Well, since she was here, she might as well make use of her time. She pulled out her lipstick camera and slid it through the crack in the door. She took a few shots of Rex fondling Portia’s breasts and sighed. Breast fondling was good but her 15 percent bonus hinged on Rex’s full nudity. She silently urged Rex to get on with it, not that she wanted to see him naked, but why waste time?
Sweat trickled down her back. Did the locker have its own heater? Even her palms were slick. She twisted in the locker and repositioned herself to get a better angle and a breath of fresh air. The camera slipped from her sweaty fingers and crashed to the floor. Lana squeezed her eyes shut and willed the ground to swallow her up.
Boots thudded across the concrete floor, and the locker door banged open, sending a rush of cool air over her heated cheeks. Seconds later, a hand clamped around Lana’s arm and yanked her out of the locker. She fell forward, landing at Rex’s feet.
“Wildcat.” The pure-carnal delight in Rex’s voice turned her knees to jelly.
Lana’s pulse raced and her mouth went dry. “I…got lost on my way to the restroom, and was just leaving when I saw you coming, and I panicked and hid. I’m sorry. Really sorry. I’ll just be on my way.” Her words tumbled over each other in a garbled rush of sound. She scrambled backward, crab-walking at top speed across the floor. Not fast enough. Rex grabbed a fistful of her hair and hauled her to her feet.
“I knew you were wild,” he hissed in her ear. “And I know why you’re here. Ice isn’t enough for you. You want a real man.”
She pressed her lips together, willing herself to be silent while all manner of sarcastic retorts tumbled over her tongue.
He jerked his chin at Portia. “You. Out.”
Portia shot Lana a dirty look and tugged on her clothes in less than a minute: a bra, a white spandex dress and a pair of four-inch white stilettos. Lana made a mental note to wear less so she could dress faster in the morning.
“Wait.” Lana tried to free her hair from Rex’s grip and succeeded only in having him twist it more firmly around his hand. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll leave you two alone.”
Portia rolled her eyes and gave Lana a derisory sniff before she sashayed out of the office, slamming the door behind her.
“Don’t fucking play games,” Rex growled. “You came to me.”
“I told you. I got lost and panicked. Let me go or I’ll…scream.”
Rex laughed. “I’ve wanted to hear you scream since I first laid eyes on you. Go on. Scream. No one will hear you over the music. Or maybe you’re waiting for Rex to make you scream…”
“Ice will come looking for me.” Her voice rose to a thin whine.
Rex dragged her closer and yanked her head back. “No doubt. And when he finds you jumped ship, he’ll cut you loose.”
Lana’s throat tightened. “You don’t know him very well. My guess is that he’ll go crazy.”
Rex leaned closer and pressed his lips against her ear. “I hope so. It will give me an excuse to put him in his place. He’s been getting a bit of an attitude.”
Lana closed her eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. She wasn’t helpless. She had taken self-defense classes as part of her private investigator training. Motivated by a desire never to experience the type of powerlessness she had suffered with Levi, she’d practiced until she could do the moves in her sleep.
She crouched down, shifting her center of balance, and laced her fingers over her head, trapping Rex’s hand. A quick spin and Rex lost his grip.
Success!
Her freedom was short-lived. Before she could make a run for the door, Rex grabbed her and slammed her into the locker with a bone-jarring crunch.
She struggled against him, but his massive thigh pinned her legs, and his hands easily held her arms down by her sides. Her attempts at head-butting him were rewarded with laughter and the faint whiff of stale beer and cigarettes.
Racking her brain for a self-defense move to escape being crushed against a locker by a mammoth, she was suddenly barraged with unwanted memories. Another room. Another clubhouse. Her hands pinned. Unable to move. And pain. So much pain.
Her heart thundered in her chest. Her pulse pounded in her ears. Lost in her memories and a barrage of emotion, Lana screamed.
Crash.
The door splintered off its hinges and skittered across the floor.
James stormed into the office with Ryder on his heels. Taking advantage of Rex’s momentary distraction, Lana wriggled free. James grabbed her and shoved her into Ryder’s arms.
“Take her,” he barked at Ryder.
Lana turned and caught movement at the door. Bikers jostled in the hallway for a view. Of course. No biker worth his salt could resist a good fight, and she could smell a good fight coming the way her grandpa could smell a storm.
Rex folded his arms, his mouth tightening into a thin line. “She came to me.”
“Doesn’t matter if she did. Doesn’t matter if she didn’t.” James’s voice was low and dripping with fury. “She’s mine until I say she’s not. You don’t touch what’s mine, and in particular, you don’t touch her.”
Rex glanced over at Lana. “Tell him you want to be here.”
Lana frowned. Was he delusional? Had she given any indication she was interested in him at all, besides following him down the alley into Carpe Noctem and hiding in his gym locker?
“I’m with Ice.”
Rex’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have to be afraid of him.”
He
was
delusional. “I’m with Ice,” she said in a loud, slow voice, emphasizing each word.
James and Rex locked gazes. No one moved. Tension hung thick in the air.
“You gonna fight me over a piece of tail?” Rex unfolded his arms and cracked his knuckles one by one. How lame.
“Last thing I want to do.”
“Last thing you want to do is the last thing you’re gonna do.” With a roar, Rex charged. James met him with a punch to the gut, sending Rex reeling backward. Ryder pulled Lana into a corner, and a few bikers pushed their way into the room, giving James and Rex even less space to maneuver.
Fast, furious, dirty fighting ensued. James moved with economical grace, his moves purposeful and consistently powerful. But Rex absorbed each blow, meeting him punch for punch. Hades’s leader had to be able to defend his position, and he clearly had the skill and strength to put down most of the bikers she’d seen in the clubhouse.
But damn, James could fight. His pecs rippled beneath his shirt with every punch. Biceps twitching, quads tensing, tendons pulsing, he was a vision of an enraged, red-hot alpha male.
Despite the fact he and Rex were doing some serious damage to each other, Lana’s mouth watered and lust, raw and ragged, swept through her bones. Badass biker Ice was even more of a turn-on than dangerous, crusty cop James.
The bikers cheered every time Rex landed a blow, but he tired quickly. His punches became slower. His leg sweeps were always a second too late. For a heartbeat, Lana thought James would win. And then, inexplicably, James dropped his guard.
Taking advantage of James’s exposure, Rex lunged in with a punch that sent James clear across the room. He bounced off a shelf and fell to the floor. Ryder called the fight for Rex and dispersed the crowd. He released Lana and they raced across the room to James.
“You kicked up a shitstorm, darlin’,” Ryder murmured as they knelt down beside a groaning James.
“Didn’t mean to.” She brushed her finger along James’s jaw, prickly with a five o’clock shadow. Her jaw tightened as she took in his closed eyes and the gray pallor of his skin.
“Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”
“Just need a minute,” he rasped.
“You’re not looking so good.” Tears prickled the back of her eyes. “I really think you need to go to a hospital.”
“Shhh, babe. I’m okay.” He squeezed her hand and she wiped a rogue tear off her cheek.
Ryder patted her on the back. “He has a hard head. Takes more than a little bump against a shelf to do any serious damage to him. Hell, he once got his head slammed in a car door when he was chasing down some druggie who tried to steal the chrome from Rex’s bike. Didn’t slow him down. Neither did the two-by-four the druggie’s friends beat him with. I actually felt for the druggie when Ice caught him. I think he’s still on crutches.”
Lana shot Ryder a sideways glance. “Ah…thanks for that. I guess I’ll just leave him then and go have a beer until he gets up off the floor. Or maybe I should hit him with a two-by-four first, just for kicks.”
“I’ll go get one.” Chuckling, Ryder left them and went to check on Rex.
James snorted a laugh and Lana frowned. “You better damn well be unconscious after I shed a tear for you. Those tears are hard to come by.”
He opened his eyes and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I was wondering what it would take to get your attention.”
“You had my attention outside. You’re a difficult man to ignore, especially when you’re engaged in a public demonstration of French-kissing and naughty behavior.”
But was it real naughty behavior or was it just for show? The question burned in her brain, but this wasn’t the time to ask. Still, the memory of that kiss sent her heart racing again. How could a kiss like that just be for show? He felt something for her, just as he had accused her of feeling something for him.
“I like naughty behavior,” he murmured, bringing her back from their moment of passion on the patio.
“And I like James not beat up.” She paused and gave him a sultry grin. “Although watching you go all alpha crazy on Rex…knowing you are all sorts of badass dangerous…”
“You like dangerous.” He shifted his weight and groaned. Then his eyes shuttered closed.
Lana’s heart stuttered in her chest and she looked around frantically for someone to help.
“Ice.” She shook his shoulders and her voice wavered. “Ice…” She leaned over and pressed her lips to his ear. “Yes, I like dangerous and you’d better open those damn eyes and give me some.”
Chapter Nine
Lana paced James’s room on the second floor of the clubhouse. Ryder had whisked her away from Rex’s office, telling her Ice was fine but he needed time to cool off. She hadn’t made it easy on him, but in the end he was bigger, stronger and willing to drag her by her hair if she didn’t listen.
Just as well. She needed the time to deal with the guilt clawing at her belly. She shouldn’t have let herself get caught sneaking around Rex’s office. She understood biker culture, the hierarchy, the challenges, the constant jostling for position of top dog. She should have known if she was caught it would end like this.
She looked around, but the room gave no clue as to the personality of its occupant. No pictures, mementos, books or magazines. Just the basics—bed, dresser, night table and bathroom. A small window overlooked the courtyard where the barbeque was still in progress.
Her investigative instincts and an overwhelming curiosity drove her to peek into the dresser drawers where she found jeans, T-shirts and underwear, all neatly folded. The last drawer held socks, folded in pairs, and belts coiled around Harley Davidson buckles. She carefully sifted through the contents and pulled out two pictures.
The first was a picture of her. James had taken it the day before he left. They were on the little ferry boat connecting Granville Island to downtown. She traced her finger over the beaming Lana, her hair in wild disarray from a sudden gust of wind. So happy. She didn’t remember how it felt to be that happy.
The second picture was of a tall, slim woman with long brown hair. Her almond-shaped eyes were warm and deep. So beautiful. Her perfect oval of a face glowed. Was she from James’s past or present?
Lana’s heart skipped a beat. Of course he’d had other lovers. He had briefly alluded to fleeting relationships when they’d first hooked up. And, no doubt, after he left her he would have had more. He was a highly attractive, incredibly fit, enigmatic alpha male. During their brief time together, she’d often wondered what he was doing with her. He needed someone calm, sedate, slim and toned like he was. Not a curvy girl weighed down with baggage and a mass of wild curls to match her temper.
She replaced the pictures and sank down on the bed. He’d never mentioned a serious past girlfriend when they were together, so the woman in the picture was probably his current squeeze. She shouldn’t be surprised. James never backtracked on his decisions.
A loud thud sent Lana scrambling to her feet. James stalked into the room and slammed the door behind him. Still pumped after his fight, muscles twitching under the thin cotton of his T-shirt like he wanted to have another go at Rex, he was breathtakingly gorgeous and sexy as hell. The cuts and bruises on his face only added to his appeal. A quiver of desire chased across her skin.
“Are you…?” Anxiety pounded through her veins.
Jaw clenched tight, blue eyes cold and hard, James held up a hand, cutting her off. Lana shivered at the raw violence in his taut face. But the question he asked wasn’t the one she was expecting.
“Did he…touch you?”
Relieved at being spared his anger at going near Rex alone, Lana shuddered, considering for the first time what could have happened. “Just a little shake and slam against the locker. Some hair pulling…”