Songbird Freed Read online

  He chuckled then flicked his tongue out, making me moan as my hips ground up, trying to find his tongue again.

  Strong hands ran up the inside of both thighs and pushed carefully until my legs were wide open, exposing me completely.

  “Beautiful,” he sighed, and then his mouth lowered, his tongue buried inside me.

  “Oh God,” I whimpered.

  As my head dropped back, my body arched. The things he was doing were new, and although I couldn’t quite tell exactly what was being done, my God, it felt amazing. As he sucked on my swollen nub, flicking it relentlessly with the tip of his tongue, my body had a mind of its own, bucking and writhing. Cole brought me to the brink over and over, making my body tremble, but he would back off just when I was about to explode, teasingly circling my sensitive flesh with his tongue or pulling back and lightly blowing on my heated skin.

  Finally, when I was close to tears, he drove his tongue inside me, swirling it around until my body convulsed with the most earth-shattering, heart-stopping orgasm I’d ever had.

  “Wh … oh God, what was that?” I asked breathlessly, trying to piece a sentence together.

  Cole smiled, looking very pleased with himself. “That was me showing you how much I love you?”

  Edging his way back up my body, he positioned himself over me. He kissed me again, his swollen lips skimming down my cheek to my neck. One hand gripped my thigh, hoisting it up over his hip.

  “Now, for round two of showing you how much I love you.”

  It was well into the night by the time we both breathlessly laid stretched out on the bed, a sheen of perspiration cooling our skin. My body felt like it had been put through the wringer, and was now totally made of jelly.

  “I guess you love me a lot, huh?” I couldn’t wipe the ear-to-ear grin from my face. “I don’t know what you did, but it was awesome.” I ran my hand through my damp hair while still trying to catch my breath.

  “I did some research while you were away.” He shrugged.

  I frowned. “What sort of research?” Images of Cole with a line of girls, asking them what they liked, ran through my head.

  He looked at my expression and tapped me on the forehead with his finger. “Stop it. I didn’t experiment, I read a few books, and watched a couple of movies so I could learn some new tricks.”

  I couldn’t help laughing. “You learnt how to do that from books and movies?”

  He brushed a damp curl from my face. “I know it sounds weird, but giving oral sex was new to me before I met you, and you’re too polite to tell me if I’m doing it all wrong.” His finger traced around my hairline. “I want to make you happy.”

  “Cole, you do make me happy. I have never been happier in my life.”

  “Not just skip through the meadow picking daisies kind of happy. I mean, curl your toes, make you weak at the knees, scream my name happy.”

  Raising my head, I kissed him softly on the lips. “You do take my breath away; you always have.” I shrugged. “So maybe I need to read some new books so I can learn a few things, make sure I’m keeping you happy.”

  He shook his head. “No, you don’t need to do anything more.”

  Cole’s finger ran down my arm lightly, then back up again, giving me goose bumps. I closed my eyes taking a moment to enjoy his caress.

  “You seem different since you got back. More relaxed maybe.” His tone was quizzical as his hand continued down to my thigh, squeezing it lovingly. “I guess seeing Riley after so long was a good thing.”

  Rolling my head on the pillow to look at Cole, I could just make out his furrowed brow in the moonlight. “Seeing Riley and telling him about you was a good thing, no matter how hard it was. There’s finally no guilt. I feel free to be with you, knowing that I’m not sneaking around. It’s like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.” I rolled onto my side angling my body towards him. “Now if only we could get rid of Prue from our relationship, I’d be ecstatic.”

  Cole rolled towards me, mimicking my position. “Prue’s not here; she never has been, never will be. It’s you and me, that’s it.”

  “Well she’s up here sometimes.” I tapped my head. “Especially when I allow myself to think about the future.” I ran my hand over Cole’s newest tattoo, tracing the script. “It will be such a shame to have to change Tara’s Toy to Prue’s Poker.”

  Cole screwed up his face in disgust. “Oh my God, my poker’s not going anywhere near her. She’s like my sister—granted the ugly step-sister, but still.”

  I giggled at Cole’s comment, but this was serious, and we needed to do something. The engagement was fast approaching, and Cole still hadn’t spoken to his parents about calling it off. They knew that we were in love and living together, but they continued to forge ahead with the engagement arrangements regardless.

  “You truly are delusional if you think you won’t be expected to perform all your husbandly duties once you’re married. She’s already said to me she can’t wait to have sex with you, she’ll want kids, I can guarantee it. And—” I ran my finger along the tattoo. “—it can’t be Tara’s Toy and Prue’s Poker, it’s one or the other.”

  Cole shook his head vigorously.

  “You can’t have us both.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

  “No matter how complicated you keep saying it is, I think what it boils down to is pretty simple. You either love me and want to be with me, or you don’t.”

  He closed his mouth and looked at me sheepishly from under his lashes. “You know I love you, Tara, I always have. I will talk to them, I promise.”

  I tried my best to believe him, but I’d heard those same words so many times before. What I needed were answers as to why this stubborn, strong-willed man could be pushed around so easily. “So are you ever going to tell me why your mum is so determined to marry you off to the Prue-ster?”

  Cole sighed. “I can’t tell you everything, but I’ll tell you what I can, okay? But first, we need food.” He threw back the covers. “I bought heaps of cheeses because I know what a little mouse you are. We’ve got grapes and those water crackers you like. Let me get some food and a bottle of red, then I’ll come back and tell you as much as I can.”

  Cole slid out of the sheets and headed to the door.

  “Are you going to put some clothes on?”

  He turned, with the cheekiest grin on his face. “No, it’s after midnight, so it’s Stripper Sunday, remember? No clothes allowed.”

  “But Kelli is here.”

  Shrugging, he took another look at the clock beside the bed. “It’s late. She’ll be sound asleep.”

  He comically crept over to the door, poking his head out of the doorway to check the coast was clear. Turning, he gave me two thumbs up, then headed up to the kitchen.

  There was a squeal and a thwack followed by Cole yelping. I couldn’t see what was going on but I didn’t need to. From the commotion, I was guessing Kelli wasn’t in bed after all.

  A moment later, Kelli stuck her head around the bedroom door, cheeks flushed. “Seriously I don’t know how you can let him leave the room like that.” She laughed so hard she was almost doubled over. “He’s the first naked man I’ve seen in months.” She gave me a cheeky wink and fanned herself. “Well done, you.”

  Cole came back in with a tray full of food, wearing an apron to hide the front of his body. “Okay, out, Kelli, I’m breaking the rules by wearing this apron.”

  With one final hard slap on Cole’s bare backside, Kelli shut the door.

  Cole lowered the tray to the bed and whipped off the apron, then proceeded to pour wine and set up a picnic on the bed.

  “How much did she see?” I still had tears in my eyes and I wiped them quickly. The sight of Cole playing naked waiter was too good to miss.

  “I put my hand over the good bits when I realised she was there.” He looked at me sheepishly and rubbed his backside. “Her handprint is permanently etched into my skin though.”r />
  Covering my mouth, I tried to stifle my laughter. “Serves you right. I did warn you.”

  “She sleeps like a log, remember?”

  “She’s about to give birth, she’s uncomfortable and anxious. I’d be surprised if she slept at all.”

  Playing eenie-meenie-miney-moe, I decided on what looked like aged cheddar first, and sipped the delicious merlot Cole had opened.

  “So, tell me about this ridiculous arranged marriage,” I said, trying to sound conversational.

  “It’s not an arranged marriage, but it runs pretty deep, and has done so for a long time.” He sighed. “Okay, so something happened in my family before I was born, and Prue’s mum, Jacqueline, helped cover it up. She was best friends with my mum since they were at school together. Prue’s family isn’t independently wealthy but my mum used to take Jackie, as she was known back then, to parties and introduce her around.” He paused to take a sip of wine, rolling it around in his mouth like a connoisseur. “So when this thing happened, Jackie helped my parents and in exchange, they helped her maintain her social status.”

  “She blackmailed them,” I said bluntly.

  Cole smirked. “If you want to put it like that, then yes, I guess she did. Initially it was a once-off payment to buy the house and get set up, but she apparently went through the money pretty quickly, so came back asking for more.”

  “So she continued to blackmail them.” I raised my eyebrows at him. “And I guess you’re the grand prize. If their daughter marries you then they’ll have access to all your money, all of the time.”

  Cole nodded. “I’m worth more than my parents now. Pops’ estate came to me, which is the way we work it in the family. The inheritance skips a generation so with my trust, my investments and now Pops’ estate—” He shook his head. “—Prue is set up for life.”

  “Which confirms my point earlier,” I said, knowingly. “Prue will want kids so your parents’ estate stays in her family.”

  Having children was something we hadn’t even touched on yet in our relationship, it was still too new.

  “Do you want kids?” I asked curiously.

  Cole’s expression softened. “Yeah definitely, but not with her. The thought of having a family with Prue has never entered my mind.” His eyes misted over. “But I think about what it would be like if we had kids, what our future would be like. What about you? Can you see kids in your future? In our future?”

  Thinking about this was a lot to consider, but yes, I wanted to be a mum someday. “One day. I think we still have a few years before we need to think about starting a family, but yes, I want to have a family with you.”

  “So you can see us together, long-term, I mean …” He looked down at his glass for a moment before raising his eyes to meet mine. “Are we talking forever?”

  Smiling, I couldn’t help letting my imagination run away with me. “Well I guess that’s up to you, isn’t it?” I shrugged. “I’m not the one who’s getting engaged to someone else in two months.”

  “It’s not going to happen,” he said with determination. “I still have time to figure something out. Do you believe me?”

  I chuckled. “Yes, I believe you, and I believe in you, Cole. I know you won’t let me down or risk our relationship.”

  Cole leaned forward, kissing my lips tenderly. “Look at us, planning our future together. You’ll be an awesome mum when the time is right.”

  My smile broadened. “You’ll be an amazing dad.”

  Kelli’s banging on the door didn’t break the spell.

  “Go away, Kell, we’re having a moment here,” Cole called, still gazing into my eyes.

  “Can I come in?” Kelli’s voice was panicked.

  My eyes darted to the door. “What’s wrong?” I yelled, pulling at the sheets to cover us.

  The door flew open. Kelli stood there legs apart, her pyjama bottoms soaked. “I think my water just broke.”

  “FAARRRK!” COLE jumped up like he was the expectant father. The fact that he was stark naked didn’t seem to enter his mind.

  Kelli didn’t bat an eyelid either; she was too busy in her own private hell.

  “I’m not ready! Tara, I’m not ready for this,” she screeched.

  The look of sheer panic in her eyes made me spring into action. Grabbing my robe, I threw it on before going over to Kelli.

  Holding her shoulders, I looked into her eyes, my expression as comforting as possible. “Yes you are, Kell. You can do this.” I tried to smile reassuringly. “Come to your room, we’ll get you changed and clean you up a bit, then we’ll take you to the hospital.”

  We both knew there would be a lot more mess to come—we’d seen the videos—but I knew she would want to walk into the hospital with as much dignity as possible.

  She nodded. “Okay, good idea.” Holding her stomach like a basketball that could drop at any moment, we managed to get into her room.

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, I was sure we still had plenty of time. According to the pre-natal classes, first-timers could be in labour for a whole day before the baby actually came. Then again, there were cases where the baby came in the car on the way to the hospital.

  I looked over my shoulder at her while I rummaged through her drawer for comfortable clothes she could get on and off easily. She was rocking back and forth, putting all the breathing techniques she’d learnt into practice.

  “Any contractions yet?” I called over my shoulder as I finally found the loose pants I’d had in mind.

  She shook her head. “Not sure. It feels crampy, but not bad.” Her expression was less desperate than it had been before, which was a good sign. “I blame Cole for this, running around naked.” She grinned at me. “You could hire him out to women who have gone past their due date.”

  As if on cue Cole came in, one hand covering his eyes. “Is it safe to look?”

  “Only if you want to see my bare ass,” Kelli quipped, pulling up the clean pants.

  “I’ll pass.” He spun around and took a step towards the left.

  “Watch your—”

  “Ah, fuck!” Cole exclaimed, treading in the middle of the puddle.

  “—step,” Kelli finished.

  Now that Kelli was dressed and Cole was there, I dashed back to our room to pull some jeans and a top on.

  “Ready? Let’s go,” Cole said once we’d all reconvened in Kelli’s room. He was sitting beside Kelli while she squeezed his hand so tight his fingers had turned purple.

  I couldn’t have asked for any more from Cole. He was so attentive, helping Kelli in and out of the car, apologising for every bump in the road he drove over. He checked her in while I waited with her, and fussed over her once she was in her room.

  “I can’t afford a private birthing suite,” Kelli said quietly to me once the nurse had finally left us alone.

  “Don’t worry about that now,” Cole told her. “This could take a while. I’ll go make a few phone calls, let everyone know what’s happening.” Patting her hand, he turned to look at me. “Let me know if you need me for anything.”

  Cole turned to leave and I followed him out, taking hold of his hand.

  “Thank you. You’re being really great.”

  The sadness in his eyes surprised me. “Cooper should have been here for this. It’s just not right.” With a chaste kiss on the lips, he pulled out his phone and made his way to the exit.

  The labour was relatively quick, however, all the classes and breathing techniques had gone out the window as soon as the contractions started getting closer together. When the nurse told her encouragingly to breathe, Kelli squeezed my hand and gave me a look that told me she was about to punch the nurse in the face.

  Subtly, I tried to tell the nurse to be quiet, but her enthusiasm was unrelenting as she tried to coach Kelli through it. The only thing missing were the pom-poms.

  “Will you shut the fuck up?” Kelli finally screeched at her.

  The nurse slammed her lips together, her eyes dar
ting towards me.

  “Just … let her do it her way,” I told the nurse and she took a step back, and thankfully kept her cheers to herself.

  Kelli let her instincts guide her. She pushed when she felt the need to push, and rested in between contractions.

  I was so proud of my best friend.

  Five hours later, a very chubby little boy with a mass of dark hair and huge feet, was finally born.

  The midwife placed the little bundle in Kelli’s arms. His tiny hand stretched up out of the constraint of the wrap, rubbing against his partially opened eyes. He yawned, his little scrunched up red face contorting, and she burst into tears. I’d been crying for the last half hour. Watching this little miracle come into the world, one push at a time, had me blubbering like a baby.

  “Can I come in?” Cole asked, poking his head around the corner. “Everyone’s in the waiting area when you’re ready.”

  One of the nurses looked up. “Are you the father?”

  “God no!” Kelli and Cole exclaimed at the same time. Taking one look at each other, they both started laughing.

  “But he is the godfather,” Kelli said smiling. “If he wants to be, of course.”

  Cole beamed at her. “I like the sound of that. Da godfather.”

  She rolled her eyes at him playfully. “Seriously, could his head get any bigger?”

  Cole called Jason, Marcus and Nicole in for a quick visit, but Kelli was wilting fast. She was shivering from the shock on her body and she looked pale and drained from the birth.

  “Do you have a name for him?’ Jason asked, taking his turn of holding the tiny bundle.

  “I was thinking Noah Cooper Davis.” She smiled at me. “What do you think?”

  Argh, stop crying!

  “It’s perfect.” I wiped my eyes for the umpteenth time. Every time I looked at Kelli or at Noah, or thought about Cooper, the waterworks would start again.

  We thought it best to leave Kelli to get some rest, with the promise I’d be back the following day with more baby supplies.

  “I’m really scared,” she whispered as I hugged her goodbye. “I can’t do this on my own.”

  Looking around the room at our friends and the support that Kelli had, one thing was perfectly clear.