Blaze: Underground Encounters 6 Read online

  “What would you bring home first?” I asked.

  “I love all kinds of animals,” she said. “But, I have a soft spot for puppies. Their faces are so damn cute. Heart melting.”

  I pictured her smile as she played with one. A strange swell of heat swished through my chest. How the hell did this woman get to me so? Spending time with her was more than just trying to get into a woman’s pants. I liked hanging out with her. Listening to music at my house, having a conversation over a meal, even helping her with the studio. It didn’t seem like work, but more like hanging out with a friend—an incredibly hot friend whom I yearned to touch.

  We parted ways after dinner, but she promised to hold up her end of the bargain and come to Vamps tonight to watch us play. The anticipation that tumbled in my gut warned me that I was in trouble, falling for her too hard and too fast.

  But, who could stop a stone from rolling?

  Once we took the stage at Vamps that night, I searched for her from my vantage point like I was one of the damn gargoyle statues peering out over the crowd. The thrill of playing was overshadowed by the yearning to see her again.

  When we played Vampire Bromance, I spotted her blonde hair in the crowd. Our gazes caught and sizzled. Funny things happened to my body—drumming pulse, dry mouth, and heated skin, which had nothing to do with the stage lights.

  During the set, I couldn’t tear my eyes off her. Watching her sway her hips in a black minidress with a sexy zipper that went the entire length of the front of the dress inspired sordid fantasies. The sleeveless dress showed off her pin-up style floral tattoos on her toned arms.

  Several guys noticed her. Of course they would. She was hot as hell. When they checked her out, a dagger of possessiveness struck me. If they touched her…

  Is this what Nico went through when Lily came to our shows? I glanced at him, but between the lights and my position, I couldn’t gauge what he was looking at.

  We played several of our popular songs, including Never Trust a Woman with an Asp and Annabel Lee.

  A guy came up behind Allana, setting me on edge. I eyed him, wary of his intentions. We’d played this song A Discourse in Scarlet, a modern-day banter between Sherlock Holmes and Watson, hundreds of times, so I could do it on autopilot.

  He was too close, and it bothered me. Although I couldn’t see what was going on with the crowd in the way, I saw her raise his hands and drop them. Had he touched her inappropriately? She turned back and appeared to say something to him. Then she moved a couple of feet away from him to her right.

  The tension building up inside me eased with the distance between them, but when he followed in her direction, I was wound as tight as my guitar strings. I didn’t like this. He moved in behind her, moving his body behind her as she danced. He must have made another move, touched her again, because she pivoted and raised a finger to his face.

  She peered up at me and our eyes locked until the glare from the stage lights broke it. When my vision adjusted, she’d disappeared. I scanned the crowd, searching for her into each dark recess of the club.

  She was so petite she was difficult to locate behind all those tall dudes. But her blonde hair stood out against the black-clad dancers. My heart pounded like John’s drumsticks, hitting his set behind me. Where had she gone? And where was that dickhead?

  I spotted him first. He was tall and gangly, sporting a stupid goatee. As I watched the direction he moved in, I located her. She was moving closer to the stage. Closer to me. It was easy for her to squeeze through the bodies with her tiny figure. She planted herself amid a group of people dancing.

  Her distance didn’t dissuade him. He pushed his way closer to her, moving around the people that separated them. All my senses heightened with alertness, homing in on this dickhead.

  Calm down. Maybe he’ll change his mind. Or she’ll brush him off enough this time he gets the picture and gives up.

  The glint in his eye disturbed me, I’d seen it one too many times when people passed a certain point during a night of drinking. When they’d become immune to reason as they embarked on a drunken quest, usually followed with repeated poor decisions.

  Allana scanned to her left where they had just stood and seeing he was gone, visibly relaxed. She resumed swaying to the music.

  He dodged the last few people and reached her. This time they were close enough I could see more of what unfolded. He reached around her and grabbed her hip and bent low to whisper something into her ear. I couldn’t hear over our damn music.

  He slid his hand up, covering her breast. She spun around and slapped him. He grabbed her wrist and kissed her. She struggled, her free hand pounding his chest and tried to pull away.

  Rage spread through my body like a spark that immediately erupted into an uncontained wildfire. Fury like I’d never experienced bled into every nerve. I dropped my guitar and flew at him, everything clouded with red. Except him. My vision focused on him with deadly accuracy. Prying his hands from her, I threw him over the crowd and across the room.

  “Get away!” I told her.

  “Oh my God, Mike!” A part of me realized how clearly I could hear her. The guys had stopped playing.

  I searched through the club to see where the guy had landed. He climbed to his feet at the fringes of the crowd.

  Lunging past people to reach him, I pulled my fist back and punched him in the face. Blood sprayed from his nose as he fell to the ground.

  I jumped on him, and punched him again, not caring about his blood blanketing my knuckles.

  He raised his hands to deflect the blows and punched back. He made contact with my face, but I barely felt it. Not with all that adrenaline hurtling through my veins.

  Arms grabbed me from behind. I struggled to escape the hold.

  “Stop fighting, Mike!” Nico said in his slight English accent. “It’s the bouncers.”

  The guy struggled to his feet, dazed. “What the fuck, asshole?”

  “Don’t ever go near her again.”

  He scowled. “Who cares about some little whore?”

  I maneuvered out of the hands grabbing me and slammed my fist into this guy’s gut. He hunched over and moaned.

  “Cut the shit, Mike!” John, our drummer, said.

  Arms bound my arms and led me away from everyone.

  “Where is she?” I searched for Allana, struggling out of their grasp to find her.

  “Calm the fuck down, dude. Let’s get backstage,” Nico said.

  When I spotted Allana away from the crowd, her eyes were wide blue circles of surprise.

  I mouthed “Come” and nodded backstage.

  The two enormous bouncers hurled me backstage. One was Byron, the muscular black bouncer who guarded near the backstage door the night I’d found Allana with that vampy chick. The other was the tall blond Viking dude who had me take her away from that freak to keep her safe. He eyed me with a strange expression.

  “What just happened out there?” Byron asked.

  “That guy forced himself on my girl.” Hearing myself say that sounded right, even if it wasn’t true. “He grabbed her tits and kissed her against her will.”

  “So, you flew off the stage to beat the crap out of him?” Byron asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Someone had to.” My anger refocused on them. “Where the fuck were you guys when that was going down?”

  The blond guy watched me with an odd expression.

  The door opened and Allana appeared. “Hold on,” I told them. I wiped blood off my hands onto my shirt. Luckily, it was black, or else the red would have looked like a murderous Rorschach image.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” She blinked rapidly. “What the hell just happened?”

  “I saw him forcing himself on you. So, I jumped in.”

  “Are you insane? You leapt from the stage—where you’re supposed to be performing—because some guy touched me?”

  “I saw the whole thing, Allana. He was tracking y
ou through the club. And when he grabbed you, I— I— Uh—”

  “Lost your damn mind?”

  “Lost control,” I clarified in my defense.

  Allana looked past me. “Here comes Nico and John. I’ll go find Lily.”

  She headed to the door, but stopped and took two steps back to me. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek and said, “Thank you, Mike. You’re crazy and overprotective, but I know you meant well.”

  My eyes followed her as she walked to the door with a light step, her blonde hair swaying down her back. Her waist tapered out to a perfect ass.

  A rumble stirred in my chest.

  She was mine. No one could touch her.

  Okay, technically it wasn’t true. But, still, I’d do what I could to protect her.

  Byron stopped her. “Miss, can you tell us what happened?”

  After she stepped aside to talk to Byron, John faced me.

  “What the fuck was that, dude?”

  The drilling would continue all night, wouldn’t it?

  “Some dick forced himself on Allana. She pushed him off, but then he got more aggressive.”

  “That means you fly over the crowd like some bloody superhero and give him a proper beat down?” Nico asked.

  This was getting repetitive.

  Reason began to return. I wasn’t a violent guy and I didn’t start fights. We’d gotten into a few scuffles in clubs, but nothing like what I had just experienced. I was a lover, not a fighter. A geek, not some roidhead. Seeing Allana in trouble woke a beast I didn’t even know was inside me.

  “What would you do if someone sexually assaulted Lily in front of you?” I asked Nico.

  He tilted his head. “Okay, I get it.” His features tightened. “But the way you moved.” He shook his head as if not sure how to explain. “How far you threw him?”

  “You leapt over and into the crowd,” John added. “Like you were on a suspension line or something.”

  My laugh came out with a nervous pitch. “What are you guys talking about?”

  “It didn’t seem possible,” Nico added. “The distance, the movement. It was more like an animal than a human. And when did you get strong enough to be able to pick up a man and hurl him across a club?”

  I didn’t know how to answer or explain. “Probably an adrenaline rush.” I shrugged. “You know how that gives people extraordinary strength.”

  Nico squinted his eyes at me, unconvinced. “You sure you weren’t strung up by suspensions?”

  I shook my head.

  “Pretty sick,” John added.

  “If anyone asks, we’ll tell them you were rigged up to one. I don’t know how the hell else to explain it.” Nico gazed off and then peered at me. “What do we tell the crowd? Show’s over, everyone. Thanks for coming out. Time to go home.”

  I glanced at my hand, bloodied and bruised. “No, I can play.”

  Nico stared at them. “Your mitts look like bloody ground meat. Your face isn’t too bad.”

  “They’ll hurt worse tomorrow. And be swollen too,” I replied. “Might as well get what I can out of them tonight.”

  “Let’s get out there quick and finish the set before someone decides to call the cops on you.”

  We returned to the stage and I picked up my guitar. Its presence in my arms soothed me, bringing comfort and familiarity to a situation that had none of those. Adrenaline faded from my body, but my heart still raced at a quicker speed. My body was sore from the fight, especially my right hand, but I’d be able to play.

  Nico addressed the crowd. “Sorry about the break. We had a bit of a problem with some dickhead in the crowd. But we’re back.”

  People cheered. A few shouted, “What happened?”

  Nico glanced at me and I nodded. “Some guy decided to creep up on one of our friends. She was just trying to have a good time at the show, dancing, minding her own business. But no, this tosser wouldn’t leave her alone. He moved in on her, not taking her No for an answer.”

  The crowd booed. Some shouted, “What an asshole!”

  Nico continued, “When this wanker grabbed her, my mate Chee here did the right thing and jumped in.”

  People cheered. I had to give it to Nico, he was the quintessential front man. He spun this situation around to make me look like the good guy, which I wasn’t even sure I was in this situation. Not only that, he had the entire crowd supporting me. If the bouncers or anyone decided to call the cops, I now had most of the crowd on my side.

  “Guys, if a woman does not want to be with you, back the fuck off. No means motherfucking no!”

  The crowd hooted in agreement. I decided to take it from there with the opening riffs to our crowd pleaser Let’s Fuck All over Paris. Nico sang the lyrics:

  No money, no hope

  But in Paris, I cope

  Sad ghosts fill the air,

  Joy and despair

  I made it through the show without getting pulled off the stage and arrested like Jim Morrison during a show with The Doors in New Haven. After we finished playing, we probably had one of the loudest and longest applause we’ve ever had. When I brought my equipment backstage, the tall blond bouncer approached me.

  “Can we talk?”

  Oh fuck. Here we go. It wasn’t over yet. Pretty soon, I’d be in the back of a cop car going down to the station.

  “Sure, man. What’s up?”

  “Alone,” he added. He led me down the hall away from others. “I saw what happened.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And how you leaped.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “So?” What did this guy want? Was he trying to blackmail me, so he wouldn’t talk or what?

  “It confirms what I suspected the last time I saw you here.”

  I took a step back from him. What the ever-loving fuck?

  Ally

  What the hell had just happened with that guy? And Mike? I moved like I was made of sludge to find Lily standing near the bar.

  “What’s going on? You look shaken.” Her eyes took on a worried look.

  “I’m okay,” I said, although my hands still trembled.

  “Oh my God, are you the woman Nico mentioned?” She raised her hand to her mouth.

  Unfortunately. “Yeah. Some guy had too much to drink. I could taste the whiskey when he forced his tongue down my throat.”

  “That’s horrible, Ally!” She touched my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. People keep asking me that.” I pointed to my face. “Do I look like shit or something?”

  “I have never seen you look like shit.” She smoothed down my hair. “Just a few strands.” After she scrutinized her work to make sure I appeared presentable, she asked, “What happened?”

  “This guy kept creeping up behind me. I thought he was just trying to dance and brushed him off and moved away. Only he didn’t give up, each time he grew more aggressive. He didn’t just try to dance, but grabbed me and pressed himself against me. And he was hard. Unfortunately, I could feel his erection pressed up against my ass.”

  “Ugh. Gross. Like you wanted him to dry hump you in a club.”

  “The final straw was when he grabbed my boob. I spun around and slapped him. He grabbed me and stuck his tongue down my throat.”

  “Holy shit! I’m going to kill him!”

  “I think Mike already did a pretty good job with that.”

  When I glanced at him on the stage, he was watching me. I smiled to assure him I was all right. He gave an almost imperceptive nod.

  “It sounds like he went nuts on the guy,” Lily said.

  “He did.” When I thought about what he’d done, yes, I had to admit it was crazy, but I was touched. Okay, more than a little touched. He has tons of fans there to see him and he abandoned all that to come to my aid. He leaped into the crowd to do so like the knight in shining armor that stood in his entryway at his house.

  “I’m so sorry I wasn’t up there with you,” Lily said.

  “That’s
okay. I know you’re more comfortable away from the crowd.”

  “This just sucks,” she announced. “Can I get you anything?”

  “I could use a drink.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Don’t make me think,” I answered. I couldn’t make any decisions right now. “Anything.”

  While Lily got the pink-haired bartender’s attention, I scanned the club. The band was onstage, people jumped around and sang along, everything was back to normal—except maybe me. I was still shaken up from the whole experience despite what I kept telling people. Having someone force himself on me left me feeling vulnerable, especially while surrounded by people. It was disturbing that it could happen anywhere at any time, even with bystanders. I’d been to dozens of clubs and shows and although men have been aggressive before, putting their hands where they shouldn’t be when trying to dance, it had never been quite that invasive.

  “Here you go.”

  Lily handed me a drink, and I took a sip without asking what she picked out. Besides a selection of beers, wines and liquor, Vamps offered several specialty drinks with names like Tempting Fate and Fruits of Temptation. This one had cranberry juice and alcohol I couldn’t place, maybe a mix. Best of all, it was cold and went down smooth. “Ah, this is good. What is it?”

  “A Bloody Carrie.”

  I laughed. “An odd drink name like that fits right in with the strangeness of the night. I wasn’t expecting it to go quite like this.”

  “What a jerk that guy is.” Lily straightened and huffed. “You should press charges. That will make him think twice before he pulls that shit on anyone again.”

  “Maybe,” I said in a noncommittal tone. “Mike seemed to get the message across.”

  My gaze drifted back to him. What an odd night indeed. After spending much of the day with Mike, I felt I’d gotten to know him better. I couldn’t deny we were growing closer.

  Could I allow it to bloom into something more?

  I broke my stare to fix on anything else and fixed on some smarmy guy moving on a woman at the end of the bar.

  No, I needed to get my shit together and be sensible, and not let myself get swept away by desire. Experience warned me not to leap with my blinders on—especially when it came to a guy in a band who enjoyed female attention.