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.”