by Luna, David
Braden drew in a deep calming breath and let it out in a whoosh and nodded. He leaned forward, laying his forehead against Cade’s, and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry for being such an asshat. I’m stressing about him and taking it out on you.”
Cade stood up, pulled Braden tight against him and held him there, causing Braden to inhale sharply. Using his other hand, Cade clasped the back of Braden’s neck to hold him in place, while he leaned down to whisper in Braden’s ear, sending a shiver up his spine. “Next time you want to take out your stress on me, Braden, next time you yell at me like that, keep in mind the consequences.”
Braden swallowed audibly. Why was he hot all of a sudden? His voice shook. “Consequences?”
Cade continued to whisper menacingly, his lips brushing Braden’s ear, making him tremble and break out in goose bumps all over his body. Still holding Braden tightly in place, Cade growled. “Consequences, baby. You putting your foot down, taking out your stress on me, raising that voice of yours? The next time you do that, Braden, I’m gonna have you naked and under me so fast your head will spin.”
Cade nudged Braden with his hard on and growled again. “You feel that? You feel what you’re doing to me? You, talking to me like that, standing up for yourself, apparently that turns me the fuck on. My mouth is watering; I want to taste you so bad. So keep that in mind for next time.”
Cade abruptly let go of Braden. He was so tightly wound, so completely turned on, that he knew if he didn’t get away from his boy, he’d either make good on his promises, or come in his own pants like a horny teenager.
Braden, wide eyed, heart beating up a storm, watched Cade walk out of the kitchen. What. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck. Was that? He looked down at his own cock, which was hard as a rock, and managed a laugh, while shaking his head in disbelief and adjusting himself in his pants. He got back to work, thinking to himself that he might just have to make a habit of sticking up for himself and raising his voice. He’d never been so turned on by the thought of consequences in his life.
It actually took Braden more than three hours to finish for the day. They went over to his place and sat on the couch together. Cade made sure to sit close to Braden in order to touch him and do his best to keep him calm. They faced each other on the couch, their knees touching and Cade reached out to hold Braden’s hand gently in his. Braden let out a shaky breath. “Before you start, can you tell me what the note on the car said today?”
“I don’t think…”
“Please don’t keep things from me.”
Cade sighed. “OK, you’re right, I just don’t want it to touch you. It pisses me off.”
“You’re keeping an amazing amount of it from touching me, Zavier, and I’m glad, but I need to know what he’s saying.”
“He said, ‘You don’t want to make me angry, Braden. Who the FUCK is he?’”
Braden’s vision blurred, he sucked in a startled breath and shook his head. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no....” He slapped a hand over his mouth to cease the runaway chatter of denial, but his body took over and rocked back and forth.
Cade tugged Braden over to him, practically in his lap, and held him tight. Braden’s whole body shook violently, and he was having a hard time catching his breath. Cade folded him over so that his head was between his knees.
“Breathe. Take a deep breath. No, don’t sit up. You’re having a panic attack; take a deep breath, baby. Come on, you can do it. OK, good, take another. Another, that’s it. Just stay there until you feel like you can breathe regularly.”
Braden stayed bent over for several minutes, his hands folded over the back of his head. Cade rubbed his back and talked to him until his vision cleared and he was breathing more easily. He sat up but stared straight ahead, almost talking to himself. “It can’t be him. It can’t. I have insurance. I have fucking evidence!”
“Braden, how do you know it’s Eric?”
“That’s what he’d always say to me. He’d text me, he’d yell at me, he’d call me and that’s what he’d always say: you don’t want to make me angry, Braden, be home on time; you don’t want to make me angry, Braden, wear the clothes I bought for you; you don’t want to make me angry, Braden, keep your mouth shut; or my personal favorite, you don’t want to make me angry, Braden, get down on your hands and knees.”
Cade shot up out of his seat. Muttering under his breath, he paced back and forth with his hands at his sides, clenched into fists. He did that for several minutes until he looked and saw Braden watching him warily and Cade, seeing that wariness, walked towards Braden and dropped down to his knees in front of him, between his legs.
“I don’t know what to say or do for you right now. How do I fix this? I want to punch my hand through the wall right now, I’m so angry, but I won’t have you looking at me like I’m a loose cannon. I don’t ever want you to look at me like you’re scared of me. Tell me what you need from me, because I need to do something.”
“Can you just hold me for a few minutes?”
Cade released a pent up breath and pulled Braden forward and into his arms. Being on his knees, while Braden was sitting on the edge of the couch put them at the perfect height and Cade drew him in so tight that Braden could barely breathe, but took such comfort in it, he nearly broke down. He kept himself under control and realized that not only was Cade helping him, but he was helping Cade as well. Cade kissed him on the neck. It wasn’t a sensual kiss, but a reassuring one. Cade massaged his scalp, and he realized how much better he felt, just from his touch and concern.
Braden let Cade’s touch soothe him for a couple more minutes and then pulled back. “Thank you.”
Cade got up and sat back down next to Braden. “Don’t thank me yet. We still have a ton of shit to talk about, and none of it is gonna make you feel any better. Just know that I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to handle this together.”
“OK, go ahead. Let’s get this over with. I’m assuming it all comes down to the fact that even before the car damage today, you knew it was Eric.”
“We were pretty sure he was the one, but you confirming it from that note pretty much took care of any questions we may have had.”
Cade proceeded to tell him about the file that was put together on Eric. When Braden learned that he no longer worked at HYSC, he lost what was left of the color in his face. The more Cade explained, the more Braden pulled away. Finally, Cade couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled Braden’s legs over his so that Braden’s back was to the arm of the couch. Cade kept one hand over Braden’s legs to keep him in place, and used the other to massage his scalp.
He explained that Cooper had visited HYSC today and learned from one of his old co-workers that Eric had been bothering one of the employees there. That man’s best friend was the young lady who talked to Cooper and told him about what happened one night after almost everyone else went home. The man Eric had been bothering told his friend about what was going on. When Eric asked him to stay after hours and work on a project, the guy had asked his friend to stay as well, and she captured on video Eric sexually harassing him. Eric was asked to resign or be fired the next day, and that had been over four months ago. Cade went on to explain that Brody was able to find a savings account that had been cashed out and no other trace of him since.
Braden swiveled around, put his feet on the ground and hung his head, elbows on his knees. “I know what you’re going to ask, and the answer is no. I have no fucking clue where he could be. We would go out with his work acquaintances occasionally, but there wasn’t anyone he was close with. He was basically a loner and ended up turning me into one. He had no family, or at least that’s what he always told me. One thing I know is that he’s smart, and I think it will be very hard for you to find him. I just… I can’t believe it’s him. I shouldn’t be surprised, but somehow I am. I convinced myself that I outsmarted him and was free and clear. But I’ll never be free and clear of him.”
“Yes, you will, Braden. I’ll personally make sure of it. I’m
not saying it’s going to be easy, but I’ll make sure you’re safe from him, for good. I think, now that we know everything that we do, we need to call Detective Miller and give him the info that we have, let him know that we know who it is now, without a doubt. Do you want to do this before or after your run?”
“Before. I want to be able to run and then crash.”
“OK, let me get him over here.”
Cade called Detective Miller and asked him to come right away. He also called Cooper, letting him know what was going on. He arrived within minutes, with Maya in tow. Maya took one look at Braden, head hanging over hands that were now fisted and shaking, and made a noise in her throat. Braden looked up at her, utterly defeated. He spread his hands wide in a ‘what the fuck am I supposed to do now’ gesture, and she sat right down on his lap and hugged him fiercely.
Her voice was muffled against his hair, but Cade could make out, “He’ll keep you safe. It’s gonna be OK.”
At the knock on the door, Cooper let the cop in. Cade and Cooper took over from there and informed him of what they’d been able to find and what Braden had explained about the note received on the car today. Detective Miller had inquiries for everyone there. He was thorough and asked all the right questions, so Cade felt somewhat at ease knowing he was taking things seriously. More than once, the fact that he was very close family friends with the Chief of Police had occurred to him. He was glad that he wasn’t going to have to utilize that particular relationship for this situation; not yet anyway. When they were done, Braden went to the kitchen and grabbed a snack and then went to his room to change and stretch. Closing the door behind the cop, Cooper asked what the plan was.
“Braden’s gonna need to run. I’ll take first leg, you can take second. If Jackson and Sawyer can help, we can be on him two deep, which would make me much more comfortable. With Eric escalating, I have no idea what his next move will be.”
“They’re next door finishing Maya’s system up right now, so they can split up and run with us.”
“OK, sounds good. I’m gonna get changed and stretch. Get ready to have your ass handed to you.”
“Maybe he’ll take it easy on us.”
Cade shook his head. “He needs to run, so he’ll get to run for as long as he wants to. I don’t give a fuck if he wants to Forrest Gump his ass across the country, we cover him, are we clear?”
“Crystal, Cade. You know I’ve got him. You don’t need to worry about him with me.”
Cade’s shoulders relaxed, some of the stress leaving him. “I know. Thanks.”
Cade was on his second leg of five miles, a bit drained and running behind Braden, with Jackson right beside him. Jackson looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, looking a little tired himself, but true to form, not saying a word. Cade’s lips twitched but he shook his head. Braden was on mile 14, which meant, with the five miles that Sawyer and Cooper took in the middle, Jackson and Cade were on mile nine. Braden could probably run another ten without much of an issue, Cade knew, but he was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. Cooper was calling, so he tugged his phone out and answered.
“We’re four miles in, on this leg, so we’ve got another mile in us, and then you and Sawyer can come and relieve us, wherever the next mile takes us.”
“So, he’s going strong? I’m mapping your location and using the route he’s been taking us on. It looks like he’s doing a big loop and will be done at around 20 miles, if he keeps going where I think he’s going. He’s most likely done this run before.”
“Yeah, most likely. Keep your eye on my location and meet us in a mile. I want to let him run for as long as he needs, so we’ll keep an eye on your location during your next leg, and get in touch with you towards the end, if it doesn’t look like he’s bringing you in. When you’re done mapping out this entire run, I want you to send it to Brody.”
“Good idea. Maybe if he can check cameras on that route, he’ll be able to see if there’s someone following that we haven’t been able to see.”
“Worth a shot. See you in a bit.”
Cade needed to think, and strangely enough, he was beginning to see how the distance running got Braden through a lot of stress. From the set of Braden’s shoulders and his gait, he looked like he was more relaxed now than when they’d started. He’d hated the haunted look in Braden’s eyes when he’d come out of his room, dressed in running gear and his phone already strapped on his arm, buds in. The message not to talk to him was clear, so he’d let Braden take the lead. He remained silent the entire run.
Cade knew deep down that it was a good thing that they now knew who the stalker was. Having a target was much better than flying blind. However, the damage it was doing Braden was hard for him to watch. The look of horror on Braden’s face when he’d told him about what the note had said would be forever etched in his mind.
Not running beside Braden now was killing Cade. He wanted to be able to glance over and gauge how he was really holding up, but he knew that Braden needed this run, this solitude, more than he needed Cade’s presence at the moment. He’d be lying to himself if he said that didn’t sting, just a little bit. Even so, he was proud as hell of Braden. So many people, after news like this, would not take this situation nearly as well. Not that he could blame those people, but he was so damned proud that Braden knew enough about himself to know that this was the healthiest way for him to push through this latest blow.
Cade, eyes ahead, saw their rental SUV pull up and park. Sawyer and Cooper stepped out, ready to run. Braden gave a small nod to them as he passed by, but otherwise didn’t stop or slow down. Cooper looked Cade in the eye and tossed the keys to him. “We’ve got him from here. Rest up, in case he needs more than 20 miles.”
Cade, hands on his head, walked towards the SUV with his chest heaving in great lungfuls of air. Watching them jog away was harder than on the first leg. He wanted to be with Braden every second while this nut job was loose, but he knew that wasn’t feasible, especially when Braden could run 20 miles without getting winded.
He trusted Cooper and Sawyer with his life, and obviously Braden’s life as well, but all of a sudden it hit him, that’s exactly what he was doing right now, trusting them with his life. How in the hell it had happened so damned fast, he hadn’t a clue, but the men he considered his brothers were jogging after and protecting the man that had, quite literally, become his whole life. He had the sudden urge to run after them and let them know how important Braden was to him. Make sure they understood that nothing was more important than his safety, but he knew that was ridiculous, not to mention he had a feeling that they already knew. Still, he made a move to do just that and was stopped by an arm around his chest from behind, holding him in place, and a voice he hardly ever heard, growl out, almost indecipherably, “They’ve got him. Rest, now.”
Stopping in his tracks, in shock that he’d been about to take off after them, and because he so very rarely heard Jackson talk, he looked back at his friend and saw a wealth of understanding in his eyes. He nodded, letting him know he wasn’t going to hightail it after them, and only then did that arm release him. Jackson clapped him on the back, and they both resumed walking for a few more minutes before getting into the SUV and heading back to Braden and Maya’s place.
Cade followed Jackson to Maya’s when they returned. He asked her what Braden would need from a food or drink standpoint after a 20 mile run. He also grabbed Cooper’s iPad, which already showed the first 15 miles of the run. He took it back with him to Braden’s and adjusted it to reflect where he now saw Cooper’s tracer. He showered and rested for a while and then got on the horn to Brody, explained everything that had happened that day and told him he would be sending him the jogging route and timeline in a little while. Brody was on board and ready to start the new search.
From the current location of Cooper’s tracer, he had been correct that it appeared Braden was looping back home and that they’d arrive in just a little while. Cade went to the kitchen and made Brad
en a protein shake with fruit and yogurt and grabbed a bottle of water as well.
When Braden finally unlocked his front door after thanking Sawyer and Cooper and walked into his place. Cade must have heard him arrive because he came out of the kitchen with a glass and his water bottle. He handed Braden the water, which he drank in a few big gulps and then he stood, looking at Cade, breathing heavily, not having the energy to do anything but stand there and recover. Cade reached for the now empty water bottle and handed Braden the glass. Braden looked at it and then at Cade in inquiry.
Cade smiled at him sadly. “Protein shake with berries and Greek yogurt. Is that going to help get your levels under control or do you want something else?”
Braden set the glass down on the hall table and turned back to Cade and just walked into his arms. He wrapped his arms around Cade and held on as tight as he could. After a few seconds Cade’s arms held him just as tightly. He bent down and whispered in Braden’s ear. “I’m so sorry, Braden. I’d give anything for it to be someone different, for this not to be haunting you right now. I’m going to keep you safe, baby. I swear on my life; I’ll do anything it takes to keep you safe.”
“I know, Zavier, I know.”
“What can I do for you right now? Do you want the smoothie or something else? Do you want to shower and rest, or I can cook us dinner?”
“Just this, right now, just this.”
They stood in Braden’s entryway, holding each other tightly, each soaking up comfort from the other. Five minutes turned to ten, and finally Braden pulled away, reached up and pulled Cade’s face down and kissed him lightly on the lips. “I’m gonna take my smoothie, which is perfect, by the way, and go take a shower. Give me 20 minutes, and I’ll be out.”
“Take your time.”
After Braden’s shower, they had a light dinner. He asked Cade if they could avoid discussing Eric anymore that evening, and they chatted about completely unrelated topics, Cade doing his best to avoid anything that caused Braden anxiety. They sat on the couch for a couple hours, talking and relaxing. Cade massaged Braden’s feet and calves; Braden in turn had Cade sit on the floor between his legs and massaged his shoulders and head. When it was time for bed Cade suggested he take a sleeping pill in order to avoid nightmares and to sleep soundly. He was out like a light upon hitting the pillow.