Beautiful Surrender

by Sherelle Green

  When he approached them, the smirk he wore made her a little uneasy.

  “So we don’t have any claims on each other, huh?” Malik asked as he leaned his head closer to hers.

  “That’s what I said,” Mya stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re free to do whatever you please.”

  “Because we mean nothing to each other, right?” Malik said as he began walking around her slowly, purposefully.

  “Exactly,” Mya said not trusting herself to say more. “If circling me like a vulture is suppose to intimidate me, then you must have me confused with one of those weak-minded women you’re used to dating.”

  Malik stopped walking and stood in front of her, his smirk still in place. Deep down, Mya didn’t want to appear indifferent with him any more than she wanted him to appear unconcerned with her. But her feelings for him were moving at a much quicker pace than she was used to and she still hadn’t took the time to fully comprehend what was going on between them.

  Last night had not only been one of the best nights in her life, but she’d slept better than she had all year. The only person she had to thank for it was the man standing in front of her who she was purposely being rude to.

  She hadn’t meant for him to overhear what she had told her friends, but now that he had, she couldn’t back down.

  “This is a battle you stand to lose,” Malik said as he crossed his arms over his chest as well. “Let’s not pretend that this is about women in my past or men from yours. You’re scared of this thing between us. And since you don’t know how to handle it, you’re lashing out and trying to push me away.”

  “Listen,” Mya said stepping closer to him. “I’m not scared of anything.”

  “Oh yes, you are,” he said with a laugh.

  “No I’m not,” she responded. “If you think after last night that somehow changes the way things are between us, then you’re delusional.” Why in the world did I bring up last night?

  “Oh really,” Malik said with a doubtful look. He leaned in even closer to her. “Last night I had you screaming my name in the sexiest voice I’d ever heard as you came harder than I bet you ever had before. And you haven’t even begun to scratch the surface and see everything that I have to offer. When I woke up, you were gone and I know it’s because the feelings you felt last night scared the crap out of you. But if you think for one minute that picking fights with me and pretending you don’t care are enough to push me away, then you must have me confused with those pathetic men you’re used to dating.”

  Hook. Line. Sinker. Malik walked away leaving her there to soak in his words and once again, Mya didn’t have a comeback. Even worse, the entire charade had happened in front of her friends. At least the guys pretended not to hear the conversation. She couldn’t say the same about her best friends.

  “Well now,” Imani said. “Is this the moment when we pretend not to be curious about what happened last night? Or can we ask questions?”

  “I’d hate to be you right now,” Cyd said with a snarky smile. “You usually always have a witty response, but Malik just shut down all your defenses.”

  “Guess my soon-to-be brother-in-law isn’t as boring and safe as you thought he was, huh?” Lex asked.

  “Definitely not,” she answered as she watched him waiting to go back onstage and announce the last date-auction candidates. When he turned around and caught her staring, he had the nerve to wink at her. He knew he’d won that argument and although she wanted to be disappointed that she’d lost the debate, she couldn’t be. Standing there in his tailored suit, all she could think about was how amazing he would look if he weren’t wearing anything at all. He looked sexy and confident. But even worse for her hormones, he looked all strong male.

  Chapter 16

  Malik made his way around the room, taking note of all the happy couples that were leaving the date auction. Whether they were winning bids for the auction, randomly matched singles paired together courtesy of Elite Events or people who’d made a connection for a lifetime or one night only, there was no doubt that the event had been a success.

  The date auction had given awareness to individuals who may not have otherwise been concerned with the direction of the Chicago Public School after-school programs. But after tonight’s event they were definitely aware of the struggles. The media exposure had shed some light on issues that Chicago educators and community leaders had been trying to reveal for years.

  The night was finally coming to an end and Malik was exhausted and per usual, he couldn’t find Mya anywhere. He didn’t want to retire to his room without talking to her first, but another quick scan of the room proved that she wasn’t there.

  As he made his way to his room, he couldn’t help but reflect on the conversation they’d had earlier in front of their friends. Not only would Malik have rather discussed last night in private, but he also didn’t want to call her out in front of everyone. But he was learning that when it came to Mya, the only way to get her to see reason sometimes was to have a discussion publically. Cornering her privately when she didn’t want to be found was way more difficult than he’d ever imagined and he’d made a living on finding out details and people who didn’t want to be found.

  His mind drifted to the investigation as he thought about his recent findings. He didn’t want to talk to Mya about anything until he was sure, but he believed he had a lead as to where her sister was located. But he’d have to do some more digging before he brought that to her.

  When he stepped off the elevator and walked into his room, he immediately stopped in his tracks. Someone else is in here. His senses never failed him. In his line of work, he always had to be careful and although he chose his clients carefully, the people he had to track down were sometimes involved in some shady business. He quickly sent a vague text to Shawn and Micah that he knew they would understand.

  The safe was located in the front closet door, but he wasn’t sure where the person was in his room. He decided to pretend to be talking to someone in the hallway to mask the sound of the safe opening. When it did, he pulled out his pistol and continued to talk as he clicked off the safety. When he’d checked in, he was glad to get a suite and had appreciated Al and his son Vero giving him and Mya two of the best suites in the resort. Now, the extra rooms just added extra space he needed to check for the intruder. After he cleared the living room and kitchenette, he knew the person was in the bedroom or bathroom.

  Rounding the corner, he peeped through the crack of the bedroom door and saw a shadow standing by the room.

  “Turn around slowly,” he said, his breath catching in his throat as the intruder did.

  “Um, do you always greet a half-naked woman with a gun?” Mya said as she put her hands in front of her face. Malik barely had time to register what she had said because he was too caught off guard by the light yellow lace bra and panty set with sexy silver stilettos she wore to even realize that he still had his gun pointed at her.

  “Malik,” she said with her hands still up. “Do you think that maybe you could admire my lingerie without the pistol?”

  “I’m so sorry,” Malik said putting the safety back on and sticking it in the back of his pants. “I thought you were someone else?”

  “Let me guess,” Mya said as she cracked her neck. “Flashbacks of your FBI days? You know, if Cyd and Lex hadn’t told me about similar circumstances with Shawn and Micah, I’d really be freaked out right now.”

  Shawn and Micah. “Don’t you move,” Malik said as he held out his hands to Mya. “I’ll be right back.”

  He rushed out the door and found Shawn and Micah in the hallway. “False alarm, guys.”

  “Yeah, we know,” Shawn said. “We’d gotten to the living room when we recognized Mya’s voice. We just wanted to tell you we were headed back to our rooms.”

  “I think you ca
n handle Mya without us, bro,” Micah said with a laugh. After they left and Malik placed the pistol back in the safe, he was glad to find Mya hadn’t moved. But he did notice her phone and Bluetooth speaker on the nightstand playing seductive R&B music.

  “Have you secured the premises, Agent Madden?” Mya said with a flirtatious smile.

  He walked over to her and touched the bottom of her chin. “I’m sorry I pointed my pistol at you. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Seeing you look all FBI-like was kinda sexy.”

  He let his eyes travel the length of her. “I think you’re pretty sexy.”

  “And you have on way too many clothes,” she said as she began taking off pieces of his suit while he kicked off his shoes. “I’ve been waiting to take you out of this thing all day.” She placed soft kisses along his bare chest before gliding down his body to unbuckle his pants. Malik watched her squat in front of him thinking he’d never seen anything so sexy in his entire life.

  She slowly dragged his pants down his legs, followed by his underwear. He watched her eyes grow big as she took in the length of him, which was standing to attention. She gazed at him and sashayed back up to the beat of the music, the fire in her eyes even more prominent than before.

  “Lie on the bed,” she requested just as firmly as he’d requested things from her the night before. He obeyed her request and lay in the middle of the bed.

  Mya sleeked up his body with the finesse of a jaguar that’d just landed eyes on its target. He didn’t know what part of her body to focus on. The seductive curve of her back. The roundness of her butt. The way her wavy hair all flowed to one side of her face. The way her calves looked crossed over one another accentuated by the heels that he’d already decided he wanted her to keep on.

  For a man who prided himself on his patience, Malik was feeling anything but patient at the moment. The need for him to be inside her was reaching an all-time high the more she rolled her body over his. When her hands wrapped around his shaft, it took all his focus to remember that he wanted the first time he came to be buried deep inside her, not her hands.

  “I’ve never tasted one before,” she said softly.

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” Malik said as he watched her observe him.

  “That’s not it,” she said as she began rubbing him up and down. “I want to, I just want you to know that I’ve never done it in case I’m not the best.”

  “That’s not possible,” he said looking down at her. For a woman as bold and feisty as Mya, she was having a shy moment. He knew it was hard for her to tell him that she’d never tasted a man before, so he knew he had to ease the situation for her.

  “Mya, we have plenty of time for you to work up to that if you choose so in the future. What you’re doing with your hands is already about to bring me to the brink.”

  She looked at him, then she looked at the tip and lightly swirled her tongue around it. When she received a response from him, she sucked him into her mouth even more and alternated from fondling him and rubbing his shaft. The combination caused him to groan aloud. The noise caused her to look up at his face, but she didn’t remove him from her mouth right away and when she did release him, she bit her bottom lip before dipping back down. Sexiest. Look. Ever. If Malik could take that look and bottle it to look at it whenever he pleased, he would do just that.

  Once she sucked him whole in her mouth, he almost lost all ability to think. Wisps of her hair traveled over his midsection as her mouth moved up and down. Quicker. Faster.

  “Mya,” Malik called in between groans. “Mya,” he called again when she didn’t let up. When she only quickened her movements more, he realized that she wasn’t going to show him any mercy, so if he wanted to come inside her for the first time, he had to take control of the situation.

  Malik sat up in the bed, grabbed Mya by the arms, and slid her up his body. With every wicked squirm of her hips, he cursed at his body for not understanding why he’d stopped her.

  “I was just having fun,” she said with a naughty smile.

  “I know you were,” Malik said as he flipped her on her back. “If I’d let you have any more fun, this night would end entirely too early.”

  He kissed her neck before trailing kisses down her body, stopping along the way to remove her bra and panties. When he had her completely naked, spread out across the bed, he admired every crease and crevice of her body, taking a mental image of a woman he was confident would be completely and utterly his one day.

  He wasn’t sure why he’d always known that Mya would be his, but he had. And ever since the first day he met her, he knew he had to treat her differently than he had other women. Malik had never been the type to date multiple women at once or anything like that, but he also hadn’t always put as much effort forth as he should have. In his past relationships, he’d always felt like something was missing. The women he had dated were either extremely smart and willing to mold themselves into the type of woman they thought he had wanted. Or they were all beauty, little brains. And then there were the women who had already began planning their wedding after one date. Or the women who never seemed to show any other type of emotion except for a positive, upbeat personality all the time.

  Nothing was wrong with those women, but they weren’t for him. They weren’t the type of woman he wanted to build a life or foundation with. In all circumstances, his exes lacked depth and complexity. And although people met him and assumed that his careful and cautious approach meant he wanted a mild-tempered type of woman, they were sadly mistaken.

  There had been a couple women who he had thought might be the one he was meant to be with, but any woman who couldn’t accept all of him, flaws and all, wasn’t the type of woman for him.

  Mya was perfect for him and even though she hadn’t realized it yet, he felt like she had been carved out just for him. He bent down and kissed her with all the emotions he felt but couldn’t yet share. She kissed him back just as passionately, her moans driving him to grab a condom from the nightstand, happy he’d had the foresight to bring protection just in case.

  His fingers slinked past her folds as he checked to see if she was wet enough for him. The act quickly turned into more when she responded to his two fingers by tightly clenching her muscles. He moved his fingers in an upward rotation, rewarded by her pumping her body to meet him thrust for thrust. Once he had her on the edge, he removed his fingers and slowly slid inside her wet center, allowing her to get comfortable with his length.

  She moaned into his ears the moment he filled her completely.

  “Is that okay?” he asked, knowing it was a lot to get used to the first time.

  She looked at him through glazed over eyes. “It’s perfect,” she said as she began rotating her hips the same way she had on his hands. “How does it feel to you?” she asked.

  “Amazing,” he said in between thrusts.

  He looked down at her and noticed a sneaky look on her face. “What are you up to?” he asked as he looked at the ceiling and tried to maintain control.

  “Nothing,” she said with a moan. “I was just thinking that you seem to be perfectly made to fit inside me.” His eyes flew to hers.

  “Don’t you think so?” she said breathlessly. “The way my juices flow down your shaft as my vaginal muscles clench with every motion you make.”

  “Oh damn,” he groaned. He knew what she was doing. She was taking back control of the situation by talking dirty to him...and she was winning.

  “I bet it felt good to have my tongue wrapped around your tip,” she said as she met his thrusts even harder.

  He lifted her right leg and threw it over his shoulder as he slid her left leg between his so that she was facing sideways. If she was going to talk him over the edge, there was no dou
bt in his mind that he was bringing her along for the fall.

  Within seconds, no more words were spoken and the only sounds in the room were their moans and groans mingling with the slight creak of the bed. Malik was close and luckily, he felt that Mya was close too.

  He turned her leg slightly more to the ceiling and knew the exact moment he had locked and loaded. After three more thrusts, she released an orgasm so hard that his immediately followed, causing them to connect in an unworldly wave of pure ecstasy.

  “Wow,” Mya said after Malik had collapsed on the side of her.

  “Wow works for me,” Malik said as he turned to his side to view her. He propped his head on his elbow and sucked her nipple into his mouth.

  “You can’t seriously be ready to go again,” she said with a laugh.

  “Wrong,” he said mischievously.

  “Why are you always saying I’m wrong?”

  “Why do you always think you’re right?”

  “Because I am,” she said with a slight shrug.

  “Wrong again. I’m ready to go again,” he said bringing his lips to her breasts. “And you have no idea what you’re in for.” He sucked her other nipple in his mouth. Minutes later, all laughter ceased as Malik showed her what it felt like to be with a sexually insatiable man.

  Chapter 17

  Mya stepped out of the car and admired the cozy lake house nestled in between a group of trees that offered a bit of privacy from the neighbors.

  “Um, exactly how many places do you live? You’ve already shown me two properties other than this one.”

  Mya walked over to Malik who was getting their bags out of the trunk. It had been two weeks since the date auction and after that night they’d spent together in the resort, they’d been together almost every night since. His condo in Hyde Park, not far from downtown Chicago, was really nice and equipped with a pool and fitness center. Mya had spent a couple nights there, taking advantage of the amenities.