Page 4

Chapter Three

S uddenly, the very guy Brooke had thought was hot in front of the resort was there, planting himself between Brooke and Mr. Rings. The sexy newcomer thrust Mr. Rings’s hand away, puffing out his chest as he did. He made Mr. Rings look small. He glared at Mr. Rings and said something she didn’t understand .

Words were exchanged, sounding heated. The guys who looked like hired muscle moved in, putting their hands inside their expensive sports jackets. She half thought they’d pull out weapons and the entire event would turn into a shootout .

Brooke wasn’t sure how everything had gotten so out of control so quickly .

The hot guy put his hand out to her and she felt compelled to take it. As she placed her hand in his, heat flared between them. His breath caught and he jerked her behind his powerful frame, making her feel small. At five feet nine and a half inches, she rarely felt dainty. But the man was well over six feet tall and had a muscular frame that was just this side of being too much. The way he carried himself said he was no stranger to a fight .

“Malik, everything all right there?” asked a man who was dressed in the same type of clothes, though his weren’t ripped and burnt. The man’s long black hair looked as if it had bits of blue in it and, if she wasn’t mistaken, the guy was wearing eyeliner. Not to mention he had a number of silver piercings on his face .

The hot guy shielding her body with his replied, “Everything is fine now, Boomer, but if this asshat thinks of touching her again, I’ll rip his head off and spit down his neck .”

The man had an accent that was slight but she couldn’t place it even though it was sexy as could be. His voice was deep and the timbre of it licked at her insides. Automatically, she pressed against his back, confirming that he was indeed very muscular .

Boomer strolled over to them and glanced at her, his eyes a bright violet and shaped in a way that made Brooke think of an exotic cat. “Malik, didn’t you just lecture us on the way back to the resort on being low-key? I think Corbin would frown on us starting a fight in the lobby of the resort. It’s enough we skipped changing and came straight here. I don’t think a brawl is going to help any .”

Malik rotated his shoulders, somehow looking even bigger than he had before. He kept his body in front of hers in a protective way. He said something to Mr. Rings, and whatever he said caused two of the hired muscle guys to converge on him .

“They have no idea who they’re dealing with. Dumbasses,” Boomer snorted .

Brooke gasped as she realized a fight was about to happen. She reached for Boomer, making contact with his forearm. “Stop this. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Not because of me .”

“American?” asked Boomer, moving his arm away from her touch as if she’d burned him .

She nodded .

“Yeah, well, Malik doesn’t look like he’s about to back down and those assholes are pretty much begging to get a world of hurt put on them,” said Boomer with a shrug. “I could help Malik but there are only six of them. It’s hardly fair to them .”

Six against one? Wasn’t fair to them ?

Brooke boldly touched Malik’s shoulder. “Please don’t do this. Not for me. I’m fine. I don’t want you hurt because of me .”

Mr. Rings said something to Malik in a snide tone .

Malik laughed, but it didn’t sound friendly. It sounded cold and threatening .

Whistling, Boomer shook his head. “Now he went and stepped in it .”

“What did he say?” asked Brooke, looking at Boomer, desperately wanting everything to settle down .

Boomer bit his lower lip before responding. “Asshat there might have mentioned that you were nothing more than a high-priced, erm, woman by the hour, and Malik seems less than pleased with that comment .”

As Brooke realized the ring guy had called her a whore, her temper flared. She darted around Malik and stood before the guy with the rings. “How dare you! You arrogant, flashy — ”

“Oh dear, what did I miss?” asked Edee as she came into the lobby. “Wow, it’s like a hunk fest is going on in here. Someone should have told me. I’d have been in here much faster then and I could have been taking pictures of the yummy male specimens instead of the front of the resort .”

Malik put his hands on Brooke’s hips, causing more heat to flare through her. Much to her shock, he lifted her as if she were a feather. He set her aside, near Boomer, and stepped forward, cracking his knuckles as he did .

One of the hired musclemen went at him. Malik caught the man’s fist and squeezed, making the man go to one knee and cry out in pain. The other men made a move to attack .

The next thing Brooke knew, a big guy with dark red hair came in from the side, standing next to Malik. And another large man, this one with brown hair, moved to Malik’s other side. The men formed a wall of sexy muscle .

“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 .”