My every thought was overcome by him. Raze was always the first one in the gym and the very last to leave at night. It was as if he didn’t even leave. He had one focus: becoming the best fighter we had. And making things worse still, he stared at me when no one was looking. The men talked about Raze. About how he never looked anyone in the eye. About how fiercely he trained. But when I passed by, when I had to speak to the coaches, he watched me with those brown-smudged-blue eyes, tracking my every move, like he only saw me. His muscles tensed solid when I was near. His nostrils would flare as he inhaled my scent. But he never spoke. Never communicated. Just watched…

Always watched me, prompting goose bumps to spread like wildfire on my skin, evoking familiar nervous/excited stirrings in my stomach that I hadn’t felt since I was in my early teens.

“Five minutes,” I abruptly called as I rapped on the first fighter’s door. The coach yelled back that he heard me, and I walked down the hallway toward Alik’s room. He needed me there before every fight. Said if he didn’t have me close, he would lose his mind, couldn’t focus and couldn’t win. Said he needed to know where I was so he could keep me safe. Truth was, he couldn’t stand seeing me around other men and the Dungeon was full of them. It was just easier to give in and do as he said rather than have him stressed, which might affect his upcoming fight.

He needed me. It was that simple.

As I neared Alik’s door, a flash of movement caught my eye. I spotted Viktor leaving Raze’s room up ahead, and I ground to a sudden halt. Raze would be in there, alone. It was his first fight, and I wanted him to be okay. A heart-wrenching twist of my gut almost brought me to my knees when I thought of him losing tonight. A pain so severe it left me breathless.

Why was I so attracted to him? I didn’t know him. Nothing about him made any sense to me. He was wild and untamed, severe and animalistic. I knew he wasn’t Luka, couldn’t be my Luka, but a feeling deep inside told me to keep pushing to find out.

Of course it was irrational. Of course it was stupid. Of course it was impossible. But when your heart’s so deeply involved, logic flies straight out the window.

I glanced at my watch and noted I was early; Alik wouldn’t be expecting me for five more minutes.

Five minutes.

I could have five minutes with Raze.

Making sure he was prepared for tonight. At least this was the lie I told myself to excuse my erratic and dangerous behavior.

I hadn’t seen Raze yet today and my chest ached because of it. Viktor brought him here to the gym. Alik had me jailed in his bedroom all day, fucking me over and over and over. One time he fucked me so hard my thighs were bruised and my throat was sore from crying.

Alik made me bleed. He rammed into me so hard that he made me bleed…

“You want to fuck him, Kisa? You think he’s better than me, just like your papa does? You want to fuck that cunt Raze?” Alik had asked, pushing inside me so roughly that tears of pain splashed down my cheeks.

“No,” I’d cried. “Baby, no. You’re seeing things. Imaging things that aren’t true.”

Alik’s mouth dropped to my ear and his fingers dug into my cheeks, forcing me to meet his rage-filled eyes.

“He watches you, did you know that? Doesn’t meet anyone else’s eyes like the fucking coward he is, but he watches you. Do you watch him too? Do you think you can fuck him and leave me?” he roared. He bit into my shoulder as I shook my head, trying to say no.

Alik thrust inside me in a frenzy, and I let more silent tears fall.

“You won’t ever be free of me, Kisa. I own you. Every inch of you! You’re with me until the end.”

Shuddering at the memory, still feeling the soreness between my legs, I acted on instinct and followed my heart instead of my head. I marched forward to Raze’s door. A nervous hand reached out to grip the doorknob, and sneaking one more glance at the empty hallway, I opened the door and bolted inside, shutting the door as I did so.

Closing my eyes, back pressed against the wood, I exhaled in relief that Alik hadn’t caught me. Then I sensed a dark, dominant presence…

Raze.

My eyelids fluttered open to find myself faced with that now familiar broad, tattooed scarred chest and torso of ragged tattooed tallies. A musky smell assaulted my nostrils, prompting my pussy to contract in need.

I followed the tanned, scarred skin north, over thick pecs, impossibly high traps, up over a square jaw, and up to a pair of burning brown eyes.

He was wired for the fight.

Pumped with adrenaline.

“Raze…” I whispered, but my words stuck in my throat as he leaned in close, his nose almost touching the delicate skin between my shoulder and neck. Raze raised his arms above my head. Then he inhaled, long and slow. My eyes shuddered closed and my palms met with Raze’s hot skin, my fingers drawing lazy circles around his nipples, feeling a hot bolt zing all the way down to the apex of my thighs.