Songbird (Songbird, #1) (25 page)

I kissed his lips softly, then his cheek, and lightly bit his jaw as I made my way to his throat and chest. I flicked his chest with my tongue and kissed each definition of his abdomen, until I reached my desired destination, slowly kissing and circling my tongue around the tip of him before taking him into my mouth.

He groaned softly and gently rested his hand on my head as I established my rhythm, then, remembering something my old friend Jessica had mentioned was her “secret weapon”, I lightly grazed my teeth up the length of him.

He inhaled sharply through clenched teeth and I looked up at him through my eyelashes, trying to gauge if it was a good sound or a bad one, but the look on his face eased my mind.

“Do it again,” he whispered as he watched me fixedly.

I kept his eyes locked with mine and slowly repeated the action. He groaned approvingly, and I gave him a little wink.

“God, where did you come from?” he whispered under his breath.

I continued varying the rhythm and occasionally grazing him with my teeth, each time heightening his pleasure and prompting a reaction that made my own body respond, until he was at the brink.

“Babe, I’m gonna …” he said breathlessly, the words running out but giving me the opportunity to control how we finished. I kept going, wanting to give him the greatest pleasure. His body then shuddered as a wave of relief washed over him.

He took a few moments to compose himself and then picked me up, lifting me easily onto his lap.

“You truly are gifted,” he said with a wicked grin and I smiled innocently, while making a mental note to thank my old friend Jessica, if I ever saw her again.

“Now, what can I do for you?” Riley asked seductively as he unwrapped my towel. I looked over his shoulder at the clock; we were being picked up in ten minutes, so I knew there was no time.

“Nothing,” I replied. “I didn’t do it to get something in return.”

“You know I’ll be gone for three weeks,” he said with raised eyebrows, trying to tempt me.

“Babe, I’ve had more sex in the last twenty-four hours than I’ve had in the last six months, and more orgasms then I’ve had in my entire life. I think I’ll be okay for the next three weeks. Besides, I’m still a little bit sore from last night.”

He frowned at me, looking concerned, and I shook my head. “It’s a good sore. Besides, we need to get dressed.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” he said, pouting adorably.

“I would be more than happy to tie you to the bed and hold you hostage indefinitely.”

He chuckled. “You know if you did that, the army would send in the troops to rescue me.”

The thought of Riley’s army buddies busting down the door, only to find him naked and tied to the bed made me laugh. “I’m sure the guys would get a lot of mileage out of that!”

“Babe, if they saw you like this,” he said, tracing a finger between my breasts and down my stomach, “they would be volunteering to take my place.”

Riley’s phone beeped.

We’re on our way. Get out of bed and get dressed, we can’t be late. C

Riley sighed, throwing his phone down on the bed and standing to get dressed. Watching his graceful movements, I wondered how I was ever going to get through the next three weeks before seeing him again.

W
E DROVE
in virtual silence to the airport, each of us lost in our own private thoughts. Even Cooper only half-heartedly teased Riley and me before giving up on the idea.

At the gate there was a mixed crowd of people; military, partners and holiday-makers. It was easy to tell the difference.

The holiday-makers mostly had backpacks and were dressed in shorts and flip-flops, with scruffy hair or whiskers.

The military, on the other hand, while dressed casually, were clean-shaven, and looked neat. I glanced around; it wasn’t just how they looked, it was how they carried themselves. They looked both relaxed and alert, if that were even possible, as if they were ready to spring into action at any time.

I looked up at Riley, his arm still around me; we had only broken contact when we had to, like when going through the security checks. Other than that, we were stuck together like glue.

His eyes were sad but he attempted a smile. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine,” I lied. “You?”

“Never better.” His mouth twitched and he exhaled deeply. “Come here.” Then he wrapped me in his arms.

Burying my face into his shoulder for a moment, I inhaled his scent. I would need to remember it to help get me through the next few weeks. I turned my head so my cheek was now pressed to his shoulder, observing the crowd a little more. How could they all look so happy—laughing and joking with each other? Were they so used to saying goodbye that it didn’t affect them anymore?

An announcement came over the speaker, calling Riley’s flight, and passengers started presenting their boarding passes to the ground crew. I instinctively tightened my grip around Riley’s waist; if I didn’t let him go he couldn’t leave, right?

He leaned down, his lips finding my forehead, before whispering, “I have to go, babe, but I’ll be back, I promise. You couldn’t keep me away if you tried.”

“I know.”

Oh shit, the tears were stinging my eyes already, and I had told myself that I would not cry until after he had left. I inhaled and then exhaled slowly. A steadying breath would help; or at least, it couldn’t hurt.

He tilted my head up so I was looking into his eyes. “I’m coming back,” he said earnestly. “I’ll be here in three weeks, on the first.”

I nodded. I didn’t want to risk speaking. I didn’t know if I even could at this point, without turning into a blubbering mess.

He closed his eyes and kissed my forehead again, then my nose, and finally my lips. I closed my own eyes and savoured the taste of him. I needed to remember this, all of it: his arms around me, the rise and fall of his chest, the sound of his heartbeat, the look in his eyes whenever he looked at me, and the sound of his voice. But right now, it was the tenderness of his kiss that was consuming me.

The last boarding call was made and we reluctantly had to separate. I said a quick goodbye to Cooper, and he hugged me, lifting my feet off the ground. “Thanks, Fox.”

“What for?” I asked, frowning.

“Putting a smile on this bloke’s face,” he said, indicating to Riley.

“I’m the one who should be thanking you for bringing him with you.” It had without a doubt changed my life.

I hugged Riley again, just one last time as the ground crew waited impatiently for the stragglers to board. I could already feel my bottom lip beginning to tremble, and I didn’t want to break down so I bit it, hard.

He looked at my face, at my eyes as the tears welled. “I will see you soon,” he said definitely, looking me straight in the eye.

I nodded and one stray tear escaped, betraying my last attempt to hold it together.

He went to hug me again but the ground crew were tired of waiting and one of them approached, advising us that if the boys wanted to make the flight they needed to board—now.

I watched as Riley presented his boarding pass. I watched as he walked down the gangway and as he looked back over his shoulder one last time before turning the corner out of sight. Then my breath hitched, and I began to sob into my hands.

Kelli was beside me, and put her arm around my shoulders. “Come on, I’ll buy you a coffee before we leave.”

“Okay,” I mumbled, looking around. No wonder everyone had looked so happy; they were all boarding the plane. The only other person left was a middle-aged woman, wiping a solitary tear from her cheek.

It was the longest drive back home as I tried my best not to break down every time I thought of Riley. Kelli watched me tentatively out the corner of her eye whenever she thought I wasn’t looking.

Finally, she said, “You’ll be fine. He’ll be back in a few weeks, and you have that awesome trip to Fiji to look forward to.”

I knew she was right, but at that very point in time, three weeks might as well have been three years.

“How do you just get on with things? You seem fine,” I asked, wanting to know her secret.

“Life goes on: it just has to. You can’t put your life on hold waiting for them to come back. You do what you need to do every day, and they have to fit into your life when they’re here.”

Yes, life would have to go on. What choice did we have?

I would meet Kelli at the gym in the morning for our self-defence class. We would go to work as per normal, and we would call into
Songbirds
tomorrow night with Jason to see Marcus—same as usual.

Opening the door of the apartment, the silence hit me like a brick. I was alone again.

I went through the motions of getting ready for bed on autopilot. Luckily it was late in the evening, but I doubted I would be sleeping very much tonight. It was ridiculous to think that this time last week I didn’t even know the guy, and was perfectly happy on my own, and now I couldn’t see any part of my life without Riley Hammond in it.

My phone beeped with a new message just as I had finished brushing my teeth.

Hey babe. Just got home, miss you already. R xxxx :(

Smiling, I tried to convince myself I could do this.

Hey yourself. Miss you too. Apartment very empty, bed very cold without you.

Then as a last second addition, I added,

Stay safe on your drop. T xxxx :( :(

Crawling into bed, I noticed the iPod on the side table; Riley must have left it there for me this evening before we went to the airport. Maybe if I listened to some music it would help me sleep. I started scrolling through the playlists, and that’s when I noticed a new one, entitled Tara & Riley. I opened it excitedly, curious to see what Riley had saved. It contained all of our songs, from the karaoke songs we had sung at
Songbirds
, to the classical pieces we had discussed, plus a few others. He must have gone through every song on the iPod and saved any that reminded him of me or us.

Yes, life would go on, and I would be waiting here when Riley returned.

Lying back, I stared at the ceiling, bracing myself. I was ready for the famine to begin.