Reaching for the Moon by ThePekingNoodle

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Chapter Thirty Four: Pretty in Pink…NOT

In which our hero finds out that our heroine has a mind of her own…

Several hours later Max cautiously disentangled herself from Logan and slipped out of his bed.  He mumbled something when she stood, and she froze in place for a moment, but then he settled back to sleep.  Max grabbed a T-shirt that he had discarded on the floor earlier, and slipped it on before she left the room.

She had had every intention of treating Logan to the red gown when they returned home from CRASH, but she decided that the saying about the best intentions was true.  Logan had continued teasing her for the entire ride home on her bike. Actually, it was nothing short of a miracle that they had made it home with the bike, and themselves, in one piece.  Max was still not sure how they had made it up the elevator and into the penthouse fully, well partially at least, clothed. It was a good thing the elevator was semi-private and the neighbor who shared it was a sweet little old lady who would never be in it at the late hour they had returned.  Max would have hated to be responsible for sending that sweet lady into cardiac arrest, which surely would have been the case if she had happened to come upon them in the elevator that night.  When they finally made it into the penthouse, her attempt to go to her room to change into the gown had been aborted by Logan, who had insisted on demonstrating to her a few of the creative ways one could use a dining room table and a rolling computer chair.  For other than their intended purposes that is.

But now Logan was sleeping soundly and Max intended to make use of her opportunity. When he was awake he refused to let her near his computers, or in on his latest Eyes Only investigation.  She was sure he planned to do something about the email she had managed to read earlier and she was determined to be part of it.  It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for on his computer -- she had made sure to be around to watch as he typed in his passwords earlier in the day.  Once she found the file she wanted, she hit the print key and quickly printed out all of the pertinent information. Then she closed down the computer and took the pages into her bedroom.

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Logan stirred and reached an arm out across his bed and encountered only empty sheets.  He sat up and looked around. "Max?" he called softly but there was no response. He frowned as he glanced to the bathroom and saw that it was dark. A sense of annoyance at her absence ran through him. That was quickly followed by annoyance at himself. He didn't spend the night with women. Not since Valerie. He made sure they knew that before they joined him in his bed. He told himself he should be happy that Max had evidently felt the same way, and had left without any awkward scenes.

He rolled over to go back to sleep and instead, found himself rolling out of bed and pulling on a pair of loose sweatpants.  He was only checking to be sure that she was okay, he told himself as he headed to her room. After all this was all new to her; one teenage encounter at sixteen certainly didn't qualify as experience. He didn't want her to be lying awake worrying about whatever it was females in her situation might worry about, that was all. It wasn't like he was about to break his ironclad rule about allowing a woman to spend the night in his bed. He'd just check to be sure she was alright, and then he would head back to sleep in solitary comfort…

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Max had just placed the pages she had printed, in one of her drawers for later perusal, when her keen hearing picked up the sound of footsteps in the hallway.  She pulled back her bedcovers and slipped into her bed.

"Max?" Logan stood in her doorway, wearing only a pair of loose sweatpants that hung low on his slim hips. He looked tousled and sleepy, and not very happy.  "Why are you in here?"

Max shot him a look of innocence. "You didn't say you wanted me to stay all night with you." He seemed almost upset that she had left him.

"I don't remember asking you to leave." That was definite displeasure in his voice.

She giggled. "You didn't say much of anything actually, other than some ahh's and ohh's, and I do think you mentioned my name once or twice."

"So why would you think I wanted you to leave my bed?" Now he was frowning at her.

Max shrugged. "Kendra told me you never let any of your girlfriends stay the night with you, so I thought…"

Logan looked furious at this point. "Don't compare yourself to them."

Max just looked at him. "Why not, Logan?"

"Because you're my…" he stopped short.  The word wife hung unspoken in the air between them.

"Your what? Max asked sweetly. "You aren't talking about our temporary marriage are you? No promises, no commitments, remember?"

"Max. Get out of that bed and get into my room, now."  Logan turned and started to walk away not waiting to see if she was going to follow.

"No." Max was suddenly as furious as he was. 

Logan turned and looked at her for a moment. Then he suddenly smiled. Before she knew what he intended, he had stripped out of his sweatpants and climbed into her bed.  "If you want to stay here I have no objection," he murmured huskily as he pulled her to him and blew softly into her ear. Max squirmed as his clever hands found the hem of her T-shirt and quickly pulled it over her head. "Much better," he approved as he cupped her bottom and pulled her hard against him.

"Logan, stop." she protested weakly, trying to hold on to her anger at his arrogant command just moments earlier.

"I don't want to stop, Max."  Logan informed her as his hands continued their explorations. "You know you don't want me to stop either," he whispered to her softly. "I believe I heard some ohh's and ahhh's and Logan please's earlier, myself."

Max sighed and felt herself melting. Logan started in on her neck and she turned her head allowing him access. Unfortunately for him, her closet was open and there was a heap of pink silk visible on the floor where someone had tossed it. Max remembered what Original Cindy and Kendra had said to her earlier, and she suddenly had a picture of Logan with the owner of that pink silk, in this very room.

"I'm not your puppy dog on a leash." Making a supreme effort, Max pushed away from him and glared at him.

Logan stopped what he was doing and looked at her in confusion. "My what?"

"You heard me.  I'm not some little twit you can pet and play with, and then send off when you don't have time for her."

"Who said you were?" Logan tried to kiss her into silence, but Max pulled away.

"You don't have to say it.  You treat me like it. I'm not going to be your…your…sex slave Logan Cale!"

"My sex slave?" he looked at her incredulously. A look of comprehension came over his face, "Is this about helping with Eyes Only?" he asked suspiciously.

"No. It's about us. About me. About you."

"Max, I'm really not following you here." Logan looked at her in frustration. "You know what? I'm suddenly very tired. Good night." With that, he stood up from her bed and picked up his sweatpants from where he had dropped them. "I'll see you in the morning, when you get over whatever it is that's gotten into you." There was a decided slam to the door as he left her room and closed it behind him.

Max lay there watching him leave with a stubborn look on her face. When the door slammed she frowned, and then she sighed.  Bringing Logan Cale to heel was definitely not going to be an easy job. She was tempted to go after him, but she thought about Ashley and the pink gown and her chin set. Logan was going to find out that she was nothing like his former girlfriends.  Like it or not he had a partner in Eyes Only now, not just a partner in his bed.  With that thought she turned over in her bed and closed her eyes, determined to go to sleep. She had a hunch she was going to be very busy the next day.

End of Chapter Thirty-Four…TBC…