Grace entered the classroom, her face still bright red. She laid her briefcase down on the desk and opened it, pulling out her notes. She began teaching right away, using the computer in front of her, which showed on the overhead as she taught. It took several minutes for her speech to slow and relax as she taught the lesson she had prepared.

As she taught, the frosty gaze staring at her inadvertently caught her eyes. Disconcerted, she dropped her own eyes to her computer, feeling as if he somehow knew what she had experienced on her way to the class.

Unintentionally, she had left a small fingernail clipper she had used that morning in the pocket of her skirt. When she had passed through the x-ray machine, it had gone off. One of the guards had asked her if she had any metal objects. Searching through her pockets, she had found the clipper and shown it to the guard, who had rudely jerked it out of her hand and thrown it in the trash can by his desk.

“Already trying to sneak something in to one of the prisoners. What is it about criminals that attract women?” His comment had flustered her.

“I wasn’t trying to sneak anything inside,” Grace had protested.

He didn’t believe her.

“If you want one of those assholes, you’re out of luck. They’re going to be locked up for a while. On the other hand, I’m not doing anything tonight. I can bring one of the uniforms, and we can play pretend.” He had laughed, and the other guard waiting to escort her had laughed along.

Grace hadn’t replied, turning on her heels. She had walked off, leaving the guard no choice other than to follow. This job was becoming a bigger pain in her ass each time she came to the prison.

There was no way Ice could have known what had happened, yet Grace sensed he knew something had occurred to upset her. She couldn’t understand the silent understanding the two of them shared. It was disconcerting that it was happening now with a man who was in prison on drug charges and had been incarcerated previously for an assault.

Finishing the lesson, she gave out the assignment they would work on for class. A couple of the prisoners raised their hands when they encountered a difficulty with the assignment, and she went to each one to help them while the guards watched from their positions.

A hand in front went up and Grace moved to Ice, standing at his shoulder. Looking at his screen, she couldn’t find the problem.

“You needed help?”

Ice raised a finger, pointing at the screen. Grace frowned, still unable to see where he was having a problem.

“I told you not to come back.” His voice was low.

Grace should have immediately walked off. Instead, she leaned forward and typed, “If you don’t stop, I’ll tell the guard.”

She waited a second to give him time to read it before she hit delete.

Ice’s fingers went to the keyboard. “It’s not safe for you here. Get someone else.”

Grace hit delete before she typed again. “There isn’t anyone. Stop or I’ll tell the guard.”

Again, she waited a second before hitting delete.

“Bullshit. Why didn’t you show them my note?”

“I didn’t want to get you in trouble, but if you don’t stop, I will.”

“Go ahead.”

Grace lifted her head, seeing a guard moving toward them. Hastily hitting delete, she typed in a code and straightened just as the guard came up behind them.

“There, that should fix it,” she said, moving away.

The guard stared down at the screen, frowning for several seconds before moving back to his position.

The Church raised his hand and reluctantly, Grace moved to his desk where it took several minutes for her to help him

As she leaned over his desk, she was aware of him sniffing her hair. Then, when she was typing, Church put his hands on the keyboard and brushed against hers. Grace jerked her hands away, taking a step back. The guard moved closer, but she had already begun moving away.

Grace gave the men a few more minutes to complete their work before telling them to send it to her computer. The teacher in her was pleasantly surprised at the abilities of her students. The men in the room had possibilities if they would take advantage of the opportunity of learning to broaden their knowledge.

Grace gave them their assignment for the weekend, making sure she didn’t glance in Ice’s direction again. She then left the class, feeling optimistic about her chances of completing the semester, despite Ice and the Church’s antics.

* * *

Ice watched her go out the door, giving the guard the cold shoulder. He was well aware the guards were assholes, and from her reaction when she had first entered the classroom, something had happened to upset her.

He didn’t know why he gave a shit. The woman was obviously stupid; she was back today after he had warned her away. He had expected her to show his note to one of the guards; instead, she had remained silent, even talking to him over the computer during class.

Ice walked behind the others to the common room, frustrated he had been unable to scare her away. He wanted to put her over his knee and spank some sense into her.

As soon as the door slid back to close after the guard left, Ice headed toward Jackal.

“That bitch is going to be mine.”

Ice paused in his tracks as he overheard Church talking to one of his men.

“How are you going to manage that?” Yo-Yo asked.

“That bitch wants me. She didn’t say shit when I touched her. I can tell I made her hot as Hell,” Church bragged.

“Yeah, that’s why she looked like she wanted to vomit,” Ice’s sarcastic voice broke in between the men’s conversation.

The room went silent as Church turned to him, his beady eyes boring into Ice’s.

“You got something to say?”

“Other than you’re fucking nuts if you think she wants anything to do with you? No, I don’t have a fucking thing to say to you, Church.”

The barrel-chested man moved to stand in front of him. “Why do you give a shit what I say?”

“I don’t.” Ice felt Buzzard move to stand behind him as Church’s men moved to stand behind Church.

“I think you do. I think you want that sweet pussy for yourself.”

Ice burst out laughing. “Are you on fucking Drano? Her pussy is probably as cold as she is, no matter how sweet it smells. If I’m going to go after a bitch, I want her to cream on my fingers not give me frostbite,” Ice sneered at Church. “Not that I couldn’t make her melt but stuck up bitches has never been my thing.”

“She sure as shit wouldn’t get wet for a dumb-fuck like you. But I see the way she looks at me when the guards aren’t watching.”

The man was dumber than he thought. He was already banging her in his imagination. Men like Church were dangerous—the ones who built imaginary relationships based on their own sick fantasies. Grace was too attractive to have been placed in a room full of men who hadn’t touched a woman in years.

“Keep thinking that, and I’ll remind you of it when they’re dragging your ass to solitary.”

Church’s hands clenched into fists when the sliding door opened and two guards entered. The two men staring each other down wisely moved away from one another, but their heated gazes left nothing to be guessed; the time was coming when they would be facing off against each other.