23. Haylee

After going over the rules, Kane made dinner. He grilled steaks and made a spinach salad for the side. After dinner, he drew her a bath, leaving her to bathe herself, and then tucked her in at bedtime. She didn't know what she was expecting after she agreed to be his Little, but it wasn't that. She had expected fireworks or at least something kinky. But it was just a typical routine night. Not that it was a bad thing. He kissed her on the lips before he left her room and had even deepened the kiss a bit. She didn't want to feel disappointed by the mundane evening because he was the same caring, sweet guy he had been since the first day they'd met. For some reason, though, she thought he would go all Dom on her as soon as she'd agreed to be his Little.

The following day, she woke up, dressed in a pair of leggings and an oversized shirt, and padded toward the bathroom. After taking care of things and washing her hands, she walked out and nearly ran into Kane as he stood dead center in the hallway in front of the bathroom door. He reached out quickly, grasping her by the hips to steady her.

"Whoa, baby alligator. You okay?"

Well, she was… before walking straight into the sexiest man she'd ever met… while looking like a sleepy wreck. When she'd glanced in the mirror while washing her hands, she'd winced at the sight of her wild hair, going every which way.

"Uh… yeah. I'm good. Hi."

His eyes darkened with arousal as he took her in from head to toe. He looked at her like she was prime rib and he was a starving man.

"Sleep good, baby? I made breakfast. Come on, let's go eat."

He picked her up effortlessly, settling her on his hip as he walked down the stairs. She was limp in his arms, unsure of what to do until his free arm reached for her leg and pulled it up around his waist.

"You don't have to carry me."

He ignored her and continued to the kitchen, settling her down at the table. Almost instantly, a green-and-white plate with alligators printed on it was set in front of her, holding pieces of toast cut into strips, along with a matching sippy cup.

She stared at them, feeling a warm sensation run through her. She loved stuff like that. Cute plates and cute cutlery. Tim would have died if she'd had any of that in his house. She'd had some plain, cute dishes in college that she'd gotten for cheap from IKEA. They didn't have prints on them, but they were all plastic and had made her feel happy when she ate out of them. When she moved in with Tim, he told her to get rid of them.

"Eat up, baby. Do you want Daddy to feed you?"

She looked up at him, unsure if she should say yes, that she wanted that very much. It wouldn't be all that weird. He'd already fed her several times. Yet asking for it was a whole other story. He'd taken it upon himself to feed her before. She didn't have a say in that. She liked not having a say in it.

Kane's phone ringing interrupted them.

"Start eating, little girl," he said, pointing toward her plate as he answered the phone.

"Yeah?" he barked.

"What did it say?… How long ago?… Where?… Are you fucking kidding me?"

Haylee took a bite of the toast but quickly lost interest as his tone became so agitated that she lost her appetite. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. Kane hung up the phone and turned toward her, his face turned to hard steel.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

She was pretty sure she didn't want to know but needed to know. Kane muttered something under his breath, closing his eyes for a brief moment before opening them and training his face to a less scary expression. She knew he was putting on a mask for her, and she didn't like it.

"Tell me. I can handle it," she said quietly.

He took in a deep breath and walked over to the table, sitting in the chair next to hers. He picked up a piece of her toast and held it up to her lips.

"Open for Daddy."

She stared at him blankly. Why was he ignoring her question? He furrowed his brow at her, and she quickly opened her mouth for a bite. His eyes watched her with such intensity that she had to lower her gaze from his. Something was wrong.

"Open," he said again, holding another piece up to her mouth.

"Tell me," she whispered.

"Open for a bite, Haylee."

"Kane…"

"Take a bite."

"Daddy!"

Her eyes went wide, as did his at her calling him Daddy. She shocked herself with the force she had behind it as well. She wasn't usually so demanding.

"What, baby?"

"Tell me what's wrong."

Kane put the piece of toast down and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs.

"That was my friend Ian. He's a tech expert, and I sent him your phone to check for any tracking devices. He also set up his own tracking devices on it so that if there were any more calls or texts from that lowlife, Ian would be able to see the location the call was coming from. Tim sent a text this morning. His location was tracked to Bend."

The room suddenly felt as though it was closing in on her, and all the air whooshed out of her lungs. Everything began to blur as she started breathing so heavily that she couldn't even catch her breath. Kane jumped out of his seat, kneeling down in front of her.

"Haylee, breathe. Slow breaths. Slow, baby. One in, one out. Deep breath in and deep breath out. Good girl. Look at Daddy—focus on me."

She looked at his face, his strong jawline, the softness of his lips, and reached out, touching the scratchiness of his beard. His eyes were darker than usual as he stared back at her, murmuring soft things until her breathing became normal again.

"That's my girl. Where's your alligator? Did you name him yet?"

"He's up in my bed. His name is Virgil."

Kane looked at her incredulously, his lips twitching at the corners. "You named your alligator Virgil?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh."

She could tell he was trying very hard not to smile, and she didn't know what he found so amusing about the name she chose.

"Why did you name him Virgil, baby?"

"What's wrong with Virgil? He looks like a Virgil! Are you making fun of his name?"

Okay, she knew she sounded like a temperamental child, but why would he make fun of her new stuffy's name? It was a good name. She glared at him, sticking her bottom lip out. Kane schooled his face and just began to nod.

"You're right, baby. Virgil is a great name. Do you want me to go get him for you to hold?"

Oh right… Tim. Shit.

"What am I going to do? He's going to find me. He said he's going to kill me."

Her voice continued getting higher until she was near hysteria.

"Haylee, baby, I am not going to let him anywhere near you. I will protect you. We have several people outside of the house to protect you. He might come and try to sniff his way around the town, trying to find you, but he won't be able to. The only people who know you're here are us, Luke and Ally, and my brother's security team. He will sniff and not find anything, and then he will either return to California or go back to Texas and get arrested if he doesn't get arrested before that. So right now, Daddy needs you to calm down and trust that he will keep you safe. Can you do that for me?"

She thought about his words and realized he was right. No one else knew she was there, and Tim wouldn't stand a chance against Kane. He could probably take him down with one finger. She nodded, tears filling her eyes. She hated this. She wanted this nightmare to be over so she could focus on whatever was happening between her and Kane.

Noticing her wet eyes, he picked her up from the chair and carried her to the couch, bringing her sippy cup along with them. He cradled her in the crook of his arm so she was faceup, looking up at him. He hummed a lullaby and gently rocked her against him. His gaze was complete adoration and care when he looked down at her, and she melted for it.

A while after her tears dried, he held up the sippy cup to her mouth. She eyed it, unsure if it was something she wanted to try. Opening her mouth, taking in the plastic spout, she drank the grape juice down. It felt awkward at first, but she forced herself to relax as she took in more liquid.

Kane wants this too. He doesn't think you're weird.

"Good girl," he crooned as he pulled the cup from her lips.

Those words could pretty much get her to do anything. She loved hearing it from him.

"You're safe with Daddy. I will take care of you. Doesn't mean you won't worry, but when you do worry, I want you to tell yourself that Daddy will protect you and take care of you. Okay?"

Nodding her head, she touched his beard again. She loved his beard. It soothed her for some reason, despite the prickliness of it.

"Good. Do you want to color for a bit while Daddy works?"

"Yes, please. I didn't finish the picture I was coloring for you yesterday."

Kane stood, carrying her with him. "What kind of picture were you coloring?"

She gave him an innocently sweet look. "I can't tell you, Daddy. It's a surprise."

"Oh. Okay. A surprise, huh… Well, I can't wait to see it."

Kane helped her carry the stack of coloring books and colored pencils downstairs that Ally had brought her, along with Virgil, to keep her company. He got her settled on the floor with her supplies and went to his desk. She tried to be extra careful to stay in the lines of her artwork. When she finished it, she got up and took it to Kane proudly.

"What is this?" he asked, using that Daddy voice she'd heard before that made her melt.

"It's for you! It's an alligator."

Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her in between his legs so she was standing in front of him. Even with him sitting, his head was even with hers.

"I see it's an alligator. You did such a good job. I love the colors, and you did so good at staying in the lines, baby. I'm going to hang this in here."

He found some pushpins and pinned them to a corkboard that hung on the wall. She couldn't help but beam proudly at it.

"I think we are starting an alligator theme in the house."

She giggled. "I'm surprised you don't have alligator heads mounted on the walls, Daddy."

He turned toward her, his eyes intense, and then he smiled, the most mischievous smile she'd ever seen on him.

"I'm giving up alligator wrestling. There's only one baby alligator I want to wrestle with, but right now, I'm going to tickle her."

Haylee screamed, running from his office, giggling wildly.

"No running!"

She barely got into the hall before he snatched her up and began tickling her. She squealed and squirmed, kicking her legs.

"Okay! Okay! Mercy, Daddy! Mercy!"

He stopped tickling her immediately and grinned down at her, his arms still wrapped around her body.

"You are so adorable, my baby girl. My baby alligator."