Page 10 of Falling Hard
Chapter 3
Emmie
My breathing was sharp, and like always, Maiden was pushing me to my limits. I was trying to keep pace with him, but I knew he was going slower to make me feel not as bad.
“How the hell are you so fit?” I said through broken breaths.
“Had to be able to run on the streets.” Breathing normally, he shrugged it off like running at this pace was normal. “You know, Emmie, you’re meant to be exercising. How did you let yourself get so unfit? Last time we did training, you were keeping up with me.”
“Yeah, and that was months ago.” I struggled to get the words out.
Maiden’s hand gripped my arm lightly, and he pulled me to a stop as we rounded the corner, the clubhouse in sight.
I stopped, gulping in air. Exercise was a natural antidepressant and normally played a huge part in my recovery cycle. Maiden had appointed himself as my training partner, though I thought a sloth would be more at my level.
Maiden cracked a grin at me and took a step closer, brushing my hair off my bright red face.
“I wanna get you this worn out doing another activity,” he said with a casual smirk on his face as his fingers lingered on my cheek. “You up for a movie night tonight?”
I was already red, but I was sure I went redder with him hinting at sex. We had gotten so close to being together multiple times, but each time, I stopped it. My willpower was getting less, and every time we crossed a new boundary. Our kisses turned into touches, our touches turned into sexual touching, and after a while, we had developed a connection, but what scared me was he knew me, he knew about my mental health, but he accepted me anyway.
Maiden took a step closer to me, pushing me against the wall as his hand spread across my cheek. His eyes locked with mine, and I knew what was happening, but I didn’t stop it. Moving slowly, his lips landed on mine, but then I picked up the pace, and before I knew it, he gripped me by the waist and pulled me in.
My hands explored his naked chest, and I enjoyed every second of touching a body I’d worshiped many times with my eyes.
It was the roaring of a Harley that made me pull back, but I was still up against a wall with Maiden’s hands pressed against the brick wall, his arms blocking me in either side of my body.
Ryder rode past slowly, clearly looking in our direction. Fuck. What if he mentioned something to my father?
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Ryder knows his place he is under me so he won’t say a word,” Maiden said, reading my thoughts, then he stepped back and put a hand out for me to take. “Let’s get you back for tea.”
I wondered if I should bring up our moments throughout the weekend, our kisses in the garage and me exploring his body in the kitchen. Was now the right time to provoke his memory?
“Um, Maiden.”
“Yeah, sweetheart.”
We were walking at a pace I could easily maintain now.
“Do you remember the weekend?”
“You mean the party?” He looked at me out the side of his eye, and I knew he recalled us in the kitchen. “Personally, my favorite place is in the garage now,” he added.
Disappointment washed over me because he had been in the garage working on his bike before the party.
“Oh.”
“Why’s that?”
Because I wanted to know if you could remember a thing about us, I wanted to snap at him. Instead, I replied, “Just wondering if you had a good time.”
I couldn’t read his expression from this angle, so I wasn’t sure if he was confused by my question or internally asking himself what the hell happened on the weekend for me to ask that question.
* * *
While I was debatingwhether or not to have a shower, I saw Maiden pull on his neck again, which he had been adjusting since before the run.
Leaving the dresser, I grabbed the cream off the bedside table and went to Maiden. I stood in front of him, and before I put a hand on him, I asked, “Do you mind?”
