Free Reckless Fear (The Black Vipers #1) by Micki Fredricks

reached for her, unable to resist the burning desire to sweep her into my arms.
    “Hey,” I said softly.
    She recoiled from my touch, her eyes filled with hatred.
    “She would be crazy to get involved with you.” She leaned away from the bed, shifting her weight to one foot.
    “Look at you. Hospitalized with a gunshot wound that you’re lucky to have lived through. Wearing the cut of an outlaw biker gang and suffering from caveman syndrome so bad you try to pull out your own catheter. And today, you refuse pain meds.”
    Grabbing a handful of gauze and the tape, she bent back over me, finishing the job so she could no doubt get as far away from me as possible. My heart thundered realizing I was fucking this up big time. I needed to do something to turn this back around.
    “Why would she want to come back to you? What do you have to offer?”
    My mouth worked before my brain had time to catch up. “I have a big dick and I know how to use it.”
    She lifted an eyebrow, tilting her head to one side while snapping off her gloves.
    She made no attempt to hide the fact her eyes were skimming over my bare chest and zeroing in on my groin, heating my skin and making me feel more alive than I had in years.
    Her eyes met mine again and I recognized the hunger. She was coming around.
    “I’ve had bigger.”
    The. Fuck.
    I pushed myself up against my pillows. Stretching my neck from side to side, trying to release the knot of tension her words had just caused.
    “Sasha, don’t talk about having sex with other men around me.”
    She stilled, her back as straight as an arrow. “Are you serious?” She turned back to me. I could feel the anger radiating off of her in flames. I knew I’d pissed her off. It was an asshole thing to say, but the truth was, there was no way I could lay here in this bed with her talking about sleeping with other guys.
    “I have never been more serious about anything in my damn life.” I made sure my eyes connected with hers and there was no question about how I felt.
    Her mouth opened like she was going to say something, but then snapped shut. She bit her bottom lip and for a second, I thought she might draw blood. It was fucking sexy.
    She finally spoke, her voice raw and trembling.
    “So help me understand. You take this poor girl’s virginity, lie to her, promise you will save her and then leave her like a piece of worthless trash. And then you actually have the balls to think she has saved herself for all these years? Waiting for her prince on a fucking Harley to come and rescue her? You have no idea what she went through after you left.”
    And there it was.
    “I’m sorry.” I’d never meant anything in my life more than I meant those words.
    Her hands squeezed into fists at her sides. “Now you’re sorry? What if she looked for you? That’s right, a fifteen year old girl, scouring those dirty and disgusting streets hoping to get a clue where to find you.”
    I dropped my eyes to where my hands were folded in my lap. “I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
    She let out a bitter laugh. “You were scared? Of what? Let me paint you a picture of what fear actually looks like. When she realized you weren't coming back for her, she stopped living. She didn't eat, she didn't sleep. You were her last hope and you walked away. Do you know how long she wondered what she had done wrong? Why she hadn't been good enough for you?”
    “Holy shit. It wasn't you. You were perfect-too perfect. I was a stupid kid who didn't know what the hell was going on. I wanted to come back, I really did.”
    “But you didn't come back, did you? No. Because it was a childish dream romanticized by two kids who thought they could overcome all the bad in the world together. That’s what I believed, you just lied about it.”
    “Sasha, please,” I whispered.
    Her head dropped forward and her hands covered her face. I could hear the pain in her voice. “You didn’t come back for me.”
    My cold fucking