Betrothed To The Brotherhood

Annoyed

She wasn’t sure what to do. The man she had been secretly crushing on because of his brain and the way he so eloquently spoke to her every week, until their last call last night when he suddenly turned into a different man, was kissing her. In a coffee shop. With people all around. What the heck? She was paralyzed with stunned disbelief at what was transpiring. Jay was kissing her.

His lips were soft and gentle as they slid across hers and she was frozen as he gently pulled away. His breath on hers, he gave her a smug grin, his eyes mocking. “Not very good at kissing,” he judged with condescension.

“Hey!” she protested his analysis if her abilities. “Not fair. You surprised me. I wasn’t expecting you to latch your lips to mine within minutes of meeting.”

“You think you can do better than a dead guppy?” He was pushing her with his teasing.

“A dead guppy?” she shrieked at him her fists balled in her hands.

“Maybe more like a deflated blow-up doll. A friend of mine had one at a bachelor party. I bet she would have kissed me better than you just did.” He was laughing openly now.

She glowered at him and the yanked on his tie at his neck and pulled him to her, slamming her lips against his. She moved her lips back and forth against his, tilting her head to one side to avoid his glasses which were sliding down his nose as he leaned over her. Her tongue tentatively stroked the fullness of his lower lip and tasted the coffee. When his arm wound round her middle and pulled her closer, her lips parted to allow him the access he was seeking, and his tongue plundered deep into the recess. His other hand moved to her chin to grip her while he took his sweet time savouring her. He deepened the kiss, his teeth grazing he bottom lip as he sucked it deep into his mouth. His hand wrapped around her middle edged under the bottom of her top, touching the soft skin at her hip. She shuddered violently as his fingernails grazed her flesh.

He was demanding and in control as he manipulated her reactions to him with ease and when the kiss broke, she was gasping for breath and his chest was rising and falling as rapidly.

She couldn’t look away from the heat of his gaze as he stared at her with a cocky smirk.

“I stand corrected. Not bad at all,” he chuckled as he pushed his glasses up his face pulling back. “Did you want to prove you’re good at the other thing too?”

Her eyes widened at his bold question. “No.”

“You sure? My car is outside. We can go back to my place right now. I promise I don’t live in my mother’s basement, and we can assess all kinds of skills you might be willing to show off.”

“I am a hundred percent sure. I am not the kind of girl who would put out on the first date, and this was only coffee, not even a real date.”

“Oh, it’s a real date, Iris. As real as you are in front of me.” His eyes were serious as he studied her. “You were not what I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” her voice was low and raspy as she trembled while his fingers made slow circles at her waist.

“Shy, reserved, innocent.” His mouth was almost touching hers again, “you’re a passionate little thing, aren’t you?” His nostrils flared as he exhaled, “I could have a lot of fun experimenting with you.” He drew his thumb over her cheek, “a whole lot of fun. Damn you are beautiful.”

“What are we doing?” she asked as she shook her head trying to clear the cobwebs. The way he was staring into her eyes made her shiver with a need she hadn’t ever experienced from any man she had ever kissed.

“Making out in a coffee shop,” he didn’t look away from her. “Best decision I’ve made in weeks to come have coffee with you. I might be inclined to make this a weekly occurrence.”

She couldn’t help herself and she giggled as he ran his tongue over his lower lip and leaned back towards her. She pulled backwards. “People are staring.”

“Let them.”

“We’ve only met today.”

“I’ve known you two years. If I had known how sexy and responsive you are, we would have met months ago. I would have most certainly have tested your other capabilities by now.”

“I’m your student.” She hissed at him as she struggled to regain her composure at his blunt chatter.

“Technically, your classes ended a year ago. You haven’t paid a thing for our weekly calls in well over eleven months. I am not technically your professor.”

She fought the smile at his comment. “Why did you keep talking with me then and teaching me?”

“I like you,” he said bluntly. “I like talking to you. You intrigue me Iris and I enjoy the way you genuinely want to learn.”

His cell phone ringing in his pocket made him frown and pull back. He answered it, speaking Mandarin and it was rapid-fire fast. She couldn’t understand what he was saying it was so quick and the words she thought she did understand clearly were wrong. Surely the words kill and punish couldn’t be coming from his lips. She turned away from him and folded her hands on her lap.

She gasped when he pulled her back, tugging her tight to him and holding her close to his hip. Any closer, she considered, and she would be on his lap. He took her hands and held them captive on his thigh. She looked up to see the barista watching them closely and she gave her a smile.

The woman mouthed the words “are you okay?”

She nodded and fought a snicker as Jay noted the interaction and shook his head. He ended his call and leaned closer to her, curling his arm around her shoulders, and hugging her tight to him.

“How often do you come here?” He spoke lowly in her ear before nipping her earlobe.

“Monday to Friday and occasionally on the weekends.” She rubbed her earlobe and made a face at him.

“It’s why the waitstaff is hovering? She thinks you’re at risk?”

“She knows my friend Oakley. I’d bet my last pay cheque she texted her to ask if I’m doing okay. They’re in the park across the street. I was supposed to text them to rescue me if you turned out to be a crazy overweight man who never bathed and lived in his mom’s basement while her corpse rotted upstairs.”

“Smart to bring friends to keep you safe,” he said played with her fingers before giving a regretful sigh. “The call was my assistant telling me I need to get back. The meeting I pushed out is going to start shortly and I do need to prepare for it.”

“I understand. It was really nice meeting you in person, Jay.”

“It was more than nice, Iris. Your beauty is rivalled only by your passion. I hope our next meeting allows us to get to know each other even better. I wish I didn’t need to go but I must.” He pressed his lips to hers again, “I’ll call you later.”

“You don’t have my number.” She said as she lifted her phone up. She would have put him in her phone right away.

“We can video chat on the app.”

“Right.” She swallowed as she considered maybe he didn’t want her number. Would this be the last time she saw him? Was the assistant’s call he’d taken the equivalent of what she was supposed to have done with Oakley? He was being rescued from her?

He pulled her from the table and made her stand up next to him. He grinned at her height. “You’re short.”

“I’m five foot five.”

“A hundred and sixty-five centimeters. Short compared to my almost one hundred and eighty-eight.”

“Centimetres?”

“Its much more accurate and precise,” he winked as he hugged her close, leaning backwards pressing their lower bodies tighter. When she blushed at the intimate position, he smiled at her. “I enjoyed our date. You go meet your friends and go straight home. No going to bars to find boys.”

“What? Why do I have to go straight home? If I want to go to a bar I can. What makes you say I can’t?”

“Because you have a real man interested in you, Iris and one thing you will learn about me, is I don’t like to share. I’m possessive and I don’t tolerate someone trying to take what is mine.”

“Yours?”

“Yes, and you, Ms. Iris Parker, are now mine.”

“I ­–” she was going to protest but he firmly pressed his lips to hers and kissed her again as hungrily as he had kissed her earlier. She felt his hands grabbing her ass squeezing her tight to his frame as he shoved his tongue past her lips and slipped it alongside hers. She clutched his vest in her fists as her legs nearly buckled with the demanding way, he was kissing her. When he backed away from her, she had to reach for and grip the table to hold herself upright. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and then turned on his heel whistling as he walked away.

“No bars, Iris or I’ll be annoyed,” he called out as he got to the door. His eyes narrowed at her, and he pointed a finger in warning to her. “Don’t make me annoyed.”

The profoundly serious glare he gave her as he pushed it open, sent a frisson of fear down her spine. She backed up and sat back on the bench and inhaled deeply. Who the hell was this man?