CHAPTER 1
PAIGE
The rushing pitter-patter of water against tile woke Paige. Still naked from their lovemaking, she rolled over in the large king bed to find nothing but empty sheets beside her. Sitting up, Paige noticed that while their bedroom was dark, a light shone like an aura around the closed bathroom door. She raised herself up in bed, trying to blink away the sleepiness. A look at the clock confirmed it wasn’t even midnight yet.
Tonight—today, really—had been wonderful. Hell, the past eleven months had been wonderful. From the moment Demo had stepped into her acupuncture studio to have his shoulder looked at to this very second… Most of the time, Paige struggled to believe him to be real, to believe that her luck could change so drastically.
Last Christmas she’d been in tears, unable to afford to give her sons gifts or to participate in the town’s holiday celebrations. Her in-laws, who were struggling with their own financial difficulties, had been unable to help either. She’d been stuck in a giant-ass house she hated, her husband absent for two-plus years and Paige taking videos and pictures of her feet to be able to afford to keep the heat on. And now?
That fucking house was sold, her children had full bellies, and two loving parents.
Except it wasn’t her husband who had become the boys’ father in every way but blood.
Demo. Ron Snyder. True love of her life and the Treasurer of theVia DaemoniaMotorcycle Club. He was everything she could have ever hoped for and more as a lover, a partner, and a father to her children. Paige had no idea how her luck had turned, and most days, she had a hard time believing it.
Paige hated doubting Demo. And it wasn’t evenhimthat she doubted. It was their relationship, though that didn’t even sound right. Maybe it was her belief thatshewas worthy of their relationship, of his love for her.
After her loveless, abusive relationship with her husband had ended, Demo’s patience, his understanding, and his passion were new, and she loved him all the more for them. She just wasn’t sure whatshebrought to the table, other than a mountain of debt, two fatherless children, and a body riddled with stretchmarks.
But Demo had never faltered. He’d never pressured her, and he’d never pushed.Everythingwas on her terms.
Fuck, she loved that man.
Following the sale of her house and discovering that her abusive, no-good, cheating husband was dead, Paige knew that Demo wanted to move their relationship forward. But she hadn’t been ready. She’d just gotten out of a failed marriage. And as much as she loved Demo with her entire body and soul, she knew that she owed it to not only herself but also her boys to take some time and justbe.
Her sons, Nelly Bean and Mikey, were now nearly four and six. They were her priority. And after closing the doors on her acupuncture studio after Abby, another ol’ lady, and she had been attacked and assaulted, things were a little too hecticand chaotic for Paige to consider marriage to another man. Regardless of her feelings for him.
They’d gotten an apartment in town. It was a small, two-bedroom place that was a hell of a lot cheaper than that fucking mansion of a house Richard had insisted on purchasing when they first moved to Mount Grove. Demo had been with them the entire time, helping to move furniture and paint the boys’ bedroom. He’d also built a house on club property, because they both knew the apartment would not be their permanent residence. It was just a stepping stone that helped Paige take a breath and ensure she was doing right by herself and her sons.
In September, Mikey had started kindergarten. The school required an address, and Paige had given Demo’s. The boys were as familiar with Demo’s house as they were the apartment that they shared with their mother. They got to pick out their own rooms, decorate them how they wished, and even had sleepovers with Demo when their mom was out late with the other ol’ ladies.
And the fact that Demonever, not once, pushed for her to move in sooner…? She saw other club members moving forward in their relationships—Jasmine and Jumper were supposed to be married back in April, then Scar ‘died’ and then came back with a woman who was now his fiancée, and then Pumpkin found his mystery woman and not only had one child but two and now a third on the way… But Demo never said a word. Never gave her the ultimatum that ‘if she loved him, she would marry him’.
Andthatwas the reason she was ready. Her lease was ending on her apartment at the end of November. Paige didn’t play games with him, not after all he’d given and offered her. She hadn’t left a new lease out to see his reaction or spoken of renewing it. As soon as that notification came to her email about her renewal date approaching, Paige gave Demo the green light.
She, Nelly Bean, and Mikey wouldfinallybe coming home.
Demo hadn’t even hesitated. He’d called up his club brothers, rented a moving truck, and started moving them in that very day. Technically, her lease wasn’t even up yet, but today was their first official day living in Demo’s house.
Intheirhouse. Demo had made it clear from the very beginning that her name was also on the deed.
Demo had even asked the club to give them some space today so that they could just have family time while getting the boys organized and the house situated. There wasn’t that much to do. Paige had been a part of every step since the moment the modular home had been delivered to club property. And while Demo wasn’t rich by any means, he’d had a healthy savings that allowed him to spoil the boys. Additionally, the lawsuit against Paige’s stepfather and mother for blackmail and defamation of her character had helped with the rest.
After putting the boys to bed, each in their own room, the two had come into their own bedroom, where they made slow, passionate love for hours. Paige must have only been asleep for forty or so minutes before the sound of the shower awoke her.
She was debating on joining Demo under the spray when her ears picked up on a muffled hiccup, followed by a low, masculine rumble. Maternal instincts kicked in, and Paige was up and out of bed in a flash. Grabbing her bathrobe off the hook on the wall by her side of the bed, she donned it and rushed into the bathroom.
Entering without knocking, Paige was immediately pelted with a coolish breeze wafting from the shower. The bathroom had a double vanity with a linen closet on the right. The toilet was in a small cubby room. Their bathtub was massive with spray jets and two showerheads, so neither of them was out of the water when they shared.
The curtain was pulled back, revealing a naked, sobbing Nelly Bean with his thumb in his mouth as he curled his small body over Demo’s muscular shoulder. Demo had on a pair of Santa Claus boxer briefs she’d gotten him on a whim the other day while at the mall with Harper, her sister-in-law and fellow ol’ lady. Paige had meant them as a joke, never thinking that Demo would actually wear them.
Soaked, they leftnothingto the imagination. Her man was hung, regardless of arousal. Demo had once told her that he was a shower, not a grower. Which was extremely accurate. He also had a Prince Albert piercing that Paige absolutelyloved.
Demo was lean, built like a swimmer, with a powerful build and dirty blonde hair. He was also two years younger than she was, making them the only club couple where she was the older one. It had bothered her a little in the beginning, but now it was just a part of who they were. Neither of them cared, and fuck anyone else who thought it was supposed to be the other way around.
Not allowing herself to get distracted by Demo’s soaked, incredible body, Paige quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Demo shifted under the spray, his eyes meeting hers. He didn’t falter in rubbing Nelly Bean’s back or comforting her son. Some might have an issue with a man, who was not her son’s biological father, being practically naked in the shower with a naked three year old, but Paige didn’t. Any other man, absolutely. But Demo? Never. She trusted him implicitly. The idea that something sexual was going on didn’t even cross her mind. And fuck those who had to turn everything in a sexual innuendo. Her son was clearly in distress and Demo was comforting him. Paige wouldneverhave moved either herself or her boys into this house if there was even a modicum of doubt about Demo.
