JOINED (The Joined Series) (2 page)

“I’ll take that into consideration,” I murmured, disbelieving that I was
actually
absorbing his suggestion. He smiled at me, as if rewarding me. Enthralled by him
and anxious about it
, I hastily
added, “I am s
ure women appreciate your input, but I’ll take it from here.
”

He took a step away from me. All I wanted to do was pull him right back to where he stood. Mentally, I pictured tracing my tongue on the length of his body,
feeling
the soft thickness of his dar
k brown hair between my fingers.

“I don’t usually approach women
.” Watching me, his gaze smoldered and he took a confident step
back
towards me
.
“In fact, I’ve rarely ever had to approach a female for anything personal. Ever.”

I wasn’
t surprised that he wa
s the one usually pursued, and I felt
like I made myself look like a jerk
, so I didn’t respond to him
.
The women around me
probably didn’t have imagined passionate lives like I did. They probably didn’t beg their bodies to feel a sexual urge, conflicted with what their minds would
n’t translate into their bodies
.

Adding to my inability to be unaffected by him was the fact that every other handsome man I’ve seen failed in comparison to
him
.
While he
was classically attractive
with his symmetrical face
,
he had a rugged edge to him as well
. People say that men are visual creatures. Women are too and he was just the visual I needed to spark something in
side
me that lasted more than five seconds. My gynecologist explained that after a loss of a loved one, it wasn’t uncommon for women of all ages to have problems with their libido. Even my school psychologist said the same thing.
But that was two years ago and I knew that this was unhealthy.

He was about six
feet, with thick broad shoulders, a corded neck and a firm chest. Even in his lined suit, I could tell that his thick and muscular legs were proportionate to his upper body. I hated to admit it to myself, but he was breathtaking.
M
y
sudden surge of needfulness made me anxious.
I curled the ends of my hair around my finger, trying to find another excuse not to meet his darkening gaze any longer.

“I am Mateja
Guvo
.” He
extended his
hand to me. A hint of laughter flowed out of his deep voice.

“I am Rebecca.” After a few seconds, I noticed that I didn’t shake his hand yet. Once I placed my hand in his, he gave me a tight handshake, which loosened when I looked at him again. He seemed satisfied.

“Very nice to me
e
t you Rebecca. My recommendations?” My breath burned in my lungs, amounting to all the effort I exerted to contain myself. I felt like I ran up and down a flight of stairs without respiration. When his lips curved into a faint smile, I imagined running my fingers over his lower lip,
and then
his upper lip. His lips
were shapely.

I tried to smile, surprised that I struggled to have an even voice. “I think they’re…great.” But my husky tone betrayed my lack of self-control.

Even worse, he seemed to take pleasure in that. Smiling broadly, his perfectly straight teeth sparkled. Bastard! Before I realized that my focus returned to his wonderfully soft looking lips, he traced his ind
ex finger on his lower lip and
on his upper lip. I trembled, wondering if his cock would be as smooth to the touch, imagining myself gripping onto his
shoulders
for dear life, while
he grounded into me and
pressed his lips together to prevent himself from groaning. Only once I caught him looking at me below my neckline. So, was he only getting a thrill from rattling me?
Was he just entertaining himself at my expense?

“Follow me,” he commanded.
I didn’t know where I was following him to, but we crossed the huge store, passed many people and entered the men’s dressing room section. No one seemed to take notice or show alarm. When I turned around, three employees in the store surrounded the entrance.
H
e led me inside to what looked like an office or storage room near the regular dressing rooms.
He brought out his key
,
unlocked the room
, and held
the door open for me
.
 

“Ladies first.”

Rolling my eyes and taking in a deep sigh, I walked into the room. He laughed behind me and closed the door.
I didn’t know I was so amusing.
He took out a small remote from his pocket and ambient light filled the room. It must have been a wheelchair accessible dressing room at one point because it was huge. A beautiful and small leather brown sofa was in the middle of the room, two dark wooden chairs, which didn’t look nearly as comfortable were on either side of the couch. The room smelled liked fresh flowers. To my right, there was a
vase on a long
desk. A wide zinnia plant with yellow, deep pink, and white flowers
were in the vase
. It was simply beautiful and I couldn’t help but walk over and dip my nose into the flowers. Up close it smelled
even better
. I never smelled anything as fresh, light, and feminine as those flowers. From a distance, the air conditioner filtered out the
floral scent
.

“Do you like
them
?”

“Yes,” I answered. “I’ve seen the Zinnia plant
and flowers on gardening shows,
once at a flower shop.”

He smirked at me,
motioning
his hands toward the sofa. “Take a seat on the couch.”

I sat down and leaned into the sofa
,
bringing the
footrest
out.

“Thank you. A special lady I once knew couldn’t stop raving about the Zinnia plant and flowers. Whenever I got them for her,
she forgot about her
troubles
for a time
.”

“That’s very sweet. She must
be
a very
special
woman.”
I ran my hand over my forehead, relieved to find that I wasn’t perspiring.

Lowering his eyes in my direction, he nodded in agreement. “Would you like anything to drink?” Touching the white flower delicately and slowly, he seemed to somewhat zone out.

“No,
thank you. You must be a very important
customer to have this…room when you shop here.”

“
You change your mind
, let me know.” He stood in front of the plant and I felt a twinge of sadness by looking at him. “I shop here frequently and I’ve told my business partners to come here
,
bring their companions too
. The owners are very grateful.”

“How…nice. But why did you want to see me…in here?” I searched his face. He expected me to ask him about his intentions. Was there anything that he was unprepared for?

“Rebecca, I am getting a good look at you…alone, where no one else can see what I am marveled by.” My ears, my neck, and my throat prickled at hearing his words. He
glanced
at my lap and I quickly got up. Following his gaze, I realized that I had a bra and panty fisted in one hand, wrinkling it. “I was going to take it from you, but it seems to be your version of a
comfort
blanket
”—the corners of his lips quirked in amusement—“and I couldn’t withhold a comfort from you righ
t now.”

In two quick strides, he was right in front of me and I dropped the lingerie set. Unease flickered over his face as he towered over me, our bodies apart by mere inches. Already intoxicated by our close contact, I was about to close my eyes to settle myself when he brought his finger
under my
chin, drawing my eyes back to him. I couldn’t breath. For a slight second, I thought that this moment coul
dn’t possibly be taking place.
This dashing male couldn’t be looking at me ravenously. But he was and I wanted to find out what his look and touch could reveal. Bringing his head down to me, he covered my lips and stroked my lower
lip with his tongue, carefully, yet,
aggressively. The sides of our noses
briefly touched.
In a gasp, my lips parted, and his tongue flashed against my mouth.

In my
attempt to lean in closer, to feel
his
chest
and
underneath the suit, he moved back. Only our mouths touched
now
. Joining him in an exchange of give and take, our tongues worked in sync, the immediacy of my
desire
overwhelmed me
from just a kiss
—his kiss
. Drawing my head
away
from him, we soughed.
W
ith hooded eyes, he gave me a goofy smirk.

“I-I think that we should head back.
M
y friend will get worried about me.”
I knew that if I didn’t leave soon, I would literally tackle him. And I was no linebacker.
Walking across from me, he opened up his small fridge and took out a bottle of sparkling water, pouring it into two
fancy looking
glasses. He handed me a glass. I giggled.

“What’s so
funny
?”
Besides the over-the-top drinking glasses and this situation?

Thoroughly comfortable, h
e rested his hands
. Unbidden, the words flew out of my mouth. “This whole situation. Guy
randomly selects a girl from the crowd and
talks to
her
at
the
lingerie section of a store. Guy orders
the
girl to his own private dressing room and kisses her. But he’s not just any guy. He’s a hot guy.” I took an uneasy sip of the crisp tasting sparkling water, reminding me of champagne. I hoped that I spoke in a neutral tone, not hysterically.

Arching his eyebrow questioningly, he said, “I am not just a hot guy, as you put it
.
And you
’re
not a girl. You’re a
beautiful
woman. Don’t reduce yourself to being one of many. You’re also insulting me.” He stated it
with
no indication that he was scolding me by his relaxed stance and overwhelming confidence.

“Mr. Gu—“

“Mateja,” he immediately corrected me.

A side of his face curved and I inclined my head to him. “Mateja. You should know that I don’t think little of myself.” I looked at the small bubbles rising to the top of my glass. Mateja narrowed his eyes at me, considering the veracity of my response. “I know I am attractive, but I am average looking on a good day. I don’t feel…inadeq
uate because of it, but that’s
ju
st how it is.”

He took my glass and placed it on
the table next to his and ignored my point. “You
should know that I think I am much m
ore obsessed with your lips and

tongue than you are with mine. I can’t wait to put your tongue to work.”

Opening the door for me, I pivoted out of the room and
Mateja
walked
beside me. I had to get my bearings together. This man was serious about what he just said to me. As much
as
I would have found it repulsive from any other man; I didn’t with him. He shut down all of my defenses, my logical thinking, and with great frustration at myself, I thought about his lips again.
             

After a few minutes back in the intimate wear section, I heard someone clearing his/her throat. Mateja turned around and Consuela was behind him, blushing crimson.