing a whole lot of nothing. After the second movie Braden had fallen asleep. Cade ensured Braden was comfortable and then made dinner for them both. He woke Braden up by kissing him on the neck and then on up to his mouth.

  “Mmmm, I like waking up like that, Z.”

  “That’s good to know. I’ll keep it in mind.”

  Braden smiled and then sat up. Cade handed him his testing kit and watched while he gave himself insulin. Afterwards Cade was the one to reach out and rub his tummy where he’d given himself the shot. He leaned forward, caught Braden’s mouth with his again, pulled back and said that dinner was on the table. He’d made them both huge chicken salads with lots of veggies. After their lunch of steak and potatoes, they both felt something light was in order.

  After they finished eating, Cade broached the topic that they’d put on the back burner. “Braden, I know this might be an uncomfortable discussion, but I think before we go any further into this relationship, we should have the conversation that worried you so much last night.”

  Knowing it had been coming; Braden rubbed his hands back and forth on his thighs. “You’re probably right. As much as I don’t want to talk about it, we have to. I’d like to tell you something first, though, if that’s alright?”

  Cade nodded his head and encouraged him to continue, so he took a deep breath and forced himself to say what was on his mind. “Last night you told me to trust my instincts and that my instincts led me away from Eric. You said I needed to stop blaming myself for what happened. I’ve been thinking about that a lot today, and I know you’re right. I have to make a conscious decision to trust myself, to put that behind me and to move on. I need to start living my life again. I realized after we talked that I was doing what you said, I was letting him win. I’m done letting him win, because I’m worth so much more than that. So, thank you for pushing me to see what I’d been doing.”

  Cade’s smile grew, and he stood and pulled Braden up to hold him close. He looked down into Braden’s eyes and pushed his fingers into Braden’s hair to tilt his head up for his kiss. Braden’s arms slipped around his waist, and they hugged each other tight.

  “Damn, Braden, you’re so fucking strong. You are worth so much more than that, and I’m so damned proud that you see that now.”

  They pulled apart, and Cade clasped his hand and gave it a gentle tug. “Let’s get comfortable in the other room, so we can talk. That OK?”

  When Braden nodded, Cade led him into the living room. Cade sat first, allowing Braden to choose where to sit. As much as he was happy Braden hadn’t chosen one of the seats across the room, he had chosen to sit at the opposite side of the couch, too far away to touch.

  Cade sighed inwardly. He knew he’d have to be happy with the seating arrangement for now. “Can I ask you a few questions and have you be completely honest with me, even if you don’t really want to tell me the answers?”

  Braden bit his lip. “OK.”

  “When you think of someone taking control, what comes to mind?”

  Braden tensed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I think of Eric; of someone telling me what to do, when to do it, how to do it and why. I think of someone keeping me away from Maya, of someone making me wear clothes that I don’t like and going to do things that I don’t want to do. Someone making me do things sexually that I don’t want to do and how miserable I was in that type of relationship where someone controlled me.”

  Cade ached to be able to touch Braden. “That sounds more like abuse, than control. More like neglect, than responsibility. Let me ask you this. Yesterday, what were the things you didn’t like about our day? Were there things you wouldn’t want to do again?”

  Braden smiled and answered without pause. “No. It was one of the best days of my life, Z. Even when we came home and had a misunderstanding, and even when I told you everything about what Eric did, even with all of that, I felt like I was being more honest with you about everything than I’d ever been with anyone and that felt wonderful.”

  “Can you tell me what it was that made it good for you? And what was it about our discussion last night that felt wonderful?”

  A peaceful smile came over Braden’s face as he explained himself. “I’ve never been treated like I was yesterday. From the second I woke up, you were taking care of me and it was such a relaxing and fun day. I loved that you had everything planned for us. I didn’t worry about anything; I just went with it and enjoyed it. I loved that you put so much thought into everything we did. I think the conversation we had last night helped me turn a corner. I was able to tell you everything that I’d never told anyone. You didn’t blame me or judge me. I can’t say that I don’t still feel a little scared about my own instincts, but I feel more like I can begin to trust myself again.”

  Cade relaxed into the couch, some of the stress leaving him. “It makes me very happy to know you feel that way. Did Eric take you somewhere special that you liked?”

  Braden scrunched up his nose. “Well, he used to take me to this really nice restaurant in town. We went there several times. They had good food.”

  Cade couldn’t help the smile that slipped over his face. “From the look on your face and the way you said that, it doesn’t sound like you really liked it there.”

  Braden grunted. “Not really. I wouldn’t have ever picked it. It was pretentious. At first I think he was trying to impress me, later I think he was trying to impress others.”

  Cade’s brow rose. “So, he didn’t pay attention to your wants and needs.”

  Braden crossed his arms back over his chest. “No, he didn’t. He also he controlled what I did and what I wore.”

  Cade tilted his head, thinking over Braden’s defensive response. “It sounds like he manipulated you into doing everything his way, and intimidated you into becoming someone you weren’t. Does that sound accurate?”

  Braden’s looked down. His hands fell to his lap and he picked at the hem of his pants. “I… I guess so, yeah. I always thought of it as him controlling me, but what you’re saying is true.”

  Cade nearly got up to pull Braden over into his lap, but restrained himself. He wanted Braden to come to him, needed it. “Do you feel that anything he did to you or with you was for your benefit?”

  Braden seemed to give the question serious thought and then sighed. “No, never. I’m embarrassed actually, that I never realized that in the beginning, but he was good at making me feel like things were for me, when they never were.”

  Cade nodded his head, glad that Braden could see the truth. “And comparatively, do you feel I do that as well? Think about this hard before you answer, and don’t for a second think about telling me what I want to hear. Do you feel that I manipulate you, or situations, to make them feel like they are for your benefit, but they are truly only for mine?”

  Braden sat staring at Cade, his brows drawn together. “No. I d
on’t think you do that at all. I think you’ve always had my best interests at heart, even from that first night and my migraine. I just don’t want someone taking control of my choices and telling me what to do, what to wear, and who to spend time with.”

  Cade’s brow rose. “Are any of those things in your best interest?”

  Braden scowled. “No, they’re not.”

  Cade’s expression softened, knowing Braden was frustrated with the conversation. “So keeping that in mind, with my track record with you, do you think that I would ever do those things?”

  A pained look crossed Braden’s features. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, but you said you wanted to control me, and I don’t like that.”

  Cade’s heart ached for his boy. “I can understand that. I think we’re coming from two very different places when it comes to the definition of control, and I’m not saying you’re right or wrong. When I asked you if you’d allow me some measure of control over you and your pleasure, I meant that I wanted to control the pace, ensure your needs were met, so that you could let go and trust that I would give you pleasure.”

  Cade shrugged and tried to make sure Braden understood how he felt. “You mentioned last night that you had always wanted to trust someone to push your limits sexually, to dominate you, in the bedroom. You never had your needs met, in that way. I have those same desires, Braden, and I don’t think you are a kink freak; if anything, when you admitted that last night, it made perfect sense to me. I have the desire to dominate, while you have the desire to submit.”

  Cade tilted his head, his gaze penetrating. He knew if he said the wrong thing right now, he could lose Braden completely. “Once we’re able to trust each other implicitly, I think we’ll be able to explore our mutual desires. I would love nothing more than to show you how a real Dominant and submissive relationship can be. Eric was an abuser, plain and simple. A true D/s relationship, if done properly, is fully controlled by the sub. That may seem contradictory, but the sub sets their limits and the Dom has to work within those agreed upon boundaries. I want to try that with you, Braden. But, if you never want to explore with me, in that way, that’s OK with me. I will respect that it’s a hard limit and it won’t be brought up again. Do you understand what I’m saying?”