Page 3 of Her Demanding Biker (Savage Kings MC #9)

Chapter

Three

T alk about the past coming back to haunt you.

Or, me as the case may be.

I'd spent the last hour or two sitting at the end of the sofa watching the world play around me.

It was fascinating really, but it also taught me that I was the wrong age for this. Most of the women looked much younger than me.

I knew that Willow was in her early twenties, and I was a little jealous of her energy.

Of all of their energy!

There were women my age and older, but they were on the outskirts of the room. They seemed to have their place here. Their people.

I'd been invited by Willow, but I'd regretted accepting it.

Hanging out with Willow was one thing. Dinner with her and Diesel, I still had to smile when I thought of his name, I could do.

A group this big?

It felt like being thrown into the deep end of the pool to see if I could swim.

My dad did it and if it hadn't been for someone passing by the pool jumping in to drag me out, I don't know if I would be alive today.

A few adventurous men had come up to talk. A few of those had offered me drinks but backed off when I lowered my hands to my sides and they could see my pregnant belly.

Sitting on the couch it was easier to see when I didn't have my hands folded over it.

I had my fair share of soda and water, which was why as soon as I stood up, my bladder told me I had to go.

It added insult to injury that I had come face to face with the man I'd never been able to forget.

Logan Zane.

Even the name made my heart pound against my ribs.

At least it didn't make the baby roll over onto my bladder-

Oh.

I'd spoken too soon.

"Uh..."

I turned my head to look for Maggie, but she'd disappeared.

Hawk, too.

So I guess they'd gone off somewhere together.

I didn't need to ask why or what they were doing, that was obvious.

It had taken me all of a minute from the time I'd met them to know that they were crazy in love.

I wouldn't blame them for running off.

They were in love, and you have to hold onto those kinds of feelings in case you lose them.

I know how that went.

The man standing in front of me had been my first love.

He'd been my first lover.

And there were times when I was pretty damn sure he'd been the only man I'd really loved, but he'd left me.

No forwarding address.

Not even a goodbye.

Now, he was standing here in front of me, looking like he was happy to see me.

And the heart in my chest, stupid and naive as ever, was dancing around like Logan Zane hadn't ripped it out of my chest years ago.

The momentary shock of seeing him wore off sooner than I wanted it to.

I wanted to stand there and drink in the sight of him, but my baby and my bladder had other plans.

"I..."

"Arlys, I-"

I turned one way and then the other because I didn't remember where the bathroom was.

I took a couple steps in one direction before I felt his hand on my arm.

"Arlys?"

I shrugged his hand off and took a step away from him, ending up trapped between the little couch, the coffee table, and Logan.

He was close enough to touch.

Close enough to smell him.

Leather. Soap. And if wind had a scent, I imagine that's what I was smelling on him.

It was different from how he used to smell, but that was when she'd loved him. And when he'd left her behind.

The crowd in the room shifted and I saw my chance to get away.

"Excuse me," I took a step around the corner of the table and tried to pull my other leg around as fast as I could, but I misjudged the space and banged my shin against the corner of the table.

If I'd been left alone, I would have fallen to the floor, but before I'd even fallen to my knees, I was lifted up and set back down on my feet.

"Careful, honey."

Honey.

The memories that brought back were devastating.

They were full of hope and love and starry nights.

They were enough to tear my heart out again.

"Here. Hold still, let me take a look."

I wanted to shove his hands away and head to the bathroom, but pain was radiating through my leg along my shin.

I wasn't sure that I could stand, let alone walk until the sting went away and I could feel my foot enough to keep my balance.

Logan got down on one knee in front of me and his hand slipped under the hem of my skirt.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from gasping at the sudden and intimate contact.

And I reached out my hands for balance, accidentally coming into contact with his shoulders.

It took a second for me to realize that the body under his leather vest and Henley shirt was different, too.

In the Army, Logan had been lean and athletic. He'd had a sleek physique that I'd awkwardly likened to a racehorse. He'd moved with a kind of physical grace that I had always envied.

I'd often wondered what he was like now.

And now, I didn't have to wonder.

I could feel his strength under my hands and I knew I had to get my hands off of him as soon as possible because there were parts of me that couldn't seem to remember that he'd been the one to break my heart into a million pieces.

Those traitorous parts wanted him to sweep me off of my feet and let me strip him out of his clothes to get a better view of the man he'd become.

I was apparently enjoying the rush of hormones that came with the second trimester of pregnancy.

My body wanted stupid things.

I just had to hold back and remember that I'd moved here to have a better life.

To have my own life.

Not to jump back into the past.

But there he was, my first love, down on his knees, lifting up the hem of my skirt.

My... my lady bits didn't know that I should hate him.

They had apparently developed connections from the nerves in my legs straight up to you-know-where.

"You're bleeding."

Talk about crashing down into reality.

I bent at the waist to look down to see what he was talking about.

Before my brain could get into gear, I saw him look up and I was suddenly less than an inch away from kissing him.

Kissing Logan 'Runaway Boyfriend' Zane!

All I had to do was lean in a tiny bit or if he moved closer to me it would be all kinds of stupid, so I did the only thing that my addled brain could think of.

I spoke the truth.

"I need to pee."

Oh yeah. That was going down in my list of TOP TEN SEXIEST THINGS I'VE EVER SAID.

"You need to..."

"Pee." I nodded to make my point. "If I don't get to the bathroom soon, it's going to get really messy in here."

Honestly?

I expected him to break some kind of land-speed record moving away from me.

Men might sidle up to fancy troughs in their bathrooms to pee, but I really doubted that Logan thought a woman talking about bathroom stuff was hot.

What I got was something so far in right field, I wasn't sure that I was still awake and not in some kind of second-hand smoke induced psychedelic dream.

In one smooth, awe-inspiring move, Logan got up on both feet and swept me up into his arms.

The teenage me would have fainted for joy at that moment.

The current me?

I dropped my chin to my chest and turned to hide my face in his shoulder.

I had no idea how he managed to carry me through the crowded room and not have my feet end up in someone's face, but he did.

And when I heard a door hinge creak in my ear I looked up and saw that we were in a smaller, private room.

The air conditioning was like a dream, cooling my skin instantly.

Logan turned and I felt him kick his leg out a moment before I saw the door close.

"You can go to the bathroom in here."

He moved across the room to the other door on the far wall and set me down on my feet.

I prayed that my leg had recovered enough feeling to keep me from falling on my face, but no.

I wasn't that lucky.

The instant I tried to put my weight on both feet at the same time, I started to topple like a tree cut off at the base.

Logan was ready for it, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. He walked me inside, holding me steady.

"You think you've got this from here?"

I heard the smile in his voice, and I wanted to clock him across the face for the humor he'd found in my predicament.

"If not," he moved his hand from my shoulder and a moment later I felt the palm of his hand on my waist, "I can close my eyes and hold you."

'You are not help-ing!' My inner voice at odd moments sounded suspiciously like Evie from the Mummy films. There was something about Rachel Weisz' sing-song tone of mild irritation that seemed to be the exact tone of her thoughts.

"There is no way I'm letting you stand in the bathroom while I pee!"

Logan's laughter filled her ears and as much as I wanted to kick him for it, part of me had to admit that his voice and especially his laughter always made me feel warm all over.

Yes, all over.

"Okay, okay." He loosened the hold he had on me, and I found that I had almost all of the feeling back in my foot. "I think you're okay now, but if you want," he leaned in and I could smell the soft scent of his fabric softener on his Henley shirt, "I can help you take off your panties and- Ow!"

"I don't need your help with that," I was drawing that line toot suite! If I let Logan anywhere near my panties-

"Out!" I gave him a little nudge with my shoulder, and I almost fell over, catching myself on the wall beside the door. "I can go to the bathroom by myself."

Logan gave me a look, and I was chicken enough not to meet his gaze.

"I'll be outside if... if you need me."

It was on the tip of my tongue to say a few, off-color things, but instead, I just slid the pocket door closed and barely managed to juggle my skirt up and my panties down before I made a horribly embarrassing mistake.

W hen I opened the door again, I expected to find the room empty.

Sure he said he'd be outside, but Logan had said a lot of things to me that he hadn't meant.

So when I saw him standing there in the middle of the room, my step faltered a little.

It might have been my imagination, but I thought I saw the expression on his face look a little... awkward.

Hesitant.

I was hoping I'd seen it right out of the corner of my eye.

After all, I didn't want to be the only person feeling all kinds of awkward here.

"Have a seat."

I turned my head, following the gesture he made with his arm and saw that he'd put what looked like a First Aid kit on the bed.

"Let me look at your leg," he offered. "I think it might be bleeding."

That was enough to ensure that I was compliant.

I hated blood.

It didn't matter if it was real or fake blood in a movie or in a TV show.

If it was red and liquid, it was a no-go.

I could already feel the bile rising up in my throat.

So I sat down, trying to ignore that the bed under my butt was his bed.

Because if I let my head come to grips with that fact, my hormones might just make me burst into flames.

Yeah, I need to find a way to order something battery operated for my nightstand.

I'd never been someone who craved sex.

When I was married, I was more than happy to avoid that topic and act altogether, but just a few minutes around Logan and I was ready to order one of those crazy little gadgets that was always popping up in my Facebook feed!

"Here," his voice dragged me back into the moment, and I heard the soft scrape of chair legs across the floor.

Logan sat down on the chair and reached down.

I must have tensed up immediately because I heard him laughing as he lifted my leg up and set it across his thigh.

Feeling his worn denim under my calf shouldn't make me feel like I needed to climb up into his lap, but here I was, gripping the blanket on either side of my thighs and hoping that I didn't burst into flames with the innocent contact.

Yeah.

Right.

Innocent.

Nothing I felt for Logan back then or now was innocent.

Well, maybe part of it, but I'd fallen out of love with him a long time ago.

This was just about scratching an itch.

Right?

Right.

Aw hell.

I was weak.

I was going to blame it on the hormones.

It had to be the hormones because I wasn't going to fall for Logan Zane again!

And knowing him, he didn't want me either.