Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

S udden weightlessness was immediately followed by extreme gravity. There was no time or space for heroic actions. With her arms and legs still wrapped around him and Demo still inside her, there was little Demo could have done anyway. In her surprise and fear, Paige let out a shriek and locked her limbs around him tighter. This action was their only saving grace.

On instinct, Demo stiffened his arms and bent his knees up under her butt. All he could do was brace for impact. Though the massage table had a mattress, it was still a jarring landing. The broken wood beneath created an uneven surface that the mattress barely padded.

Demo’s hands and knees hit the floor. Hard.

There was a solid, heart stopping second following their descent in which Demo’s mind processed what had just happened—and then his left shoulder buckled out from under him.

Demo rolled to the left, once more hitting his shoulder with his body weight. His cock slipped free from Paige’s body as they rolled. She let out a squeal at their next sudden movement. Her arms and legs were still wrapped around him like a koala.

Demo had to bite back a shout of pain. His entire arm, shoulder, and the left side of his neck felt like it was on fire. Muscles twitched uncontrollably and he wasn’t even sure his fingers had survived the impact.

Still, his priority was the woman at his chest. His arm could fall off for all he cared. Using his right hand, he moved her unruly curls out of her face so he could see her properly.

“Fuck, Paige, are you okay?” he gasped out.

Shaken, Paige nodded. “I think so.” She clutched him tighter for a second before releasing her hold and scooting back from him. Doing so took her weight off of his left arm and caused a new wave of pain to radiate out from his shoulder.

The broken frame of the massage table made a makeshift boat for them. They were in a divot on the mattress with pieces of wood stuck up around them on all sides. As far as Demo could feel, none of the sharp and splinted edges penetrated the mattress.

Paige could only move back a few inches from him. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the mess around and under them. Her body started to shake and it wasn’t until he saw the suppressed smile on her face that he realized her body was shaking from laughter, not shock. “Oh God!” she burst out, arms around her middle as if she was trying to keep her laughter in. “Are you okay?”

“Peachy,” he growled out. He couldn’t fault her for laughing. The whole thing was pretty funny, but he had a hard time joining her when his shoulder felt like it was being held over an open flame.

“I’m sorry,” she tried to stifle her amusement. Her eyes were concerned as she gave him a once over. “Is it your shoulder?”

Reluctantly, he nodded. This was not how he wanted the first time they made love to have ended. Though no one could claim it wouldn’t be memorable.

Paige moved to her knees, seeming unaware or unconcerned with her nudity. Despite the pain coursing through him, Demo took in his fill of her lovely body. “I’m not laughing at you, I promise,” she assured him.

“Careful,” he cautioned as she moved around. Just because no larger pieces hadn’t penetrated the mattress and impaled them like a shish kebab didn’t mean there weren’t smaller splinters or shards around. He didn’t want Paige to get stuck and injure herself.

She ignored his warning. “Can you sit up? Do I need to call for help?”

Fuck. No.

Since there was no other alternative, Demo gritted his teeth and used his right hand to balance himself as he rose. The pain was immense but survivable. He just needed to remember how to breathe, dammit. What would not be survivable would be having Paige call for help and have either his brothers or an ambulance witness him splayed out on the floor in a virtual cradle of the broken massage table with a used condom still hanging off of his dick.

Knowing his brothers, pictures would be taken before any help would be administered.

Demo was not having them see Paige naked either. He didn’t care if he trusted them with his life or hers. There were some things that were for his eyes only.

With Paige’s guiding hand, Demo was able to shift his weight and hips enough to sit up. One of the table legs was still mostly upright. He had no idea if it was sturdy enough, but he needed the support.

Paige shifted around to his left side and started to examine his arm. Demo tried to hold in the grunts of pain, but every uncontrollable twitch felt like a hot poker being jammed into his joint.

“You know,” she said drily as she ran her witchy fingers over his skin, “if you wanted free treatments, you could have just asked. Seducing me seems a bit extreme.”

Demo grunted out a snort. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

He glanced at her. Paige was holding his arm out, pressing it back against her chest as she carefully and expertly rotated his shoulder joint.

There was a pause in which one could have heard a pin drop—and then both of them started laughing.

It took some time, but eventually they were able to get themselves up and dressed. The table itself was a complete goner. If it wasn’t for his injured shoulder, Demo was pretty sure Paige would have smacked his arm when he suggested they take a selfie in front of it to memorialize the first time they’d had sex.

“Men!” she scoffed before heading off to the back room to find a broom.

Demo pulled out his phone and summoned two prospects to bring a truck. The club could use the frame for tinder during their bonfires. It wasn’t like Paige would be able to glue it back together.

When she reentered the room with a broom, dustpan, and some Terry rags—for reasons Demo had no clue—he turned his phone around to show her a massage table he found online. “Is this like what you had?”

Her eyes narrowed on the phone. “I don’t need you to buy me a replacement table. It would be a business expense anyway?—”

Demo raised an eyebrow and stopped himself from informing her that he was very aware of what did and did not count as a business expense. “I’m not asking if this is what you need as a replacement. I’m asking if this is like what you had.”

Suspicious, she looked closer at the phone. “Thereabouts. Obviously mine didn’t have a stainless steel frame. That one,” she nodded at the phone, “is a little wider too.”

“Excellent.” Demo turned the phone back around. He was only able to use his right hand at the moment. Paige had a heating pad currently attached to his left shoulder and some minty cream. In an hour, she planned on using her needles of witchcraft to relieve some of the tension but wanted to apply heat first. “And…ordered.”

Paige rounded on him from where she’d started sweeping up splinters. “Demo! I told you, I don’t need you to buy me a replacement table!”

“I didn’t,” he said in all innocence. “I learned my lesson about buying you things without talking to you first.”

“Then why did you just buy me a new massage table? The stainless steel ones are a lot more expensive.”

“Yeah. Some of those mechanical ones were like fifteen hundred!” he exclaimed. “Thankfully, the one I got was only around four hundred and is even foldable. It’ll be at your house in a few days.”

“What—” Paige paused. “My house? Why would you have a new massage table go to my house?”

“Well,” he put his phone back in his front jeans pocket, “I assume you’re going to be buying a replacement table similar to the one we just destroyed for here. There is no way in hell we are never doing this,” he pointed between the two of them, “again. Fuck no. I don’t know about you, but that was the best sex of my life.”

Her rosy cheeks answered that rhetorical question for her, to which Demo felt a surge of masculine pride. Fuck, he loved making her blush.

“So I got us a massage table for your house. One that’s a lot sturdier and can handle all the pounding I plan on us doing on it.”

Paige’s expression was a mixture of lust and aghast. “I feel like I should scold you for the audacity of ordering us a sex table,” she emphasized the change of category, “or being so turned on that I suggest we go into the other therapy room and test out the sturdiness of that table.”

Demo gave a full belly laugh. He snagged her around her waist and brought her to his chest. “Fuck, Paige Hannigan, where have you been all my life? How could you have been right under my nose this whole time? I feel so blind and stupid for having not realized how utterly perfect you are.”

“I’m not perfect,” she corrected with a note of sadness in her voice. “But I am pretty awesome.”

“Fuck yeah, you are,” he agreed before bending to claim her lips.

Pounding on the clinic’s front door interrupted them before he could deepen it. Demo’s head shot up with a scowl.

Paige giggled, patted his chest, and then headed to answer the door.

After Paige worked her witchy magic, his shoulder felt better but not great. News of their romantic moment in the diner had spread through the club like wildfire. All of the ol’ ladies kept asking Demo to “describe the moment” to them and then looked utterly disappointed when all he would say was “we made out like teenagers before fucking like rabbits”. Despite his crude words, Paige laughed anytime she heard them and then would take over the story. Somehow, she always seemed to add more detail than Demo remembered.

Demo’s club brothers would not let the broken massage table go and Demo couldn’t help the surge of pride whenever it was mentioned. He may or may not have exaggerated the stability of the table prior to its breakage.

The two had created a routine of sorts over the next week or so. Paige was not yet comfortable with Demo sleeping over at her house with the boys. Demo understood it but wasn’t happy about it. However, he would never overstep or pressure Paige into doing something she wasn’t ready to do or didn’t feel the boys were ready for. That did not stop them from taking advantage of their new massage table during the boys’ naptime or in the small gap of time they had from when they arrived at Paige’s house to when the boys were going to be dropped off by their grandparents. It just meant that their time was more limited and Demo had to drive back to the clubhouse each night before rising early to meet them for breakfast.

It was Demo’s hope that the more he was around the boys, the more Paige and they would get comfortable with his new presence in their lives. Declarations of love aside, he could still see the hesitation in Paige’s eyes. They’d only been dating for two weeks. It was going to take time to get her to trust him with more than just her body.

Demo was fine with that. He could handle late-nights and early-mornings with lots of extra driving if it got her to finally believe he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d come to realize that Richard had abandoned Paige in their marriage long before the club had captured and killed him.

After purchasing the required car seats, Demo had started chauffeuring Paige and the boys around too. First, because taking her to and from work and the boys to and from Cindy’s house gave them all extra time together. But also because Demo wanted to contribute in a small way to her financial situation. Him driving meant she didn’t need to pay for gas and it was less wear and tear on her cage. He already felt guilty enough for keeping the fact that he was paying for her electric bill a secret. Mind, when he’d done it, he hadn’t been in love with her and had thought nothing of having Keys intercept her call to the electric company to discover she had a credit instead of an overdue amount.

Susan Black had also gotten Paige in touch with a lawyer who claimed to take her case on pro bono when, in fact, Demo was paying the bill. He made it very clear that she was the client and he was just the money. All decisions were Paige’s and Paige’s alone.

Based on Thad’s and Clifton’s threatening voicemails, Paige was able to secure a restraining order against her stepfather and her stepbrother. Once the order was approved by a judge, it would be served within the week and included virtual contact.

Demo encouraged her not to give a dime to her stepfamily unless they could provide a contract that stated the money they had given Richard was a loan and not a gift. He made sure she understood that, unless she had signed the contract, she was not liable for Richard’s debt regardless of marital status.

Since she was currently in the process of serving a restraining order against her stepfamily, it wasn’t like Paige could call them to ask for such a contract. She told him her fear was, if there was a contract, that Richard had forged her signature as she’d discovered he’d done on other occasions. Like their second mortgage that had not been done through a reputable bank.

As the Barringtons were currently facing an investigation for embezzlement that Keys promised he had not fabricated but may have clued the authorities in on, they had more pressing matters than coming after Paige for Richard’s debt. Her stepfather could be facing up to twenty years in jail if found guilty. While they might still try to get Paige to pay Richard’s debt to help them with legal fees or to keep up with their lifestyle, the threat of having her boys taken away was now just empty words. They had nothing to hold over her.

Once Paige learned of this, she would be able to take the money she’d been putting aside to pay back her stepfamily and apply it towards her current financial needs. It wouldn’t fix everything, but it was certainly a start.

The acupuncture clinic, with its new massage table, was holding steady thanks to its new clientele and increased appointments. To the point where Paige was no longer able to keep running it on her own. After discovering that her former receptionist had understandably already taken another job, Abby stepped up and offered to help out.

Bulldog was both thrilled and concerned about her decision, but never uttered a word of his reservations to Abby. There was no doubt in Demo’s mind that she still knew about them though. Those two were always on the same brain wave.

Abby was starting out slow on a part-time basis. She would help with organizing files, answering the phone, and greeting patients as they came and went. With no work experience, Abby was having to learn certain things from scratch. But she was a fast learner and wanted to expand her circle outside of the club.

And since Abby was working, Paige’s clinic got a new bodyguard in the form of a very overprotective, hovering Bulldog. Demo certainly was okay with that.

It amazed her how seamlessly Demo had inserted himself into their lives. After the wreck that had been her marriage, Paige would have thought it would take longer. But it was like he was the missing piece of her family. He hadn’t molded himself or changed her to fit the puzzle. He just fit . All on his own.

Demo didn’t hold it against her that she had two boys from a failed marriage. From what she could see, he loved being around them. He’d even hinted at maybe having more kids one day. Paige wasn’t sure she was up for that. Not that she didn’t want to have a larger family. The idea of having kids with Demo was tempting, but she wouldn’t be able to do so until she had her finances back under control.

If she could just pay off her debts, maybe she could sell this damn house. Even if she took a small loss or just broke even, she’d consider it a win.

Paige didn’t know where she would move to. She knew Jasmine lived in an apartment complex in town. Maybe there would be availability there for her and the boys. Demo lived in the clubhouse, so it wasn’t like they could move in with him.

This ridiculous house didn’t even have a backyard for the boys to play in. It was all driveway and fancy porches.

Tires on the drive caught her attention as she was washing the dishes after putting the boys to bed. Paige frowned, wondering if Demo had forgotten something. He’d left for the night about a half hour ago.

The first time Demo had come over in the morning to drive the boys to Cindy’s and her to work, he’d been angry that she’d unlocked her front door prior to him arriving. He’d texted he was on his way and Paige had figured that was the courteous thing to do since she might be busy with the boys when he arrived. But she’d learned quickly that it was not the safest thing to do, and Demo was all about her safety.

She’d offered him a spare key, but he’d refused that too. Somehow, he’d instinctively known she wasn’t a hundred-percent comfortable with the idea and had only been offering because she thought it was the polite thing to do. Feelings and sex aside, Paige was not ready to move their relationship along any faster. For both her and the boys’ sakes, she liked how things were for now. Maybe in a few months, she would reconsider.

Hell, maybe in a few months there would be a For Sale sign on her front lawn.

Therefore, Demo sometimes had to wait for her to get to the door after arriving. He claimed he didn’t mind, as it kept her and the boys safe and gave her peace of mind. Still, on some of the days that it took her longer to get to the door, she felt a bit guilty.

After drying her hands, Paige headed to the front door to wait as he parked and then headed up the porch steps. Demo didn’t ring the doorbell or knock. He always sent her a text when he had arrived in case the boys were still sleeping, as they were now.

Without waiting for a text, Paige opened the door—and then froze. It wasn’t Demo standing on her front porch.

Demo parked outside the clubhouse and strode inside. It was only nine-ish at night. He would have loved to stay at Paige’s but could tell she was exhausted. He tried to get her to sit down so he could wash the dishes, but she flat-out refused. Stubborn woman. Demo figured the least he could do was leave so she could get to bed earlier. He loved their sensual late nights together, but not at the cost of her getting a good night’s sleep.

He wanted his presence in her life to make things easier on her, not harder.

There wasn’t much going on in the clubhouse these days after dark. The members with kids were already in their individual homes and the singles were at Demon’s . Demo wasn’t sure he liked a quiet clubhouse. He didn’t miss the partying itself, but maybe the atmosphere. He wasn’t really sure.

Wandering down the hall to the apartments, he spotted Pumpkin pacing with SJ in his arms. Demo approached his friend.

Pumpkin gave him a chin lift but did not stop his pacing or jostling. When Demo peered over his crooked arm to see if SJ was asleep, Pumpkin said, “You can talk. Kid can sleep through anything once he’s actually asleep. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to want to sleep in his crib right now. Cries every time I put him down but goes right to sleep when I hold him.”

Demo frowned. “So how are you supposed to get to sleep?”

“No clue. When I figure it out, I’ll let you know,” Pumpkin answered dryly. “If he keeps it up, though, I might have to go to the ladies. I can’t keep working the heavy machinery at the shop on only a couple hours sleep.”

Pumpkin worked at Grumpy’s auto garage. He was a CDL driver and drove their tow trucks or flat beds as needed.

Demo leaned back against the wall next to his apartment door frame. “Do you miss it?”

Pumpkin raised an eyebrow. “Sleep? Fuck, yes.”

Demo snorted. “I meant being single. This time last year, this place would have had a party raging all night. Now it’s empty and quiet, and it’s not even ten o’clock yet!”

Pumpkin continued his pacing. “I miss some of it,” he said carefully. “Hell, you saw me those first few days after Bear told me I was going to be a dad. I did not take the news well.”

That was an understatement if he ever heard one. If Angel hadn’t talked Pumpkin off the ledge, Demo wasn’t sure what Pumpkin might have done.

“But,” Pumpkin went on, “more than missing how it was, what I don’t like the most is how it feels like the club’s divided right now. The singles versus the couples. We all have different priorities now. It’s not all fun and games anymore.”

“Not necessarily a bad thing,” Demo commented, thinking about Paige and the boys.

“It’s not,” Pumpkin agreed. “It’s just different. The club’s expanding and we’re hitting some growing pains right now until we figure out what our new normal is.”

He had a fair enough point. Hell, a month ago, Demo would have never dreamed or considered that he was going to be counted amongst ‘the couples’.

“Why do you ask?” Pumpkin inquired, still pacing. Demo saw his eyes narrow. “Why are you back so early? Is everything okay with Paige?”

“Everything’s fine,” Demo insisted with a wave of his hand. “She was exhausted and I felt bad about keeping her up so late all the time when she has work in the mornings. I was just thinking as I walked into the clubhouse that it was too quiet.”

Pumpkin nodded. “I do miss the noise. You know how people make soundtracks of city noises when they move out to the country? Maybe I should make a recording of a good party and?—”

Usher’s Yeah! interrupted Pumpkin’s grand plan. It took Demo a minute to realize that the noise was coming from his pocket. He pulled out his phone to see that Paige was calling him.

“Scotty get ahold of your phone?” Pumpkin chuckled.

No doubt. The goofy teen was always changing the club members’ ringtones on them. He used to only do it to Lucky’s and Sissy’s phones but had expanded to the other club members since teaming up with Lila.

Clearing his throat, Demo answered the phone in a sultry voice, “What are you wearing, beautiful?” There was a long pause. Long enough for Demo to pull the phone back from his ear to see if the call was still connected. It was. Demo put it back to his ear, asking, “Paige?”

A little voice came over the line. “Is this Demo?”

Demo’s blood ran cold at the fear in Mikey’s voice. “It’s me, Mikey. What’s wrong?” He caught Pumpkin’s eye and mouthed for him to call Bulldog. As soon as he got Pumpkin’s nod, Demo started running for the front doors.

“A scary man is here.”

Fury ran through him. He’d left them less than an hour ago! What the fuck?! Demo jumped behind the wheel of his Bronco. “Mikey, where’s Nelly Bean?”

“Asleep. We’re in our room.”

Thank God for small favors. “Mikey, I need you to take the chair that’s in the corner of your room. I know it’s heavy so you’re going to have to be really strong for me. I need you to push it in front of the door. Can you do that?”

There was a small, “Ah-huh.”

“Where’s your mom?”

“Downstairs with the scary man.” Demo could hear the faint huffing and puffing of the boy trying to push the chair across the carpet to the door.

“Did you recognize him?” Demo pulled onto the main drive and immediately gunned it. Unlike some of his other club members, Demo didn’t normally carry a weapon on him in a hip or shoulder holster. But he did have a gun in a lockbox under his seat just in case.

“No,” Mikey whined, like he was in trouble.

“That’s fine,” Demo assured him. The scary man was dead regardless, but Demo wasn’t going to tell the boy that. He caught sight of headlights behind him and recognized Angel’s white Traverse. “Mikey, you’re doing really well. I need you to do me two big favors. Can you do that?”

“Yeah!”

“I need you to place the phone as close to the door as possible. Leave the call connected and put it on speaker. Just put it by the crack under the door and leave it there. After that,” Demo added quickly, “I need you to get Nelly Bean and hide both of you in the closet. Can you do that for me, Mikey? Can you put the phone down and then go hide?”

Mikey’s fearful voice cracked as he answered, “I think so.”

“Good boy. You’re doing great! I am so proud of you.”

“Are you going to save my mom?”

Fuck, yes, I am . “Absolutely. I’m almost there.”

“Okay. I’m putting the phone down now.”

“Put it on speaker,” Demo reminded him. “And, Mikey, you were very brave to call me. You did good.”

“Thanks, Demo,” he muttered. Then Demo heard the scraping sounds of the phone being put down and the pitter-patter of small feet walking away.

Voices carried over the line. Nothing intelligible, but two very distinct voices. One male, one female. Paige was still alive.

Demo had been concentrating so hard on Mikey and keeping him calm that he hadn’t allowed himself to consider the possibility of what was happening to Paige at that moment. There were fates worse than death, but Demo would never allow it to come to that. No matter what happened, Paige would survive and he would love her nonetheless.

Any alternative was unthinkable.

He made a sharp turn into Paige’s driveway. He saw the porch light was still on and her front door was partly open. Through the shades on the living room windows, he saw two adult silhouettes standing very close to the other.

Demo pulled his wheel sharply to the left, blocking in the Mercedes parked in her driveway. Angel’s Traverse pulled up behind him, but it was Bulldog and Bear who jumped out. Demo didn’t pause to ask why they were in Angel’s cage. He grabbed out his SIG M17 from the lockbox below his seat and ran for Paige’s house.