Reckless Fear (The Black Vipers #1) Read Free Page A

past.
    Pops looked over his shoulder and smiled, “Are you sure this is the life you want, kid? Sin runs free around here.”
    A small memory fluttered in my mind.
    Her soft hands in my calloused ones, so trusting as she followed me. I tried to be brave, hoping she wouldn’t notice the trembling.
    Looking up at me through her long eyelashes, she asked me if I wanted her. She was pure, never touched the way she wanted me to touch her.
    I was dirty and used, touched in the worst ways possible.
    Tears fell from my eyes as I told her she shouldn’t be near me, I would ruin her. I begged her to go.
    Her brown eyes never left mine and I shattered under her stare. She held me, soothed me…saved me.
    She was the strong one, the brave one. It was her calm that balanced out my anxiety.
    Her olive skin, unmarred against my scars. She smiled shyly up at me. I ran a finger over her swollen lips and she turned into my touch. I was so afraid of hurting her, scared she wasn’t ready.
    “We don’t have to,” I said. She pulled me to her mouth, wrapping her body around mine and whispering, “I want to.”
    Her body fit perfectly to mine, moving just when she should. The way she touched me drove me to the brink of insanity while being the sanest things I’ve ever done.
    Fingers running down my back, grabbing at me as our hearts raced. Her warm breath teased across my lips, begging me for more.
    “I don’t want to hurt you.”
    Breathless, she said, “Please, don’t stop.”
    It was the only time I’d ever felt cared for…cared about. She needed me.
    The sound of my name on her sweet lips was more than I could handle. “My Ben,” she had said, as I pulled her to me. I couldn’t get her close enough, couldn’t stop kissing her. Every ounce of me wanting to imprint onto her how important she was.
    We whispered secrets into the darkness as we willingly gave all of ourselves to each other. I was the rebellion against her life. She was the escape from mine.
    She begged me to take her with me. Convinced we could run from her family, from my life. We could save each other.
    I promised her I would protect her. She would never have to be afraid again.
    Had I been a man, I would have taken her with me that night. But I was fifteen, scared of my own shadow and completely undeserving of her. She fell asleep with my lies in her head and heart.
    The thought of her waking up without me has haunted me worse than anything else that’s happened in my life. I knew to her, I was the asshole who lied to her, took her virginity and left without as much as a look back.
    To me, she was the sunlight and the air. The only perfect thing I’d ever been close to. Her existence was my lifeline in a world of dirty Karma.
    If The Black Vipers ended my life today, I’d die knowing there was one thing I’d done right…I’d saved her from me.
    So like every day since the second I left her, I tucked her memory back into to a safe place. Somewhere she didn't have to wake up alone and lied to. Where I was the hero she wanted me to be. A place where she was mine.
    “Sin is never free,” I whispered. “It takes payment, one way or another.”

CHAPTER FOUR: Tight- Present day
    I woke up the way I always do from these dreams, soaked in my own sweat, gasping for air and alone. Always alone. My chest ached like I’d been running a marathon. Every muscle screamed at me like it’d been pushed to the limit.
    I ran my hands down my face groaning out profanities. These damn dreams were going to kill me for sure, or turn me into a raging alcoholic. I glanced at the half empty Tequila bottle sitting on my bed side table.
    “Thanks for nothing, fucker.” I bit out as I swung my feet over the side of the bed and reached for the bottle, taking a long deep pull. I balanced my elbows on my knees, hanging my head low.
    This had to be Karma or some shit. My payback for all the pain I’d brought down on other people.
    I knew I wouldn’t walk away from this life