Daughters of Chaos

23

Chapter Twenty-Three

A/N: 

Extra long chapter for you this week. Enjoy!! 

Raven

Opening the bar was usually great. It was quiet and there were no thirsty patrons begging for another round while unashamedly staring at my chest. It was a shift I'd normally be thrilled to have, but today the quiet bothered me. It taunted me like a villain in a movie. The silence, the stillness- it gave me too much room to think. To worry. Not that I'd admit it to anyone.

It was hard enough convincing Viper to let me keep working and let Nix continue going to campus for classes. Though, even I was uneasy with the latter after everything that had happened. But telling Nix she had to sit back and put her life on hold while I fought to keep my independence seemed hypocritical.

So, Nix was still going to class- with the stipulation that she have at least two of the MC with her at all times. Boner and Archie shadowed her, blending into the background with their baby faces. Raptor didn't like it, but he'd stick out like a sore thumb on campus, and Viper had other jobs for him. I know when he wasn't busy with Viper's dirty work, he stayed as close as he could to Nix, unwilling to let anything happen to her.

If it bothered her to have an entourage, she didn't show it. Nix took everything in stride, refusing to let what happened to Tweak dull her ever-hopeful spirit. I was proud and the slightest bit jealous of her ability to bounce back with unyielding optimism after the bombshells we dropped on her.

Meanwhile, here I am, waiting for the next shoe to drop as I stock the beer coolers. It's been a week and nothing else has happened between the Sons of Sorrow and the Desert Bastards. Dom's crew has been MIA since the stabbing and the Sons' retaliation. I still don't know what they did as payback for what happened to Tweak, but it must have been bad to make Dom and his guys back off.

For now.

The annoying voice inside my head kept reminding me that peace was only temporary. Sooner or later, one or both crews would end up pushing the other into action. And when that time came, I wasn't so sure I wanted to be around to witness it.

The door to the bar swung open and my bodyguard trudged inside. Reaper had somehow grown even more crabby since Viper upped Nix's and my protection detail. All week at least two MC members were staying with us overnight. Raptor, Reaper, and Jesse were the ones who drew that duty, much to Reaper's immense displeasure.

Jesse and Raptor seemed to enjoy it, though. As did my sister. It meant she and Raptor could spend all night wrapped up in each other without worrying what Daddy Dearest would think of his Treasurer slinking out of our house in the morning. Part of me still thought she was getting too attached too quickly, but with everything else going on, I wasn't going to deny her anything that kept her mind off Dom and his Bastards.

The door swung open again and Jesse's smiling face greeted me. At least there's something positive coming out of this situation for me...

He sent a quick greeting to his cohort before meeting me behind the bar. Soft lips met my cheek as a strong hand curved around my hip. "Morning, sexy."

I couldn't stop my lips from curling if I wanted to. Jesse's a likable guy, and ever since the first night he stayed over, things between us have grown more heated. We didn't have sex that first night, but I had a front-row seat to what the man's hands and mouth are capable of.

Since then, we rounded the bases quickly. One night, we wound up pressing each other against the storeroom wall for a quickie after closing. It was hot, hard, and fast, giving us a much-needed boost of serotonin. It's made work flirting even more interesting. Every heated look now holds the promise of late-night orgasms.