Beauty & The Bear

6

Hayley

I walk into the hardware store, feeling Kaine watching me. Thankful to have a moment to myself. I let out an exasperated sigh. The inside of the store looks more like a hunting store than a hardware store, then I remember hunting season has just started. Jason loved hunting, it was the best time of the year. Killing poor defenseless animals for sport.

I push the thoughts of him from my mind, he already haunts my dreams, there’s no reason he needs to haunt my waking mind as well.

I grab a cart and make my way to the plumbing section, they have the large jugs which makes me very happy, it’s hard to find lye in big jugs. I grab six of them and start for the tills when someone grabs my arm.

“Hayley?” My blood runs ice cold. I whip around and try to pull my arm from their grasp.

“I’m sorry, you have the wrong person” I stammer as casually as I can. They release my arm and hold their hands up defensively, eyeing me.

“Sorry you just look like the spitting image of a buddy of mine’s wife. Hayley Prescot” He says slowly, his eyes watching my reaction. I rub my arm where he grabbed me, I feel a bruise forming.

“Is that so, well I guess what they say is true then. We all have a doppelgänger out there somewhere.”

“Yeah I guess so.. What’s your name?” He presses.

“I’m Jessica.. Sorry to cut this short but my husband is waiting outside for me” I turn to go

“Yeah for sure. I’ll have to tell my buddy I ran into his wife's doppelgänger… Too bad he didn’t meet you.. You're much prettier than his wife”. He calls after me, I wave my shaking hand at him and feel the sweat breaking out across my body. I practically run from the store after I get past the till. It took everything in my power to not bolt the second I was out of his grasp.

I get back to the truck and Kaine is waiting outside by the tailgate. He loads everything inside and opens my door for me, just as the man from earlier comes out of the store with a hunting bow. His eyes fixated on me.

He knows.

“Are you okay?” Kaine asks as he starts the truck.

“Please drive, now!” I beg

He nods and takes off, leaving skid marks in the parking lot. I look in the side mirror and catch one last look on the man's face and see a smirk spread across his face. He definitely knows, and he’s going to tell Jason where I am. He’s going to find me.

And he’s going to kill me.

He will kill me for what I did.

I feel myself breathing hard, hyperventilating. After about ten minutes of driving, Kaine pulls the truck over and cuts the engine. I stare up at him with what must be a wild expression.

“Whatever you are scared of Hayley, they have to get through me first. I am a hell of a lot scarier then whatever is after you I promise”

A tear rolls down my cheek.

“Talk to me sweetheart” A second tear, then a third until they don’t stop, like a waterfall they just keep coming. Even if I tried I couldn’t stop them.

“I can’t” I sob. I can’t bring this sweet man into my problems, I don’t want him to get hurt.

I can’t drag him down with me.

He pulls me into his arms and lets me cry on his chest, it’s warm and oddly soothing. I curl into his embrace, looking for more protection. I feel like this man would lay down his life to protect me. And I’m selfish enough to ask him to, that’s what scared me the most. I want someone to love me so fiercely they would do that. I want someone to kill for me. It’s sick. After everything I have been through I want to know that someone cares so deeply for me they would do anything for me, anything at all.

I shake my head of such silly thoughts and take a deep breath, letting it out. Then another, repeating until I am calm enough to pull away from Kaine. I look up through tear-stricken eyes and see he is already watching me.

“I’m sorry” I whisper, “It seems all I do is cry when I’m around you”

“It’s alright. I don’t mind.. You have a lot of pain.. I want to help you work through it.. Help you heal” His words feel genuine, I feel it hit my heart in a soft way, it makes a new tear form and slide down my cheek. This time when he reaches out to brush it away I don’t flinch. I close my eyes and let him touch me.

I hear his breath hitch when I don’t jolt back, my heart is fluttering in my chest. Wondering what to do next I open my eyes and see he is staring down at me with a strange look in his eyes. He leans forward and I go perfectly still.

Is he going to kiss me?

Yes, and no. He kisses the top of my head, on my hair, exhaling into it. Something about this action is so intimate and profound it's more than a kiss. I feel my heart skip a beat and something inside me clicks and clangs.

By the time he drops me off at home it’s dark, Kaine says he will drop off the supplies we got in the morning at my shop and I thank him. He walks me to my door and his body casts a shadow over me as we stand in the doorway. He is so much taller than I am, but I don’t feel intimidated anymore. I look up into his chocolate brown eyes, so inviting and warm. I reach up on my tippy toes and kiss him on the cheek. His beard brushes against my cheek slightly, tickling my soft skin, it’s a new sensation. I’ve never kissed a man with a beard before, I feel my cheeks flush deeply.

“Thank you for today” I whisper

“I’ll see you tomorrow Hayley, sleep tight” His hand grazes my arm, the warmth shoots across my body, sending a shiver of delight through me.

I bite my bottom lip and lower myself back down to my heels and nod, turning the key in my door.

I get ready for bed, pulling on a t-shirt and shorts before crawling into my bed. Jinxy comes in and curls up at my feet and starts to pur.

“I think we might be in trouble, Jinx.. a bad man might be coming for us.. But I think we might have a good man to look out for us too” I yawn. I look around the room until my eyes land on the t-shirt Kaine lent me, I crawl out of bed and pull it off the chair sitting in the corner of the room and return to the bed with it, wrapping it up in my hands and like a pervert I sniff it gently.

It smells like burnt cedar, my nostrils flare slightly, enjoying the new smell.

I think back to what transpired on my doorstep with Kaine, his warmth and the feeling of his beard against my skin. My hand trails down my body as I imagine his sheer size, he’s a mountain of a man. His strong shoulders from years of hard labor, his hands are that of a blue collar working man, rough and hard along the edges. He exudes strength in every movement he makes.

I wonder if he’s just as strong in the bedroom, behind closed doors or if he takes his partner's needs and puts them ahead of his own.

My fingers slide into my panties, feeling their way over my c**t. A soft moan escapes me, making Jinxy look up. I ignore him and stuff my face into Kaine's shirt, trying to lose myself in him. My finger slides downward, dipping inside my wet p***y.

I try to imagine what his hands would feel like in place of my own, but it's very difficult. I've never had another man's hands on me other than Jason and it has been so long since I've experienced pleasure.

Pleasure, I've forgotten the meaning of the word.

The thought of Jason and his hands slithering on my body slides back into my mind and my hand goes stiff inside me. I pull my finger out with haste and let my panties fall back into place. A frustrated sigh escapes me and starters Jinxy who has had enough of my commotions and promptly leaves the bed, thank goodness.

I have nightmares again, like every night. I wake up sweating, in the morning I wrap my leg like Kaine showed me and have a shower. I get dressed for the day and get into my car, feeling like I’m being watched but I shake the feeling off and drive to the shop.

Kaine is waiting by the door with two cups of coffee, he grins when I step out of my car and walk over to him, extending one of the coffees towards me.

“How’s your head?”

“I’m fine” I say, I can’t look him in the eye, not after what I did last night alone with my thoughts.

He reaches forward and pulls at a strand of hair that’s fallen in my eyes, holding it between his fingers for a moment before tucking it behind my ear. My heart feels as if it’s going to leap from my chest. Every time this man touches me I want to melt into him, there’s just something about him that puts me at ease.

This is dangerous.

“Kaine…” I whisper, leaning into his touch. “I have to go” I pull back, it takes all my strength to do so but eventually I do and I fumble with my keys until I can unlock the door and I go inside like a coward.

I am not starting the morning off well, I forget that I have to see Kaine because he has all my supplies in his truck. So when he knocks on the door fifteen minutes later as I’m in the middle of a meltdown in the backroom I nearly jump out of my skin.

“I have to go out for a bit, I’ll be back later. If you need anything just shoot me a text” He scratches the side of his head awkwardly. It’s as if he doesn’t want to leave.

“I’ll be fine, thanks for your help”

He nods and heads for the door. He lingers with his hand on the doorknob for a moment before he pulls it open and leaves.

The rest of my morning doesn’t go well for me, my first batch of soap is a failure. I scrape it into the trash before trying to make a new batch and I’m so frustrated, I burn myself with my lye water mix.

I scream in annoyance and throw my spatula against the wall. I lean against the wall and slide down, letting my body fall to the floor. Resting my hands on my knees, my head falls, the back of my neck strains. My phone buzzes in my pocket, I pull it out, it’s an unknown number. I don’t answer it.

I don’t know how long I sit on the floor feeling sorry for myself but after some time my ass is numb and I can’t feel my legs. I get up slowly, glaring at my work station, I will not be doing anything more productive today it seems.

I’m straightening candles on the shelves in the display cases when a gentle knock on the window makes me jump and the candle in my hand slides and I drop it, making it shatter to the floor.

“f**k sakes” I snap as the glass goes everywhere on the floor. I look over and see Kaine in the window watching me. He points to the door, gesturing for me to come unlock it and let him in.

I tip toe over the glass and make my way to let him in.

“Watch your step” I mumble as I turn my back to go find a broom and dustpan to clean up my new mess. I am on the verge of crying, this day is just not going well for me.

When I come back I see Kaine has already started to clean up the broken candle, picking up the largest pieces. He has one of the small garbage cans from behind the counter and is dropping them in,

“It smells nice at least, shame it broke. I’m sorry” He says with a sigh

“You shouldn’t touch the glass with your bare hands, you could cut yourself”

He gives me an amused look as he drops the last piece in the garbage, his eyes not leaving me.

“So what are you doing here?” I ask

He looks around for a moment before reaching over my head to the counter above us and grabbing a brown paper bag, “I brought us lunch”

I give him a quizzical glance, “Why are you being so nice to me Kaine?”