Touch Me Gently (15 page)

Adding a second finger to the first, he began to loosen Kaden’s channel, scissoring his fingers and spreading him open. Panting gasps were coming from Kaden’s mouth, and he bent forward to murmur into the teen’s ear, “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Kaden sighed, pain and pleasure becoming one at the invasion of his body, but the pain had begun to fade away.

Two fingers became three, and Kaden began to push back on those fingers, his cock once again hard with need and dripping with wetness. Logan couldn’t take any more and withdrew his fingers. He ripped open the condom wrapper, rolling it over his straining flesh before slathering it with lubricant. He felt Kaden tense anew when the head pushed against his hole, and he caressed the younger man’s hip, soothing him as he began to push inside, his eyes locked on the sight of his thick cock slowly penetrating Kaden’s body.

Kaden bit his lip as tears sprung into his eyes and a couple escaped to soak into the pillow beneath. It burned as he opened to the invasion, but it also felt good. The longer Logan remained inside of him, the more the pain dissipated. He instinctively huddled into Logan’s chest, taking reassurance in the warmth at his back.

Logan stayed still, resisting the primal need to thrust in and out. He placed a tender kiss to Kaden’s thin, pale shoulder. “Does it hurt?”

“No. It… feels… good,” Kaden breathed, reaching back to grip Logan’s hip, and arching his back.

The cowboy let out a small grunt at the way the snug entrance grew even tighter around him at the movement, and he began to thrust, pulling back until he remained partway inside Kaden and then shoving forward. He repositioned Kaden’s leg until his knee rested against his thin chest, opening him wider for Logan. Logan lined his lover’s shoulder and neck with kisses, carefully thrusting in and out of the hot canal gripping his cock. Kaden’s slim fingers dug into his skin but it only added to the intense pleasure he felt.

“Kaden, I love you so much,” Logan moaned, sinking his teeth lightly into the pale skin on Kaden’s shoulder as he closed his eyes in ecstasy.

Heat spiraled higher inside Kaden, his stomach clenching almost painfully, and when Logan brushed against something deep inside him, he gave a small keening cry as the heat threatened to consume him. Their groans filled the room, sweat dampening their skin and the scent of sex heavy in the air as they undulated against each other. Kaden felt so hot, like his body had been consumed by fire, tiny flames licking at his skin, burning him deep inside. He could feel Logan inside him, filling him and emptying him again and again. The deeper Logan went, the better it felt. His own hips began to thrust back against Logan, increasing the pleasure tenfold.

“Kaden… ah… I need you to come for me, Kaden. Please… come for me,” Logan bit out between clenched teeth, reaching around Kaden’s body to grip the hard length of him, tugging on it in time with his own hard thrusts.

That was all that Kaden needed, sending him over the edge with a loud cry of Logan’s name, his seed spilling across the sheets and Logan’s fingers. Logan felt Kaden convulsing around his cock, milking him, and it sent him flying, his own fluids pumping into the latex sheathing his flesh. He roared through his climax, thrusting himself deep inside Kaden one last time before coming to a halt. They lay there, gasping for breath, and slowly descending back to earth.

Logan gripped the base of the condom, pulling out of Kaden’s body to strip it from him and tie it closed before tossing it into the garbage can nearby. He turned back to pull Kaden into his arms, nuzzling at the teen’s ear. He felt the trembling in Kaden’s body, and tilted the boy’s face in order to see his eyes. Tears were spilling down Kaden’s cheeks, and Logan made a sound of alarm. “Kaden? Did I hurt you? Or scare you?” he asked in a panic, sitting up to gather Kaden into his lap.

Kaden couldn’t respond. Words were lost to him. He shook his head profusely. He wrapped his arms around Logan’s neck and held on tight to keep from flying apart. That had been incredible. Nothing had prepared him for it to be that way, and he felt cherished and loved by Logan. His own heart swelled up inside his chest, pounding hard and fast. No matter what happened, he loved the big, strong cowboy and nothing would ever change that. Once he’d managed to bring himself under control, giving an occasional hiccup, Kaden lifted his head to flash Logan a watery smile. “I didn’t mean to cry all over you.”

Logan wiped at the boy’s tears and asked, “What was that all about? You had me scared. I thought I’d hurt you or frightened you.”

“No. I’m sorry. I just never knew it could feel like that.” Wonder and awe rang out in his voice. “And to be connected to you in such an intimate way was the most incredible thing I’ve ever felt, Logan. And it made me realize… how much I love you.”

Logan jerked slightly in his embrace, and Kaden knew he’d surprised his lover by declaring his love for him. His eyes met Logan’s, and the pure love shining out of the emerald depths stole his breath away. “I thought you’d never say it,” Logan exhaled, kissing Kaden’s cheeks, eyelids, forehead, and lastly his lips, drawing out the sweet kiss for what could have been forever, but Kaden gave himself up to it, showing Logan he no longer feared him.

They somehow managed to slip beneath the quilt, wrapped up in each other’s arms. Kaden fell asleep first, his head resting on Logan’s shoulder. Logan stared down at Kaden, astounded that the boy had admitted his own feelings for him. He pressed a kiss to Kaden’s forehead before drifting into a deep, untroubled sleep.

When Logan awoke, Kaden was already up and downstairs making breakfast for the men. He yawned and stretched, his lips curved into a giant grin. He felt wonderful! Kaden’s words last night couldn’t have made him happier. His breath hitched at the thought of such a beautiful young man as Kaden loving him. If someone had told him a year ago that he would find himself in love with another man, and that the man would love him back, he would have scoffed at the idea and possibly kicked someone’s ass. But now he thanked God for bringing Kaden into his life, making him believe in love again. Humming softly, still smiling, Logan climbed out of bed to take a quick shower and dress.

Kaden finished up the eggs, placing them on the huge platter, and brought it into the dining room. His eyes sparkled brightly, happily, a warm glow radiating from deep inside him. Placing the last platter of food on the sideboard, he saw the dining room door open and Shea sneaking in, a guilty expression on her face. She saw him and came to a halt, her face chagrined. He smiled at her. “Good morning, Shea.”

She studied him for a split second, and then her face brightened and a wide, satisfied smirk spread across her lips. “You’re awfully cheerful for this early in the morning, Kaden. Something happen?”

A blush worked its way over his cheeks, and he grinned at her, but didn’t offer her an explanation. Though he had little doubt that she couldn’t see it in his eyes and on his face, that warm after-sex glow that you get when you’ve been really satisfied. She had the same one on her face as well. Kaden winked at her and darted back into the kitchen to start washing pots and wipe down the counters. Logan caught Shea on the way up to her room, and he berated her angrily, to which she replied cheekily, “Don’t even try it, bro. I know what you and Kaden were up to last night. It’s so obvious on your face and his. So don’t be yelling at me for something you yourself are guilty of.” And then she disappeared into her bedroom.

Logan shook his head and heaved a deep sigh, knowing he couldn’t deny the truth of her words, and he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He trotted down the stairs, stepping into the kitchen to find Kaden leaning against the sink, washing dishes. He walked up behind him, sliding his arms around his waist. “Good morning, my love,” he whispered into the soft pink ear.

Kaden sighed in contentment, leaning back against Logan. “Good morning, Logan.”

“You smell good. I didn’t even hear you get up to take a shower,” Logan told him crossly, but without any true anger behind the statement.

“I went down to my own room to shower,” Kaden replied. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Well, that room won’t be yours much longer. In fact, tonight you’ll be moving into mine,” Logan growled softly into Kaden’s ear, smirking at the pink tinge that stained Kaden’s cheeks. “I don’t want to spend another night alone.”

Kaden turned in Logan’s arms, gazing up into the man’s face. “Are you sure? I don’t want to crowd you.”

“Of course, I’m sure. I am the one who suggested it, aren’t I?” the man demanded fiercely. “Besides, I could never feel crowded by you.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Then tonight we’ll bring your stuff upstairs. Now, let’s sit down and eat. I can hear the men coming.”

Kaden couldn’t remember ever being this happy. Unable to stop smiling, he watched Logan and the men head out to start their day. They had started on the last section, and it wouldn’t be long until the roundup had finished. Shea never came down to breakfast, crashing in her plush bed after a long night of loving. If she’d had any idea of the events that would unfold that morning, she’d have been downstairs with her daddy’s shotgun, waiting. Kaden happily hummed to himself as he finished washing the dishes and began to dry them. So lost in his thoughts, he didn’t hear the dining room door open and shut, or the sound of booted feet creeping across the floor boards, trying to be as quiet as possible. The sound of a boot on the doorjamb between the kitchen and dining room alerted him to someone’s presence, and Kaden turned his head with a smile already forming, wondering if Logan had forgotten something, but that smile never made it to its full potential because the sight of the person behind him brought him to an abrupt and shattering halt.

Franklin
stood there, an evil, nasty grin on his face. He had a wild, glazed look in his slimy hazel eyes, and Kaden almost gagged at the distinct smell of alcohol. Kaden shrank back against the sink when the man advanced several feet.

“You little bashtard. You’re the reashon my wife left me and took my little girlsh with her,” the man slurred, moving closer until he stood directly in front of Kaden.

Kaden opened his mouth to scream in the hope that Shea would hear, but the man slammed his fist into the side of Kaden’s face, knocking the breath from him and sending him reeling into the nearby stove. Suddenly the man’s hands were everywhere, ripping at his clothing, and this time he did cry out in fear. Franklin’s hand clamped down on his mouth, muffling his cries, and he struggled to undress the kid with one hand. Kaden bit down hard, causing Franklin to shriek in pain. “You little shit!” He grabbed Kaden by the throat and flung him into the kitchen table, one of the chairs splintered.

Part of the leg speared through Kaden’s shoulder, ripping a scream from him before Franklin picked him up again and tossed him bodily into a china hutch that lined one wall. The glass doors shattered, dishes smashed, and the wood of the doors rained down in pieces. Kaden grunted at the hot searing pain in his lower back. He collapsed onto the ground, gasping in agony, tears streaming down his face. The only thoughts he had were for Logan and what he would suffer through afterward. Franklin loomed over him, a smug smirk lining his lips. “You’re mine now.” Franklin picked him up from the ground, uncaring of the blood that pooled on the floor beneath Kaden’s still frame, and hurling the teenager down belly first onto the kitchen table, leaving his legs hanging to the floor.

It hurt. More than any of the wounds his stepfather had inflicted. Kaden wanted to run, to get away, but he couldn’t move his legs, his arms flailing uselessly. Tears blurred his vision further when he felt his jeans being ripped down his legs, baring him to the disgusting man about to rape him.

“No… please, no,” he begged as he felt the man’s cock touching his entrance, and suddenly Franklin vanished. He could hear yelling and fists hitting flesh. Kaden’s vision swam, and his consciousness faded, taking him deep down into the warm depths. Before it could claim him completely, his last thought once again returned to Logan.

Logan had returned to the house to get the first-aid kit, since one of the men had torn open his shoulder on some barb wire. He’d heard the sound of glass shattering and yelling coming from the house. Panic had torn through him as he raced from the truck into the house. That’s when he’d seen Kaden covered in blood, and the son of a bitch Franklin standing behind him, ready to rape him. He threw his body at the man, rage boiling over inside him at the way the bastard had hurt his Kaden. His fist landed with a satisfying crunch upon the man’s face, breaking his nose. Franklin fell back drunkenly, glaring at Logan and holding his nose. Logan again lunged at the man, raining fist after fist of anger down on him. “Oh, my God!” he heard Shea cry from behind him, and it brought him back to earth.

Franklin lay unconscious beneath him, blood spilling from his split lips and nose. Logan stood, and he rushed over to Kaden, almost crying at the sight of the boy lying there. He hurriedly pulled up the kid’s jeans, and took in the situation. Swearing profusely, he yelled at Shea to get her attention. “Call the sheriff,
now
! Tell him to get over here and arrest this sack of shit before I kill him. And once you do that, radio Charlie and tell him to send some of the men back here to watch this bastard until the sheriff gets here.”

Logan tied Franklin tightly to a chair, making sure the knots were secure before he carefully picked up Kaden and carried him to his truck, trying to keep from jarring him. Kaden was covered in so much blood, and his skin looked so pale. “Don’t you dare leave me, Kaden. Not after I just found you. Do you hear me?” he snarled fiercely, covering Kaden’s prone form with the blanket from the day of their picnic before starting the truck and tearing out of the ranch driveway.

He raced toward town, praying that God would keep his little one safe until he could get him to a hospital. He breathed a small sigh of relief when the town came into view, and he slammed on the brakes in front of the clinic, leaving the truck running and carefully lifting Kaden from the truck. Blood covered the front of his own clothes, and the nurse screamed when he burst into the clinic. “Where’s the doc? Please, Betty! He’s dying!” Logan wasn’t even aware of the tears that spilled from his eyes or of the absolute terror on his face.

The doctor rushed out of the back room, where he’d been examining another patient, and indicated for Logan to bring Kaden into one of the examining rooms. Without looking, the doctor shouted at his nurse to call for a MedEvac chopper before trying to stop the blood flow. He didn’t want to remove the large piece of glass that was wedged into the boy’s lower left back for fear that he’d cause more damage than good.

It took fifteen excruciatingly long minutes for the MedEvac to arrive, during which time Logan held onto Kaden’s hand, refusing to let him go. “Stay with me, Kaden. Please!” His voice sounded hoarse from trying to stem his tears and holding in his anguish.

The chopper blades were loud above their heads as they soared toward the hospital, Logan whispering in Kaden’s ear the entire way there. “I won’t let you go. I’ll follow you to the heights of heaven and the depths of hell to fight God and the devil himself to keep you!”

The moment that they reached the hospital, they whisked Kaden away, leaving Logan standing in the hallway staring after the doctors and nurses rushing the younger man toward surgery. He hadn’t felt such blinding numbness since he’d found his parents in the kitchen all those years ago. He dropped to his knees right there in the middle of the crowded corridor, burying his face in his hands. Tears spilled over now, and great shudders began to wrack the cowboy’s shoulders. A warm hand settled on one of his shoulders and another on his arm, helping him up from the floor to the waiting room. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, sir. Our doctors are some of the best in the world. Just have faith,” the nurse murmured soothingly, patting his shoulder before leaving him to his private grief.

Shea arrived an hour later, rushing into the emergency room. “Can someone tell me if Kaden James is okay?”

Logan heard her voice but didn’t look up. The woman at the nurse’s station pointed into the waiting room where he sat, and Shea rushed to his side, sinking down into the chair next to him. “Is he going to be okay?” she asked, her eyes pleading that he tell her yes.

“I don’t know,” he replied gruffly. “They’ve been in there for over an hour, and they haven’t told me anything. Oh God, Shea. If he….” He trailed off, his voice cracking and choking in his throat.

Shea gathered her brother into her arms, rubbing his back comfortingly. “Shh. He’ll be fine, Logan. He’s strong and a fighter. And he loves you very much. He won’t leave you.”

Several hours later, Logan paced back and forth in the waiting room, his eyes blazing angrily. “Why the hell haven’t they come out yet? How long can it take, damn it!”

“Sit down, Logan. I’m sure they are doing the best they can,” Shea said wearily, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Her brother had steadily grown more and more restless as the hours drifted by. “No news is good news, bro.”

Another hour passed before a doctor came out of the doors, sighing tiredly, his face haggard from the long hours in the operating room. He stepped into the waiting room. “Is there anyone here for Kaden James?”

Logan stood up from where he’d been perched on the edge of his chair. “Is he going to be all right?”

“We can’t be sure yet. We removed the large section of glass embedded in his lower back, but it nicked his spinal cord. We repaired as much of the damage as possible, but we don’t know if he’ll ever be able to walk again. Right now he’s in recovery, and in stable condition. The next few days will tell us more, and once he’s awake, we can establish if he will be confined to a wheelchair or not.”

Shea let out a gasp at the doctor’s words, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Logan’s hands fisted at his sides, and he demanded, “When can we see him?”

“A nurse will take you to him once he’s out of recovery.” The doctor turned on his heel and left, his heart heavy with the bad news he’d just delivered. It always saddened him not to be able to offer hope to the relatives and loved ones of his patients.

Logan kept his head tilted down, his eyes closed, and he tried to keep from screaming in rage and anguish. The boy had already been through so much, and now to find out that he might never walk again. If Kaden died, he’d rip that bastard limb from limb and feed him to the coyotes. He heard the sounds of soft weeping, low murmurs of voices, and the sounds of staff being paged over the PA system echoing around him. The smell of antiseptic stung his nostrils when he breathed deeply. If he had known that Franklin would try something like this, he never would have left Kaden alone.

His mind flashed back to the night before, the flushed look of pleasure on Kaden’s face, the sound of the boy’s whimpers and sighs, and the feel of his bare skin against his. The teen’s confession of love and the shy smile on those beautiful lips all washed over him, almost sending him to his knees in pain.
You have to live, Kaden. You just have to
.

Another couple of hours passed before the nurse came to get him and Shea, leading them to the intensive care unit and the room that Kaden lay in, still as death. Shea started to sob, reaching out to brush Kaden’s hair back from his forehead. Logan leaned over and kissed Kaden’s lips. They were cool to the touch, almost as if there were no life in them, and it made his heart pound in fear. The monitors nearby beeped steadily indicating the teen’s heartbeat, and Logan grabbed a chair nearby to settle down next to Kaden, picking up the boy’s hand and holding it to his cheek.

Kaden’s skin looked so pale against the sheets. There was no flush of pleasure, no sparkle of life, no husky laughter from the boy’s mouth. Tears stung Logan’s eyes yet again, and he closed them tightly, squeezing them shut and praying that God would hear him. He couldn’t lose him.

Logan lost track of time and days as Kaden remained in a coma-like state. The doctors didn’t seem concerned, stating that after a traumatic and damaging event the mind shut down while the body healed. Logan barely slept, never ate, and just waited. He waited for any sign of Kaden coming back to him. Shea brought him some clothes, updating him about the happenings at the ranch. The men were getting along fine without him, Charlie had taken over, and they’d already started bringing the rest of the cattle in for branding and gelding. It wouldn’t be long before they were sent out to auction. Nothing mattered to Logan anymore, except the boy who lay unresponsive in the bed day after day.

Shea reprimanded him for not eating, leaving the room to go get him something from the cafeteria. Logan turned back to the bed, picking up his vigil once more. “Please, Kaden, open your eyes for me. I need to see those beautiful purple eyes of yours. I need to see that adorable smile I love so much.” His words were always the same. Telling Kaden he loved him and needed him, begging the boy not to leave him.