Free Savage Rhythm by Chloe Cox Page A

chants now. “Declan!” “Soren!” It was freaking ridiculous.
    “They’re wound up,” Declan replied. “It can happen. I’m more worried about the lack of security.”
    And then, just to make sure she understood he was serious, he put his arm around her and pulled her close. He really didn’t give a fuck about being half hard, even if they had to run for it. Molly was tense for a second, still pissed at him probably, but then she relaxed into it, warm and soft and so damn female. Declan couldn’t argue with that; it felt good to touch her in any way at all. Felt right. He could feel her excitement, her fear, and it brought out that caveman part of him all over again. He had to stop himself from picking her up. What had Erik called it?
    “You guys ready?” Davey asked. Security guards had lined a the start of a path from the bus to the performer’s entrance at the back.
    “You sure you won’t let me carry you Bodyguard -style?” Declan asked.
    Molly elbowed him playfully in the ribs. He was forgiven.
    “And give those women a reason to hate me? You must be out of your mind,” she said.
    The doors opened, and the sound of thousands of screaming fans crashed into them like a flying brick wall.
    “Let’s go !” Davey shouted, and they all rushed out of the bus, toward the line of frightened security guys waving them on in desperation. Declan pushed his way out and then waited for Molly, putting his arm around her again, ignoring the screams.
    It was fucking nuts .
    “Declan, I need you!”
    “I wanna have your baby, Declan!”
    “Fucking Savage Heart forever !”
    Molly was ducking into his side under the pressure of the crowd, just the shouting, the craziness of it, the arms reaching for them as they made their way to the door in a scrum of stressed out security guys. Nothing could prepare someone for a fan gauntlet like this, for the way grown adults went crazy in groups. She was tense as all hell, and he looked down to see if she was ok, or terrified, or what, but instead he saw that she was riding the adrenaline just like he was. Looked ready to take the world on, just like he was.
    Fuck yes, that is a woman , he thought.
    Couldn’t tear his eyes away from her face. Which was how he missed it. He only saw Molly’s expression: sudden alarm, fear, maybe.
    Declan turned just in time to see a bleached blonde woman, heavy black mascara streaming from her crying, crazy eyes, hoisting a bucket over her head as she screamed, “ Murderer! ”
    Declan didn’t think, he just reacted. He pulled Molly into his arms and hunched over her, spinning them both around so his back faced the psycho, and then he felt it hit his back.
    Liquid.
    Paint.
    Red freaking paint. That was all. It exploded around him from the impact, splattering the security guards and the already riled up crowd, the shock of it igniting the tension and sending the place into pandemonium. The crowd erupted and surged forward, a security guard stumbled and fell, Gage was knocked into Molly. People were going down left and right, swallowed up by the tide of people, trampled under foot. Panicking.
    He heard the crazy lady scream, “Soren! Where is Soren? What did you do to Soren?”
    But Declan was already running, Molly in his arms, the band following behind him, security going nuts.
     

chapter 9
     
    Molly still couldn’t believe it. Not a drop of red paint on her.
    Declan, on the other hand…
    “Where the fuck is the head of security for this shithole?” he roared.
    He was pacing around the dressing room where they’d been herded while the security guys dealt with what was hopefully not a full-blown riot outside. Dec clearly hated being cooped up, not being able to do anything. He’d taken off his ruined shirt and put his head under a faucet, though he hadn’t seemed to notice that his lower half was still covered in red paint.
    Brian, on the other hand, definitely had. He’d been laughing nonstop. “Dude, you have to try to lighten