His head jerks up and he spins to face me. But it isn’t Ray who meets my gaze, but the Predator. In the flesh.

“Go, Sia.” His voice is rough, hoarse as if it is an effort to force the words out. “Get out of here.”

Goose bumps prick my arms and I twist my hands together. “You weren’t fighting the way you usually fight. You seemed…angry. Out of control. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, as if in pain. “Please.”

“I’m not leaving you alone. Not like this.”

His hands curl into fists at his sides and his eyes narrow. “Man hurts someone he cares about, he should be alone.”

“Yes, you hurt me,” I say, taking a step toward him. “I felt betrayed when you told Torment I was painting. I felt like you exposed me to the world when you shared that piece of me that I had only wanted to share with you.”

A groan erupts from his throat. “You don’t think I realized that after I saw your face. Christ, if I could take it back…”

“It was my fault.” I stop two feet away from him and tug my T-shirt over my head, the only way I can think to calm him down. “I know you were just trying to help. And you were right. You couldn’t have known how it would make me feel or why it was important because I never told you.”

Under his shocked, heated gaze, I unclip my bra and slide it off, dropping it to the floor. Then I undo my jeans and shimmy them over my hips along with my underwear. Ray doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. But his eyes sweep my body with a feral gleam.

“What are you doing?” His breathing is raw, ragged, and thick with need.

“Soothing the savage beast.” I close the distance between us and slide one hand around his neck, while I whip off his towel with the other and dig my fingers into his ass. Already thick and hard, his cock presses against my hip as I lean up and nuzzle his neck. “I know we’re not in this for the long haul, but I want to tell you what happened to me. I will tell you. Just give me time.”

“Sia.” He groans my name and threads his fingers through my hair. “Do you know what you’re doing? After last time…”

With a soft sigh, I rock up to kiss him, sliding my tongue along the seam of his lips until he opens for me. But one kiss is all it takes. Within a heartbeat, I am no longer the predator.

I am the prey.

Heart pounding in my chest, I stare up into his eyes, caught in the fire that matches the burning in my veins. His fingers stroke my neck, over the pulse point at the base of my throat, then he cups my jaw, tilts my head back, and lowers his mouth. There is no gentleness in his kiss, no fleeting meeting of lips or dancing of tongues. Instead, his mouth is hot and hungry, his tongue thrusting deep, devouring me even as I struggle to breathe.

He pulls back, rasping his breaths, and then curls his hand around the back of my neck, immobilizing me with his touch. “Anything I do hurts you or makes you panic, you tell me to stop. Understood?”

“I’ll say stop. I promise.”

He grunts his approval, then fishes around in his gym bag on the bench and pulls out a condom.

“Door locked?”

“Yes.”

Wrapper torn, cock sheathed, he pulls me into his chest. “Who’s at the door?”

“Rampage.”

“Fuck. He’s got the biggest fucking mouth in Redemption. I’ll be surprised if there is anyone in the gym who doesn’t know by morning.”

Hand trembling I follow the soft trail of hair down his abdomen with my fingers, then wrap my hand around his shaft. Just the feel of him, hot and hard and throbbing in my hand, makes me wet. I tighten my grip and stroke.

Ray growls his approval and I stroke harder, watching his face in case I hurt him. But the harder I stroke and the tighter I hold, the more he seems to enjoy it, so I lean up and bite his shoulder too. His cock swells in my hand and he groans.

“Jesus Christ. You want this to be over before it begins?”

“I want to make you feel good. The way you do for me. Tell me what to do. I want to get you off.”

“Harder.”

Gritting my teeth, I squeeze his cock so hard my knuckles whiten. Ray’s body tenses and his hips jerk forward into my hand.

“Fuck.” He clamps a hand on my wrist, then gently pulls me away.

“Not with you, Sia. You’re soft and sweet and everything that’s good in my life. Don’t want you tainted with any of that. That side of me, you don’t need to see.”

Before I can ask what he means, Ray settles himself on the bench and pulls me up onto his lap, my back to his chest, his erection pressed against the cleft of my ass. “This feels good.”

Shivering, I lean back against the solid wall of his chest and catch a glimpse of us in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, my small body nestled against Ray’s massive chest, his arm curled around my waist. It’s so erotic, I can’t tear my gaze away.

Ray hooks my thighs over his, then widens his legs, spreading me, until my sex, pink and glistening, is on display. A whimper escapes my lips and I try to turn away, but Ray captures my jaw and gently turns me back to the mirror.

“Look how beautiful you are. You are the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen. I could spend an entire day just looking at you.” He cups my breast in his palm and draws his thumb over the nipple. “Perfect.”

My cheeks burn, and I squeeze my eyes shut. I make a point of not looking at myself naked in the mirror. I am more exposed now than I have ever been.