Malachai

  Malachai

  Anarock Shifters, Book 5

  Romi Hart

  Copyright © 2020 by Romi Hart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Also by Romi Hart

  Anarock Shifters Series

  Victor

  Bryce

  Elliot

  Finn

  Malachai

  Devil’s Flame MC Series

  Rafe

  Zeke

  Eli

  Harrison

  Corey

  BOX SETS

  Stamina

  Out of Bounds

  Playing to Win

  Untamed Billionaires

  Dangerous

  Untamed Billionaires Series

  The Billionaire Bull

  The Billionaire Bold

  The Billionaire Brute

  Playing to Win Series

  One Kiss to Win

  One Chance to Win

  One Cheer to Win

  Out of Bounds Series

  Temptation

  Addiction

  Passion

  Dangerous Series

  Dangerous Play

  Dirty Play

  Daring Play

  Stand Alone Books

  Sinner

  Big Slide

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Rafe (Devil’s Flame MC, Book 1) - Special Preview

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Also by Romi Hart

  1

  Isabelle Lytle looked up from her phone and stopped dead in her tracks. She blinked at the couple standing outside the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans’s upscale Canal Street. She swallowed once to get her voice working. “Riley? Riley Strickland?”

  The petite woman’s jet-black hair whipped against her cheeks when she spun around. She gasped out loud. “Isabelle! What are you doing here?”

  The two women rushed into each other’s arms. Isabelle could hardly believe she had her arms around Riley again after so many years. “Are you real? Are you really here?”

  Riley fought back tears pushing Isabelle to arm’s length and inspecting her. “Wow! You look amazing! God, are you a sight for sore eyes!”

  “Ten years!” Isabelle exclaimed. “I never thought I’d see you again—definitely not in New Orleans. What brings you down here?”

  Riley shrugged. She cast a glance at the hulking man next to her. “I live here now. I moved here earlier this year.”

  Isabelle stole a peek at the tall, broad-shouldered guy at Riley’s side. He must easily be one of the most attractive men she’d seen in…well, forever. Short dark hair accentuated his deep, olive skin and bottomless black eyes. His blocky frame filled out a flawless grey suit with crisp, immaculate white shirt cuffs against his satin-smooth skin. He wore no tie. His open collar revealing a sultry triangle of chest hiding under his shirt.

  Riley, on the other hand, wore the same denim jeans and jacket Isabelle remembered from years ago. In a way, Riley looked no different except for perhaps a mysterious vibrant energy that enlivened every hair and every flash of her sultry dark eyes.

  Riley noticed Isabelle surveying her companion. She waved to the man. “Malachai Griffin, this is my best friend in the whole wide world, Isabelle Lytle.”

  Malachai closed his eyes and bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet any friend of Riley’s.”

  “We were best friends all the way through school,” Riley was telling him. “We enlisted in the Navy together and went all the way through the Naval Academy. Dang, that seems so long ago!”

  Isabelle dragged her gaze away from Malachai with an effort. Something about him captivated her, but a guy that good-looking would captivate anybody. “How did you wind up down here of all places? Last time I saw you, you were stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. Don’t tell me you gave up being a pilot. That was your dream ever since you were a little girl.”

  Riley cringed, but she wouldn’t stop smiling. Her cheeks glowed with pleasure. “Everything changes, I guess. Some stuff happened earlier this year and I kinda got diverted to other things. I was stationed at Barksdale, so coming down here seemed like the thing to do. What about you? Please tell me you’re not still stuck in the lab all the time. Tell me you’re getting some vitamin D every now and again.”

  Isabelle laughed and surveyed Canal Street baking in the sunshine. “Only sometimes, but yeah, I’m still working in the lab. The last time I saw you, I was in Miami. After that, I got transferred here and promoted. Now I’m head researcher for my team so it looks like I’m stuck with pathology for the rest of my life.”

  Riley shook her head and set her satiny hair swaying again. She really looked incredible. Isabelle couldn’t put her finger on exactly why, but Riley never looked so good. “So where are you working?” Riley asked. “What lab?”

  “I can’t tell you. It’s a top-secret military lab, so it’s classified out of this world. I would probably get in trouble even for telling you that I’m a pathologist.”

  Isabelle laughed at her own joke, but the smile evaporated off Riley’s face. She frowned. “Oh.”

  Isabelle brushed her own bangs out of her eyes. “What’s the big deal? You knew I worked for the Navy. There’s only so many places a pathologist can get promoted in the military.”

  “I know.” Riley looked away.

  Isabelle noticed Malachai scrutinizing her. She couldn’t read his expression, but he listened to their conversation with preternatural concentration. He took in every word like Isabelle being a pathologist was the most interesting, most significant fact on the planet.

  Isabelle rounded on Riley, but before she could say anything, Malachai touched Riley’s elbow. “I’m going over there to get a smoothie. Do you want one?”

  Riley started out of her trance. “Oh, yeah. Thanks. Make mine something light—something with fruit.”

  Malachai wandered across the street to the smoothie bar. Isabelle appreciated the welcome sight of him walking away. He towered over everyone. His broad presence dwarfed the other customers at the bar. He radiated a large aura even from across the street.

  “Wow, Riley,” she breathed. “You sure caught yourself a live one there.”

  Riley’s head whipped around. “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “Him.” Isabelle nodded toward Malachai. “He’s stunning.”

  Riley furrowed her brow before her features cleared. “Oh! You mean Malachai? He’s not…..we’re not together. He’s….” She glanced over her shoulder toward the Sheraton. “He’s my brother-in-law.”

  Isabelle wheeled around. “Your brother-in-law!”

  Riley nodded. “I married his brother. Victor’s in a meeting up there right now. We’re just waiting for him.”

  Isabelle’s mouth fell open. “You—married? I don’t believe it.”

 
; Riley blushed and cast her gaze to the sidewalk. “It’s true. A lot of crazy stuff happened earlier this year. I moved down here to be with Victor and his family. We’re…. well, I guess you could say we’re running the family business. His father got killed by their enemies and Victor took over. He’s in charge and Malachai is kind of like his chief lieutenant. It’s complicated.”

  “Sounds like it.” Isabelle studied her friend one more time. “I would have thought giving up your dream of being a pilot would have killed you, but you seem to be happier and thriving. Whatever you’re doing, it agrees with you.”

  “Yeah, it does.” Riley stared across the street toward Malachai. “I never thought it could be like this, either, but it works. I don’t claim to understand it, but I’m where I need to be.”

  Both women watched Malachai come trotting back holding two cups. He handed Riley hers. She said, “Thanks,” and sipped at her straw.

  Now Isabelle focused all her attention on Malachai. “Are you going to be around for a while? Maybe you’d like to go out to dinner sometime.”

  A faint smile touched his lips, but he never took his sizzling deep eyes off her face. “Thanks, but I can’t. I’m busy.”

  “Another time, then. You can’t be busy all the time.”

  He glanced down at the cup in his hand, but when he sipped at his straw, he came back to staring right at her. Those eyes ate into her soul all the way down to the very bottom of her being. “Sorry. I can’t.”

  Isabelle frowned. “Why not? If you don’t want to, just come right out and say so.”

  Now he really did smile. It flashed across his visage like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. It lit up his cheeks and his eyes twinkled. All his strong, straight teeth showed, but before he could say anything, Riley interrupted. “We should keep in touch, Isabelle. Since we both live in New Orleans, we should exchange contact details. We can get together again.”

  Isabelle didn’t want to look away from Malachai. His impossibly powerful appeal compelled her to keep staring at him and never look away, but she had to deal with Riley. “Yeah, okay. Give me your number.”

  Riley whipped out her phone. Isabelle took the opportunity of Riley tapping the screen to return her attention to Malachai. “Where do you live in town?”

  Riley cut in a second time. “Here’s my number. Send me a text so I have yours.”

  Now Isabelle couldn’t escape the realization that Riley was deliberately intervening to stop her from talking to Malachai. Before she had a chance to get annoyed, Malachai shot Riley a quick look. “We should get going.”

  Isabelle confronted her friend. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Riley blushed again. She lowered her eyes to her screen in an embarrassed way. These two were definitely conspiring to stop Isabelle from getting acquainted with Malachai. “Of course not. Just give me your number and we can get together another time.”

  Isabelle narrowed her eyes at the woman she thought was her friend. Why on Earth would Riley stop Isabelle from talking to Malachai? Just when Isabelle gathered her resolve to demand some answers, Malachai turned away. He swiveled his shoulder in Isabelle’s direction and trained his gaze on the Sheraton like he wanted to erase her from existence.

  Isabelle stiffened. He was rejecting her outright. She wasn’t so naïve that she couldn’t recognize that. She faced Riley and did her best to block him from her awareness, too. “Here it is.”

  She sent Riley her number so they both had each other’s details. Riley burst into a happy grin. “Great! I’ll text you and we can do something this weekend, how about?”

  Isabelle nodded, but all of a sudden, she wasn’t all that happy about seeing Riley, now or later. She almost wished she never saw Riley or Malachai at all.

  Riley flung her arms around Isabelle and crushed her in a stifling embrace. “I’m so happy to see you again! I can’t wait to catch up. I gotta go. See you around.”

  She turned away and she and Malachai walked toward the Sheraton. Isabelle gulped down her humiliation and hurried off in the opposite direction.

  2

  Malachai waited until he and Riley entered the huge, glass-fronted hotel before he dared to look back. Isabelle was gone, but he could still picture her as though she was in front of him.

  She sure looked nice. She smiled easily with those glistening blue eyes. One strand of her honey-blonde hair curved back from her temple in a soft braid falling behind her ear. The rest of it dipped every which way in wild curls she made no effort to contain. They shimmered with hidden energy from somewhere inside themselves. They threatened to erupt in all directions from their own lively vitality.

  Her black tights showed off a beautiful, curvaceous femininity. Any man would love to get his hands on that body, but not him. Not Malachai Griffin. He wasn’t any man. He shouldn’t even be looking back for her across an unbridgeable gap holding him apart.

  Riley broke in on his thoughts. “Sorry about that. I’m sure she doesn’t understand about the New Breed.”

  Malachai returned his gaze to her. “You can’t associate with her. You should know that. You shouldn’t have given her your number.”

  The blood rushed to Riley’s cheeks. “I couldn’t exactly push her away without giving her my number, could I? That would make her suspect more than anything. She’s my oldest friend.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t get together with her. It’s a bad idea. It can’t lead to anything. You should avoid humans. They can be dangerous.”

  Riley faced front. “I didn’t agree to give up my old friends and family when I became New Breed. It’s not my fault a toxic spill mutated me into a dragon. I can catch up with her, at least. Even if I did associate with her long-term, what harm can it do? It doesn’t mean she has to find out about the New Breed.”

  He studied her profile. “Do you plan to tell Victor about this?”

  She shot him a sidelong glance. “Don’t tell me you’ll rat me out if I don’t. Is that what you’re saying?”

  He halted in the lobby and pivoted around to face her. “I’m saying…. if you keep it a secret, isn’t that basically the same as admitting you’re doing something wrong? What reason could you possibly have to hide it from him if you’re not doing anything wrong? You know it’s wrong or you wouldn’t even consider hiding it from him. Associating with humans is dangerous—not just to you but to all New Breed. You’re putting all of us in danger with this stunt. That’s why you wouldn’t tell him. You would be betraying Anarock and you know it.”

  She rotated in his direction, but she kept scanning the lobby and shifting from one foot to the other. She refused to look at him. “Maybe I don’t want to tell him because I know he’s going to react exactly the way you’re reacting now. Maybe he would forbid me to see Isabelle for no reason. Maybe that’s why I don’t want to tell him.”

  Malachai bent his head low to scrutinize her. “You can’t seriously be suggesting that the safety of Anarock and everyone in it is no reason. Anarock is his top priority. If that means you can’t see your friend, then that’s a small price to pay for the lives of all the other New Breed in this city, don’t you think?” She made another face. He straightened up and held up his hand. “Don’t answer that. I can see you don’t agree.”

  She raised her dark eyes to his face. “So…. are you gonna tell him?”

  “No.” He squared his shoulders. “You are.”

  He rotated on his heel and walked away. He made sure not to check over his shoulder to gauge the effect of his statement. He knew Riley Strickland too well to second-guess her.

  He got halfway across the lobby when the elevator opened in front of him. His brother Victor stepped out. Victor looked like a completely different person in his own tailored suit and polished black leather shoes.

  Victor glanced over Malachai’s shoulder toward Riley. He raised his eyebrows at his brother. “Everything okay?”

  “Yep. Perfect. How did the meeting go?”

  “It
went fine.” Victor knit his brows at Riley. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “How should I know?” Malachai didn’t turn around. “She’s bent about something. I didn’t ask what.”

  Victor trained his full attention on his wife. “Huh.”

  He strode away without another word to Malachai. Malachai knew it would play out like this. Victor and Riley shared an unspoken line of communication that never failed to alert one when anything disturbed the other.

  Malachai turned around as Victor approached her. A ray of sunshine lit up the pair in the middle of the lobby. It surrounded them in a halo of blessed isolation that protected them from everyone around them. They were alone. They couldn’t be more alone if they were in their private bedroom at home in the Griffin family apartment.

  Victor confronted Riley. She shuffled her feet and brushed her hair aside. When she finally looked him in the eye, her features wrenched and her eyebrows flew up in the middle. She flinched as though she was in pain.

  She was telling him all about Isabelle. Of course she was. She and Victor never hid anything from each other before and she wasn’t about to start now.

  For the millionth time since Victor brought her home, Malachai experienced a pang of jealousy for his brother. Would Malachai ever find a counterpart like that? Would he ever find a woman he connected with at such a deep level? Would he ever trust anybody the way Victor trusted Riley?

  Malachai understood exactly how his brother felt about Riley because Malachai loved and trusted her with the same unwavering certainty. Malachai knew with unflinching certainty he could rely on her integrity to do the right thing. She cared as much about Anarock as anyone born New Breed. She threw her destiny in with Anarock and she never looked back.