A VDMC Holiday Special (Via Daemonia MC #18)

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 the Via Daemonia Motorcycle 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 even him that she doubted. It was their relationship, though that didn’t even sound right. Maybe it was her belief that she was 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 what she brought 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. Everything was 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 just be.

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 hectic and 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 Demo never, 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’.

And that was 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 would finally be 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.

In their house. 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 left nothing to 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 absolutely loved.

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 would never have moved either herself or her boys into this house if there was even a modicum of doubt about Demo.

“Thinking we just had too much sugar before bed,” Demo said, his voice soothing. His words were both for her and Nelly Bean.

Paige stepped over the edge of the tub. Demo moved over while also offering his hand that had been on Nelly Bean’s back to her. She came under the lukewarm spray, ignoring the coolness. She personally preferred a much hotter shower.

“Fever?” she asked. Coming forward, her bathrobe was quickly soaked. Her unruly, brunette curls straightened with the weight of the water.

Demo wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her in close to him and her son. Her hand replaced his on Nelly Bean’s back as she laid her cheek on Demo’s muscular bicep by Nelly Bean’s face. Her boy looked miserable. She pressed a kiss to his warm forehead.

“Low grade,” Demo said softly. “Also threw up in his bed, on himself, and on me. Figured this was the easiest way to clean up and help with the fever.”

It had been months into their relationship when Paige discovered that Demo had been getting secret lessons from Bear, the club’s Road Captain and a registered nurse, on, well, children.

Neither Nelly Bean nor Mikey were infants, but Demo had never had experience with kids, so he didn’t know what to look for or how to help one if there was an injury or illness.

He also took child CPR classes, learned about vaccinations, and different developmental stages.

Paige was pretty sure he knew more about childrearing than she did now.

Turning away from her boys, Paige reached for her essential oil bottles that she kept in the shower. Some were for medicinal purposes, while others acted as aphrodisiacs and were meant for her and Demo’s personal uses.

Placing some peppermint, lavender, lemon, and chamomile drops on a sea sponge loofah, Paige kneaded the soft material as the scents rose in the humid air. She stepped back over to Nelly Bean, who still had a death grip on Demo’s neck, and started slowly rubbing the sponge up and down his back.

“My poor baby,” she crooned. “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well, Nelly Bean.”

Her son hiccupped around his thumb. She did not scold him for sucking on the digit when he was so upset. “My tummy hurts,” he whined.

Paige’s heart tugged at her son’s misery. “I know, baby. I guess having an ice cream sundae picnic this evening was a bad idea.”

Demo had surprised Mikey and Nelly Bean with a massive ice cream spread after dinner, along with a movie and picnic set up on the living room floor. Paige had been as excited as the boys were when she’d seen it.

“It was too much,” Demo murmured. “I shouldn’t have—”

Paige stopped him with a look. “It was wonderful,” she defended. “It was sweet and wonderful and so much fun. Kids throw up, baby. He’ll be fine.”

Demo didn’t look convinced. “I should go clean up his bedroom. I was trying to be quiet so I didn’t wake you, but since you’re here, if you want to take him, I can go get started on his sheets.”

But when Demo went to lift Nelly Bean off his chest, Nelly Bean’s grip on him tightened.

“Easy,” Paige soothed, continuing to rub the sponge up and down Nelly Bean’s back.

She also placed her other hand on the small of Demo’s, her fingers tracing over his Apollo’s dimples.

They’d had more sex in the eleven months that they’d known each other than Paige and her husband had had in their entire six years of marriage.

Beyond that, the trust and intimacy between them was unmatched.

There was no comparison because both had been absent in her marriage to Richard.

The look on Demo’s face showed his shock, and she realized in that moment that he wasn’t just worried for Nelly Bean.

He felt guilt too. He thought that Nelly Bean getting sick was his fault, as it had been his doing to put out the ice cream sundaes.

In his mind, it made no sense that Nelly Bean would want to stay with him instead of going to his mother.

Paige pushed up on her tippy-toes, careful of the slippery porcelain beneath her feet, to kiss Demo’s cheek.

He blinked at her, flabbergasted. “What was that for?”

“You silly man. He loves you as much as I do,” Paige said with certainty.

Placing the sponge in Demo’s free hand, she carefully got herself out of the shower. She grabbed her towel off the rack as she dropped her soaked bathrobe off her shoulders.

Wrapping the towel around herself, she turned to face her boys in the shower. “Sometimes I amaze myself with my genius.”

Demo raised an eyebrow. He was still rocking Nelly Bean, trying to offer him as much comfort as he could. “I’m usually the one who has to remind you of how smart you are.”

Paige smiled widely at him. “True, but this time I realized it all on my own.” Winking, she added, “I chose you. Smartest decision I ever made.”

“If I recall correctly, there were some scary needles and witchy powers, that you still deny, involved in that decision.”

Chuckling at the memory, Paige said, “Cherish this time. All too soon we’ll be sending him off to college.”

Demo’s groan followed her out of the bathroom.