Free Savage Rhythm by Chloe Cox Page B

up or we’ll all lose it. Or you could stay like that, with the red coating, for comic relief. I’m good with either.”
    Declan seethed, but they could all see that Brian was right. That had been scary . So close to truly out of control, so obviously dangerous. Molly never would have guessed something like that could happen at a rock concert. They were all basically waiting to hear that no one had been hurt. No one was talking about when they would go on, or what kind of show it was going to be now. If anyone had been trampled, there wouldn’t even be a show.
    Declan looked over at her for about the millionth time. “You sure you’re ok?” he asked again.
    Molly cleared her throat. “I’m fine, honestly.”
    And she was fine because he really had carried her through an actual raving mob. Just covered her body with his, scooped her up like nothing at all, and charged ahead. She could still feel his iron arms around her, his rock hard chest pressed against her, his breath hot on her neck as she’d clung to him. Molly didn’t normally let her physical size make her feel weak or incapable, but she also didn’t normally hang out in riots.
    For a moment, she had been truly scared, knowing she had no way to protect herself if the crowd surged her way. She’d felt completely vulnerable.
    And then Declan had been there.
    That didn’t help with her little self-control problem.
    “Hey, buddy, how about a pre-show special, huh?” Brian said, sitting up and clapping his hands together. “Who’s up for a pre-show special? Work that tension out.”
    “Pre-show special?” Molly asked, then immediately regretted it. If she’d thought about it for, like, thirty seconds, she would have figured it out.
    Instead she got to watch Gage look ashamed while he grumbled, “You fucking horndog. There’s a lady present.”
    Molly laughed out loud at that. “What about the last two days has made you boys think I’m that kind of lady? I don’t care what you do. I’m here to observe, remember? Brian, go get some.”
    Brian grinned at her, and she hoped she’d pulled it off. It was a little bit of bravado. The truth was that she really, really did not want to think about whether Declan was about to go get himself some pre-show special pussy from some random groupie. Molly already felt queasy at the suggestion.
    “C’mon, Dec, you up for it?”
    Molly pretended not to watch Declan, but in the next few seconds a freaking UFO could have landed right next to her and she wouldn’t have noticed. Declan was still pacing, still obviously pissed off, still lost in thought. Then he snapped to, like Brian’s words had just penetrated his brain, stopped, and looked at Brian like he was stupid.
    “No,” Declan said coldly.
    Molly turned away to hide her relief.
    “Well, fuck this,” Brian said, standing up. “I need to work off the fear of death. I’ll catch you guys in twenty.”
    “More like five,” Erik said, sending Gage into a fit of laughter. Brian flipped them off as he left, but it had helped, at least a little bit.
    They were all still a little tense.
    “Where’s Davey?” Declan demanded, wiping the sweat off of his face.
    “On the phone with the label about security,” Gage said. “Dude, serious question. Are we going on? I don’t want this to turn into a stampede, like freaking Altamount or something. I’d rather we sent everybody home than got anyone killed, man.”
    “No shit,” Declan said. He stood there, drawing all eyes to him just by being. The man was just a presence, covered in red paint, in jeans and nothing else. He would have been a presence even in a freaking clown suit. Definitely when naked, Molly was sure of that. It was just hard to look away, the way he gathered energy around him, the way it seemed like a storm was building around his mood. Declan took a deep breath and seemed to come to a decision. “Ok. You guys stay here, wait for Davey. I’m going to fix this. Molly,” he said, giving