I took a sip of wine from the glass on the island.
“That’s mine,” Malik said without taking his eyes off mine.
I lifted a shoulder indifferently and lifted the glass to his lips. He took a sip and drank me in at the same time.
“Would it be strange if I kissed you?”
“It would be strange if you didn’t,” I said. My face flushed being this close to him. Malik was dangerous and I knew how stupid it was to get involved with a man like him at this stage in my life.
He didn't say anything, just tilted his head and brought his lips to mine. I could taste the wine on his tongue and the need in his heart. Then he pulled my body to his and crushed our mouths together in unbridled hunger. I kissed Malik back with a passion I didn’t even realize lived inside me. And I knew from the very first touch that Malik was the one for me.
Chapter 7
MALIK
I never wanted to move away from her, never wanted to separate and let her go. I didn't know what it was about this woman, why looking at her made my heart flip and knees go weak. I’d never had a flashback so swift and strong until she told me her story—so similar to my own. I still felt the desperate need for vengeance, to kill all the men who had hurt her and put their lifeless bodies at her feet. I wanted to make sure that she never felt any kind of pain like that ever again.
"Christ woman, what have you done to me?"
"Fixed your battered hand," she said, a sweet smile plastered on her face. "Go easy on yourself.
Besides, I heard your brother gets pissed when you mess with his stuff. Seriously, how can you complete your mission if your shooting hand is out of commission?”
I kissed her again, stealing her mouth so she couldn’t talk. I wanted to possess her, drag her
away from everyone else and keep her all to myself.
"Most people are scared of the grim reaper. Why don't I scare you?"
"I've seen real monsters. The kind nightmares are made of. I know a monster when I see one, and I can tell you right now, you’re not a monster. You’re a wounded man with acute trauma.”
“I deal with my past in my own way. What I do works. It might not be the accepted way, but it works for me.”
“And I don’t judge. You handle your pain gracefully. You may wear the mark of death, but you're an avenging angel. You help girls so that they never have to know the horrors I went through. I’m not scared of you—I think you’re a hero."
I stared at her mouth, seeing how my teeth had bruised up her pretty lips. I wanted to be a gentleman. I wanted to be the guy you see in the movies, bringing roses or showing up with champagne and strawberries, but I would never be that guy. My nature was primal and needy and demanding.
"Trudy, I want to be the guy who treats you like a queen, but that’s not me. I know you deserve that guy, romance, and all the trappings, but the truth of the matter is I'm too selfish to let you have him because, from the moment I saw you, I knew that I had to have you. You were mine.”
“Is that so?” she asked me. One brow was raised, but I could see a smile about to crack on her face. “I’m not opposed to your nature, Malik. I like you just the way you are.”
“How much do you like me? Because I really want to bend you over this counter and fuck you until you pass out from exhaustion.”
“That could maybe be in the cards. What about the other houseguests?”
“Fuck ‘em.”
“Malik, you are full of surprises.” She took another sip of the wine we were sharing.
“How fucked up is it that you just told me about everything you've gone through, and all I can think about is what I want? And I want to bury myself inside you. I want to make you come on my cock so hard you cry from pleasure."
"It's not all that fucked up," she said softly.
“No?” I reached out and brushed the pad of my thumb across her plump lower lip.
I didn't care about all my issues or hers. It didn't matter that she was raised by monsters and that, in all the ways that counted, I was a monster too.
All that mattered at that moment was her and me and the chemistry between us. All I could focus on was this raging inferno in my loins and the rock-hard cock that was begging me to take this woman and make her mine.
But I also knew this wasn't the time to do all the things I wanted to do to her. We needed to wait. I had a job to do and I couldn’t think straight with Trudy on my mind.