Reaching for the Moon by ThePekingNoodle

Chapter Sixty-Six: The Devil Went Down to Seattle (Or thereabouts)

In which our hero and heroine do a bit more than dining and dancing…

Max's friend ignored the hand on his shoulder, and leaned in even closer to her, clearly intent on plating a kiss on her pouty lips.  But Max had had enough from him. She reached out with both hands and shoved him, hard in the chest. His chair went over backwards sending him crashing into Logan. In the process, the full pitcher of beer that Logan was holding somehow got up-ended over the man's head, soaking him. 

Logan dropped the pitcher as he regained his balance, and the man came out of his chair, soaking wet with beer, and with fury in his eyes.  He turned, swinging wildly at Logan who neatly sidestepped him. Max jumped out of her chair as the lout turned and headed for Logan again, this time running straight into Logan's fist with a loud meaty thud.

The band continued playing loudly, now launching into The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and heads were starting to turn, as the man got up from the floor and went after Logan again.  Max felt a hand on her shoulder and she spun to face another man.

"I saw what you did to my buddy," he declared as he glared at her. Max didn't hesitate this time as she drove her knee into his stomach. When he doubled over she took his hair and tossed him onto the dance floor, where he collided with several sets of dancers who didn't take his interference too kindly.

Logan was still busy with his friend and by the looks of it he was getting the best of him.

The second man was busy with the couples he had been thrown into, and Max stood there smiling.  Until she felt herself grasped around the waist and lifted from the floor. Hot breath tickled her neck as a rough voice said, "No more trouble from you bitch."  She kicked backward, but she was in an awkward position and her legs met only air.

Several more men had appeared, and they started after Logan, who had finished with the first lout but who now faced three more.

Max's captor chuckled and she reached down and grabbed his hands. She twisted hard and he screamed in pain, and dropped her to the floor as she broke several of his fingers. She turned to help Logan, but saw that several of the men from the bar had arrived and were now aiding him with his attackers.  By now almost the entire bar was involved in the fight. The band simply continued playing loudly, ducking the occasional flying plates, glasses and cutlery.

Max felt a tap on her arm, and spun, ready for action, only to see Mindy standing there grinning at her. "Come on over here, hon. Let the boys finish up their fun." Max shrugged, and followed the waitress back to the relative quiet near the bar. Along the way she managed to quietly send a few more troublemakers who were on their way after "that city pretty boy and his friends" flying, with judicious flicks of her foot and twists of her arm, while Mindy wasn't looking.

"Here, have a drink before they all finish this up. They'll all be crowdin' back here and then it's gonna be crazy." Mindy observed handing Max a fresh beer.

"Does this happen often?" Max asked. She was curious about Mindy's calm in the face of the swirling maelstrom of fists and limbs that the bar had turned into.

Mindy shrugged. "Men, beer, women and testosterone. Whenever things get too quiet around town, they gotta get it out somewhere. Usually ends up bein' here on a Saturday night. Not much harm they can do, other than some broken plates and glasses so…"

Max laughed at her matter of fact tone. "Well I guess that's one way to look at it. Does the owner of this place feel the same way?"

"Hon, I am the owner.  Me and my hubby who's right in the thick of all that. There look, he's the one just decked the bastard tryin' to come up behind Logan with the chair." She looked at Max. "Logan's doin' okay for a city boy out there. And you ain't got some half bad moves yourself, sweetie." Mindy looked her over curiously.

"My father made me takes self-defense classes when I was growing up," Max demurred. "He was worried about what the world was turning into." She stared out at Logan. The fight was about over and as she watched, he knocked one last opponent down with a well placed left hook. "But yeah, Logan. I never would have expected it from him."

The fight was over and Mindy's husband and two other men were dragging the group who had started it over to the door. The rest of the men were doing as Mindy had predicted, and were heading in a wave towards the bar.

"Hon, I need to go organize a sweep up. Anyway, here comes your man. He's gonna be feelin' his oats after that, better take care." Mindy said with a wink as she rounded up Lulu and the other waitress with a nod of her head, and went out to straighten the tables that had been overturned in the fight. Some had already been righted, and couples were back to dancing, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Max watched as Logan approached. His shirt was pulled out of his pants and his hair was in complete disarray. Sweat ran down his face. His eyes caught hers and she felt a rush at what she saw in them. It was as Mindy had said. He was all primitive male, and she could almost hear the rushing testosterone in his veins.

"There's your little lady Logan, all safe and sound," one of his companions was saying to him.

"Nice job out there, Logan." Another hit him on the back as he passed.

Logan just smiled at them and continued on his course straight to Max. When he reached her he stood and stared down at her. She stared back refusing to give any ground.

"Damn Max, I can't leave you for five minutes without trouble starting," he said to her.

She put a hand on her hip, "I had it under control." she tossed back, chin up.

A few of the men chuckled. "She's a feisty one."

"Uh oh Logan, looks like you got your hands full with this one." Another teased.

Logan just looked at her, "Oh yeah?" he drawled. He reached out and pulled her into his arms and proceeded to kiss her hard and roughly. His hands were on her back and her butt holding her tight against him as his lips plundered her mouth.  Max heard the whistles and laughs, but her hormones were as elevated as Logan's, and she felt herself responding to him in kind.  When he ended the kiss, Max was aware of the sound of applause in the background.  Logan was grinning down at her.

She looked around to see the patrons of the bar smiling at her, and she didn't have the heart to be angry. Mindy was back and she gave Max a wink and a thumbs up. Her husband walked over and handed both Max and Logan beers.

"On the house. Now let's everyone get back to enjoyin' themselves. We don't get Hooter and the Dog Boys here too often and it's a Saturday night."

Things calmed down quickly after that, although Max and Logan found themselves the center of a small crowd for a while. Max heard not a few stories about Logan's summers at the cabin, although she had a feeling they were being toned down for her benefit especially the ones involving females.

When it seemed they were no longer the center of attention, Logan looked down at Max,
"You ready to get out of here?"

She looked back at him. "Sure. I think I've had enough excitement for the night."

"Oh really? That's too bad."  They were walking toward the door.

"Why?"

Logan ginned at her, ""Cause I had some ideas about some more fun we might have once we were alone."

They were at the bike now and Max started to climb on, but Logan stopped her. "Let me drive."

Max raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"There's somewhere I want to take you."

Max looked at him curiously, wondering about the glint in his eye. She shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Logan climbed on and Max got behind him wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning forward against his back. She could feel his heart beating hard in his chest, and his scent filled her nostrils. Her entire body felt like it was humming in sync with him and with the soft vibrations of the bike engine. Logan revved the engine and they were off.

He took them on a racing ride up the mountain, finally turning off onto a small dirt road. He followed that a bit more slowly, weaving through the shadows cast by the dense forest that surrounded them. Finally they came to the end of the road. In front of them was a small clearing, illuminated by the three quarter moon. Logan stopped the bike and climbed off, holding out his hand for Max.

Silently he led her over to the side of the clearing. There were no trees there and the two could look down the mountain into the dark valleys below them. Occasional lights broke the darkness, twinkling far below, but other than that they could have been the only two people in the world.

"It's beautiful, Logan." Max breathed.

"You're beautiful." Logan said to her, staring at her, and not the view.

Max stared back, mesmerized by the look in his eyes.

"Logan?" she asked. Logan, what do you mean by looking at me that way?

"What?" he said softly. I love you and you're mine. I'm not letting go. Ever.

"I…don't know." I'm afraid, Logan. I don't know if I can do this. If I should do this.

"Don't worry about it, Max." he said answering her unspoken questions. "Just let go and enjoy." 

"But Lydecker…" He won't go away Logan. I'm afraid for you.

"Is for tomorrow or next week. Tonight is for us."

He pulled her to him and kissed her gently. Max melted into his arms, unable to hold onto her fears and worries.  He walked her over to the bike, where he opened one of the packages and pulled out a soft plaid blanker which he spread on the ground. Then he pulled Max down onto it.

"I want to make love to you in the moonlight." As he spoke he was already pulling her shirt over her head and unbuckling her belt. He leaned down and pulled off her boots so he could remove her jeans. Within moments she lay there in front of him, a naked golden goddess, bathed in soft moonlight. Logan sighed and ran a finger lightly down her body, his feather touch making her shiver with anticipation.

"No fair." Max whispered reaching out for his shirt. Instead Logan pulled back, and she watched as he slowly undressed for her.  It was Max's turn to sigh as she admired his strong body.

She held out her arms to him. "Make me fly, Logan."

"We'll fly together…" he whispered to her and she thought she heard him say under his breath, "…my love." as he came into her arms.

End of Chapter Sixty –Six…TBC…