Songbird (Songbird, #1) (34 page)

Then he pulled away, stared straight at me, and licked his bottom lip seductively.

I shook my head at him and turned away, but it was too late. Riley had seen the exchange between us and the lust in Cole’s eyes that was aimed at me, and was not impressed.

“Can I have a word?” Riley asked as he grabbed my hand and started pulling me into the back room, not waiting for my response.

Running along behind him, I tried to keep up, until we were alone and the door was closed behind us.

“What’s going on with you two?” He sounded angry, but then his expression changed to one of concern. “Is there something I should be worried about?” He took hold of my arms and looked deep into my eyes.

“No, babe, there isn’t. He just likes messing with me, I think. There’s even a no-boning rule for Cole where the staff is concerned, so you don’t need to worry.” I blurted the last part out before thinking, and then regretted it when I saw the look on Riley’s face. Instead of looking reassured, he looked like he was ready to kill someone.

“Why the hell do you need a no-boning rule? Is he that hard to resist?” He started pacing up and down the length of the room, clenching and unclenching his fists. “Do you
want
to sleep with him, Tara?”

This was getting totally out of hand. I moved and stood in front of Riley so he had to stop pacing the floor, and took hold of both of his hands.

“No I don’t, babe, you’re the only one I want. I love
you
.” I stepped closer reaching up behind his neck to run my fingers through his hair.

He ran his hands up my hips and wrapped his arms around me.

“I can’t lose you, babe,” he said quietly. “It’s hard enough not being able to see you every day, but the thought of you with him …” He didn’t finish his sentence. He just rested his forehead against mine, and squeezed me tighter.

I cupped his cheeks in my hands. “I’m not with him, I’m with you, and only with you. You have to have faith that I won’t do anything to hurt you, otherwise this relationship won’t last the distance.”

He nodded and kissed my lips softly. Then he kissed me again a little more forcefully, while running his hands slowly up and down my body and under my top. I knew he needed to feel this connection, to know that I was his and no one else’s, so I kissed him again more passionately then before, and pushed my body up against his.

He walked me back a few steps until my back hit the cold brick wall, and then rubbed up against me. It was getting hot and heavy very quickly. It didn’t feel right to be doing this at work, but I didn’t want to stop him either. I knew he needed this.

He ran his hands roughly up my thighs, lifting my skirt and pulling at my thong before unzipping his jeans. I had one last chance to stop this before it went too far, but I didn’t.

He lifted me up to adjust our height difference and then he was inside me, slamming me back into the wall again and again, so hard that it was knocking the wind out of me. It wasn’t like any other time we had been together; there was no love. This was emotionless, cold, hard sex.

“Stop!” I said desperately, “Please babe, stop, you’re hurting me.”

Riley stopped and took a moment to focus on my face, while I tried to catch my breath. He looked distant, and I kissed his lips tenderly, trying to bring him back to me before his breath hitched in his throat as he finally realised what he was doing.

“Oh God, Tara, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, looking distraught.

He went to pull away.

Wrapping my legs more tightly around his hips, I held him in place, kissing him lovingly until he slowly started moving inside me again.

“That’s it, babe, just like that,” I cooed softly in between kisses. “That feels good.” I closed my eyes and rested my head back against the wall while he kissed my throat and chest.

“You know, we’re going to have to get some sort of a system happening here, like hanging a towel on the door knob or something,” a deep gravelly voice said.

Riley and I both looked around, startled to find Cole leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, a big grin on his face.

My face was burning and I desperately needed to cover myself up, but I didn’t want Riley to move for fear of him exposing me further.

“What?” Cole asked us with a shrug.

Instead of leaving the room so we could untangle ourselves, he came in and closed the door behind him. Then, finally appearing to notice the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look on my face, he raised his hands in the air in resignation and turned his back, giving us the opportunity to disengage and get decent.

“Okay, you can turn around now,” I said, still straightening my skirt. Riley had his back turned to Cole and was
adjusting
himself uncomfortably.

“You didn’t have to stop on my account. I wouldn’t have minded a show,” he said smoothly as he stripped off his sweaty T-shirt and dried himself off with it.

But Riley was not in a joking mood. He finished dressing and turned on him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He took three strides and was in Cole’s face, fuming now not only for the look Cole had given me earlier, but for this interruption.

“Hey, take it easy, man,” Cole said. His voice was friendly enough, but he stood toe to toe with Riley and didn’t divert his eyes. “I’m just changing my shirt. Tell him, Tara. You’ve watched me get changed in here before.”

He had the smuggest look on his face, and I could see Riley was on the verge of losing it.

“I’ll be out of your hair in a minute, then you can … resume the position,” he said, pointing to the wall.

Grabbing Riley’s fisted hand; I tugged on it, making him look at me. “I should get back to work. Are you coming?”

He looked back at Cole with a death stare for what seemed like ten seconds before snapping out of it and wrapping his arm possessively around me. “Sure, babe, we can finish what we were doing later tonight.”

Riley kissed me on the lips softly, and we left the room to the sound of a deep throaty chuckle.

The bar was finally closing, and it hadn’t come soon enough for me. Jay came over and gave me a hug and then did that strange thing with Riley that guys do, where they half shake hands and half hug. I waved goodbye to Mitchell and Ethan, and looked around for Cole but he wasn’t in sight.
Probably already gone home with another bimbo.

Riley was deep in conversation with Marcus, and I headed to the back room to grab my bag so we could go. I walked in and did a double take; Cole was sitting backwards on a chair with his chin resting on his folded arms, staring at the door as if he were waiting for someone.

“Well this is new,” I said to him sarcastically, heading to the corner for my bag. “No bimbo bent over the table.”

He smiled at me, stood up, and slowly walked toward me.

“Yep, first you walk in on me, then I walk in on you. Sorry about that, by the way. You looked so hot pressed up against that wall, I should have kept quiet for a few more minutes and let you come.” He stood right in front of me now only inches away, his emerald-green eyes burrowing into me.

“A few more minutes? How long were you standing there?” I asked, my heart pounding fast. Oh my God, had he been watching us?

He bit his bottom lip. “Long enough to know you like it
just like that
.” He said it so seductively that my stomach did a little somersault.

I was mortified, and I slapped him on the shoulder. “You watched me? You are more depraved than I’d thought.”

His eyes searched my face. “I didn’t mind you watching me,” he said in that gravely tone that could make a nun think twice about her vows.

He tucked a stray hair behind my ear, lightly stroking my neck as he did so.

Then he leaned in so I could feel his breath against my neck. “It’s what made me come.”

R
ILEY AND
I climbed into bed, exhausted from being rushed off our feet all night. I tried to entice him to finish what we had started earlier in the back room of
Songbirds
, but he just wanted to snuggle so I didn’t push it. It still felt a million times better to have him here with me than to be in the bed alone.

I rolled onto my side and he cuddled up behind me, nuzzling his face into my hair and inhaling deeply.

“I’m sorry I lost control tonight, Tara. I would never intentionally hurt you; you know that.”

So that’s why he seemed a little distant. He was still brooding about what had happened earlier, and no doubt about Cole.

“I know, babe, it was a stressful night for both of us. Cole is …” I didn’t know what to say. What was Cole exactly? “… he’s impossible. Don’t worry about it, okay? Let’s just go to sleep.”

I closed my eyes, and as Riley tickled my back lightly, I drifted off peacefully.

I walked into the back room to get my bag and did a double take; Cole was sitting backwards on a chair with his chin resting on his folded arms, staring at the door as if he were waiting for someone.

“Well, this is new,” I said to him sarcastically, heading to the corner for my bag. “No bimbo bent over the table.”

He smiled at me, stood up, and slowly walked toward me.

“Yep, first you walk in on me, then I walk in on you. Sorry about that, by the way. You looked so hot pressed up against that wall, I should have kept quiet for a few more minutes and let you come.” He stood right in front of me now, only inches away, his emerald-green eyes burrowing into me. “So maybe I should help you come now.”

He picked me up, and before I knew what was happening my back was against the door.

“You like it like this, don’t you?” he whispered as he ran his hands up my thighs, pushing my skirt up.

His fingers were inside me and then out again, stimulating me, then back inside, then back out, his breath hot on my neck. My heart was beating out of my chest and I moaned at the sensation of his touch.

“I could make you come like this, but I want to make you come with this,” he said huskily in my ear as he unzipped his jeans. “Do you want this? Do you want me inside you, Tara?”

“Yes … oh God …”