Burning Desires (Blue Bandits MC Book 4)

by Michelle Woods

  “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.

  “What are you doing back here?” she demanded, her glare hot.

  “You were taking too damned long and I want you checked out. Didn’t want you to try and slip out the back to avoid me.” His arms were crossed and his eyes tracked her movements. He must think she was an idiot if he thought she was going out the back a second time tonight because getting attacked in the alley once a night was more than enough for her.

  “I was just getting my stuff and shutting down the computer in the office. Meet me outside because Tally is getting suspicious and I don’t want to have him calling Greta.”

  “Fine but your tight little ass had better be out in ten minutes or I am coming back for you and I won’t care who the fuck he calls, you will be leaving with me,” Burner growled before shoving the door open and leaving.

  Kelsey felt her heart pounding in her ears and her head throbbed in protest as she waited five minutes before returning to the bar and saying her goodbyes to Tally before heading outside to meet Burner.

  Chapter Nine

  Kelsey exited Tricky Bitches glancing around to see Burner leaning on the wall near the door. When he saw her, he pushed off the wall and moved towards her, cupping her elbow to guide her to his bike.

  “Wait, I can’t leave my car here because Tally will think something happened to me.” Kelsey felt him jerk to a halt and stopped, waiting for him to say something. She watched him silently, realizing he must be mentally counting to ten because the impassive look on his face was annoyed.

  “Fine, but you follow me. If you don’t and I have to come find you, I swear I will turn you over my knee and spank that pretty ass of yours. Which cage is yours?” Burner asked, confusing her until she saw his eyes casting around the parking lot looking at the five cars parked there and she realized he was asking her which car was hers.

  “The little brown jeep,” Kelsey told him pointing to it.

  “Then let’s go, I don’t have all night.”

  “You don’t have to snap at me. You’re the one who insists I need a doctor when I told you I’m fine,” Kelsey grumbled as she dug the keys from her purse.

  “Just get in the damned cage,” he growled, his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. “You also shouldn’t look for your keys in the parking lot. Next time get them out before you come out here,” Burner muttered as he walked beside her.

  “I know that but I also knew you were out here waiting on me tonight or I would have. I’m not stupid and I know how to take care of myself.” Her frustration was evident in the way she spoke between her gritted teeth. Jerking open the door and climbing inside the jeep before setting her purse on the seat next to her, Kelsey glared out at him.

  “Obviously we aren’t going to agree on that seeing as I just saved you from being raped less than thirty minutes ago,” he said before he shut the door for her and headed over to his bike.

  “Asshole,” Kelsey said under her breath, wishing that she could leave him here and go home because her head was really starting to ache and she was feeling nauseated again. The only thing stopping her from going home was the fact that he would tell her sisters about her encounter with the two men. She watched him climb on his bike and she followed him out of the parking lot a few minutes later, all the while cussing him in her head.

  Burner was still feeling jumpy as he rode towards Lance’s place. His mind was focused on getting Kelsey checked out but his hands still itched to pound on those t
wo sons of bitches that Trouble had hauled over to the clubhouse. He sent instructions that they weren’t to be dealt with until he got there because he needed to be the one to handle them. He couldn’t stand thinking about what could have happened if he wasn’t there tonight. He pushed it out of his mind because it made fury stir in his guts. It burned and made him want to finish what he’d started but he needed to be sure she was okay first.

  She’d said she was dizzy and he knew exactly what that meant. That bastard had knocked her into the wall hard enough to cause a concussion and that made him see red. Something about her made his protective instincts explode into overdrive, which was why those men had been taken to the clubhouse instead of a doctor. Most of the time men didn’t try to rape anyone in their territory after a beating like the one he’d given them but he wasn’t taking any chances they might decide to be stupid and try it again with Kelsey.

  He pulled into the drive around the little house that Reaper had set up as a makeshift hospital a few years ago so that they could have help closer if shit hit the fan. He throttled down the motor and glanced behind him to see Kelsey pulling into the little lot. He climbed off his bike and walked towards her, still trying to tamp down the protectiveness that consumed him.

  He opened her door for her and held his hand out so that she could use it to climb out of the jeep. Burner wondered why she had something she needed to climb into every time she drove it. Kelsey rolled her eyes as she took his hand and he tightened his hold on hers.

  “I can get out of the jeep by myself.”

  “I’m sure you can but I offered to help anyway,” he grunted, ignoring her snide tone as he began leading her up the stairs to the door. He released her so that he could bang on it and the two of them waited on Lance to open it.

  “You know this could have waited till morning in a few hours. I don’t think whoever lives here is going to be happy to be woken up at this hour to check me over,” Kelsey told him as she stood a few steps away from him, having moved there as soon as he released her. Burner didn’t bother to inform her that Lance was used to late night visitors and was paid well by the club to be on call whenever they needed him.

  After a few minutes, the door was jerked open and Lance stood in the doorway wearing only a pair of jeans. His hair was messy and he was yawning as he scratched his bare chest. Burner didn’t know how he felt about Lance’s state of undress in front of Kelsey. His stomach churned and his hands clenched and unclenched as he took in the other man’s attire.

  “Stop banging, I’m up, I’m up,” Lance said, stepping back to allow him to enter followed by Kelsey.

  “Put some damned clothes on,” Burner grunted, glaring at him.

  Lance raised a brow at his harshly barked order but Burner didn’t care. Kelsey had been through enough tonight and her sensibilities would likely be offended by a half-naked man treating her head injury.

  “You don’t have to get dressed on my account, I quite like the view,” Kelsey said grinning at Lance, who winked back at her, making his anger ratchet up a notch. Burner turned his dark glower on her instead, watching as she threw her hands up in front of herself. “Geez, don’t glare at me. If his chest offends you, that’s all you needed to say.”

  Lance let out a muffled snort of laughter before saying, “I’ll be right back. Go ahead and head into the exam room.” He headed back to his room, a little smile on his face as he did. Burner motioned for Kelsey to follow him to the room Lance had indicated. She followed him inside and moved to stand near the examination table but didn’t sit on it.

  “Sit,” he barked when she remained standing there for a few minutes.

  “You do realize you’re acting like an asshole, right?” she asked bravely, but she took a seat on the table.

  He was surprised she’d found the nerve to ask that in such a snide tone and he’d bet it was because she hadn’t thought about it. He’d bet if she had, she would have balked. He stood close to her with his feet planted firmly and his arms crossed and glared at her. She seemed to become very interested in looking at the floor in front of her and he almost smiled.

  “Which one of you needs to be checked out?” Lance asked, entering the room now wearing a shirt and carrying a stethoscope.

  “That would be me. I got knocked on the head earlier and this lug insisted that I come here even though I told him I’m fine,” Kelsey grumbled. She was sitting with her hands under her legs obviously nervous and he wondered why.

  “She was complaining of dizziness and you’ll need to check out her legs too and her hands. She has scrapes from the concrete,” Burner told him as he neared.

  “I see. Anything else I need to know?” Lance asked, a frown on his face as he stood watching Kelsey, who shifted slightly on the exam table looking a little pale.

  “No,” she muttered, a blush staining her face.

  “I got to her before they were able to rape her,” Burner told Lance, not bothering to sugarcoat it because the man needed to know what he was dealing with.

  “Right. Well why don’t you step out so I can check her over then,” Lance asked, likely trying to make Kelsey feel more comfortable. Burner refused with a firm shake of his head and he leaned on the wall nearby.

  “I stay. Get on with it.”

  Lance watched him silently for a long moment before he nodded and put the stethoscope to her chest listening to her heart. He then went through the normal concussion questions and looked in her eyes with a pen light. When that was finished, he asked her to show him the scrapes on her hands and legs. He cleaned them with some antiseptic spray and put a bandage on a few of the deeper cuts before pronouncing her done.

  “It’s a mild concussion but you need someone to wake you every two hours to be sure you can wake up and make sure you’re not having trouble remembering things,” Lance told her. Burner wasn’t surprised by this information; when she’d said she had also gotten nauseated after the hit on her head, he’d known what Lance would say after he scanned her with the handheld brain scanner.

  “I’ll take her home and make sure she’s all right,” Burner told him when he handed her some pills for her headache. Kelsey turned sharply, glaring at him after he spoke.

  “You’re not coming home with me,” she snapped, her face twisted into a dark glower.

  “I am. Thanks, Lance,” Burner told him as he took Kelsey’s arm to help her down from the table. Lance watched them with an amused look on his face and Burner was sure he would have offered to let her stay here if he hadn’t seen Burner’s slight shake of his head when he opened his mouth.

  “Right, you’re welcome,” Lance said, letting out a little chuckle and shaking his head, his amusement apparent.

  “Let’s go,” Burner said, gripping her arm to practically drag her from the exam room and out the front door to her Jeep.

  “I am not allowing you to stay at my house so you can forget it, asshole,” she informed him when they reached her cage. Burner snorted and stood before her, his arms crossed and the look on his face stern.

  “You’ve got a concussion so unless you are planning to call one of your sisters to have them stay with you, I will be.” Burner knew she wouldn’t want that and it worked to his advantage because he needed to be the one to make sure she was okay. He didn’t know why he felt that way but he did. Somehow in the last few hours he’d accepted her as his responsibility and she was going to have to get used to that.

  “I––damn. Fine but don’t you try anything or I will shoot your ass,” Kelsey growled as she climbed into the jeep.

  Burner shut her door and headed to his bike, climbing on and following her out of the parking lot. She hadn’t waited on him and it took him a few minutes to catch up to her. He smiled because she definitely wasn’t one to follow directions well and it amused him.

  Kelsey couldn’t believe as she climbed out of her car that she was allowing Burner to stay with her. She wasn’t even sure that she could trust him and she was about to let him inside her home. S
he felt a nervous twist of her stomach at the thought as she headed up to her front door with her purse and the pills Lance had given her in tow. Burner was parking his bike behind her little brown jeep.

  She wanted to lock him out and just be done with it but she knew that if she did that he would likely break into her apartment. He wasn’t the type to take something like that without responding badly. She felt a shiver run down her spine and fear tickled at her mind.

  Should she just call Hanna or Greta even though it would make them freak? No, no, it was fine. He wouldn’t have saved her from getting raped or warned her to stay away from him the other night if he planned to hurt her. At least she didn’t think he would. She frowned as she pushed the door open, entering her tiny living room and setting her purse down on the coffee table. Burner entered behind her, shutting the door a few seconds later.

  He stood behind her and she turned to face him. “I’ll get you some blankets for the couch,” she muttered, a muscle jumping in her neck in time to her pulse, which raced.

  She moved into the hall grabbing several blankets and an extra pillow from the little linen closet outside her room. She turned to head back into the living room and almost jumped out of her skin when she nearly ran into Burner, who’d silently followed her. His arms reached out taking the blankets.

  “Show me where you sleep.”

  “I don’t think so,” Kelsey responded, not liking the idea at all.

  “Show me or I call your sisters. I have to wake you, remember, it’s the whole reason I’m here.” Burner watched her silently as he held the blankets to his chest with one arm, his look concealed by the darkness in the hall.