The one thing Malcolm prided himself on was his ability to maintain control and stay calm under pressure. What was happening now was the very opposite of staying in control. He was falling. He was falling and he didn't care. One taste of her lips on his was his breaking point.

He tried. He'd really tried to walk away, and he still could have, but he knew that was a pipe dream. When Cookie slowly sauntered over to him and kissed him, it took every ounce of self-control to keep his hands off her. But, he wasn't made of steel. He could keep his hands off her, but there was no way he could keep from kissing her back. Her lips were soft and full, her kiss curious and searching. What she was searching for, he knew, but the best thing for both of them was to end this now and for him to walk out that door.

"You wanna leave?" she asked him, her voice lower, not quite sounding like her own.

This was it. This was his out. Just say yes and leave, his conscious screamed at him. "You want me to?" he asked, knowing the answer but putting the ball back in her court.

If she said yes, he would walk away and this charged moment between them would eventually fade into a pleasant memory with time and much needed distance away from her. But if Cookie said no, if she didn't want him to leave, if she wanted this as much as he did...

"No."

Malcolm didn't think after that, he only felt and acted on instinct. He didn't care about professionalism nor did he care about proper conduct. He didn't care that he was crossing a very hard-drawn line. He no longer gave a damn about his unwarranted sense of loyalty towards Lucious Lyon as an employer. Every emotion he refused to act on, everything he denied himself was now available for the taking.

He touched the curves that he'd admired from afar. He kissed with the passion that he'd held in. He wanted her to feel what he felt, rules be damned. With every sigh, every gasp, each moan he wanted her more. So lost in her, he hadn't realized that they were pressed against the wall next to her door until he heard the soft click of the lock she turned on the knob.

Malcolm couldn't keep his hands in one place for too long, wanting to feel every part of her, wanting to worship every curve of her body. He moved his hands down from her breasts and gripped her hips. She unbuttoned his jacket ran her hands up his chest to push the jacket off his shoulders. He didn't want to take his hands off her, but she clearly wanted the jacket off. Never taking his lips off hers, he released her momentarily allowing the blazer to fall off his solid frame and onto the floor.

He licked her bottom lip, encouraging her to allow him in to deepen the kiss, and she obliged. He greedily took in the taste of her as their tongues moved over the other, teasing, tasting, searching. He pressed his body into hers, letting her feel what she was doing to him. She moaned and kissed him roughly, sliding her hand down to the bulge in his pants.

Urged by her boldness, he dropped his hands and reached for her round, plush backside, giving it a light squeeze. He moved his hands down a little further and gripped the fabric of her dress, bunching it upwards to reveal more of her legs. Legs he wanted wrapped around him. Breaking their kiss to go back to the sensitive spot on her neck, he ran his hands along the back of her thighs. He lifted her and she wrapped her long legs around his waist as her dress went up even further.

"Desk," she said breathlessly with a moan as she ground her center against his erection.

He barely bit back a groan from her movements. Making sure his hold on her was sturdy, he walked over to her desk and sat her at the end. Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, she pulled him down to meet her lips for another heated kiss.

Neither of them heard the first knock on her door when she reached down to unbuckle his belt and lower his zipper. Neither of them heard the second knock on her door when her hand slipped beneath the elastic waistband of his boxer briefs to wrap around his hardness. It was the third knock, along with a loud voice filled with impatience from the other side of the door, that was the proverbial bucket of ice water for the two of them.

"Cookie! You in there? Come on, we gon' be late to the studio. Tiana's working on her new single today and she wanted you there... Cookie?"

Malcolm could feel her body tense under him. "Okay Porsha, I'm coming! Well, I was about to," she ended with a quiet mutter that only he could hear. They both shared a muted laugh. "Just give me a minute, I'll meet you there and let Tiana know I'm on my way."

There was a moment of hesitation before Porsha replied with a skeptical, "Aiight..."

Once he heard her heeled footsteps walking away from the door, he released a breath he didn't know he was holding. Speaking of holding...

"You, um... wanna let me go?" he asked with a smirk.

Cookie slowly moved her hand up and down, stroking his hardness. "You want me to?" she asked saucily, mirroring his earlier question.

He leaned forward for another heated kiss and grabbed her wrist to pull her hand out of his pants. "In different circumstances, I'd say no. But we know this isn't the right time or the place for this."

She sighed and pouted as she slid down from the desk, adjusting the hem of her dress. "That's too bad." As he adjusted himself and redid his pants, he watched her saunter towards the door where his abandoned jacket lay. "But you're right." She picked up his jacket from the floor. "Can I see you tonight?" she asked.

Malcolm walked over to her and put his jacket on, while Cookie brushed non-existent lint off his shoulders and straightened his lapels. "That can be arranged."

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him for one last kiss, soft, sweet, and filled with promise. Looking up at him through her eyelashes with a playful smile, she said, "Okay, now get outta here before I change my mind and won't let you leave."

He chuckled before kissing her on the forehead and walked out of her office. He looked up and down the hallway, thankful that no one was around to see him leaving her office.