Release Me (The Music Within Book 2) (20 page)

Cade
and Carl got into a familiar routine. Carl re-acclimated himself with LA while
Cade was at the studio. When Cade decided to take his bike for a ride, they
drove to the Harley shop, where Carl planned on renting a bike – Cade bought
him one instead. Carl tried to protest, but Cade insisted. The weather in
California was perfect, and Cade found himself riding up and down the coast
more frequently. Mal might like the four-legged animal, but Cade preferred his
iron horse.

Speaking
of horses, Mal called Cade when his two new additions arrived. He took pictures
with his phone and texted them to Cade. He had to admit the animals were
beautiful, and he couldn’t wait to see his cowboy ride. He was beginning to get
Mal DTs, and he needed his fix.

Snafus
with an album weren’t unheard of, but the longer DTD was in the studio, the
more it felt doomed. Every time Cade thought he would be able to get away for
the weekend, something else would happen, and he’d have to postpone his trip.
When he was finally available, Mal begged off because it was calving season.
Cade didn’t care if Mal was busy. Hell, he had been excited about seeing his
first calves being born, but Mal and his men would be working around the clock.

Gerard
hired an outside consultant to help with the business since neither he nor Cade
knew anything about farming. When it came time to hire men to help Mal and
Walt, Cade trusted Gerard to only send men he would trust being around Suzette
if she were ever alone with them. Cade was coming to think of her as his second
mother, and truthfully, he’d rather spend time with her than his own mom.
Audrey had never been spunky and full of sunshine, but ever since she found out
about Cade’s half-sister, she was becoming more withdrawn. She had resigned
from all committees, whether Emma was affiliated with the same people or not.
August begged her to go away on an extended vacation so they could try to put
their marriage back together, but she refused.

By
the time Cade said “fuck it” and decided to head east, it had been almost two
months since he’d seen Mal. The album was all but finished, and the tour was
planned to start in a few weeks. Cade wasn’t excited about going on the road,
but at least they weren’t playing internationally on this leg. The schedule was
full, but it was only for six months. There was no way he could go any longer
without seeing Mal, and he sure as hell wouldn’t go on tour without getting
some things settled between them.

Cade
didn’t let Mal know he was coming to visit. He didn’t want to hear any more
excuses about how busy his cowboy was. If he had to, he would kidnap him for
the weekend.

He
arrived in Arlo after the sun had gone down. As he rolled down the driveway,
fire danced and flickered on the right side of the barn. Cade panicked and sped
up, not caring if gravel was flying everywhere. As he got closer, he was
relieved to see it was just a huge bonfire. He pulled up alongside a car he
didn’t recognize and parked.

He
angled out of his rental and was met by Moe and Curly. He gave both dogs ample
scratches behind their ears before heading toward the fire. His heart sped up
at the thought of being in Mal’s arms within seconds, but as he rounded the
corner he pulled up short. Mal was standing by the fire, a beer in his hand.
That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the man with him. The man with his
pants unzipped and his dick in his hand. He noticed Cade before Mal did. “Hey,
Mal. That guy looks like your rock star friend.”

Mal
turned around so fast Cade thought he would fall down. Mal’s mouth gaped open,
and he stepped toward Cade. “What are you doin’ here?” He removed his ball cap
and replaced it, a move Cade had seen plenty.

“Well,
the plan was to make a fool of myself, but I can see you saved me the trouble.”
Cade turned to leave, but Mal grabbed hold of his arm.

“Cade,
wait. I can explain.”

“I’m
sure there’s a really good excuse why your friend over there has his dick in
his hand. And I’m sure there’s another excuse why you didn’t want to see me.
Save it, Mal.”

“It’s
not what you think.” Mal tightened his hold.

Cade
jerked his arm out of Mal’s tight grip and spun on him. “No? Then please, for
fuck’s sake, explain who he is and what the goddamn he’s doing here.”

“I’m
Tyler. I had to piss. Mal, I can’t get my dick in my pants. They’re stuck.”

“Tyler?
As in
Tyler
Tyler?”

“Nope,
just one Tyler,” the drunk declared. He stumbled toward the fire, but Cade
didn’t move to catch him. Let the drunk bastard go up in flames.

“Goddammit,
Tyler. Stick your pecker in your pants and go in the fuckin’ house,” Mal ground
out. Either he was irritated his ex-lover was drunk or that they’d been caught.
Cade didn’t care which.

“I
thought we were gonna go fishin’,” drunk Tyler said, doing his damnedest to
stuff his flaccid cock in his jeans.

Mal
sighed and raised his eyes up to the stars. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ. You can’t
see your dick much less a fish. Now, please go.”

“Is
he this testy with you? I bet he’d stick your dick in your pants,” Tyler
pouted. He stumbled toward the house and stopped beside Cade. “Will you fix
it?” he whined, pointing at his zipper.

Cade
knew he was probably going to regret it, but he pushed the man’s penis in his
pants and tugged the zipper up. “There you go.”

“Thanks.
You weren’t kidding, Mal. He really is gorgeous,” Tyler slurred and headed
toward the house with the dogs following along beside him. “Maybe he’ll help us
with your daddy,” he added, right before he got to the porch.

“What
was that?” Cade asked.

“That’s
what I’d like to know, Rock Star. What. The. Fuck. Was. That?” Mal seethed.

“Getting
your ex-lover to leave us alone long enough to talk privately. Now what did he
mean about your father?”

Mal
swallowed down the rest of his beer and threw the bottle into the roaring fire.
If he’d ever played baseball, that would have struck out a batter for sure. He
raked his hands through his hair and began pacing. A loud “umph” came from the
direction of the house. Tyler had slumped down on the porch and was lying in
the fetal position. At least he was out of their way for now.

“Mal,”
Cade spoke sternly, getting his man’s attention. When Mal didn’t stop pacing,
Cade stepped in his path and grabbed his biceps. “Babe, you’re scaring me. Tell
me what’s going on.”

Mal
closed his eyes and blew out a breath. By the smell of things, that hadn’t been
his first beer. “Is Dwight out of jail? Is that what this is about?”

“No.
He’s not out, but he is up for parole.”

“You
already knew that since you’re registered with the victim notification system.”
Mal had shown Cade the letter from VINE. His hearing wasn’t for another month
or so. “What else?”

Mal
sighed and closed his eyes. “Dwight’s been sendin’ messages to Tyler.”

“What
kind of messages? Is he threatening Tyler?”

Mal
nodded, and Cade probed further, “Has Tyler gone to the police?” Cade loosened
his grip and ran his hands up and down Mal’s arms. Normally the friction would
turn him on, but he was too concerned about what he didn’t know.

“No.
Dwight said he has men everywhere, and if Tyler goes to the police, he’ll go
after his family.”

“Dwight
got forty years. I don’t see how he could be paroled after ten.”

“Yeah,
well, this is Kentucky, and the prison’s full. Besides, the judge declared it
wasn’t premeditated. Said it was a crime of passion.”

“You
have got to be shitting me!”

“Nope.
I guess the judge don’t like queers, either.”

“Why’s
he threatening Tyler and not you?” Cade pulled Mal into a tight embrace.

Mal
wrapped his arms around Cade’s waist and set his chin on Cade’s shoulder. “He
is. That’s why Tyler came over. He had a message for me.”

Cade’s
gut clenched. “What was the message?”

Mal
swallowed hard. “Said he was gonna get out and finish what he started.”

Cade
tensed, his arms squeezing Mal a little closer. “Fuck. Where are Andy and
Bryan?”

“Down
at the bar. Durin’ the week they stay here, but on Friday nights, they like to
go to town for a bit.”

Cade
had looked over the backgrounds of the two men his uncle hired to help Mal and
Walt. Both were well-adjusted former Marines who hadn’t been able to find
steady work. From what Mal told Cade, they were great guys and worked their
asses off. Now, with the threat of Dwight possibly being released, Cade was
going to make sure they were armed. He would hire private security if that’s
what it took to keep Mal and Suzette safe.

Mal

Mal
was stunned when Tyler showed up out of the blue after all these years. When he
heard why, he was even more dazed. After the niceties of
Hey, how’ve you
been, how’s the wife and kids, how’s your Ma
, they got to the real reason
Tyler was there – to warn Mal. According to inside sources, Dwight was headed
for an early parole, and he was still pissed ten years later. Pissed at Tyler
for calling the cops, and even more pissed at Mal for not dying. Tyler had been
drunk when he showed up, and that only worsened the longer he sat by the fire.

Mal
wanted Tyler off his property for no other reason than the wounds were opening
back up. Wounds he thought had faded to pink like the scar on his chest. He
wasn’t pining for Tyler; Cade had seen to that. No, Mal was reliving the
torment from that day when his father slashed his chest and beat his momma
within an inch of her life. He was trying to get Tyler to go in the house and
sleep it off on the couch when his former friend decided to take a leak in the
fire.

Mal
never heard Cade approaching. When the dogs took off for the gate, he figured
it was Andy and Bryan coming home early from the bar. To say he was surprised
it was Cade instead was an understatement. To say Cade was pissed off was even
more of an understatement. Mal hadn’t been scared in a long time, but in that
moment, he was terrified that Cade wouldn’t believe the truth of what was going
on, and he would walk out on Mal. Over the past few weeks, Mal had decided
having Cade in his life was much more important than what anyone in Arlo,
Kentucky, thought of him being gay. He had planned on asking Cade to visit the
next week when he’d had time to plan out the weekend. He was going to cook him
a nice meal and make love to him under the stars by the pond. Mal was going to
tell Cade how he really felt and pray his lover felt the same way.

Everything
was all jumbled up. Mal was upset, Tyler was beyond drunk, and Cade was livid.
Tyler wasn’t helping the situation with his dick hanging out of his zipper, but
the kicker had been when Cade stuffed it back in his pants like it was
something he did every day. That pissed Mal off. Cade had no business touching
Tyler’s junk, even if the guy was drunk and couldn’t get it up. He threw the
bottle into the fire, his anger building higher inside until Cade grabbed his
arms. The concerned look on his face lessened Mal’s ire. Cade’s touch squashed
Mal’s fury, and he melted into the safe arms of his lover.

Cade’s
scent took over Mal’s senses, washing away most of the fear he felt that his
father might finish him off once he was released from prison. “I’m not going to
let that happen, babe. Andy and Bryan need to be armed at all times. So do you
and Walt. If Dwight gets out of jail, hell even if he doesn’t, I’ll hire a
security team to keep you all safe.”

Mal
knew Cade would do it, too. The sincerity in his voice, the protectiveness of
his touch, was proof Cade Anderson would do whatever it took to keep Mal safe.
For the first time since they met, Mal was appreciative of Cade’s money. Even
though he hated to live his life under the watchful eye of strangers, he would
do it if it kept his momma safe. Kept him safe. He wasn’t ready to leave this
world, not since he’d found Cade. Mal knew life with Cade on the road touring
was going to be stressful, but he could handle it. If Cade promised he would
remain faithful, he would give him the benefit of the doubt.

Mal
stepped out of Cade’s embrace so he could pull his face down for a kiss. He kept
it soft and full of love. Yes, love. Mal Wilson had fallen hard for his rock
star. “Thank you,” he whispered against Cade’s lips. “Now, about Tyler…”

“It’s
okay, babe. I trust you.” Cade traced his thumb along Mal’s bottom lip. Mal’s
mouth opened of its own volition, ready to suck Cade’s thumb deep, but Cade
slid his hand to Mal’s nape, cradling his head in his hand.

Mal
exhaled and said, “Good, because you’re it for me. I never thought I’d find
someone like you, but here you are, and I don’t ever want to lose you. Before I
met you, I had sex maybe once a year, and that was usually just a blowjob. I
can definitely go without while we’re apart, knowin’ you’re comin’ back to me.”

“Really?
You want something permanent with me?”

“Yeah,
I do. That is, if it’s still what you want. I mean, we haven’t known each other
that long, but I can’t imagine spendin’ time with anyone else, even if I’ve
never seen where you live, or how you live. The part of you that you share with
me is enough.”

“Do
you want to come see where I live? We can get on the plane tonight and be in LA
before the sun comes up.”

Mal
thought about it. He really did want to know the other side of Cade. Everything
had gone smoothly with the calving, and Mal was proud of the way Andy and Bryan
had caught on to farming. He had no trouble trusting the farm to their capable
hands, but he couldn’t leave Tyler alone for the big ass military men to find
passed out. “I’d love to, but I need to get drunk-ass to the couch and call his
wife. I’d hate for Andy and Bryan to come in and take him down because they
don’t know who he is.”

“His
wife?”

“I’m
afraid what happened with Dwight scared Tyler so bad, he pushed his true self
into a closet and boarded the door shut with four by fours. He married a nice
girl, and they have two kids.”

“Wow,
that’s sad.”

“He
seems happy enough, except for the whole ‘I’m gonna kill your family if you go
to the cops’ threat. He’s pretty shaken up about it. He’s even thinkin’ about
movin’ away. Says he can’t protect his family from the likes of my pa if he
stays around here.”

Cade
wedged his eyes together in concentration. He sighed and his face morphed from
a deep frown into a soft smile. “You let me know when the time is right, and
I’ll get you to California. Now, do you want me to help you get Tyler to the
couch? He doesn’t look too comfortable.”

Mal
couldn’t believe Cade was being so understanding about Tyler. If he’d seen Cade
with another man in a compromising situation, he probably would have refused to
listen. “Yeah, then we can come back and snuggle by the fire, if you want.”

“Snuggling
sounds good.”

They
got Tyler in the house, and Mal called his wife to let her know he was okay.
After that was taken care of, Mal grabbed a quilt from the closet and put it on
the ground close to the flames. Cade sat with his legs outstretched, and Mal
lay down beside him with his head on Cade’s thighs. Cade ran his fingers though
Mal’s hair, his short fingernails scraping his scalp. The dogs curled up on
either side of them, enjoying the heat as well as guarding their master.

“You
stayin’ here tonight?” Mal asked.

“I
wasn’t sure where your mom was, so I didn’t make any plans.”

“She’s
all but moved in with Walt. Now that Andy and Bryan are stayin’ here, she
doesn’t worry about me bein’ alone. At least that’s her excuse. For now, we’re
pretty settled with the cattle, and Andy and Bryan can handle most everything
by themselves. It gives me time to do paperwork and order supplies. I’ve been
doin’ most of the work to the house and the barn by myself just to have
somethin’ to keep me busy.”

“Please
tell me you’ve redone the flower factory,” Cade begged.

Mal
laughed. With his momma’s blessing, he’d stripped the ugly wallpaper and
painted the sheetrock a neutral color. “Yeah, I think you’d approve. I got it
de-flowered before Andy and Bryan started workin’ here so neither one had to
flip for it.” The two bedrooms downstairs were the same size, so there wasn’t a
conflict of who got the bigger room. Andy and Bryan were happy to have bedrooms
instead of sleeping on sand.

Suzette
had been fine with the reformation of Melanie’s room, but it took a little more
persuading when it came to Curtis’s room upstairs. Being the oldest, Mal had
had the upstairs bedroom all to himself until the incident with Dwight. After
that, Mal swapped with Curtis so he could be downstairs close to his momma in
case she needed him. Once Curtis left for the military, Mal stayed where he
was. Now, Mal had moved back upstairs to the larger room. He stored all of his
brother’s personal stuff in the closet upstairs and moved his furniture
downstairs into his old bedroom.

Mal
had worked hard repairing the outside of the house, and once that was done, he
started on the inside. It amazed him that the owner of the farm was willing to
put so much money into the place.

“Do
I get to sleep in your bed?” Cade hinted. Since they met months ago, Cade had
never slept with Mal anywhere other than a hotel.

“I
was hopin’ you would.”

“What
about Andy and Bryan? Are you not worried about what they’ll think?”

Mal
grinned and turned over on his back so he could see Cade. “Believe it or not,
Andy’s gay. Bryan’s brother is gay, so he’s okay with it. Don’t worry, they
know all about you. They’re probably sick of hearin’ about you by now. Besides,
Andy’s not my type.” Mal reached up to stroke Cade’s whiskers. They always
looked the same length, so Cade must be trimming them on purpose.

“No?
What is your type?” Cade asked, sliding down so they were lying facing each
other.

“You
are.” Mal rolled so he was on top of Cade. He propped up on his hands so he
could rub their hard-ons together. The heat from the fire was nothing compared
to the heat between the two men. It never ceased to amaze Mal how one touch,
one rub, one kiss could ignite the inferno within.

Cade
grabbed his hips, halting the friction. “Babe, you keep that up, and I’m going
to blow in my jeans. How about we take this to your room where we can get
naked?”

“I
like that idea.” Mal stood and held his hand out to help Cade up. He grabbed
the quilt, shaking the grass off of it before rolling it up in his arms. Once
inside, Mal set the alarm and led Cade upstairs to his bedroom. Mal had never
taken a man to his bed, and for him, this was monumental. Then again, this was
the man he loved.

Instead
of ripping each other’s clothes off, they took their time removing each other’s
clothes. Mal slid his hands under Cade’s shirt, worshiping every inch of skin
he could before lifting the shirt over his lover’s head. Cade stood still while
Mal inspected the ink on his chest. He squirmed when Mal tugged at the barbells
in his nipples. Mal licked at each one, eliciting a moan when he took them
between his teeth. Mal dipped his fingers between the waistband of Cade’s jeans
and his skin, brushing over the leaking tip of Cade’s dick. He removed his hand
and licked the precome off his fingertips while Cade watched, his blue eyes now
dark with lust.

Cade
returned the favor when he removed Mal’s shirt and lavished kisses over his
scar. He skimmed his thumbs over Mal’s hardened nubs, and Mal dropped his head
back and moaned. Taking advantage of the position, Cade licked at Mal’s throat
before wrapping his hand around the area, squeezing. Mal wasn’t scared. He knew
Cade would never hurt him, but knowing Cade held his life in his hands was
erotic as hell. Mal parted his lips, and Cade slid his tongue between them.
What started off as a sensual mating of their mouths quickly turned into heated
thrusting. Their kisses always fueled Mal, and the need to bury his cock in his
man was greater than the need to breathe. He broke away and commanded, “On the
bed. Now.”

They
both removed their boots and jeans, and Cade knee-crawled to the middle of the
bed. He rested on his forearms so that his ass was in the air, waiting for Mal
to slide his cock home. With very little prep, Mal took command of Cade’s body.
Andy and Bryan weren’t quiet when they came home, but Mal didn’t let it deter
him from making love to Cade. He poured his emotions into every touch, every
kiss, every stroke of his cock.

Cade
grabbed hold of his own dick, stroking in time with Mal’s thrusts. “That’s it,
Cowboy. Love the way you fill my ass. I’m close, baby. You almost there?”

“Yeah,
I’m right there with ya.” Mal tightened his grip on Cade’s waist and quickened
his hips pumping in an out. When his orgasm hit, he bit his bottom lip hard to
keep from yelling out Cade’s name. Cade growled out something into the pillow
Mal didn’t quite understand. He remained buried deep inside and let Cade’s ass
squeeze him through to the end. When the last of his orgasm stopped pulsing,
Mal gently pulled out and rolled to his back. Cade didn’t give him time to
recover before he was on top of Mal, stroking his face, kissing his jaw, his
forehead, his neck, his lips. “Goddamn, I love you, Cowboy,” Cade breathed
against his ear before latching onto his neck, sucking hard enough to mark Mal.