Page 10 of Rogue’s Path (Sweet Chaos #1)

Rogue

I shouldn’t stare at her as she takes her bow, but confidence like that is enticing. The view isn’t bad either.

The sweet, fruity taste of her lips still lingers on mine.

“Rogue, we’ve got a job to do.”

And sadly, it’s watching the woman who just walked away like that kiss was nothing. I sit back down and chug my beer. I’ve kissed more than my fair share of women. That kiss felt different, and she just walked away.

Like that was a bad thing. There’s no way I want to mess my life up with a high-maintenance woman with inquisitive eyes and the sweetest lips.

“Thanks for distracting the room for all that time.”

Havoc thinks he’s ribbing me. “My pleasure.” Quite literally.

“She looked like she was about to pass out, but she didn’t ask for your number. That was cold.” Vandal left his microscopic brains back at the compound, it seems.

“What did you expect her to start planning our wedding because of a dare at a bar? No sane woman is going to give a random biker her number at a bar.” Even if that biker is there just to keep you alive. But she doesn’t know that yet.

“Well, if one of them kisses me, I’m going to ask them for their number.”

“So, you can lose it five minutes later.” It takes longer for me to clean one of my bikes than it does for him to ditch a girl. “What is the longest you’ve ever dated a woman?”

“I don’t date.”

Wait. “Why are they all getting up? Are they leaving?”

“That would be too easy for this group.” Havoc’s hand twitches on his bottle.

Most of them are heading to the bar. Except that guy they’re with. He’s heading to the jukebox. There’s sort of a dance floor here. But it’s in the opposite direction. “They’re going to get us killed.”

“Oh yeah they are.” Havoc nods.

The music turns on, and a bunch of them hop onto the bar, including her.

The not-so-sober ones stay on the floor dancing in front of the bar.

Vandal whistles along with some of the other patrons.

Time to move to the bar in case they try to take a header.

This night isn’t going to end well.

We elbow our way to the women. A few of the times, a little more forcefully than necessary. Not that anyone heard the grunts or cared if some guy doubled over when there’s beautiful entertainment in front of them. Those are four less men that we need to worry about.

Why couldn’t they stay in their seats?

The bartender backs away as we approach. I plant myself behind the bar, ready to catch the women on my side. It’s just a coincidence that I’m closest to her.

One thing to say about these women, they might not have any skills, but they sure are exuberant.

Fly knocks a guy’s phone—who was trying to video up one of the girls’ skirts—to the ground, then smashes it with his boot. We’ll deal with the pervert later.

Try as I might, my eyes keep finding their way back to her. Even though only part of her face is visible, it’s enough.

Who knew the song was this long? When did two minutes turn into hours?

Fly elbows another guy who tried to get touchy-feely. I should switch places with him. He seems to be having all the fun.

A good bar fight is fun… This…This is not.

The music fades away. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as the vultures close in on them. I need to be on the other side of the bar…NOW. But the women are in my way.

“Hey, leave her alone,” my girl shouts as a guy grabs the drunken friend she carried in.

“I just wanna little kiss.”

Before I can stop her, she hurls herself off the bar at the guy who’s trying to assault her friend.

Someone’s going to die tonight.

I hop over the bar and pull the friend out of the fray, setting her on the bar. My girl is doing a good job of beating on the guy. That won’t last long since he’s twice her size.

Fists start flying all around us as I wade in.

I love a good bar fight.

Two men get in between us.

That was a big mistake on their part.

I slam their faces together and step over them when they go crumbling to the ground.

She’s holding her own. Has she been trained?

A body flies into me. With a shrug, I help it to the floor, then ram my fist into the other guy’s jaw. His head slams back. I don’t wait to see if he’s going to get up.

Somehow, she’s five feet away from me now and kicking another guy.

That had to hurt. I almost feel bad for him. Not bad enough that I won’t finish the job for her when I get over there, but still, every guy in the room probably felt that.

Or she’ll finish him herself as she goes to knee him on the nose. This woman…

Nooooo. Not caring what or who I step on, I launch myself across the room, moving faster than I ever have, but it’s too slow for me to stop the guy on her left from smashing his fist into her jaw.

He’s going to pay for that. And I don’t care if he’s alive or dead when I’m done.

She crashes to the ground before I can get to her.

Take care of the dead man. Then, get her up and out of here. “So, you like to hit women who are smaller than you.” I let loose all the rage inside of me until he’s flat on the ground, probably missing a few teeth.

She’s still on the ground, looking a bit groggy but conscious. There isn’t time to check for anything else. I hoist her onto my shoulder fireman style, leaving my hands free to protect us.

Fly, Havoc, Vandal, and Knight are clustered all the women on or behind the bar. They’re holding the line in front of them with a pile of bodies on the ground.

Joining them seems to be the best option. The other women can take care of her… I should have asked her name.

A gunshot echoes through the chaos. Everyone freezes and turns towards it.

Death and the cavalry have arrived.

“The next person that moves gets a bullet between the eyes.” Vex’s voice is way too calm. “I have enough rounds to put down every man in this room. If you don’t want to die, I suggest you lie down, put your hands behind your head, and wait for the cops to come arrest you.”

There isn’t a single man in this room stupid enough not to do exactly what he just said.

“Dahl, you alright?”

She waves from behind the bar. “Just fine.”

Maddox is already on his way to Mindy and Dahl, while the rest of the men who came funnel the group out.

We all start filing out, leaving Vex and Payne to contain the riffraff who are currently face down on the floor.

Good to know even stupid drunk men respect the promise of death.

Just before I reach the party bus the women arrived in, a fingernail pokes the middle of my back.

“You can put me down now. I’m capable of walking.”

The urge to keep holding on to her forever runs through me. That must be all my adrenaline spiking. I slide her down my body…slowly. When her feet hit the ground, I wait to make sure she’s stable before stepping back.

The blood already started pooling, forming a massive bruise on her cheek.

“What were you thinking jumping into the middle of a bar fight? No matter how well you fight, you aren’t equal to a dozen men who just want to hit something. You could have gotten seriously hurt.”

“You think I fight well.” She smiles up at me, wincing. “That hurts.”

“Ya think. If he hit you any harder, you’d be spitting out teeth right about now.”

She shrugs. “He touched Cordelia. I didn’t think. I just knew I had to protect her. She was way too drunk to do it herself. And I don’t know if she’s had any training.”

This woman makes me smile and want to shake some sense into her at the same time.

“Thank you for rescuing me.”

That’s it? No backtalk or attitude? You’re going to tell me there’s a woman in this world with reason and sense. And a spectacular left hook. I should put her on the back of my bike.

She wrinkles her nose and takes a step forward, placing those red lips of hers on mine. “Thank you.”

“A tease like that isn’t a kiss. I thought we established what a kiss was before. It seems you need further explanation.” And I’m so ready to provide it to her. My arms close in around her, pulling her in until she knows exactly whose arms she’s in.

She looks up with wide eyes and those fire-engine red lips. Anger, relief, and a whole host of other emotions I can’t comprehend pour into the kiss, until she relaxes in my arms.

Hoots and hollers split the air.

Ignore them.

The outside noise gets raucous, which means my brothers have arrived. I have to break away from her…

She sighs into my lips, and I almost let myself ignore them and hope they go away.

“That is how we define a kiss,” I say as I step back. “Do you need me to go over it again?”

“Mmmm.” Her eyes move around seemingly aimlessly before they fix on her friends cheering right along with my brothers. “Thank you for the explanation. I don’t require any more clarification at the moment. But I’ll let you know when I do.” She turns on her heel and struts off to her friends.

Watching her go is bittersweet. “Hey, Peaches.”

Her head swings around, facing me. “Yes?”

“It’ll be soon.”

Her lips lift into a sexy little half-smile before the gaggle of grinning women surrounds her.

That won’t be our last kiss.

And hopefully, this won’t be my last night alive. I walk over to where Havoc and the rest of the guys are standing. “Is Vex killing us?”

“He thought about it. Then that wife of his whispered something in his ear, and he left. Maddox is still trying to convince Mindy that this shouldn’t be a regular thing.” Havoc rolls his eyes. “We aren’t available if they do.”

“Who cares about that? I wanna know about the woman Rogue was kissing. What’s her name? Is she coming to a clubhouse party? Can she invite her friends?”

I still didn’t get her name…Maybe I’ll remember to ask the next time I kiss her.