ILSA
It took me longer than it should have to realize Ray had snapped the chain on the handcuffs. I was trained, and while I’d come out of practice much faster than I thought I would, I certainly should’ve heard the telltale crack of a chain snapping. You didn’t need to be a weapons expert to know that sound.
Especially since it occurred behind my head.
No, I heard it, but it just didn’t register.
Because I was otherwise distracted.
While I was still on top of her, after she sat up and made some snide remark, she had let me handcuff her. I had seen what she could do, and while I bit the inside of my cheek, knowing this was a trap of some sort, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to cuff her on the off chance I read the situation wrong and maybe she felt remorse.
Yeah, right.
What exactly had been my plan? I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think I wanted to kill her, but I did want her to stop this mad reign she had taken up against the city. So, arresting and handing her to the authorities seemed right. They could deal with her then, and she wouldn’t be my problem anymore.
Because somehow, Ray had become my problem.
But the sound of the chain snapping escaped my attention because after she had looped her arms over my shoulders, my adrenaline had peaked again when I thought she was going to strangle me. I had relaxed slightly around her, becoming lax when I normally wouldn’t, definitely being more complacent than I should be in the presence of a demon. Lured into a false sense of security Ray wouldn’t harm me because she had let me go before. But it was hard not to be fooled—coupled with the effect she apparently had on my hormonal and instinctual response—for whatever reason, I simply didn’t feel unsafe around her.
Somehow, I knew Ray wouldn’t hurt me.
Much.
I mean, she had tried to choke me.
The crack of the chain was lost amongst the adrenaline and arousal. Because in the same moment she had broken the chain as though it were made of cotton, she had pressed her lips to mine.
She fucking kissed me.
Ray didn’t wait for me to kiss her back. Both my body and mind had decided working in tandem was no longer an option. She simply forced my lips apart with her tongue and took control of my mouth.
Ray tasted like cheap alcohol and fire as if the heat of her was going to ignite me. She was passion on long legs, and I swear my body had never responded to Kelly or any of the others the way it did to Ray. And fuck, that only served to make me fucking angry.
Anger which my body apparently channeled into arousal.
Because Christ, her lips were amazing.
Obviously, I had some fucking issues too because instead of pushing her away, I snaked my arms around her back and pulled her to me. I took back the power of the kiss and massaged her tongue with my own, flicked the tip over her teeth, and teased her with what I knew I was capable of.
And when she moaned.
Hell, if I wasn’t sitting down…
Her forearm tightened around the back of my neck, and I clawed at her shoulders when what she was doing dawned on me.
Aw fuck.
She grinned against my lips as she pressed her other hand to my larynx, tightening until everything went black.