by Mia Jones
Copyright © 2020 Fiery Vision Publishing
Mia Jones
Cover Design: Whiskers & Whimsey Designs
Photo: Editor: Kitka Buchanan
Formatting: Fiery Vision Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the Author/Publisher.
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Her Safe Haven
By
Mia Jones
Chapter One
Kaden Shaw watched her raptly from across the room as she talked to a small group of people.
Her name was Lilah, and she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. From her long, light brown hair that she kept loose to fall down her back to her petite curvy body and tiny feet. Everything about her appealed to him.
Too bad he’d never get a chance at her.
Kaden touched the scar on the side of his face. The tissue on the side would never look the same, and his body had taken a lot of damage when it impacted with the hard ground because of the fall off the roof four years before. He broke an arm, an ankle, cut up his face and body so bad he got over three hundred stitches. He thought he’d looked like Frankenstein for a long time; and now, he thought, he just looked like a plain old monster.
The injuries to his body hadn’t bothered him so much because he could hide them under clothes, but the white scar on his left cheek that started at his temple and curved around his cheekbone and then straight down to his chin was noticeable. The way the skin puckered in areas, he felt it made his face look distorted.
Before the accident, it was hard to get people comfortable around him. He blamed it on his muscular body and height to his rough and dark persona. Now, it was next to impossible to find someone that wasn’t intimidated by him that didn’t already know him.
Kaden set his glass of beer down, glanced up and caught her looking at him. She smiled and raised a hand. He nodded and then looked back down at his beer and then cursed himself for being so mean.
He hoped he never had to face her and let her see up close how bad he looked. Frankly, he didn’t know what to say to her. But he wouldn’t stop coming to the bar, so he’d be able to get a glimpse of her.
So, he gave her the cold shoulder to discourage her, but at the same time, he tracked her around the room and prayed she never noticed him. He caught himself smiling when she laughed and concentrated on her mannerisms as she talked. Just the pure sound of her voice soothed something in him.
Lilah kept glancing at the large solitary man sitting at the end of the bar across the room. She’d caught him looking at her and had even waved at him once, but he blatantly brushed her off.
Something about him intrigued and lured her. She’d lived in the town for five months and had visited the bar they were in a few times with friends she’d met at work at the hospital.
The first time she’d caught sight of him was something she’d never forget. The zing of electricity that raced through her veins scared her at first. She’d had a few boyfriends before, but none of them made her feel like he did, and she hadn’t even talked to him.
She loved the expression on his face when he talked to his friends. His smile took his good looks to downright handsome. Oh, she noticed the scar even standing across the room, but in no way did it detract from his appearance.
She’d gotten close a few times, and the deep timbre of his voice made her shiver and go all gooey inside.
Her friend, Addison, followed the path her friend Lilah’s gaze was fixed on. She grabbed onto Lilah’s arm. “Lilah, I think he might be a little too rough for you.”
Lilah turned her head to face her friend. “What does that mean?”
“He’s one tough guy. He was always hard, but since his accident, he’s rigid and cold. He lets very few people close. He frightens people without even trying.”
“You’re not talking about his scar, are you?” Lilah asked with a frown and feeling a rush of protective instincts to protect one of her own. The tissue was noticeable, but not even close to disfiguring like he seemed to think.
Addison rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking about that, although it makes him a bit scarier. Mainly, it’s his attitude.”
Lilah glanced back over to the bar and sighed when he turned his gaze away from her. “I’m going to talk to him,” Lilah said with determination.
Addison snorted. “You haven’t listened to a thing I’ve said, have you?”
Lilah grinned. “No, not really.”
“Fine, go find out for yourself. I’ve known him for years, and he seems to just get harsher as the years pass.”
“Maybe that’s because of the way people treat him?”
Addison threw her hands up. “Fine, just don’t come to me when he breaks your heart.”
“He won’t,” Lilah said and hoped she was telling her the truth.
Lilah turned and started walking around the crowd and toward the seat Kaden sat.
“Oh, hey. What’s your name, pretty lady?”
Startled, Lilah jerked away from the hand that gripped her forearm.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m on my way to talk to a friend.” She turned without looking or listening to the guy.
She was a foot behind Kaden and stopped. God, what did she say? She’d never tried to pick up a man before in her life. She silently cleared her throat and took the two steps to his side.
“Hello,” Lilah said and stared when he turned his head. Her breath caught when she looked into his crystal blue eyes.
Kaden’s eyes widened, and he stayed silent. He couldn’t grasp why she was standing before him and trying to speak to him.
“My name is Lilah. What’s yours?”
“Kaden,” he said gruffly.
His tone and scowl discouraged most people from talking to him, but she just smiled.
“So, I’ve been in town about five months. Have you lived here your whole life?”
Kaden narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t fathom why she was still talking to him. “No, just about ten years or so.”
Lilah was thrilled when he actually said something, and it made her smile brighten.
His eyes went to the way her dark eyes lit up and her dimples, one on each side of her mouth, deepened.
“You do construction?”
Kaden set down his beer and turned his whole body on the stool to face her.
A ball of heat spread through her when she practically stood between his widespread legs. She found herself moving an inch closer.
“Why the hell are you talking to me, Lady?” he growled.
Her dimples disappeared, and her eyes widened. “I wanted to.”
“Why?” he spit out.
She gripped her hands together in front of her stomach. “Is there anything wrong with it?”
“I just don’t get it,” he commented.
Lilah shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Kaden. I’ve seen you here before and have always wanted to talk to you, and tonight I got up the courage to just do it.”
Kaden studied her expression. She looked even sweeter and more beautiful up closely, and he surmised he probably looked rougher because she could see more of the damage the fall had done to him.
Kaden leaned tow
ard her, getting in her personal space to see what she’d do. He was completely shocked when she moved forward a bit instead of back like he thought she would.
“Lady…”
“My name is Lilah,” she interrupted.
“You need to go talk to a few of the pretty boys in the room.”
Lilah tilted her head to the side. “Why?”
“Because you would fit with them better than me,” he said simply.
Lilah frowned. “If I might say, I think that sounds like horse…poo.”
Kaden grunted and tried to not smile. She was fucking adorable.
“It’s called shit, baby.”
Lilah shivered at his endearment. Then her eyes widened when she caught the twitch of his lips. She tilted her head to the side again and smiled. “Alright, shit.”
Kaden’s mouth turned down. “You’re right. I don’t like that word coming from your mouth.”
Lilah smiled. “Okay,” she agreed instantly.
Kaden straightened like she’d smacked him. “I can’t tell you what to do.” Even if he really wanted to. But he knew it was best that he pushed her away because he couldn’t see her wanting a future with him; and he knew if they dated, he wouldn’t want to give her up.
“What if I said I wanted it to be your business.”
Kaden scooched back. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Why would you think that? Because I’m small, or a woman, or young?”
“Yes,” he said.
Lilah crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. “That’s not nice to assume anything about someone you don’t know.”
“It’s the truth. Go hang out with those guys over there,” he said and pointed to a group of four men across the room laughing about something.
Lilah turned and saw who he was talking about.
“Every one of those men have tried to get me to go out with them, and I said no because I have no interest in them.”
“But you do me?” he snorted.
“Yes,” she said and stared up into his eyes. Lilah was amazed that even sitting, he was taller than her.
How did she explain how she felt? Explain how her body melted at the sight of him; and it didn’t matter who was around, she only wanted to look at him.
“Is there another woman in your life?”
He jerked his head back. “What? Hell, no.”
“Are you gay?”
He sputtered out a no.
“Is it you don’t find me attractive?”
He stayed silent for so long it made her stomach tighten.
“No, you’re cute,” he said matter-of-factly and shrugged. He felt like shit when her expression tightened, and her smile disappeared. He watched her as she fought to find something to say.
“Okay, I get it.” Lilah took a few steps back. “I’m sorry if I bothered you or made you feel uncomfortable.”
Kaden tried reaching for her as he cursed at himself under his breath. She turned away so quickly he hadn’t had a chance.
His first reaction was to call her back. Then he thought that it was best to push her away at that time instead of her walking away from him later.
He knew his reason for pushing her away didn’t all have to do with his looks. The last girlfriend he’d had couldn’t handle his dominant behavior. She actually called him a bully for trying to take care of her the way he thought a man should.
The woman also didn’t like how physical he was, and she’d been five inches taller and about thirty pounds heavier than Lilah. There was no way that little woman would be able to handle him outside or inside in bed.
Kaden liked opening up the doors for women. Be it a vehicle door or structure. He liked knowing the food she ate came from him. Hell, sometimes he even liked feeding them from his hand. There was a certain intimacy in doing it.
He liked bathing them. The way their hair lay against their skin. Liked the feel of their smooth, silky skin as he washed them. Kaden wanted the woman to look to him for comfort, safety, and passion.
He knew he’d been born into the wrong decade. Nowadays, women wanted their own career. They’d rather have someone raise their children. Sometimes life made the choice for them, and they had to work to put food on the table. He’d be thrilled to have a wife who stayed home and took care of the house and children.
His dominance in the bedroom seemed to make women uncomfortable. He couldn’t change the way he was, and he didn’t want to if he could. He needed one hundred percent control in the bedroom. Anything else was unacceptable.
He watched her as she said goodbye to her friends and then walked out the front door. He knew he was the cause of her leaving and the way her shoulders drooped after talking to him. He sat and pondered it for a brief minute until he saw one of the other men in the bar watch her leave. The man then calmly, but suspiciously, walked out a side door. Something in his demeanor set off a red flag that made all of Kaden’s protective instincts flare.
Kaden dropped a few bills down and walked out the front. He didn’t want to talk to her, but he did want to make sure she got home.
Chapter Two
Cute? Lilah cringed. The way he said it made her sound like a kitten or a young girl instead of a woman. She’d never considered he saw her that way. Oh, she knew not everyone found her to be pretty, but still, she hated that he didn’t.
Damn, it hurt more than she ever imagined it could. She lifted her chin and tried to hide her devastated expression. She blew out a silent breath.
Lilah walked away from Kaden. Every step seemed to make her heart hurt a little bit more.
Addison looked at her friend and frowned. She looked toward where Kaden had been sitting but couldn’t see him through the crowd.
“I’m assuming it didn’t go well?” Addison asked.
Lilah shook her head. “You warned me.”
“Yeah, but I was hoping I was wrong.”
Lilah sighed. “Hey, listen, I’m not in the mood to stay. I’m going to head on home.”
“How about we take you?”
“No,” Lilah shook her head. “It’s only a few blocks away, and I’d like to get some air.”
Addison looked doubtful.
Lilah kissed her cheek. “Seriously. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Lilah waved at a few people and walked out the front door. She looked right and then left and started walking towards her small house. She hadn’t gone three feet before she was pulled into the alley between the bar and another building. He slammed her back up against the building and pinned her there with a hand against her chest.
She opened her mouth to scream, but the man put a hand over her mouth.
The man bent until his nose almost touched hers and spit out. “Shut the fuck up. I won’t hurt you if you stay quiet. If you scream, I’ll cut you up.”
Lilah couldn’t see a knife but nodded anyway. She whimpered when he started tearing at her clothes.
“Stop,” she whimpered as she tried to push his hands away from her. “Please, stop.”
“No, I’m sick of you ignoring me and acting like you’re better than I am.”
“I don’t even know you,” she cried out.
The man violently shoved her head up against the stone wall and put his face close to hers.
“That’s even worse,” he hissed against the side of her head. “I’ve tried to talk to you a few times, and you brush me off.”
She tried fighting when he tore at her jeans. He’d slap her and then go at them again.
She was fighting even though the back of her head, her face, and the other places he’d touched on her body felt like they were on fire. She ran her fingernails down his face.
That just made him howl in pain and then start hitting her harder until he was ripped from her.
Lilah watched the larger man lift her assailant by the throat and slam him against the stone. He did it again and again until the guy tried to yank Kaden’s hand from his neck and was choked.
&nb
sp; “I know who you are, you little prick. You’re going to pay for putting your hands on her.”
Lilah’s legs couldn’t hold her anymore and she slowly sank to the ground, pulled her legs to her chest, and laid her aching head on her knees.
She heard a thump and a little shuffling.
She whimpered and flinched when a hand touched her shoulder.
“Lilah, look at me.”
She kept her eyes down.
“Come on, baby. Look at me,” Kaden crooned. He vaguely saw the guy crawl away out of the corner of his eyes and then pick himself up and run. He wasn’t worried. He knew where to find him. His main concern was Lilah.
Lilah lifted her head. The light from the streetlamp put Kaden’s face in the shadows because his back was to them, but she knew from his voice and scent who it was.
“How badly are you hurt?”
Lilah shook her head and then moaned. She regretted it when it made her head throb worse.
“Will you let me carry you?”
“I just want to go home,” she croaked.
Kaden shook his head. “I think we need to go to the hospital.”
Lilah started trying to push him away, but it was like trying to move a boulder. The thought of having to go over the ordeal with people she worked with made her nauseous, and her anxiety level rose.
“How about we get your girlfriends?”
“No, I just want to go home,” she whimpered and then tried to rise.
Kaden gripped her shoulder tenderly and kept her in place.
“How about a compromise? I take you home and check you over; and if I find something, I think needs medical attention; we go to the E.R.”
Lilah looked up into his face and nodded and then raised her arms like a child would do to be picked up.
“You tell me if I’m hurting you,” he said and then gently pulled her into his arms and stood.
Lilah instantly curled her body around his, put her arms around his neck, and tucked her nose under his chin.
The attack was traumatizing, but at that moment, in Kaden’s arms, she’d never felt safer in her life.
***
Kaden closed his eyes at the feeling of having her in his arms. Her obvious trust in him twisted his guts into knots. He opened them as he started walking to his truck.