Eighteen

Pulling her car up outside the Red Woody complex, Eden eyed the building curiously as she got out and went to get her medical bag out of the trunk.

"Well, this is a first …" she murmured to herself, heading for the door and hoping Lyla wasn't going to be too hard to locate, only to find that one of the Sons had clearly been sent to keep an eye out for her. "Oh, hey – sorry, which one are you again?"

"George," he replied. "Everyone calls me Rat though."

"Huh. Funny, my brother had a pet rat when he was a kid. It was called George. So, uh, what's been going on here then? Do you know?"

But the biker only winced and pointed. "They're through here. On the set."

"Oh-kay," Eden said gamely. "Lead on …"

But despite the weird and wonderful ideas racing through her mind, she wasn't quite prepared for the sight that greeted her and she was pretty sure her mouth fell open, even as her eyes widened. "Yup, definitely a first," she managed, before trying to regain her professional composure. "Holy shit … I mean, sorry. Hi. I'm Eden – I'm a paramedic."

"Oh, thank god," the naked man moaned, ass-side up and apparently balls deep in a dark-haired woman with a gravity-defying figure while handcuffed to a similarly proportioned redhead. "You gotta help me, please!"

"Uh, I'll … do what I can," Eden said, glancing around the crowd that had gathered, her eyebrows raised in question when she found Lyla among them.

"I'll explain it all later," Lyla said, making her way to her side. "For now, it's his back. And possibly his dick. Thank you for coming, doll – I owe you."

"You really do," the paramedic sighed. "Okay … Uh, what's your name, sir?"

"Brody. Brody James," he ground out.

"And on a scale of one to ten, how much pain would you say you're in, Brody?"

"Like twenty!"

"Men," Flick muttered.

"She broke my goddamn dick!" came the outraged yelp at that.

"And can you move, like, at all?"

"If I could, do you think I'd still be like this?!"

"Hey, this is no fun for me either, asshole," the dark-haired woman practically spat from beneath him. "I've gone numb from, like, the pussy down!"

Eden hastily tried to smother a giggle behind her hand at that, fighting to keep her composure as she shook her head in disbelief at the scene in front of her. "And the handcuffs? I'm guessing the key isn't an option …"

"Apparently someone likes swallowing a bit too much," Lyla filled in, with a glare for the sulky looking culprit. "I called Chibs."

The paramedic's eyebrows quirked again at that little piece of information. "Because … he's an expert at getting naked porn stars out of handcuffs?"

"Because he's a mechanic with a lot of tools," Lyla said impatiently, and Eden supposed she had to concede that was a good point.

"Uh, okay, in that case … I'm going to look into getting Brody some pain relief, maybe a muscle relaxant …"

"He feels pretty fucking relaxed to me," the dark-haired porn star beneath him grumbled.

"For his back," Eden pointed out. "If his back's gone into spasm, we need to ease that to try to get him, um … up. Jesus, this is weird. In the meantime, can we maybe get a bit of privacy here please?"

"First time for everything," Flick muttered, before stepping forward to take charge. "Right, you lot, we're wrapping for today. Talent, make-up, wardrobe, crew – you can go home, as long as you're back early tomorrow to play catch-up." She broke off to glare round at the chorus of groans. "Don't give me that, we've lost serious time with all this pissing around. Anyone involved in post-production, get back to work. Now!"


Having established that the dark-haired woman was called Kimberly and the redhead Jade, Eden had set about finding a sheet to drape over all three porn stars – more to spare her blushes, she realised, than theirs. But she decided she could hardly be blamed for finding the whole thing distracting, to say the least. She'd also pulled Flick and Lyla aside to check they were sure they didn't want to just call an ambulance.

"Because if his … uh, penis is broken …" she explained awkwardly, trying to forget her surroundings and focus on her unexpected patient. "Then he needs proper treatment as soon as possible. Or he's looking at possible complications, even permanent erectile dysfunction …"

"What?!" Brody yelped, overhearing their hushed conversation. "Get me the fuck outta here, please!"

Regretting having only freaked him out more, Eden hurried back to the hapless trio's side and patted his shoulder gently. "Hey, come on, it's gonna be okay," she tried. "That's absolutely just the worst-case scenario and I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure it doesn't come to that, okay? Now, is the pain relief I gave you having any effect?"

"Maybe," he offered, after a long moment's consideration. "You have really pretty eyes …"

"That's a yes to the pain relief," Eden said, with a small smile.

"Seriously? You can't even wait to get your dick outta me before hitting on some other chick? Ugh, I dunno what I ever thought I saw in you anyway, you asshole," Kimberly complained, throwing an exasperated arm over her face to avoid having to look at Brody.

"No wonder he'd look elsewhere, stuck in your skanky snatch like this," Jade sneered.

"And whose fault is that?" came the retort. "And if it's so skanky, how come you were happy to eat it – on and off camera, you fickle bitch?"

"You really do have very pretty eyes," Brody continued, as if oblivious to everyone but Eden, twisting awkwardly to try to get a better view and yelping in pain when he did.

"Careful, we're supposed to be trying to loosen up your back – not make it worse," Eden warned.

"So pretty …"

"Stop hitting on the fucking medic, Brody!" Kimberly yelled, slapping his shoulder in exasperation.

"Aye, definitely stop hitting on the wee medic, pal. Or your back'll be the least o' your problems."

Flushed as a result of everything going on, not least the sound of that familiar accent behind her, Eden turned and came face to face with the bemused biker president.

"Is this the part o' the movie where I offer to fix yer pipes?" he asked, holding up a toolkit with a devilish grin.


With Chibs having managed to dismantle the handcuffs complicating the whole situation – chuckling to himself the whole time and with a wink for the still sulking redhead as he offered their remains to her as a souvenir – and Brody's back having loosened enough to at least allow him some degree of movement, Eden was relieved when they were able to finally separate him and Kimberly, even if everyone did wince at the result.

"Bloody hell, man," Chibs sympathised, slapping him on the back in what was presumably meant as a show of male solidarity. "It's like ya stuck it in a fucking mangle …"

"Okay, maybe not helpful," Eden pointed out, seeing the stricken look on the porn star's face. "Brody, don't worry, I actually think it might not be broken, just really badly bruised. Like, really badly. I mean, I'd have to examine you properly, but-"

"But she ain't gonna be giving personal dick exams," Chibs said firmly. "Flick, Brody here's your problem – no offence, mate - for the love o' god, just take him down the hospital and get that looked at."

"Worried about the competition?" Eden asked teasingly, noting the biker's obvious discomfort and laughing as she leaned in to whisper to him coyly. "No contest – you were in perfect working order last I looked …"

"Want another check?" Chibs grinned, perking up at that and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Oh, so it's fine if it's your dick," Flick muttered, with a toss of her platinum bob, as she started steering a hobbling Brody towards the door, catching the robe thrown towards them and trying to drape it over his broad shoulders. "Keep that thing covered, will ya? I don't need your battered cock waving at me while I'm driving."

"Keep the cold pack on it!" Eden called after them, before finally dissolving into helpless laughter. "Okay, what the hell just happened?"

"Oh my god, Eden, I'm so sorry for dragging you into this mess," Lyla exclaimed, pulling her into a little hug. "I promise I will make it up to you. Both of you."

"Aye, ya better," Chibs pretended to grumble. "Bringing her out here to get hit on by crippled porn stars ..."

"Brody hit on you in the middle of all that?" Lyla turned to Eden, shaking her head. "That man is such a slut. Speaking of which, Jade's slunk off to the dressing rooms, but would you mind going to have a look at her wrist? It looked pretty badly chaffed from the cuffs and the last thing we need is her letting it get infected or some shit. I'll make sure everything's back on track here and then we can go for lunch – on me to say thanks."

But Chibs was already fishing out his wallet. "Listen, Ly, I appreciate you still helping wi' this place when you've got plenty going on back at the garage, and I'm the one who owes Eden for helping out a club business, so why don't the two o' ya take yourselves off somewhere nice when you're done here, my treat?"

"You don't have to do that," Eden smiled. "I'm glad I could help. Sort of."

"You could join us?" Lyla suggested. "Or I could stay here and not play third wheel …"

"Unfortunately for me, love, business calls," Chibs sighed. "So I insist - you girls enjoy."

"He is insisting," Lyla grinned at Eden, taking the proffered money and planting a fond kiss on the biker's cheek. "You might be my favourite boss, you know. Don't tell Nero."


"I know you're judging me."

Eden – having indeed found Jade in a dressing room she apparently shared with a couple of the other girls - looked up at the accusing tone, pausing in her gentle treatment of the younger woman's wrist. As Lyla had indicated, it had been badly chaffed by the cheap metal that had been secured much too tightly around it, and by all the twisting and turning the unfortunate threesome had led to.

"Not like you mean," she said simply. "Not for your job."

"Sure …" Jade scoffed in disbelief, with a toss of her long flame-red curls.

"Look, this may not be something I'm used to being around, but it doesn't make a difference to me – it's just a job," Eden shrugged. "I'm friends with Lyla, aren't I?"

But Jade was determined not to be swayed in her assessment of where they stood with each other. "I know that look," she said. "You think you know me, but you don't."

"No, I don't. And okay, maybe I am judging you a little. But it's not for working in porn. It's for this," the paramedic admitted, gesturing to her wrist. "Letting yourself get all twisted up over some guy. One who's clearly a player. You and Kimberly being at each other's throats when Brody's the one trying to have his cake and eat it - who do you think'll come off sounding like a stud while the two of you get painted as the desperate psychos?"

She could feel Jade's eyes boring into her, even as she turned her attention back to carefully swabbing her inflamed wrist.

"Little Miss Perfect on your high horse," the porn star sneered, with more than a touch of unexpected venom in her words. "Oh please, who do you think you're fooling? You can't exactly be so squeaky clean yourself, honey - not if you're banging bikers like the rest of us."

"Biker, singular," Eden replied evenly, seeing no point in denying that much.

Jade snorted. "You really aren't used to this world, are you? Let me give you a few home truths, sweetheart. Unless you're an old lady, you don't mean shit to these guys. You might be a nice little distraction for a while, but then you either get kicked to the kerb or end up just another desperate croweater to be passed around."

"Crow what?"

The redhead laughed bitterly. "Open those pretty little eyes. I know you've been to the clubhouse – I saw you there with Chibs. Knew I recognised you from somewhere. You saw what goes on, so why would you think ending up in a patch's bed makes you special?"

"I … I don't know what you mean."

"The hell you don't," Jade practically spat. "But okay, I'll spell it out. Want to guess how many of the girls who work here have fucked your man?"

Eden could only stare at the hard-faced other woman, struggling to think of anything to say in response to her callous bluntness and the obvious sarcasm at any suggestion of a claim on Chibs.

"No? Not even a guess? Hey, maybe you could ask his wife, see if she knows. Oh my god, wake up, bitch! She married him and he still gets what he needs elsewhere – what chance do you think you have after a few rolls between the sheets? Want to know how many times I've fucked him?"

"Oh, do tell, darlin'. Because, it's the strangest thing, I don't seem to recall …"

Eden was able to watch Jade pale in front of her, even as Chibs made his presence known, unfolding his arms from across his chest as he pushed away from the doorway where he'd been leaning just long enough to realise exactly what was going on and strode into the room, his face thunderous.

"I … I didn't … I mean, I wasn't …" Jade stammered, her eyes wide.

"Getting on like a shit-stirring, vicious wee bitch?" he all but growled. "Wi' the girl good enough to come out here and help clear up a mess o' your making? Glad to fucking hear it. Get the fuck out o' my sight."

"But …"

"Get. Gone," he said tightly, stone-cold fury barely contained and the look on his face more than enough to send the porn star scuttling for the door.


"Eden …"

The Scotsman reached out, taking her hand in his and pulling her up from her chair, only to raise her fingers to his lips for a little kiss, before guiding her arm around his neck and lifting her to sit on the edge of the mirrored dressing table with him stood between her knees.

"Filip …"

But Chibs shook his head, tracing her lower lip with his thumb as his hand cupped her cheek and he looked her square in the eye. "I ain't gonna bullshit you. I ain't perfect. Far from it. I ain't proud o' how things ended up wi' me and Fi – it's a long, complicated, unhappy tale, but the upshot is that I didn't do right by her. I never shoulda married her, knowing I was in love wi' someone else – someone I loved and lost and—"

"Filip, you don't have to-"

"No, I do, sweetheart," he insisted. "Because, aye, there've been more women over the years than I like to admit. But there've been damn few who've actually meant anything. And now here you are and …"

He trailed off, clearly trying to find the words under her unsure gaze. "Letting someone like you get caught up wi' the likes o' me – my head tells me it ain't right," he said finally. "This life ain't something I should want for you, darlin'. But in my heart, selfish bastard that I am … I know you could mean something. You already do."

"I do?" Eden echoed softly, as his forehead came to rest against hers.

"Aye, you do," he confirmed, kissing her lips gently as he stepped closer, guiding her denim-clad legs tight around his hips. "And, for what it's worth, that crazy wee whore? I damn sure ain't ever fucked her."

"Croweaters though?"

"None since you. God's honest truth," Chibs said, a twinkle creeping into his brown eyes as he felt her finally relax a little more in his arms. "I'm an aul' man, lass – where the fuck d'ya think I'd get the energy?"

"Oh, I think you'd manage, if you wanted to," Eden said wryly, making him laugh.

"Saving mesel' for you, promise," he grinned, finally seizing his chance to catch her mouth in a hungry kiss that only deepened when she gave in to him and wrapped both arms around his shoulders to pull him even closer. "Shit, darlin', are you gonna be disappointed in me if I admit it'd be hot as fuck to steal a wee shag wi' my gorgeous girl in a porn studio?"

She looked back at him through lowered lashes, before reaching for the belt of his jeans. "Only if you're not intending to follow through …"