She couldn’t help the trembling of her hands as she gripped the counter leaning back from him as he crowded her, his face contorted in a cruel twist that made her wonder what type of man she was dealing with. He hadn’t hurt her so she didn’t think he was talking about raping her despite the threatening nature of his words.
“I’ve already told you that you are not the boss of me, Burner. You dragged me back here and––and forced your kiss on me–” Kelsey jumped when he slammed his hands down on the counter on either side of her as she uttered those last words.
“Little girl, you need to check yourself because I will not tell you again to stop acting like you can handle any of this. I’m not warning you again.” Burner’s eyes were boring into hers and his hands moved to grab her arms shaking her slightly. “Don’t come close enough to tempt me. I won’t be responsible if you do. My club isn’t the place for a soft little bird that doesn’t know what she’s dealing with. Now take my advice and run before it’s too damned late.” He leaned close enough to nip her lips one last time before he growled and jerked himself away from her, slamming out of the back room and leaving her sitting on the counter wondering what the fuck had just happened.
She stared at the door, her blood pumping thickly in her veins with her insides shaking so bad she couldn’t seem to breathe. Kelsey managed to slip off the counter and was about to head back downstairs to finish the inventory when Hanna rushed into the back room. Her look was frantic as she took in Kelsey before glancing around the room as if searching for something, her eyes finally landing on hers.
“Are you okay, I thought I heard something fall?” Hanna asked, watching her carefully.
“I just slammed the door when I came back from the bathroom. I’m fine and nothing fell,” Kelsey told her, trying to hide the fact that she was still quivering from her encounter with Burner. She turned away, not wanting Hanna to notice that something was off about her.
“Was someone messing with you? Did something happen?” Hanna demanded.
“No, I was just pissed I was having to do the inventory and slammed the door a little hard. It’s no big deal,” Kelsey told her and headed towards the stairs without turning around.
“Kells?” Hanna said from behind her, making Kelsey turn to look at her, anger beginning to take over the fear allowing her to feel steadier than she had a moment before.
“What?” she snapped at her sister, seeing her narrowed eyes and tightened lips.
“Geez, little sister, you don’t have to be such a bitch because you got drunk and lost a bet,” Hanna grumbled, glaring at her.
Letting out a sigh, Kelsey shot her sister the bird before stomping down the stairs to the sound of her sister’s laughter.
Chapter Eight
Kelsey leaned against the bar, her head aching, because for some reason last night despite being off she’d been up till four am. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t had to get up this morning at seven because then she wouldn’t have stinging eyes and the headache from hell. Tally was serving drinks to some of the last customers in the bar. Kelsey was glad that it was only about an hour before they closed.
Thankfully, she hadn’t seen Burner since that night two weeks ago when she’d done inventory. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been to the bar, it was just that he hadn’t been here on nights when she was working. Hanna had told her that he was in here with Hammer and Bull just last night actually.
Kelsey hadn’t asked about him; her sisters had been talking about the Blue Bandits coming in to ask if they’d had any other women complain about getting sick in the last few weeks since the night that he’d been here. Apparently the woman he’d sent home that night had been drugged and they were trying to determine if it was a single person trying to get even with her or something that was going on more often. Greta and Hanna hadn’t heard any complaints and neither had she so they were thinking that it was someone going after the woman.
Not encountering Burner after what had happened the last time was a relief. She still wasn’t sure what the hell had happened, only that she had never before felt desire like that overtake her senses. Just remembering it frightened her because of its intensity. She couldn’t seem to put it out of her mind and it was why she’d avoided going out with Hammer the last time he’d asked. It had thankfully been a night that she’d had to work that he’d asked her to go out so she hadn’t lied when she said she couldn’t because she had to be here.
Kelsey knew that eventually she would have to tell him that she didn’t think she could go out with him again because she couldn’t see herself settling for a lukewarm connection after feeling the blistering heat of desire that Burner had shown her. Not that she wanted anything to do with him, he was a damned asshole, but after tasting passion like that, she knew that she needed to find a man who inspired that kind of desire who wasn’t a total dickhead.
“Hey, can you throw out the trash? I would but I have to grab the case of beer from downstairs. It will get us out of here faster,” Tally asked, making her stand up straight.
She really was ready to get out of here tonight and it was slow being a Sunday. Her aching head protested the movement and she wanted to groan but if they got the bar restocked and most of the trash thrown out before the bar was closed, she might actually get out of here at four instead of four thirty.
“Sure,” Kelsey said, grabbing the bags he’d already removed from the bins. “When I get back in I’ll start on the tables too so we can both get out of here.”
“Good plan. Leave the door open and just set it outside by the door and we can pitch it in the burners on our way out,” Tally said, frowning a bit.
Kelsey rolled her eyes carrying the bags to the back door. He was being as ridiculous as her sisters were because she could defend herself. Her father had taught all of his daughters how to get away from a man and her sisters and Tally knew that. Why they insisted on treating her like she was a damned child was beyond her. She carried the bags outside leaving the door open but walking to the trash burners.
She opened the lid, tossed the two bags inside and slammed the lid, hitting the button to incinerate it before turning to head back inside. She’d taken two steps when she heard a moan from the end of the alleyway close to the front of the building. Turning to look at the darkened area near the front of the club, Kelsey settled her feet and looked towards the place where the moan had come from.
“Help,” a scratchy male voice croaked and she took a step forward debating if she should go back inside and get Tally or go over to see what was wrong with the man. She stopped, debating her options as she searched the darkness. She should go back in and get Tally because going out into the dark was a stupid idea. “Please,” the voice pleaded.
“I’ll get help,” Kelsey said, turning to head back in to get Tally. She wasn’t expecting the second man who was coming up behind her to grab her and shove her back into the wall. She stumbled and fell backwards, smacking the back of her head hard on the brick wall. She scraped her palms as she attempted to catch herself. Her breath flew from her lungs and dizziness overtook her making her feel nauseous. Her ears were ringing and her headache went from annoying to blistering pain in that moment. Panting, trying to get her bearings, she heard a hissing voice behind her.
“Hurry up and cover her mouth before she decides to start screaming, you damned moron.”
Kelsey felt hard hands jerking on her arm and a hand roughly covered her mouth before she could recover from the blow to her head. She tried to get up and hit the man in the chest but all she managed to do was raise up slightly before she felt herself sway and the world tilted. Then she was being shoved to her back on the cold concrete and two men were holding her down. One had his hand over her mouth and the other was jerking at her jeans.
Kelsey felt the world spinning and twisted her head to try and get away from the man holding her mouth so she could scream. It made the dizziness worse and she tried again to scream but all that came out was a muffled g
runt. Kelsey suddenly wished she’d listened to Tally when he told her to just set the trash outside as she realized she was about to be raped because she hadn’t. Fear made the disoriented feelings increase and despite her kicks at the man who’d managed to get her jeans almost off, he was able to land on top of her, his weight heavy and his hands bruising as they held her down.
Burner pulled up to Tricky Bitches. He needed a fucking drink because he was having a really shitty night. He’d gone out to meet with a contact and found the woman beaten half to death on the floor of her tiny apartment. Apparently her Headhunter lover had caught on that she was giving information to him and he’d tried to beat her to death. Burner had taken her to Lance and found that she likely wouldn’t make it through the night because he hadn’t gotten her there in time for Lance to fix the damage.
He wanted to slam his fist into a fucking wall because she was just another woman whose association with him had gotten her killed. Fuck, he was sick to death of this bullshit. They needed to destroy the Headhunters before he went mad.
Burner climbed off his bike and was headed towards the door of the bar when he heard a muffled sound from the alley. He didn’t think anything of it at first but as he neared the door of the club he heard a beer bottle roll over the ground. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he turned back towards the alley beside the bar feeling his hackles rise. Something wasn’t right. He stared into the dark for a long moment waiting and listening but didn’t hear anything. He paused, debating.
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 profi
ts 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.
Burning Desires (Blue Bandits MC Book 4) Page 7