Songbird (Songbird, #1) Read online

  “Okay, pair up for stretches,” Mal instructed to the group.

  Now stretches I could do. Fifteen years of ballet had kept me very flexible. Riley knelt up over one of my legs while he held the ankle of the other.

  “Let me know if it hurts,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching.

  “I can take it,” I said, biting my bottom lip.

  He pushed my leg gently at first, then, realising it was still going, pushed it all the way so my foot was beside my head and he was leaning right over me.

  “Ah … that’s handy,” he said with raised eyebrows, a cheeky smile shining through his eyes again.

  I diverted my eyes and looked down at his side. From the position he was in, I could now read the tattoo clearly, it said,

  I lightly ran my fingers down the tattoo as I read it, and he shivered but held still, watching my face intently.

  “Was it just something you liked, or does it have special significance for you?” I asked.

  “It has significance in various ways,” he said, sitting down next to me. “In the military, we need strength when we’re standing toe to toe with the enemy, and faith that we can get back up in the face of defeat. But I think we need faith that we are doing the right thing and making the right decisions in life, even when the right thing is sometimes the hardest.” He smiled down at me. “Do you have any tattoos hidden away?”

  His eyes scanned my body. There wasn’t that much that was covered up under my little shorts and crop top.

  I shook my head. “I’ve thought about it, but I’ve never found a verse or picture that I would want to wear for the rest of my life.” I shrugged. “Maybe one day.”

  Mal headed back over towards us like we were the naughty children in the class.

  “Have you both stretched?” he asked, as if he already knew the answer.

  We shook our heads and swapped places. It was then Riley’s turn to be stretched.

  “I’m all yours, totally defenceless,” he quipped as he lay flat on his back.

  I smiled down at him, but then images of being mauled the night before came into my mind, and how defenceless I had been.

  “Could you teach me some self-defence?” I asked.

  “Yes, of course. I’d be happy to.” He smiled, understanding why I had asked for the lesson. “I was actually thinking of suggesting a weekly class be added to the timetable at the gym. What do you think?”

  I smiled broadly. I thought it was an excellent idea.

  We made our way back to the cars pumped full of adrenalin.

  “We should all grab something to eat tonight and have a few drinks again,” Cooper said casually as he pulled his singlet back on.

  Riley and I exchanged glances.

  “Not tonight, mate. I’m taking Tara out, just the two of us.”

  “But you can’t leave me to eat Spock’s cooking. She burns toast!”

  Kelli’s hand came flying out and connected with Cooper’s stomach before any of us realised she was moving.

  “Tara has taught me a few things, actually. I can now cook toast and boil water,” she replied sarcastically.

  Biting my lip, I attempted to stifle my laugh. It didn’t go unnoticed, as Riley’s eyes turned from laughing to smouldering in an instant. Noticing the change in mood, I looked away, a little flushed by how quickly he could be distracted.

  Cooper came over and gave me a big sweaty bear hug. Riley then stepped in to take his place as Cooper turned his attention to Kelli, wrapping her in his arms.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Riley said, placing his hands on my cheeks.

  “Okay,” I replied eagerly, stepping closer until our bodies were almost touching.

  He leaned in and kissed my forehead gently then my lips, just a prolonged peck. I felt a little pang of disappointment. I wanted to be kissed.

  The corner of his mouth twitched as he read the expression on my face. “Is this better?” he asked softly, then leaned in again for a full, no-holds-barred kiss that rocked me to my toes. He slid one hand down my side and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me in closer so our bodies were pressed together, before finally pulling away … breathless.

  “Much better,” I managed, barely audible.

  “Good. I aim to please.” His voice cracked as he spoke and I smiled, knowing that the kiss had affected him too.

  TRYING TO decide what to wear was still a sticking point for me and as a result, I stood in front of the open wardrobe doors for a full fifteen minutes before pulling something out. I loved my skinny black pants with the ankle zips; they were comfortable. But I needed something to knock his socks off. I decided to team them with a red crossover top that showed maybe a little too much cleavage, and my favourite wedge sandals.

  Walking from my freshly-painted off-white bedroom, to my freshly-painted bathroom, I had a huge grin on my face. The guys had done a fantastic job during the day while I had been at work. If not for the colour change, I would never have known they had been there. Well I guess they are Special Forces, they are trained to infiltrate and leave without anyone knowing.

  I examined my reflection in the mirror, then just to be certain I took a photo of myself and sent it to Kelli for her expert opinion. Thirty seconds later my phone rang.

  “You look hot, just push those puppies up a bit more,” she joked.

  “If they were out any further they’d have their own identities.”

  “Well it’s a good thing you’re wearing pants, anyway.” Her voice was hushed, and I had to listen hard to hear her. “Because if you thought Riley looked hot last night, just wait until you see him tonight. You’re going to need all the help you can get to keep your panties on.”

  “What if I don’t want to keep them on?” I asked playfully.

  “Tara!” Kelli squealed. “Do you want to keep them on?”

  I laughed. “I think I do … no, I do … I’m sure I do, it’s too soon. It’s just when he’s around, all rational thought goes out the window and my hormones take over.”

  “Well, in all seriousness, you have to be comfortable with the pace things are moving, so don’t feel pressured into doing anything just because he’s leaving in a couple of days.”

  I didn’t think he would try to pressure me anyway, but I made a firm decision as I studied my reflection in the mirror, that tonight was not the night.

  Riley arrived right on time and although I was expecting him, my stomach still had butterflies when the door buzzer sounded. I let him up and waited at the door for him to climb the stairs.

  Once again, Kelli was right; he looked awesome.

  He was wearing a fitted short-sleeve blue button-down shirt that showed off his incredible biceps and matched the colour of his eyes, making them seem even more intensely blue. I followed the line of his body down over the tight black jeans that hung low on his hips, and showed off to perfection what I had previously discovered was an amazingly tight butt, and boots. They looked like the same boots I had seen before, only tonight they had been cleaned and polished. He was clean shaven and his skin positively glowed.

  All in all, I think he was the most breathtakingly gorgeous man I had ever seen.

  He smiled his crooked half-smile, sapphire-blue eyes shining as he leaned in to greet me with a kiss.

  “You look … Wow …” He trailed off, holding out my hands and drinking me in, his eyes stopping on my cleavage for a little too long before continuing down the length of me.

  I blushed terribly; maybe I did need to push the puppies down a bit. But as I looked at the expression on his face my embarrassment turned to delight. He was clearly trying to hold it together.

  “Thank you. You look pretty amazing too,” I replied, so calmly I surprised myself. “Shall we go?”

  He didn’t move a muscle and I could see the rise and fall of his chest as his eyes found their way back up to mine, the look in them disarming, before he hoarsely replied, “In a minute.” And he swept me up into his arms.

  I
could feel he was holding back as every muscle in his body was tense, but he controlled the kiss. Light soft lips brushed mine as he breathed into my mouth. My heart pound against my ribs, a warmth spreading from my gut and continuing down. In an instant my breathing matched his, shallow and racing. He pulled back a little and looked into my eyes once more before reuniting our lips, this time eagerly, intensely. His tongue found mine as it tenderly explored my mouth, his hands tangled in my hair. I slid my hands up his back and gripped his shoulders, trying to pull him even closer.

  “God, Tara, what are you doing to me?” He rested his forehead on mine, trying to steady himself.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to calm my own racing heart.

  “You’re driving me crazy, girl.”

  We walked to the restaurant hand in hand, the passion from our kiss still tingling through my body. The doorway to the restaurant was tiny, no more than a single shopfront, but as soon as we opened it we were transported to an authentically styled Moroccan marquee. There were luxurious swags of fabric draping the walls and dozens of brightly coloured oversized cushions beside low tables. The restaurant was dimly lit, giving it a feeling of decadence. The aroma of spices filled the air, and the rhythmic beat of drums sent our senses into overdrive.

  We were shown to our table and cushions and with silly grins on our faces, made ourselves comfortable on the floor.

  “This place is amazing,” Riley said, gazing around, trying to take it all in.

  “I know. I’ve read good reviews; I hope the food is as good as everyone says.”

  The waitress, who was dressed in a belly dancing costume, explained the menu and we decided that because we didn’t know what most of it was, to order a banquet.

  “So I want to ask you something, because I really need to know about your ex.” He paused. “Is it really over, or would you go back if he asked?”

  Okay, so this was serious conversation time.

  I shook my head. “There’s no way I would go back there. I’m not a glutton for punishment.” I gave him a shy smile, hoping to end the topic there and move onto something lighter.

  His jaw clenched slightly and his voice took on a serious tone. “Did he hurt you?” he asked, concerned.

  I wasn’t going to be able to avoid this, was I? And from the previous night at Songbirds, I knew that any sort of violence towards me was a trigger for him, so I wanted to reassure him.

  “He never hit me, but there were a few times I was scared that he would. He pulled me a couple of times and hurt my arm, and one time he pushed me and I fell over.”

  He frowned and shook his head. “Why did you stay?”

  I gave him a resigned shrug and dropped my eyes. “It’s …” I sighed. “It’s difficult to explain.”

  He sat back into the cushions, his face softening. “Tell me what happened.”

  I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Where to begin?

  When I had finally finished talking, I raised my eyes from the table to try to read his expression.

  His brow was furrowed, his jaw tight. He shook his head slightly. “What an absolute fucking asshole.”

  Was that it? After I’d spilled my guts for the last half an hour, that one statement was the extent of his reply. I frowned and diverted my eyes again. Then I felt his hands take mine lightly as he leaned forward again to rest his forearms on the table.

  Risking another glance up, I noticed his expression had softened. “You know none of what he said or did was a reflection on you, don’t you?”

  I shook my head. No, I didn’t know that. He shook his head again and gripped my hands a little tighter, stroking the backs of them with his thumbs.

  “It was his way of keeping you to himself. You’re a carefree spirit; I can see that in you. You’re like a beautiful butterfly, and he wanted to keep you in a box so you couldn’t fly away. He probably did care about you; he just had a fucked up way of showing it.”

  I’d never thought about it from that perspective. I had come to believe that I was insignificant, and he was trying to do me a favour by changing who I was to make me a better version of myself. It had never occurred to me that I was too much for him, and he was trying to tame me to hang on to me.

  “You’re right about one thing at least,” I sighed. “It was fucked up.”

  The waitress interrupted our D&M, which I was grateful for, as she laid out the various dishes on the table. We looked at each plate in turn, and then, shrugging at each other, our silly grins returned once more, we dug in.

  “You have to try this,” Riley exclaimed. “The sauce is amazing!”

  He tore off a piece of flat bread and wiped up some of the thick red sauce before holding it out to me. I took his hand, and without thinking started to eat the bread that he was still holding, my lips grazing the tips of his fingers. I looked up through my lashes. His eyes were watching me intensely. Then I leaned back and slowly licked a remnant of sauce from the corner of my mouth. A soft groan escaped his throat and his eyes flashed with desire.

  “You were right, it is amazing. I’d like some more, please,” I said playfully.

  We finished our delicious meal by feeding each other every last morsel, savouring the rich, diverse flavours, then reclined back on the big over stuffed cushions. I felt a little self-conscious until I looked around and saw that everyone else was doing the same thing, so I managed to relax a little more, and mimic Riley’s position of lying propped up on my elbow, so we were facing each other.

  He stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers, my jaw then down my neck. His piercing blue eyes drifted down to my cleavage, but only his eyes, not his hand. I followed his gaze down and then back up as it met mine.

  “Don’t worry,” he said huskily. “I won’t touch without permission, no matter how much I want to, and I won’t ask either. You can let me know when you’re ready.” Then his eyes slowly followed the path back down again. “But I can’t help looking at you. You are so beautiful.”

  My hand, however, was not so well behaved. It traced the definition of muscle in his arm as the fabric of his shirt was stretched to its limit. It caressed his chest, following the line of buttons down his shirt to his belt buckle.

  “Do I need permission?” I asked mischievously.

  “No,” he said, with a glint in his eye. “You can touch me anywhere you like.”

  My heart skipped a beat. It was a good thing we were in public at that moment; otherwise my firm decision to not have sex would have flown out the window.

  Riley walked me up to my door. Even though it was a secured building, he still wanted to make sure I made it inside my apartment safely, or so he said. We reached the door and stopped. I wasn’t going to invite him in—the temptation would be too great, and I didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on myself.

  “Thank you for a great night, Tara. I had an amazing time.”

  He brushed a stray hair behind my ear then cupped my face in his hands and kissed me ever-so-lightly, just brushing my lips. I opened my lips in response and he ran the tip of his tongue in between them before lightly biting my bottom lip. My heart raced; I wanted more. I wanted another full, no-holds-barred kiss.

  I looked up at him pleadingly, and our eyes met. Then he lost his resolve.

  He pressed his lips greedily to mine, our tongues dancing together as he pulled me in so the full length of our bodies were touching. I could feel his need, the hard reality of his desire pressing against me and it made me want him all the more.

  He pulled away, breathless. “You’ll have to ask me to leave, because I don’t want to go.”

  I didn’t want him to leave either, but it didn’t feel right to invite him in, no matter how much my body was arguing with my head.

  Sighing, I whispered, “It’s too soon, Riley.”

  He nodded before resting his forehead against mine.

  We were interrupted by footsteps approaching as Jason made his way up the stairs, and the mood was broken. Jason, realising he ha
d dreadful timing, tried to disappear quickly, but it was too late. I introduced the two handsome men and Jason slunk into his apartment, apologising as he closed the door behind him.

  “I guess I’ll go climb onto that old sofa bed and try to imagine you’re there with me,” Riley said with his trademark crooked grin.

  I thanked him for a great night and once I heard the security door close, turned and floated into my apartment, my feet never touching the ground.

  Before I turned in for the night I checked my phone. There was a message from Kelli.

  R can’t stop smiling. He thinks you’re—perfect, beautiful, funny sigh. Did you keep those panties on? Lol

  I laughed.

  I feel the same way—he’s ‘perfect’. btw—panties still intact.

  RILEY AND I met bright and early at the gym. He had caught up with Mal, who was happy to let us use the facilities for some one-on-one self-defence training, especially after he found out the reason behind it. In fact, he thought it was such a great idea that he put it on his list of classes to hold at the gym on a regular basis.

  “Okay, let’s start with the situation you were in the other night.” Riley grabbed me and pulled me onto his lap, simulating the way the drunk had done it at Songbirds.

  “Now the guy was trying to kiss you, right?”

  “No, actually, he licked my face,” I replied, remembering the incident.

  Riley screwed up his nose in disgust.

  “And his hand was here,” his jaw clenched, “up your dress.” He placed his hand on my thigh.

  “It was, um, slightly higher.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “What, here?” He slid his hand higher.

  “Higher. He was trying to rip at my underwear.” I cringed at the memory.

  “Oh fuck, Tara, I had no idea. I should have beaten the crap out of him.”

  He looked away as his jaw worked overtime, clenching in fury. His body tensed around me until he finally drew a calming breath and was ready to continue. Then he raised his hand a little higher, but not quite as high as the drunk guy had.

  He looked into my eyes. “Okay, so show me what you did to fight him off.”