Burning Desires (Blue Bandits MC Book 4) (10 page)

Letting out a loud sigh because he was sure he was just being an idiot because of what had happened tonight, he headed back into the darkness. He was just inside the alley when he saw the three figures struggling on the ground near the trash burners. He took two steps forward thinking he was about to break up a fight between some idiots when he realized they had a woman on the ground and they were trying to rape her. The woman’s pants were hanging off her legs and she was struggling to get away. He couldn’t see who she was in the dark but she was fighting pretty hard.

Fury burned through his body making his muscles tense as he moved forward. He grabbed the man who was on top of the woman, jerking him off her and slamming him head first into the wall on the other side of the alley knocking him out.

He punched the second man in the face and he fell back, landing on the ground hard. Burner followed him, grabbing his shirt to lift him up so that he could slam his fist into his face again and again. Burner saw the woman struggling to her feet but he was too busy beating the man he held to tell her to run back inside.

He continued to punch the man, his fists bloody and his rage tearing into him like the sharp teeth of an animal. He couldn’t seem to stop beating the man who suddenly wore the face of every Headhunter he had ever encountered. His hands slammed into the man over and over because he couldn’t stop. He heard a muffled sound from behind him and looked over his shoulder still holding the first man, expecting the second one to be about to attack.

What he saw surprised him because the woman was on her feet and she had just drop-kicked the man he’d thrown into the wall, knocking him out again. Burner turned back to the man he held intending to continue beating the son of a bitch bloody because his rage was still eating at him.

“Stop, you’ve already half killed him,” a soft woman’s voice said, sounding shaky. Burner didn’t stop, he just hit the man again, his rage pouring out of him.

“Burner,” the woman’s voice was closer and her hand landed on his shoulder “Stop, just stop. I’m okay.”

Burner paused to look up where she stood above him, his hand still clenched in the man’s shirt as he stared up at the woman looming over him. It must be either Hanna or Greta that he’d just saved, he realized, because the back door to the bar was open and the two men had attacked her near the trash burners. He likely would have gone back to beating the man if she hadn’t swayed slightly, her hand rising to hold her head.

Burner shoved the man to the ground and stood quickly, grabbing her around the waist. She jumped and her body shook against him but she didn’t try to jerk away despite the fear she was likely feeling. He realized that at some point she’d put her pants back on, likely while he was distracted with the man he’d been punching.

“You’re not okay, you’re shaking like a leaf and you need to be seen by a doctor,” Burner growled, his anger evident in his hard unyielding tone.

“No, I don’t want my sisters to know about this. I’ll be fine,” she muttered, trying to pull herself from his arms.

Burner allowed it only because he knew what she had been through and didn’t want to scare her. She stumbled back a few steps, her face cast in the low lighting pouring out from the back door of the club, and all Burner could see suddenly was a red haze. He kicked the man on the ground hard as he stared at Kelsey’s face. She had dirt smudged on her cheek from where that son of a bitch had been holding her mouth. At least it had better be fucking dirt because if it was a bruise he was going to torture these bastards to death.

“You are going to see a doctor. It’s not fucking negotiable,” Burner rumbled, wanting to grab her again as she stared at him.

Kelsey was still shaking and her insides felt like they were jumbled. Her stomach ached and her fingers shook as she wrapped them around her waist. She held onto herself trying to come to grips with what had happened and how quickly the two men in the alley behind the bar had overpowered her. If Burner hadn’t shown up when he did, she likely would have been raped and possibly killed by the two men. Her lips trembled and she blinked several times, unable to believe what had just happened. Kelsey wanted to argue with his last command but her voice had abandoned her and her heart was about to explode. Her breath came in quick little pants and the dizziness assaulted her again.

“No, I don’t want my sisters to know what happened,” she finally managed to pant out, her fear making her voice tremble.

“I don’t give a fuck. You’re going to a fucking doctor. How the hell did they get the drop on you anyway? I saw how you took out the one coming at my back a minute ago,” Burner commanded, his dark scowl in the low lighting making her feel uneasy. She took an involuntary step back, fear making her palms sweat and her heart pound.

“I didn’t hear that one come up behind me and he shoved me into the wall and I hit my head hard and it made me dizzy.” She indicated the man she’d taken down.

Burner growled and he moved towards the man, his fists clenched and a deadly scowl covering his face, and Kelsey realized that he was about to start beating on him. She caught his arm pretending to sway again, not wanting him to go back to trying to kill the man on the ground in front of them.

“Damn, let’s go. You likely have a concussion. I’m taking you to the doctor,” Burner grunted, pulling her closer with his arm around her waist making her realize that she’d over played that because now he was going to insist that she go to a doctor. Damn, now what the hell was she going to do. If Hanna and Greta found out that she was injured at the bar, there was no way in hell they’d let her work here anymore no matter what she threatened to do.

“I will but I need to go inside and tell Tally I’m leaving or he’ll call Hanna and Greta,” Kelsey muttered, trying to pull away.

“I don’t care who the fuck he calls, you’re going with me to a damned doctor,” Burner told her, not releasing her. His arm tightened around her and he kicked the man on the ground in the stomach hard enough that even passed out he groaned. “Your bosses will understand that you needed to be seen by someone after being injured, Kelsey.”

“No, you don’t understand, they’re my sisters and––”

“Fuck me, you’re the third Cane sister?” Burner growled

“Yes, and if they find out about this they won’t let me work here anymore.”

“Good,” Burner grunted. “You’re too soft to be working here anyway.”

“Stop being an asshole! If they don’t let me work here then I’m getting my own bar with my profits from this one and I won’t be near enough to make a deal with your club for protection, which would make it a hell of a lot harder to manage. I don’t really want to have to do that but I will if I have to,” Kelsey informed him. Her headache had come back with a vengeance and the scrapes on the back of her thighs and ass stung like the dickens making her voice sound particularly shrill.

Burner glared at her for a long moment seeming to mull that over in his head before he let out a rumbling growl of displeasure. He kicked the man a second time before letting out several choice curses, making Kelsey blush because she’d never heard those words strung together before.

“Fine, but you’re going to see Lance to get checked out and that’s not negotiable. How often are you working here?” Burner demanded, his body close to hers. She wanted to move away because she was finally feeling a little less like she was going to shake apart after what had happened and she still wasn’t sure of him.

“We do a four on, three off, then three on, four off schedule.”

“Which means your next shift is when?” Burner asked, his head tilted towards her with his eyes narrowed.

“Thursday,” Kelsey snapped at him, turning towards the door to head inside because she needed to get back into the bar before Tally noticed that she’d been gone way too long. She let out a little groan as the back of her legs burned when her jeans brushed against the scrapes on them. Damn, those scrapes were going to hurt like a bitch for a while and that was going to suck.

Burner grabbed her arms, tugging gently to get her attention. “You don’t want me to tell your sisters about this, then every time you work you call me. No exceptions.” His voice was firm, almost stony, and she grimaced a little because she wanted to protest.

Only she could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t going to budge and he would tell her sisters about tonight. Kelsey didn’t want them to know for more than one reason. It wasn’t just how overprotective they were, it was also that she was embarrassed that she hadn’t realized there was more than one person in that alley with her tonight. Nodding despite her unhappiness with the decree, she pulled her arm free from his light hold.

“Fine, but I have to go in before Tally comes looking for me and finds them,” she said, indicating the two men.

“You’re not working any more tonight so go get your shit and we will leave. I’ll have Trouble and Flame handle this,” he said with another kick to the man at his feet. Kelsey winced because that kick must have broken some of the guy’s ribs with the loud thump it made as it hit his chest. Entering the back door, she headed to the bathroom to clean up a bit before she went back to the bar. She cleaned her face and hands, staring at the scraped palms a little worriedly.

How the hell was she going to explain that? Maybe Tally wouldn’t notice.

Tally was wiping the counter and glanced at her with a frown when she returned to the bar. Kelsey smiled at him as if nothing was wrong, seeing Burner walk up to the bar and sitting down near them. She knew he was watching her closely and a shiver crawled up her spine.

“What took you so long?” Tally asked, his frown deepening.

“Headache’s worse and I scraped my hands on the wall outside when I tripped so I had to wash them.” Kelsey held her breath hoping he wouldn’t ask more questions.

“Let me see.”

Holding out her hands for him to inspect them, she was glad that she’d washed off the dirt and blood because they looked a lot less gruesome. Tally’s brow furrowed and he rubbed them gently.

“Maybe you should head home.”

“I’m fine. I’ll just clean the tables and then I may head home because my headache is getting worse,” Kelsey told him, not wanting to seem like she was giving in too easily to his suggestion because he would know that something was wrong and call Greta. That was the sucky part of him knowing the three of them so well having dated Greta when she was twenty-three. It hadn’t worked out between them but they were still really good friends and he had been around since Kelsey was in her teens.

Grabbing the spray to clean the tables and the bin for the glasses, she moved from behind the bar. She’d just lifted the partition to exit when hard male hands covered hers on the bin. She looked up to find Burner glaring at her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Kelsey?” he hissed, his eyes dark and his lips compressed.

“Working,” Kelsey hissed back as she tried to jerk away from him, letting out a little groan when her head protested the movement.

“No,” he growled, holding on to the bin.

“If I leave without doing it he will know something is wrong. Now let me finish this and we can go to that damned doctor you insist on taking me to see even though
I’m fine
and don’t need one.” She tried unsuccessfully to take the bin from him again but he just pulled it from her hands completely, motioning for her to move ahead of him to the tables. Realizing she wasn’t going to win with him, she sighed and headed towards the first table.

It took her about twenty minutes to clean the tables and Burner followed her to every one while Tally watched them with a furrowed brow that was sure to get her a lecture from Greta. When she was finished, she headed back to the bar followed by Burner who carried the bin of trash, dirty glasses, and beer bottles.

Tally came over and took the bin from Burner, blocking him from following her behind the bar. Burner didn’t protest but his glare landed on her and she knew that he wasn’t going to wait long for her to come out of the back. She indicated she understood with a slight inclination of her head. Entering the back, she walked over to the counter where Tally set down the bin.

“I don’t know what is going on with that man out there but he’s not one to mess around with, Kelsey. Hammer is one thing but that one is colder than ice and meaner than a dog left too long on a chain. Playing with him isn’t a good idea.” Tally’s look was intent and he was wringing his hands.

“I’m not dating him. I think he was just being nice because I went out with Hammer. It’s fine, Tally.” Kelsey didn’t know how she was going to explain why he was hanging around the bar from now on when she worked because Tally worked almost every night she did. Even though there were two more bartenders that worked for them, Tally would surely eventually notice that he was here every night she was.

“Just be careful,” he muttered before heading back out to the bar, throwing over his shoulder, “Just leave that and go home. No arguments, you’re not feeling well and I can handle this.”

Kelsey didn’t argue for several reasons. Instead she just went to the office, shutting down the computer and grabbing her jacket and her purse before walking back into the back room to find Burner just inside the side door.