“Then what are we waiting for?” Patrick asks. “Baby Mann needs to meet its daddies.”
Jack leans in and kisses Perrin, but they are both smiling too much.
They make their way out, Jack leaning in to rest his forehead on mine before he leaves.
“Love you, brother,” he whispers. I whisper it back, and Cas snuggles deeper into my side.
Chapter 26 – Caswell
Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
AnexhaustedBaylorsinksslowly into our bed.
I can read the pain in his face, the tight lines that have drawn tighter all day.
“Take some pain meds, Bee,” I tell him as I arrange the blankets around him.
“I did.”
I grab a pain-relieving cream I used on the road and climb into bed with him.
Baylor only grunts when I arrange him so I can rub the cream into his injured muscles, but once my hand touches his skin, his breathing starts to even out. Between this and the medication, I hope he can get some relief.
I let my fingers dig in slightly, and trace soothing, long patterns over his skin.
I keep at it until his breath turns from ragged on the edges to deep and even. Once I think he is asleep, I return the cream to my side of the bed and get comfortable next to him.
Baylor pulls me close, not as asleep as I would have thought. In the dark, his warm lips find mine.“Feels better, thank you.”
I snuggle close to him, never quite getting close enough.
“I love you, Bee.” I kiss him again, settling into a tangled mess in his arms.
“You are my love song, Cas,” he says drowsily, and my heart skips a beat. I know his little declaration is fueled by pain meds, just like all the others the past few weeks, but I don’t care. The words still feel amazing to hear.
I’ll remind him when he’s better.
Baylor’s legs and mine are locked together, and I’m using his chest as a pillow. I turn my face, rubbing it against the fur that flows with the outlines of his hard chest, and give a contented sigh.
A rumble from the chest beneath all that fur moves my head as my hands start roaming as well, touching all they can. Hills and valleys of tan skin stretched over muscles that are both honed in his gym and at work. My hands curl, wanting to mark him up, always feeling the urge to make Baylor mine, and tell all the world by marking him in some sort of way.
“Should I get you a scratching post?” Baylor’s sleep-edged voice asks, his arm curling over my back as his hand finds my hair. “Some catnip?”
I laugh and stretch, pressing myself against him in the process and enjoying his eyes on me as I do.
His big cock tents the sheets at his waist as his morning wood gets new life as something more serious.
Usually, this would be the time for blowjobs, or a frot, or even anal if we had the time. I wonder how much it’s going to aggravate his shoulder if he comes. During this almost month of rehab, Baylor hasn’t held back, instead he gives into passion with the same relentless intensity he does his lyrics, hell the way he does anything. I shiver at the thought of Baylor’s application of the old mantra about things worth doing being worth doing well.
“How do you feel?” I ask, draping myself back over him. This right here, morning light across the man I love while we are warm and safe is not something I will ever take for granted.
A weight, no, a darkness, that I didn’t even know was there, seems to have shifted now that Kit is dealt with. I don’t doubt the love of my fans. The love of Baylor’s fans for what we do, but those who take it too far like Kit are few and far between. I refuse to let it take over. To let that incident shade the work we do.
But, the truth is, I have been pulling back from the constant spotlight for a while. I get why that is. Before, I’d been too scared to take a break, too scared that this fragile thing I have will disappear in minutes.
That could still happen, people could quit listening to our music at any time. Royalties could dry up. But, that fear doesn’t have its death grip on me like it used to.
Part of that is the financial planning I have done with my success to airbag an unpredictable future. Another part of that is due to the overwhelming response I am getting from my performance as River Phoenix. The studio and the crew love this film. Even still in production, it has a buzz about it, and I know in my gut that it is solid. If it does well when it goes out into the world, then it means if music ever quits being profitable, I have options.
