by Erin Snihur
Fuck!
Sophie moaned deliciously into Tariq’s mouth as he guided his tongue in and teased her with every stroke and grinding movement until she was a trembling blob in his arms. Tightening her fingers in his hair, made Tariq growl, which only encouraged her to take charge and meet his needy dry humping.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened.
Tariq hadn’t wanted to stop. If not for Sophie’s shriek and her nails scratching at his face when the elevator doors opened up, Tariq wouldn’t have stopped. He would have sunk himself, balls deep inside her tight, warm core. A place he’d only dreamt of for three years.
Fuck!
Sophie dropped to the floor on shaky feet and a deep voice cleared its throat behind them. Spinning around and blocking an embarrassed Sophie with his body, Tariq glared at the grinning face of his friend, Sheik Amoz el-Safar of the Arabian country of Elish.
His friend briefly glanced over Sophie as she pushed away from Tariq, trying to straighten her skirt and hair. Chuckling, Amoz raised an eyebrow at Tariq.
“The others thought perhaps she’d shot your charming face off.”
At their silence, Amoz grinned further as Tariq’s glare intensified, “This way, please, Miss.”
Tariq watched as the color leached from Sophie’s face. Trembling, this time out of fear, Tariq watched as his woman’s small form followed Amoz out of the elevator. Clenching his fists tightly, Tariq grumbled under his breath at the realization that he hadn’t even felt the elevator begin to move again when Amoz accessed it. He’d been too consumed with Sophie. His woman.
Tariq had begun thinking of Sophie as his woman after their first night together. She’d been so passionate, even for one so inexperienced. Now, she was like a hellcat, trying to pull him deeper and deeper into her clutches. Quickly following after him, Tariq realized his misplaced jealousy was foolish. Amoz was a happily married man with a new baby. Teresa would kill him before Tariq could if he’d even look at another woman the way men no doubt looked at Sophie. She was pure torture wrapped up in her skirt and white shirt.
Tariq shifted his pants briefly, groaning at the feeling of his cock hard and raging inside his pants. There would be no relief until they’d told Sophie everything. He prayed she would believe them.
Finally, they arrived in the doorway of the executive boardroom. Sophie froze in the doorways entrance, with Tariq’s form pressed against her back. His hand came to her shoulder and squeezed her reassuredly. Though, he doubted in present company, it was anything but reassuring.
Inside the boardroom, tempers were raging. Their presence had only quieted the arguing Tariq could hear outside the room. His friend and ever silent observer, Sheik Kasin Almasi of Masarat stood with his back to the rest, staring out the windows. Probably wishing he was with his newly reconciled wife. Meanwhile, Sheik Khalid Abdul Majeed of Aman and Sheik Malik Al-Mokhtar of Batra both sat at the boardroom table, faces red, probably from arguing. Neither one agreed with Tariq on what to do about this situation. Mainly, what to do with Sophie. If Tariq had his way, he’d lock her up in his chambers for the rest of their lives. Inwardly, Tariq shuddered at the thought of his Sophie tied to his bed. What a tantalizing image.
Amoz, ever the peaceful negotiator, cleared his throat, gaining everyone’s, but Kasin’s, attention. The quiet Sheik continued to gaze out the windows. Tariq rolled his eyes and pressed his hand against Sophie’s back, urging her to enter the room.
Khalid’s eyes tightened. Tariq didn’t care if he saw. He didn’t care if any of them saw. Pulling the chair at the head of the table out for Sophie, he forced a tight smile on his face.
“Please sit, Miss.” Amoz urges from his seat next to Malik. Tariq waits until Sophie is completely settled before taking the seat directly next to hers with Khalid at his other side. All of the men are dressed in their business suits and look as predatory as some people say they are. Rumors are just that. Tariq knew everything about the men in this room and the women that rule their lives. Inwardly, Tariq knew, he too, was becoming like one of them. In love.
All eyes, except Kasin’s, rest on the young woman in the head chair. Tariq remembers her looking more nervous on the night they met. She couldn’t be as evil as the reports indicate. Scanning Sophie from her dark auburn hair, her blue eyes and down her small frame in the white shirt and black skirt, Tariq’s body tightens. All he wanted to do was jump in front of her and protect her. From his own friends. The only family, other than his sister, Tariq truly cherished.
“You are Sophie Alexandra Marks, correct?” Amoz finally speaks, asking the question as he flips over the small manila folder in front of him. Khalid’s own security detail had prepared a brief summary on Sophie and, still, it wasn’t enough in Tariq’s mind. He wanted to know everything he could from her, not something his friend’s men had found through their spies.
Sophie’s eyes briefly met Amoz’s before turning on him. Tariq wondered if she’d try to cry or perhaps leave when his back was turned like last time. Not today, Sophie.
“Answer the question, Sophie,” Tariq murmured urgingly.
5
“I’ll ask again. You are Sophie Alexandra Marks, correct?” The man who’d found them in the elevator asked. He looked oddly familiar, but then again, Sophie’s mind was racing so fast and was such a jumbled mess, she was surprised she wasn’t drooling yet.
Trembling, Sophie clutched her hands together and set them in her lap. Karos had taught her what to do in this type of situation. As if a cool mask had been placed over her face, Sophie leveled the man who asked with haughty glare.
“Sophie Smith, actually,” she murmured and then turned her eyes on the man she recognized from Karos’ file on this mission. The great Sheik Khalid Abdul Majeed. The owner of Aman Industries and ruler of Aman. “You should know your own employees, your Majesty.”
Glare intensifying in his green eyes, Sheik Khalid sneered at her, “And you should know a trap when you see one, Ms. Marks.”
The man with the folder placed in front of him, pulled out a piece of paper and slid it in her direction. She knew what it was. A picture of her fake passport.
“This is a forgery, albeit a very good one, but still a forgery, nonetheless.”
Sophie didn’t even spare it a glance as she pushed it back toward the man, “I’ll have to alert the Russian Embassy that my passport has been stolen. Especially if you have me confused with someone else.”
Smirking at her, Tariq joined the conversation, “Trust me, Sophie, our reach is much further than yours ever will be. You can drop the charade.”
“Lying is what she does best, my friend,” Khalid murmured and briefly met Tariq’s eyes, “She conned you, after all?”
Squinting her eyes at Tariq, Sophie leaned forward over the table, “What are they talking about?”
“About your crimes, Ms. Marks,” the man with the folder answered for Tariq and produced a few photos. On the photos were surveillance images of her in various locations. Some in Russia, but most, along the Arabian Coast. The last photo was of Sophie entering Tariq’s hotel suite time stamped to three years ago. Before her life changed for good.
The man sitting next to Sheik Khalid spoke up then, pointing to the last photo of Sophie entering Tariq’s suite, “You’ve been stealing from Arabian countries for quite some time, Ms. Marks. We can start at your last crime, if you like. Stealing Hattan’s crown jewels.”
Pushing that photograph away, Sophie clucked her tongue and scoffed, “I didn’t steal those jewels. I left them in the hotel room that night.”
All eyes, even the silent man who had been standing at the window, turned on her then. The silence was deafening, if that was even possible. Sophie’s eardrums thumped loudly and, for a split second, Sophie was uncertain if they’d all passed out with their eyes open. Tariq was the only one who stared at her with an unreadable expression. The others were simply dumbfounded. And then angry.
The man sitting at Tariq’s side w
as the first to explode into anger and his spewed words in Arabic at Tariq and then the other two men began arguing with each other before yelling at Tariq. Throughout all of the chaos, Tariq remained silent, simply seeming to take it all in while he met Sophie's cool gaze. The man at the window began to pace, mumbling under his breath what Sophie believed were profanities in Arabic.
Finally, Sophie had had enough of their useless bickering. Standing abruptly in her place, Sophie slammed her hand down on the table, yelling in accented Arabic, “Silence.”
All eyes turned on her and silence once again filled the room. Tariq’s eyes twinkled slightly as he murmured under his breath, “So sexy when you take charge.”
The man next to him, rolled his eyes and muttered an oath under his breath, “For Allah’s sake, Tariq. Is that all you think about?”
Shrugging, Tariq doesn’t get a chance to answer and instead, Sheik Khalid levels Sophie with his intense stare before turning to Tariq, “Explain. Everything.”
Shifting in his chair, Tariq catches each of their eyes before sighing and running a hand through his soft hair. Sophie ached to do the same. Just like in the elevator. To keep her hands from doing just that, Sophie sits back down, her hands firmly under her thighs.
“I couldn’t let Abbas marry off Alia like some brood mare to that sick man. For Allah’s sake, his last three wives all died mysteriously and, from the rumors swirling around about his tastes, I wasn’t going to let that be my sisters fate for the Crown’s coffers sake,” Tariq murmured and glances at Sophie, his eyes softening, “I was going to let Sophie take the jewels, but I knew there was a chance she could be caught. I needed to make them disappear.”
Sophie gazed down at her lap. That night, he had revealed much in his drunken stupor. Perhaps even more when he’d kissed her and what followed was a night of passion she would never forget. Obviously, he hadn’t either. It warmed her insides to think of him thinking of her.
“What did you do, Tariq?” the man at the window snarled.
“I had the jewels destroyed and melted down. It was easier to get them out of the country that way. They were coated in blood, remember? Don’t you remember the stories of how my father and his soldiers took those jewels,” Tariq snarled back at the man at the window, who immediately straightened as if he’d been slapped.
“The stories were true then? Your father destroyed villages for those jewels?” Sophie whispered harshly, her mind racing.
Tariq only briefly nodded, his mouth closed in a straight lined frown, “I gave the money back to a friend who lives in the village. To help, but I doubt it did much in the long run. Lives were ruined when my father and his soldiers invaded.”
Khalid stood then and glanced at everyone, “The territory wars were wrong and we’ve tried to make amends for what our fathers and brothers have done to our people, but Tariq, you could have been imprisoned for this. Your father would do anything to disown you in front of the people.”
The man at the window snorts, “The people love him. All they’ll see is a modern day Robin Hood.”
The man at Tariq’s side snorts, “Teresa made me watch that movie, Kasin, it does not hold up. You would not look good in tights, Tariq.”
“Thank you, Amoz,” Tariq sarcastically snaps back.
The man at Sheik Khalid’s side finally speaks up, “What about the other robberies Ms. Marks has orchestrated? Not to mention her connection to a certain someone.”
All went silent and even Sheik Khalid sat back down in his seat and finally nodded in agreement and took the other photos of crime scenes out of the folder before the man called Amoz.
“Malik is right,” Khalid murmured and pushed the photos before Sophie, “We can’t excuse one good deed of not stealing Hattan’s Crown jewels for the other acts of thievery you are twisted up in.”
Staring down at the photos, Sophie shakes her head, “What do you want me to say?”
When no one answers, Sophie continues, “Do you want me to say I’m sorry? I won’t. What I stole helped thousands of families and villages that you all left in ruin. I wish I had stolen Hattan’s Crown jewels. If I had, then a whole village would have been fed for years. Instead, I let my emotions get the best of me.”
Turning her gaze on Tariq’s, Sophie glared, “It won’t happen again.”
6
Tariq stared at Sophie, in all her fury. She was even more beautiful with fire licking at her bright, blue eyes. Tariq took the folder from Amoz’s hands and flipped through the papers until he came to a picture of a dark haired man with a scruffy looking beard, his face weathered with age. Pushing it in front of Sophie, Tariq watched as her eyes widened over the image.
“You know this man?” Tariq asked, his voice raspy. Clearing his voice when she didn’t answer, Tariq continued, “I’ll give you a hint. His name is Karos Colchik. He’s known around the world as Karos the Russian Snake in most terrorist organizations.”
Behind him, Kasin spoke, “He orchestrated the attack on my country, Masarat, killing hundreds of my people, including my own family and injuring several others. He had you steal missile information from my country’s military defenses and then you handed it over to him without a care in the world that innocent men, women and children suffered for it. I don’t want or need your apologies. I just want justice for my people and my family.”
Tariq inwardly flinched at Kasin’s harsh words. Sophie seemed stunned as she stared into Kasin’s dark eyes. Wanting to take back control of the situation, Tariq placed his hand over Sophie’s small, trembling cold one. When her gaze finally met his at his touch, Tariq nodded at the picture of Karos.
“Where is Karos, Sophie?”
When she didn’t answer, Khalid sighed across the table and leaned back in his chair, already typing a message into his phone.
“I’m calling Haseem. His men will get the answers out of her.”
Eyes glaring, Tariq turned on his friend and stood from his seat, “No!”
All eyes, including Sophie’s, turn on Tariq as he stands there, silence filling the room. Khalid finally rises, his grey eyes staring Tariq down.
“No? Have you gone mad?”
Tariq’s hand tightened over Sophie’s and instantly drew everyone’s attention.
Khalid sneered and nodded, “Oh, I see. Tariq, if you want to fuck the thief, then fuck her, but don’t let it distract you from the end goal. Karos the Russian Snake. The man who killed Kasin’s family, who stole from Malik and Amoz’s people when they were suffering financial strain and she very nearly stole financial secrets from my own company that employs hundreds of thousands of my people. Can’t you see that she, like Karos, is only in this for herself?”
A knock at the door etched into the silence and at Khalid’s harsh word to enter, his head of security along with two official police officers of Aman entered the room. Sophie’s eyes went from wide to enormous as she took the hulking security men in. Tariq knew she was frightened. He couldn’t stop them. Even as her hand slid from his as Haseem and his men handcuffed her hands behind her back and escorted her around the table past him.
Tariq stared down at the hand that had held hers. Hearing her pull herself to a stop behind him. Tariq flinched at her cool words that trembled as they escaped her lips.
“I didn’t know what I was stealing when I stole those codes. I am sorry for your family.”
No one else spoke as she departed with Khalid’s security officers. Once the doors of the boardroom were fully closed again, Tariq turned his eyes on Khalid.
“You’re making a mistake.”
The first thing Karos had taught her when taking her under his wing was how to handle oneself in an interrogation. Sophie wasn’t focused though. The boardroom had been enough to knock her around; now, all Sophie wanted to do was curl up in a bed and cry herself into oblivion.
If what the men in that boardroom had said was true, Sophie had been the cause of multiple deaths. Men, women and children. Innocents. She hadn’t signed up
for the murder of innocent people.
Sheik Khalid had been right about his security man, Haseem and his method of interrogation. First, Haseem had been kind, getting her a drink and a blanket in the cold, dank holding cell hidden away in the basement of Aman Industries. Now, he was harsher with his questions. Demanding more and more. She refused to answer him.
“Your mentor obviously does not care very much for you, Ms. Marks, if he has placed you as the criminal for all of these crimes. He is using you. Can’t you see that? Perhaps if you were to assist me in his capture, I could convince the Sheiks to award you leniency during your trial,” Haseem finally murmured and closed the file folder on the steel table. Her wrists were still shackled to each other. They were cold. Everything inside her felt cold. Even her heart.
Voice aching from being so dry, Sophie shook her head carefully, “I don’t know this man.”
Hands slamming on the table, Haseem stands and Sophie jumps back in her seat, startled by his harsh movement.
“Don’t you see, girl? You’ll die for this man. And for what? To fulfill some lifelong attempt at giving back to man who used you for his own selfish gains?”
Tears welled up in Sophie’s eyes. Could he be right? Was Karos only using her as his fall woman? If this was all a trick, where was Karos now? He had only been in Aman a few short days ago. Why wasn’t he coming for her in her time of need?
“That’s enough, Haseem,” Tariq’s cool voice broke through the echo of the silent room. Straightening, the serious man, Haseem turned to Tariq, who stood in the doorway of her jail cell.
“You can leave now, Haseem.”
Clearing his throat, Haseem bowed at the waist toward Tariq, “Forgive me, your Highness, but I have my orders from Sheik Khalid.”