Viper gently turned her around and fixed her bra back in place before clasping it closed. He then re-buttoned her shirt and zipped her jacket back up. It took him less than two minutes when she would have fumbled in the dark trying to put herself back together. Winter felt Knox move away as Viper redressed her.
Once he was done, he led her back to his bike, motioning for everyone to finish their business. Cash took a bucket of water and made sure the fire was out before he mounted his bike parked next to Viper’s. Winter held on to Viper as they headed back to the club. Her conscious was screaming at her for letting things get so out of control that she had let another man put his mouth on her.
Regret and fear stormed her senses during the ride, the wind only making the turbulence in her mind worse. When they pulled into the lot, Winter wanted to run to her car and escape back to her home and reattach herself to the life and morals she could feel slipping out of her grasp.
She took off her helmet before climbing off the bike and stood silently staring at her car as she tried to calm her racing mind and come to a clearheaded decision. The other members left talking and laughing. When Beth would have approached with a flushed ecstatic face, Razer pulled her past them. Seeing Winter’s face, he instantly recognized that she was upset.
Viper watched the emotions chase over Winter’s face. It was an easy situation to read. She was regretting what had taken place. Her instinct was to run, that was what Winter always tried, she hated confrontations. Her life was like a rulebook. Whenever something didn’t go as expected, she didn’t want to confront it. Instead, she would try to go around it. That method didn’t work for him anymore.
When she thought he wasn’t attracted to her, she made excuse after excuse. All she had to do was ask, but she hadn’t. Even now, she wanted to know where they stood, but she would rather run than risk an answer she didn’t want to hear. She could face hoards of teens, face down school boards to get funding, and stand up to furious parents over their spoiled kids, but she had no confidence in herself as a woman.
The Last Riders were a part of his life, one that he had no intention of leaving. He wanted to share it with the woman he loved. Winter was that woman. If she would just let her guard down long enough to see that he was willing to give her anything she wanted, she would stop letting her fears control her.
Viper had fallen hard for Winter during those two years he had been searching for Gavin’s killer, but he had managed to keep from making love to her because he knew she wouldn’t be able to accept his lifestyle. When she had found out who he really was, he hadn’t been surprised she had thrown him out of her life. He had walked away. It was only seeing Beth with Razer when he realized that if Beth could accept The Last Riders, then maybe Winter could too. The difference was Beth loved Razer enough to put herself out there, to take a chance that yes, she could be hurt, but the rewards would be worth it. Beth had set a high standard, one that he needed Winter to live up to.
“Let’s go in the clubhouse,” Viper coaxed with a soft voice.
She took a step forward, but it wasn’t towards him, but her car.
“Do you know what it was like when I found out you had been hurt? I thought I would give you enough time to get over being mad and then try to convince you to give me a chance. This time I thought I would show you what my life was and let you decide what you wanted. I was a mother fucker and I know that. What I didn’t know was during that two years I wasn’t showing you the real me, you were giving me a part of you and I fell for that woman. I denied it to myself until you were hurt. I went to that hospital and I couldn’t even see you. I had no rights toward you at all, you were unconscious and they wouldn’t tell me shit. I stayed at the hospital and even when you woke, you refused to see me. I wanted to hold you and let you know I would take care of you, but you never gave me a chance. I watched the day the ambulance came to take you to the rehabilitation center, unable to even say goodbye to you. I accepted all of that because I deserved it. However, I knew what I was going to do when I found out you were coming home. You know the real me now, I haven’t hidden one thing from you. Now you need to decide if you are going to stay and see where this goes or are you going to try to run every time you let your guard down?”
“I don’t want anyone else to touch me.”
“Then they won’t,” Viper shrugged. “That’s up to you.”
Winter swallowed hard. “You don’t care if I fuck someone else?”
Viper hesitated, knowing if he answered wrong that he would lose her forever, but he was going to give her the truth.
“If it’s another member and I am there with you, then no I don’t. I’ve seen you staring at Knox and whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, you were curious about him. Was your curiosity satisfied?”