Act of Passion

by Mandy M. Roth

She barely knew the man and she was making out with him in a serious way. This was so out of character for her that it jarred her back into reality. She stopped kissing him and froze under him.

  He withdrew his tongue from her mouth but remained on top of her. He stared down at her, his dark gaze smoldering. She nearly kissed him again but knew it was all moving too fast. She needed a moment to adjust to this wild side. To him.

  “I should get off you, shouldn’t I?” he asked as if he wasn’t sure of the answer.

  Brooke couldn’t help but smile up at him. “Probably, since I’m on the verge of another panic attack here.”

  He eased off her, his movements stiff. When she realized why, her eyes widened. He extended a hand to her, helping her off the sofa. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “I kissed you. You didn’t kiss me first,” she said softly, surprised by the truth of it.

  She was not sexually aggressive—at all.

  Well, she hadn’t been until Malik. Now she just wanted to throw him down and jump his bones. That caused panic to well in her more.

  He touched her cheek tenderly. “How about we eat and get to know one another?”

  A shaky breath left her as she retrieved her bag. “Yes. I’d like that.”

  Malik took her hand in his and led her from the suite. They walked hand in hand down the hall, as if they’d been a couple for ages. It felt right. Like this was how life was supposed to be.

  “Where are you from?” she blurted, wanting to fill the silence.

  “Here, but I’ve not lived here for a very long time, and it didn’t look anything like this when I did live here,” he said, slowing their pace as if he didn’t want to get to the restaurant too soon. “What about you? Where are you from?”

  “When I was little I lived with my parents in South Carolina,” she answered. “Then when I was five, I went to live with my maternal grandmother in Ohio.”

  “Why is that?” he asked, seeming to actually be interested.

  She drew to a stop. “My parents died. My grandmother raised me after that. She passed away right after I graduated from high school. So, I just really have Edee that I count as family.”

  He reached up with his free hand and smoothed her long brown hair over her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “Normally, I go to great lengths to avoid talking about it all, but I feel like I have to tell you all of it. I don’t know why. Weird, huh?”

  “I’m struggling with the same thing,” he confessed. “I want to tell you things that I don’t normally get into with women. Things humans shouldn’t know about.”

  “Humans?” she asked, laughing softly at his word usage. “You’re really an alien from outer space, aren’t you? It would explain the accent that I can’t place, yet it’s kind of familiar too. Weird.”

  “You have found out my secret,” he said, his lips twitching. He raked his gaze over her. “How old are you?”

  “I’ll be twenty-four in a week. How about you?”

  “Older than twenty-four,” he replied.

  “Twenty-seven? Twenty-eight?”

  Malik appeared uncomfortable with the question. “Are you hungry?”

  “I am,” she said, moving as he started to walk again.

  He pressed the button for the elevator and then eased closer to her. She liked knowing he wanted to be near her as much as she wanted to be close to him. It made her feel less needy.

  They entered the elevator and Malik slipped his other arm around her waist. As the doors closed, he looked down at her. “What brings you to Egypt?”

  “Believe it or not, Edee and I won a trip that neither of us remember signing up for,” she said, squeezing his hand slightly. “We just got our master’s degrees and when this offer came up, we took it. Seemed like perfect timing—a way to celebrate. It’s my first time outside of the States.”

  “How long have you been here for and how long before you leave?” he asked, and for a second she could have sworn his dark brown eyes had hints of amber in them. When she didn’t see it again, she chalked it up to a play of the lights.

  “We arrived today. We’d just gotten to the hotel when you saw us in the lobby. We’re here for two weeks.”

  His gaze hardened. “If that asshat comes near you again—”

  She snorted. “Thanks. I think. What about you? When did you get here and when are you leaving?”

  He closed his eyes slightly. “I don’t want to lie to you, Brooke.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked before realizing what he was saying. She thought back to his military-like clothing earlier. Had there been something to it all? “You can’t tell me, is that it?”

  A nod was his only response.

  “Can you tell me how long you’re here for?” She didn’t want to look clingy but she honestly felt like she needed to hold tight to him for fear he’d be gone.

  His gaze darted away. “No.”

  Brooke thought harder on what she was doing. She was holding hands with a man she barely knew. She’d made out with him, which was totally not her norm. To top it off, he could be gone at any moment and she’d never see him again. It wasn’t as if she knew anything about him that would help her locate him later. They were basically two strangers passing in the night.

  Two strangers with a lot of chemistry.

  Too much chemistry.

  She wasn’t sure she’d bounce back after spending a night with him, only to never see him again.

  She worked her hand from his and hugged herself to keep from touching him once more. It was all she wanted to do, but the pull to him was unnatural. Too intense. And she certainly didn’t make a habit of bedding men one night and never seeing them again the next. Hell, she didn’t make a habit of bedding anyone.

  Malik reached for her but then stopped. “You’re upset with me.”

  “I’m not a one-night-stand kind of girl. Thank you for your help in the lobby, but we should part ways now. This is too much.”

  The elevator doors opened and Brooke stepped out. She intended to find Edee, make sure her friend was behaving herself, and then head back to the room to think about the way Malik made her head spin.

  Malik stepped out of the elevator behind her and pressed his body to hers. He slinked his arms around her waist and drew her back against him. He pressed his mouth to her ear. “I arrived here almost a week ago. If my team is called away, then I’ll need to go. If I can, I’ll try to stay, but there are things at work I can’t tell you about. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. Please know that. And I know you’re not the type for a one-night stand. You should know I’m not the type to be there come morning—but I want to be there come morning with you, Brooke. Let’s spend time together to see where this might go. Please.”

  She couldn’t move. The feel of his long, hard erection was pressed to her back. Her entire body lit with need. Brooke knew she should cut her losses and steer clear of him. He’d just admitted to being a womanizer, and the odds that he’d fed her a line about wanting to be there come morning were great. That being said, she wanted him. She wanted all of him.

  Risks be damned.

  As Edee always reminded her, you only live once.

  “Okay, let’s go to dinner,” she said softly.

  He put his mouth to her ear. “Thank you.”

  Chapter Five

  Malik entered the restaurant to find his teammates and Rurik and Garth there as well. The restaurant leaned heavily on modern styling and had floor-to-ceiling shelves behind the bar that were backlit, creating the perfect lighting level and ambiance.

  Several long, dark tables had been put together to accommodate their group size, not to mention the size of the men. Supernatural males tended to run on the large size.

  Duke and Rurik sat across from one another, each glaring at the other. Boomer was next to Duke, talking with Brooke’s friend Edee. The two seemed engrossed in conversation. Garth was next to Corbin, who appeared to be keeping Striker s
itting as far from Edee as could be.

  Malik hid his laugh, wondering what the Scot had done to earn him a timeout. Knowing Striker, the sky was the limit.

  Corbin looked up and his blue gaze locked on Malik.

  The next Malik knew, his team captain’s voice was in his head.

  I heard you made quite the scene for the woman, said Corbin.

  Malik inclined his head. Yes. And I’d do it again.

  That’s what I thought you’d say, Corbin returned as he stood and buttoned the suit jacket he was wearing. The man cleaned up well and preferred to be dressed nicely, as did Malik.

  Corbin came around from the other side of the table and put his hands out to Brooke, taking hers in return.

  Malik’s lion pushed up, wanting to warn the fellow lion-shifter away from what was his.

  Mine?

  He swallowed hard. The damn suppression medicine was really doing a number on him. If he wasn’t careful, he’d do something stupid.

  “You must be Brooke,” said Corbin, his English accent showing through with ease. He’d made no attempt to ever try to rid himself of it. “I’ve heard so much about you already. Your friend tells me you just graduated university with exceptional pass marks.”

  Brooke’s cheeks heated, and Malik realized she didn’t like attention on herself. He couldn’t understand why. She was stunning. Other women he’d seen who paled compared to her loved attention. But not Brooke.

  “Yes. This trip is to celebrate graduating,” she said.

  Corbin’s lips twitched. “I see. Then it’s not to, how did your friend put it? To find you a hot hunk to rock your world for a night?”

  Brooke squeaked and leaned forward, looking past Malik at Edee.

  Edee lifted her glass of wine and blew Brooke a kiss.

  Brooke yanked her hands from Corbin’s and went ramrod stiff. “No. Not at all. No. Did I mention no?”

  Corbin chuckled. “You did. Though I’m sure Malik was hoping for a different response.”

  Brooke’s attention swung to Malik. She raked her gaze over him slowly, making his dick harden again. If she kept it up, his cock would be permanently erect. He’d been struggling with it from the second he’d caught her scent in the lobby—honey and lotuses. She licked her lower lip and the act made him think of what her mouth would look like wrapped around his cock.

  “Well, I’d be willing to make an exception for him,” said Brooke quietly, surprising Malik with her humor.

  Corbin laughed long and loud, something he tended to avoid doing. The guy was so repressed. “Note the glimmer of hope returning to Malik’s eyes.”

  Malik grunted. “That will be enough from you. Go sit by Striker before he does something else to get himself in trouble.”

  Corbin groaned. “Boomer told me about the, uh, measuring incident earlier, and Edee asked more about it. Striker offered to take her upstairs and show her what a real Highlander came built with. She in turn offered to remove anything he showed her with a butter knife.”

  Brooke snorted. “Sounds like Edee.”

  Corbin grinned. “She’s refreshing and seems more than capable of dealing with Striker. Never thought those words would fall from my lips. I’m considering hiring her just to babysit him.”

  “So why does he look like he’s being punished?” asked Malik.

  “Oh, he’s by me because he and Duke wanted to team up and see if they could bring Russia to his knees,” said Corbin, sounding exhausted. “Garth and I grew tired of putting out that fire so we thought it best the main instigator be separated from the other two. Hence, Striker is being punished.”

  Malik took Brooke’s arm gently and led her to a chair at the table. He held the chair out for her and then made sure she was seated and comfortable before taking the chair next to her, leaving Duke seated to his left.

  Corbin returned to his side of the table and sat across from Malik. “Edee didn’t mention what you studied while at university.”

  Brooke smiled and smoothed her long brown hair behind her ears. “Computer science engineering with a focus on cyber security.”

  “Interesting,” said Corbin. “Have you started your job search yet?”

  She nodded. “I have four great offers that I’m thinking about while here. One is with the DOD and the others are with the private sector.”

  “I hate computers,” said Duke before he lifted his glass of wine and gulped it down. “And if you’re smart, you’ll avoid the DOD like the plague.”

  “I love computers,” said Brooke, her eyes lighting. “I love everything to do with technology. I hope to one day own my own cyber security firm. Edee just laughs. Though, I don’t know why. She’s a total science nerd. Molecular science. No thanks.”

  “I laugh because you’re a social leper. Instead of meeting men, you spent your time hacking. Brooke, how are you going to get laid if you hide away all the time? You’re young and hot, you only live once,” said Edee loudly from the other side of Duke.

  Brooke rolled her eyes. “Can we not discuss my lack of a social and sex life in front of people we just met?”

  Rurik lifted a dark brow. “You are very attractive, for an American.”

  Brooke eased her chair closer to Malik, looking nervous. “Um, thanks.”

  He put an arm around her. “He’s harmless. Just loud and very proud to be Russian.”

  “Russians are arseholes,” said Striker, earning him a nod from Duke.

  Garth touched Rurik’s shoulder, keeping his second-in-command in his seat for the time being. “What did we talk about, Rurik?”

  Rurik grunted. “My temper is warranted around them. Let me kill one of them and then I’ll promise to behave. Just one. You pick the one. Doesn’t matter to me.”

  Brooke’s giggle eased the tension at the table. She lifted a glass of water that was in front of her. “How long have all of you been friends?”

  Malik cleared his throat. “Some days it feels like forever.”

  “Because you’re ancient, old man,” said Boomer under his breath. “Old as fucking time.”

  “Dick,” returned Malik, partially under his.

  Brooke laughed again and sipped her water, her hand finding his thigh.

  Instantly Malik’s throat went dry. He grabbed his water goblet and downed it before taking Duke’s and doing the same.

  Duke stared over at him and grunted. “What is with you tonight? Normally you’re the picture of suaveness, saying all the right things to the ladies, making us all look like Neanderthals. You’re acting like you’re about to get laid for the first time. Not like the six thousandth.”

  Brooke’s hand moved quickly off his thigh and she eased away from him slightly.

  Malik turned a hard gaze on his longtime friend. Do not ruin this for me.

  What the hell has gotten into you? You’re picking fights in public. You’re nervous as shit at dinner. Seriously, what’s with this piece of ass? asked Duke.

  Malik was up and out of his chair in the blink of an eye. He had Duke by the throat and was more than willing to kill the man. Speak of her in such a manner again and I will be your end.

  “Whoa!” said Striker, moving suddenly around the table and touching Malik’s shoulders. “No killing Grumpy. He comes in handy every once in a while.”

  Malik, control your anger. That is an order, said Corbin mentally.

  Malik did his best to rein in his temper. It was hard. He didn’t like hearing Brooke referred to as a piece of ass.

  Brooke slid her chair out and stood. “Edee, let’s go.”

  “What? Wait. Why?” asked Malik, spinning to catch her by the elbows lightly. “Don’t go.”

  “Don’t be a jerk and I’ll stay,” she said, her lips pressing in a thin line.

  Striker laughed and then stared past Malik, his face paling. “Do nae be thinking of using that on me, lass.”

  Malik looked back to find Edee eying a butter knife on the table. “Gelding him would be so much fun and so easy.”
>
  Striker backed up and cupped himself before hurrying around the table and taking a seat, as if he was the most well-behaved operative to ever live.

  Yeah, right.

  Malik kept hold of Brooke. “I didn’t like what he said about you.”

  “He didn’t say anything,” she snapped back.

  He remembered then that she couldn’t hear their mental communications. “Right. I just, um, I’ll sit down and not be a jerk anymore.”

  Duke huffed at the same time as Rurik before they both said, “Good luck.”

  “How cute,” said Boomer, leaning back in his chair, appearing entirely too amused by the events. “The pissy doppelgangers now share a brain cell.”

  Malik fought to keep from laughing but failed.

  Brooke stared up at him. “Is everything all right now? Are you done with the violence?”

  He averted his gaze.

  “Malik, violence isn’t the answer. It should be the last resort, not the go-to response. I would have thought your parents would have taught you as much.”

  “My mother was Roman and put my brothers and I in an arena when we were little and demanded we fight to see who would be the next to take over the pride. And then the winner had to face off against the winner out of my cousins. She cared little for us if we were weak in any way. There was no place for the weak in my world. Violence is what I grew up knowing.”

  As the words left his mouth, he wanted them back.

  All the men around him jerked in their seats, obviously catching on to the fact he’d just slipped up about being a shifter. He’d also never told any of them about his upbringing. Very few operatives knew the truth of it all.

  Malik tensed. “Metaphorically speaking.”

  Brooke’s expression was pained as she cupped his face. Her gaze searched him. Whatever she saw made her eyes grow moist. “I’m sorry she didn’t nurture you the way you should have been nurtured.” She went to her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips went to his ear. “Don’t think with your fists. Think with your head and your heart.”

  “My heart tells me to never let you go,” he said before thinking about the fact that every male at the table was a supernatural and could easily hear his whispers.