Act of Passion

by Mandy M. Roth

  “It would be unwise to make another move,” said the redhead, leaving no doubt he was Scottish.

  The guy with the brown hair snorted. “Come on. Make my day, boys.”

  “Och, Duke, you were the one bitching about wanting a shower on the way here. Something about washing Malik off you. Now you want to take time out to get in a fight?” asked the Scotsman.

  The brown-haired one smiled wide. “I’m always in the mood for a fight, Striker.”

  Striker grinned. “Aye. Me too.”

  Boomer eased Brooke back from the wall of muscle. “Malik will rip my nuts off if I let a hair on your head be hurt.”

  “What? Why? I don’t even know him,” said Brooke.

  Edee raced over to Brooke and cast an approving look at Boomer. “Mmm, you wear black very well.”

  He grinned. “Thanks.”

  She pointed to the men. “What is going on with the A-Team of hotness there?”

  “Asshat in the white pimp suit called your friend a whore. My friend is about to tear his throat out,” replied Boomer as if that sort of thing happened daily.

  Edee’s jaw set. “Someone called you a whore? Ohmygod, you’ve never been with a guy. You’re a friggin’ virgin! That is about as far from a whore as you can get.”

  Brooke’s cheeks heated. “You didn’t need to announce that to the entire lobby full of people.”

  Edee grinned. “I know, but I think that one there, with the great ass, liked hearing it.” She motioned to Malik, who was staring over his shoulder at Brooke with a hunger in his dark eyes that made her belly feel as if hundreds of butterflies were fluttering about in it.

  Brooke’s cheeks heated more.

  Edee laughed. “Oh honey, if I beg, will you please take that man to bed for a night of hot, crazy, unapologetic sex? This trip is supposed to be life changing. I’d say that would completely qualify.”

  Boomer coughed in an attempt to hide the choking sound that had come from him.

  Edee looked at him. “You’re not bad. Keep standing this close to me and I’ll be taking you to bed. Then we could trade eyeliner tips. And you should know, I have a thing for men in leather.”

  His eyes widened and he took a giant step back from her. “I think you might be too much woman for me there, Red.”

  Edee shrugged. “Not the first guy to say that.”

  Striker turned partially. “Och, there is no such thing as too much woman for me. I’ll gladly spend the night rocking yer world, lass. And I think my arse is way better than Malik’s. I love to bed redheads, though I’m nae much into wearing leather. Chafes my balls.”

  Brooke cringed. That was way more information than she needed to know.

  Her friend licked her lower lip. “There are creams for that you know.”

  Striker raked his gaze over her slowly. “Aye. You offering to rub yer cream on my balls?”

  Brooke groaned.

  Edee did not need any encouragement, and from what Brooke could tell, Striker might be Edee’s male counterpart.

  Edee shook her head. “You’re sexy, but you know it. Pass. Besides, I did not come all the way to Egypt for a Scottish guy. I came for a prince or something. They have princes here, don’t they? Regardless, I’m guessing you’re all talk and no game.”

  Striker waggled his brows. “I sense a challenge there, lass.”

  “Uh, not to interrupt the talk of creaming chafed balls,” said Duke, sounding gruff. “But Malik is about to rip a guy’s arm off. Maybe we should pull our focus here?”

  Brooke gasped as she realized the man was right.

  Malik still had one of the men’s fists in his hand while his other hand was on the man’s throat. The man was still on his knees in front of Malik.

  Malik spoke to Mr. Rings in what she strongly suspected was Arabic.

  All of Malik’s friends shared a look that said they more than understood the exchange.

  Duke ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair. “Did Malik just warn the man to avoid even looking at his woman?”

  His woman?

  “Aye,” Striker said with a curt nod. “Cannae fault him. The lass is bonnie indeed. So is the redhead. Think they’ll want to get naked and in a Jacuzzi with me? I’m all in for a hot-chick layered dessert.”

  Malik snarled and set his sights on his friend.

  Duke grabbed Malik. “No killing him. It would make Corbin way too happy, so how about we take a nice deep breath and calm down. That, or we can beat the snot out of these pretty boys.”

  Edee clapped. “Oh, I vote for the fight. I really want to see all of your muscles flexing and you guys being all manly. Yummy and a major turn-on. It would really help that cream thing.”

  Boomer choke-coughed again.

  Striker flashed a wicked smile. “Redheads are always worth the trouble.”

  Brooke rushed forward and did what felt right—she slipped her arms around Malik’s waist and tugged. There was no way she was moving him unless he wanted to move.

  He released the guy and twisted, wrapping an arm around Brooke’s waist protectively.

  It was then she got a good dose of his smell. The man smelled good enough to eat. She inhaled again, the smell of him making her body respond. Her nipples hardened and her pulse sped.

  Malik’s gaze snapped to hers and he took in a deep breath as well, tightening his hold on her waist. “Honey and lotuses.”

  “W-what?” she asked.

  “You smell like honey and lotuses,” he returned, still looking hungry for her.

  Duke cleared his throat. “Try not to fuck her in the middle of the lobby.”

  Brooke yelped and jerked out of Malik’s grasp.

  Mr. Rings snorted before speaking in English. “Take your whore for now.”

  “Oh boy, now you went and did it,” said Duke, shaking his head.

  Malik released Brooke and went at Mr. Rings. One second Mr. Rings was standing and the next he was flat on his back, knocked out cold with one hit from Malik. Mr. Rings’s men converged on him, all looking lost as to what to do. None of them appeared to want to take on Malik.

  Brooke stood there, too stunned to comment or move.

  Edee squealed in delight. “That was so hot! Do it again.”

  “Edee!” Brooke glanced at her friend. “This is not okay.”

  “Honey, it was hot as hell and you know it. Now, thank him by taking him to our room and having your way with him. Look at him, that is a body you don’t pass up on.”

  Boomer coughed again. “Christ, she might actually be worse than Striker.”

  “Och, no one is worse than me,” said Striker before touching his chin. “Wait, I mean…hell…I said what I meant. No one is worse than me unless we’re talking about my cousins. They make me look tame.”

  Edee perked. “Oh, cousins? So I could have a reverse harem of hot guys? I might make an exception about the Scottish-non-prince thing if that’s the case.”

  Striker looked hopeful. “Redheads are dynamite.”

  He’d know. He was one.

  Hotel security finally arrived and Boomer went to them, speaking with them and pulling out some form of identification. Within seconds, the security team backed up, taking Mr. Rings and his men with them.

  Malik turned slowly. His gaze snapped to Brooke’s arm. The one Mr. Rings had grabbed and squeezed. “Your arm, it has the start of bruising on it. That is it. He dies.”

  Duke and Striker grabbed Malik, lifting him up and off his feet and walking him towards the elevator. The men appeared to be exuding a lot of energy to keep Malik from getting free.

  Boomer laughed and ran to catch up, stopping briefly in front of Brooke and Edee. “We’re going to wash dead arms dealers off us and then we were planning on grabbing something to eat before hitting the clubs. You two want to meet us for dinner? I think Malik would be very happy if you said yes, miss.”

  “Dead arms dealers?” asked Brooke, feeling faint.

  Edee waved a hand dismissively. “He’s
kidding. Right?”

  Boomer pursed his lips. “Yeah. Kidding. So is that a yes to meeting us for dinner and then clubbing? We can meet you in the lobby here if you want.”

  Brooke shook her head no, only to find Edee stepping forward. “Oh, we’ll be there. What time?”

  “Give us an hour. We’ll need thirty minutes of that to convince Malik not to kill us for taking him from your friend.”

  “Me?” Brooke asked, her eyes wide. “But he doesn’t even know me.”

  “Doesn’t change that he wants you safe, and he wants to inflict a lot of pain on the guy who hurt and threatened you,” said Boomer, heading for the elevator. “You should know, we’ll all step in and kill the asshat if he dares to hurt either of you.”

  Malik snarled and struggled to get free from his friends’ grasp.

  Brooke didn’t like seeing him behave that way. It did something to her that she couldn’t explain. Before she thought better of it, she hurried over and reached for him, touching his scruffy jawline. “Stop. Please. I don’t want this.”

  His nostrils flared. “He hurt you.”

  Duke and Striker looked concerned.

  Brooke kept her hand on Malik’s cheek. “And you hurt him right back. Thank you. But if you can’t control your temper, then how are you any different from the other guy?”

  That did it. Malik stopped struggling against his friends and went still. “I’d never hurt you.”

  “I know,” she said, feeling deep in her gut that he was telling the truth. He’d never harm her. “I just, well, I don’t like seeing you like this. I can’t explain it. Can you stop?”

  “Malik, she’s meeting us for dinner in an hour. You’ll see her again,” said Boomer.

  “You will be at dinner,” Malik said in a way that was a declaration, not a question.

  Brooke lifted a brow.

  “Corbin once told me the lasses do nae like to be ordered about in today’s day and age,” said Striker with a huff. “The sex clubs I go to are full of lasses wanting me to take control. I do nae know if the Brit has a clue about women but the look on yer woman’s face says Corbin might have been on to something. She’s nae British too, is she? If she is, run!”

  Malik cleared his throat. “Please meet me in an hour.”

  She nodded and drew her hand off his cheek slowly, liking touching him more than she should. “Try not to maim anyone on the way to your room.”

  His lips quirked. “No promises.”

  He backed into the open elevator and his friends all seemed relieved. Malik caught the door before it could close. “Wait. What is your name?”

  “Brooke,” she replied, smiling wide. He’d done all he had for her all while never knowing her name.

  He let the door close, his dark gaze never leaving her as it did.

  Edee eased up alongside her. “Honey, I have no idea what happened, but that man has it bad for you. Tell me you’re going to entertain making him your first.”

  Brooke glanced at her best friend in all the world and took a deep breath. “Oh yeah, I’m entertaining it all right. More than entertaining it.”

  Edee laughed long and loud. “That’s my girl. I knew I had to rub off on you at some point.”

  Chapter Four

  Edee peeked her head into the bathroom as Brooke finished applying mascara. “Oh, you look hot.”

  Brooke frowned. “Is it too much?”

  Edee snorted. “Honey, if you’d have let me dress you, I’d have put you in a mini skirt that barely covered your ass. You’re in a dress that hangs to your ankles. It’s not too much. It’s you. It’s just right.”

  She stepped back from the mirror. “Edee, that was weird tonight, right? I mean, the way Malik reacted on my behalf?”

  Shrugging, Edee headed back into the main area of the suite. “He didn’t like seeing you manhandled and he really didn’t like that douchebag calling you a whore.”

  “Right, but why?” asked Brooke, trying to make sense of the way Malik had made her feel. “He doesn’t know me.”

  “Because real men don’t hurt women or call them whores. And he’ll get to know you,” said Edee. She slipped on her heels. “Stop overthinking it, Brooke. You always do that.”

  Her friend was right. She did tend to overthink everything. She slipped on her knee-high, heeled brown boots, much to Edee’s dismay. Edee hated Brooke’s choices in fashion.

  Edee groaned. “All right. We’re nearly thirty minutes late. They probably think we stood them up.”

  Brooke snorted. “They probably forgot they even asked us to join them. I bet they’ve already all found other women to keep them company. None of them look as if they’re hurting in the way of attracting the ladies.”

  Edee stuffed money into her bra and smiled as she headed for the door. She opened and then turned, staring at Brooke. “I don’t think they forgot they asked us to join them.”

  Snorting, Brooke finished zipping her boots and then looked around the room for her small backpack that doubled as a purse. “Have you seen my bag?”

  Edee glanced out into the hall and then back at Brooke. “I really hate that bag. And it’s not needed.”

  “Of course I need it. I never go anywhere without it,” argued Brooke. “You can never be too prepared. What if I need a flashlight, or tissues, paper and a pen?”

  “Brooke, I love you but you are so weird,” said Edee with a snort. “Let’s go.”

  Brooke bent, looking under the coffee table. “We’re already late because of my mini freak out about everything. And I think you’re wrong. Those guys looked like they have lines of women at the ready. They won’t notice we aren’t there yet.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” said Edee, sounding amused. “In fact, I can guarantee they didn’t start the party without us. Okay, most of them didn’t. Get a move on or I’m going to start throwing stuff at you just to watch your freakish reflexes work.”

  “I don’t have freakish reflexes,” Brooke said, bending more.

  “Brooke, I think your reflexes need to be studied, because trust me, they’re freakish,” said Edee. Something in her voice told Brooke her friend was about to prove a point.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the TV remote coming at her. Calmly, she snatched it out of the air and kept looking for her bag.

  Edee laughed. “Freak.”

  “Diva,” Brooke shot back.

  “Thank you,” replied Edee.

  “Found it,” said Brooke as she spotted her bag tucked partially under the sofa. She wiggled to reach it and her backside felt hot all of a sudden. Like it was getting stared at. She reached farther and grabbed the bag.

  “Dear Lord, woman, you really need to stop shaking that rump or you’re going to have a super-hot dude trying to mount you,” Edee said, laughing.

  Brooke came up too fast and bumped the back of her head on the coffee table. “Ouch!”

  Edee laughed more. “The idea of getting mounted wigged you out that much?”

  Sensing something coming at her, Brooke put her hand out without looking behind her and caught a small figurine that had been near the entrance to the suite. She set it down on the coffee table. “Stop throwing stuff at me.”

  Getting off the floor, Brooke turned to find Malik standing just inside the door to the suite. He was dressed in an off-white dress shirt that looked expensive. The shirt was partially undone, showing off some of his chest and tattoos. The black leather pants he wore fit him like a glove. He wore a gold watch and a gold bracelet. His hair was down and hung to his mid-back.

  She’d thought he was sexy when he was in a shirt that looked like it had survived a fire. The man was downright delicious cleaned up. She blinked as her throat went dry. “How did you figure out our room number?”

  “He paid the desk clerk an obscene amount of money,” said Striker from the hall.

  Edee cackled with laughter. “See, doesn’t look like he found another woman to keep him company. He brought the Scottish j
erk though. Win some. Lose some.”

  “Yer full of piss and vinegar, lass,” said Striker with a growl. “Want to do it?”

  Edee rolled her eyes. “Come on, big guy. Let’s head down to the restaurant and let these two have a moment together. You okay with that, Brooke?”

  She stared at Malik, unable to think clearly. “Am I okay with that?”

  He flashed a large white smile that nearly made her melt. “I’m fine with that, but if being alone with me makes you uncomfortable, I’ll understand. I don’t want you nervous around me, Brooke.”

  “Then you should probably button your shirt more,” she blurted, her gaze locking on his chest again.

  Edee laughed more. “Bye, Brooke. See you in a bit. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “Gee, that really limits it,” returned Brooke before wringing her hands in front of her.

  Malik entered the room more and the door closed behind him.

  Brooke tensed.

  He sighed. “I’ll wait in the hall. I don’t want you scared of me. That is the last thing in the world I want.”

  She moved forward fast, needing to make contact with him for some unknown reason. She tripped and fell into him. His large arms encased her and warmth shot through her entire body.

  Looking up, she found his lips so close to hers that she did the only thing that made sense—she kissed him. His lips parted and his tongue darted into her mouth. A low growl started deep in his chest, only serving to excite her more. She swirled her tongue around his, her hands finding his chest. His hands made their way to the small of her back. He jerked her against him fully, taking the kiss to another level.

  He eased a hand up her back slowly and then slipped it into her hair, tugging lightly. She tipped her head back, granting him better access to her mouth. He took it and she found herself cupping his scruffy face.

  He walked her backwards and she went willingly, never feeling this wanton before. She felt as if she might burst into flames if he didn’t touch her more. The next thing she knew, she was being eased onto the sofa. Malik moved up and over her, never breaking their kiss.