Songbird (A Sinclair Story #1) (16 page)

“Getting
a little slow, Gaz baby,” she teased as she danced away.

He
focused on her again and this time his gaze was feral. “You’re going to pay for
that shot, beauty.”

“Bring
it,” she said.

And
he did. Using big strides he was across the cage and on her in seconds. She
dodged the first few, only to let her guard ‘slip’ and cop a direct crack to
the right side of her face. She saw stars, dropping to her knees. Normally
she’d use this position to her advantage, but she was going to have to take the
fall soon. Before she got too hurt.

She
dropped on her side and kicked out at his exposed legs. He jumped and brought
his weight down to where she lay. Luckily she saw it coming and moved out of
the way. Her kick hit him in his injured ribs, but he didn’t stop before
roundhouse kicking her. He’d been a little off center so she could have avoided
it, but instead decided to just pull back so that his power only clipped her,
instead of a direct hit. And still it knocked her face down into the mat. She
didn’t move for a moment; the man counted off the beats, and it took her that
long to find the strength to throw out a hand and pull herself up. But there
was no way she could continue fighting. Blood poured out of her lip. It had
been busted on the inside. She wiped it away.

“Get
out of my fucking way,” she heard Nathan’s voice, and with a groan rolled over
and lay on her back.

“Breathing
hurts, asshole,” she said to Garrett, who was staring down at her. “You cracked
my ribs.” She had to wipe the blood away again.

“I
know why you did that, Melodee Lee, and if you do it again I’ll do worse than
break your ribs.” He stormed out of the cage, without glancing back once.

Nathan
was at her side then. He placed his hands under her and when she didn’t protest
he gathered her into his arms. “Are you okay, Dee?”

She
nodded, resting her head against his broad shoulder. “Yeah, I’ve had worse.
It’s just a busted lip and a few cracked ribs.”

Nathan
snorted. “You just took ten years off my life, and I may be in trouble about
the guard.”

Melodee
looked over to where Dwayne’s personal bodyguard was unconscious and bleeding
in the corner.

“He
was trying to stop me getting to you,” Nathan growled. “And no one keeps me
from you, Dee.”

They
exited the cage. Dwayne was standing right near the door that led out of the
warehouse.

“Thanks
for competing, Songbird,” he said to her. “Sorry you didn’t win.” His
expression didn’t change. She wondered if he knew she’d not given a hundred
percent against Garrett. “And if your boyfriend ever wants to give up his day
job as a model or whatever he does, there’s definitely a place here in the
cage.”

It
didn’t look as if he was angry with Nathan. In fact he seemed impressed, and
that was pretty rare. He opened the door for them and there was a cab waiting
on the other side. Nathan must have called it earlier. It was dark and cool in
the interior. Melodee dropped her head back and closed her eyes. She was
exhausted and had nothing to show for her night of fighting. But at least she
knew Natalie would get the care she needed.

“So
why did you throw that fight with Garrett?” Nathan’s warm voice washed over her
in the darkness. “Don’t bother to deny it. I watched you fight all night and
you were completely different in that last round.”

Melodee
fluttered up her lashes so she could see him. He looked serious, his aqua eyes
boring in to her.

“Garrett
needed the money more than me,” she said. “His daughter needs the money for
physical rehabilitation.”

Nathan
clenched his fists. “That’s a pretty good reason, but couldn’t you just
forfeit? Why did you have to get hurt?”

“Dwayne
needed the fight to go on. He had a lot of money invested. I couldn’t let them
down.”

Nathan
took her face into both of his hands. “I don’t care what the reason is, but the
next time someone punches you I’m going to end their life.”

His
lips were on hers then as he kissed the absolute hell out of her. She expected
pain from her lip, but didn’t feel anything. Although she couldn’t think and
she couldn’t breathe, and it had nothing to do with her cut lip or cracked
ribs.

“Might
be time to tell the driver to hurry the hell up,” she murmured against his
mouth.

“A
hundred bucks extra if you get us home now,” Nathan said to the driver.

The
cab was moving at a much more rapid rate, but Melodee wasn’t sure they’d make
it in time. Adrenalin from the fight and everything about Nathan had her so
aroused she doubted her legs would support her to make it inside. Of course, as
the car screeched to a stop in front of his building, and Nathan handed the
driver his money, he was around to her side before she could even get the door
open. He wouldn’t let her walk. He hauled her into his arms, and careful of her
ribs carried her past the security and up the stairs. Lucky for them, rich people
did wacked out things, because the front door men didn’t even blink as Nathan
strode past with Melodee in his arms.

Chapter 12

When Melodee woke the next
morning, she knew instinctively not to move. It felt as if just breathing was
sending sharp jolts along her side. Strangely enough, this pain was tempered by
the warmth surrounding her and the scent of Nathan under her face. His chest
wasn’t exactly a soft surface, but for the first time in her life Melodee did
not wake alone, and it gave her a fluttering feeling in her chest. She didn’t
know how to process this overload of emotion. Nathan stirred then, his hands
running along her body distracting her. He was gentle over her ribs, before his
hands firmed up along her thighs.

“Good
morning,” he said as his lips settled over hers. “How are you feeling this
morning?”

Melodee
arched as he slowly slid a finger inside of her. She was already soaking wet
and aching. He continued to tease her, running his fingers just over the spot
that was throbbing for him.

“Nathan.”
Her voice held warning. “Injured or not, I will kick your ass if you don’t fix
this problem you’ve created.”

“You
have no idea what it does to me to see you naked in my bed,” he whispered
against her breast as he slid a second finger inside, his thumb finally
stroking the spot aching for him. She arched again, rising up as the sensations
built inside of her.

“Oh
shit,” she said as her insides quivered and she exploded. The orgasm ripping
through her had her ribs screaming but she didn’t care. Nathan strung every
drop of pleasure from her before removing his fingers one by one.

“Time
to get up,” he said, with one hand possessively on her ass.

“What
about you?” Melodee said, reaching out to halt him with by wrapping her hand
around his rock hard dick. “Doesn’t seem as if you’re done.”

“I
think you’re a bit sore, Dee.”

Melodee
glided her leg over the top of him, sliding herself along the edge of his body
and then up onto him. “Shouldn’t be a problem from this position.” Pain was
nothing new to her, and she wasn’t even close to being too injured to make love
to Nathan.

She
waited for Nathan to roll the protection on, and then with his hands guiding
her hips she started to slowly ride him, the movements creating exquisite
pleasure. Each time he thrust up to meet her she slid deeper onto him. It was
the perfect form of torture. Nathan increased the rhythm as he took some of the
control back from her, but once again she found she didn’t mind it. And pretty
soon she was teetering on the edge of orgasm.

“Nathan,
I’m close,” she gasped.

“Well
hold on, baby,” he said, his strong arms lifting her slightly so he could
thrust rapidly into her. She cried out his name as she felt him spasm inside of
her, and then with one last move they came together. In that moment, where she
lost control of her body, Melodee also lost control of her heart.

She
rested on Nathan, her breathing rapid, the sweat barely cooled on her skin,
when a cry broke the silence.

“Jewel,”
they said together, untangling themselves so they could dress and run to the
baby.

Nathan
left after breakfast to meet with his agent. Melodee spent her time cleaning
up. They would have to leave for Syracuse today, as Nathan had training and a
game tomorrow that he couldn’t miss.

“You
know, we have a cleaner come through.” Charles grinned at her as she scrubbed
down the bench.

“Shut
up,” she said, poking her tongue at him.

He
just shook his head and continued building blocks with Jewel. The baby loved to
knock them over, her sweet laughter filling the room.

Nathan
was back before lunch and they all piled back in the car and started the long
journey to Syracuse.

Charles
leaned forward. “What did your agent say?”

Nathan
grinned. “Looks as if the Knicks are going to be the top offer in the young talent
pool. Might be calling New York home after all.”

Melodee
leaned over to kiss his cheek. “That’s awesome for you.”

“For
us,” Nathan replied. “Any decision I make is for us.”

Melodee
swallowed her emotions then. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him basing any
major life decisions around her. Could she trust herself not to run when things
got real? And what if they lost Jewel? That pain alone might have her running
for the hills.

The next day, as Nathan was
heading out the door for training, he dropped a package on the bench where
Melodee was feeding Jewel.

“What’s
this?” she asked.

“Just
a present, but you have to promise me you’ll keep it on you when you’re alone
with Jewel.” He kissed her and the little girl before grabbing his gym bag.
“For my sanity.” He turned back. “Oh, and I heard from my computer guy. That
solicitor is checking out pretty legitimate at this stage. Few minor
infringements, but nothing raising any red flags. He’ll keep digging though. If
there’s any shit, he’ll uncover it.”

“Thanks
for that,” Melodee said. Nathan gave her one last kiss before leaving for the
courts.

Picking
up the package, Melodee had a pretty good idea what was in the box, and sure
enough, as she ripped the brown paper off, it was a cell phone. The large touch
screen was bright and a text was already in the message box.

It
simply said,
Use it!

Melodee
laughed, and scrolling through the contacts was glad to see Nathan had
programmed in his number. Charles, Luke and Matthew’s were also in there.
Nathan’s words and the phone reminded her to dial in to her voicemail again,
and sure enough the solicitor had left a third, more urgent message. Oh well,
only one way to see what this was all about.

She
keyed in one of his numbers; the ringing started in her ear.

“Hello,
Craig Luiz speaking…”

“Hello,
Mr. Luiz, it’s Melodee Lee returning your call,” she started, and his big sigh
of relief had her pausing.

“Thank
you, Miss Lee, I’ve had this case sitting on my desk for so long, I need to
wrap it up.”

“I
don't really understand,” Melodee said, “my parents have been dead for ten
years. There was no will and no one could even find paperwork on the house. It
was all declared government property.”

“That’s
not technically true. What happened was all assets were frozen in a trust while
your parents’ death was investigated. But that’s all been cleared up now and I’ve
been advised to split the property and cash between you and your sister.”

Melodee
almost dropped the phone. “I’m not sure where your information is from, but my
sister is dead.”

She
could hear papers shuffling, as he cleared his throat. “No, I’ve spoken to her
already. Chloe Lee, she lives in Rome in the state of New York. We require
blood work to collect on the inheritance, so she has already been verified. You
will have to submit your tests as soon as possible.”

“Can
you give me Chloe’s new address?” She attempted to keep her voice calm, but she
was screaming on the inside. She didn’t know this state very well, but she
thought Rome was close to Syracuse.

He
didn’t even hesitate, reading out the entire address. Melodee hit the end
button, cutting him off mid-speech. She sank into the kitchen bench. Jewel was
happily playing in her vegetables, so she took a moment to freak out. She’d
seen Chloe's neck get broken, had held her sister’s lifeless body in her arms.
But it was all a little blurry, she’d only been four at the time. Could her
sister have simply been knocked out? Suddenly Melodee was on her feet, cell
phone, car keys, and baby bag gathered. She lifted Jewel from the seat, and
after changing her diaper left the apartment. Nathan had left the Range Rover
for her use, and right now she couldn’t think of anything except finding her
sister.

An hour later the automated
navigation system announced that she was at her destination. Wow, who would
have thought her sister was living so close to her all this time.

Melodee
sat in the car, staring at the small colonial style house. Chloe lived in a
beautiful town. Big trees lined the streets and each home looked clean and
loved. It was the exact sort of place that Melodee had always dreamed of
raising a family in. She knew it was crazy, but if she had kids she wanted to
know her neighbors, and have lots of children play in the street. Of course
those dreams were before she became a cage fighting nomad, before she had her
innocence stolen from her. Now she doubted this life would satisfy her.
Although she was starting to think anything with Nathan and Jewel would be
enough for her.

Jewel
was asleep, so Melodee gently unclicked her buckle and lifted her up to rest
over her shoulder. She snuffled but didn't wake. Following the stone-lined
front path, surrounded by lush green grass, Melodee stopped at the door. What
the hell was she even doing here? Chloe probably didn't even know about her,
she had been two the last time they saw each other.

She
lifted her hand and pressed the doorbell. Her free palm began to lightly pat
Jewel’s back, keeping the little girl comfortable. She heard footsteps and then
the door was opened. A young woman stepped through. She had very light blonde
hair and large blue eyes, the exact same color as Melodee’s. She looked so much
like Melodee’s mother that the doubt evaporated immediately.

“Chloe
Lee?” Melodee asked.

Confusion
crossed her pretty features. “Yes, how can I help you?”

Melodee
took a deep breath. “My name is Melodee Lee, I’m your sister.”

Chloe
froze, her eyes locked on Melodee’s face.

“If
that’s true,” Chloe started, “then I have nothing to say but fuck you.”

Melodee
almost fell backwards off the step. She hadn’t expected there would be hugs or
the perfect Brady Bunch moment, but still this seemed excessive. The blonde
took a step forward, raising her hand and pointing her finger at Melodee in
rapid movements.

“I’ve
spent my life alone, in and out of foster care, and according to my case
worker, the excuse from our parents was that their eldest child was too much
work. I don’t need you, I don’t want you. And I figured if that was the life I
escaped from, I was lucky. I promised myself that if my sister came looking for
me she’d get this speech.”

Melodee
cleared her throat. “What makes you think any of this is my fault? You were two
the last time I saw you, I was only four. And think about this, the life you
escaped from, I didn’t.”

Chloe
shrugged. “I have my inheritance from parents I didn’t even know, and money was
the best thing they could have left me.” Her eyes flicked up to Jewel. “I hope
that little girl has a good daddy, because she doesn’t need to be as messed up
as her mother.”

And
with those words Chloe stepped inside and slammed the door. Melodee fought down
her anger, her need to defend herself. What did Chloe mean about being messed
up? What could she even know about Melodee’s life? With a shake of her head she
turned and walked back to her car. Clearly the little girl she'd mourned had
actually died in Dallas, because grown-up Chloe was a bitch.

Back
in the car Melodee smashed her hands down on the steering wheel.

“What
a bitch,” she said, out loud this time.

It
didn’t make her feel any better. Chloe’s words were reverberating around her
head. Maybe she had a point? What was Melodee thinking, she was not the right
person to raise Jewel. She had to hope they found a family member who Jewel
could go to, because she deserved a real home and someone to raise her who
hadn’t been cursed from birth.

Melodee was halfway back to
Syracuse when Jewel woke, so she decided to stop off and get gas and feed her.
This morning before she’d left she’d sent Nathan a text to explain where she
was going, so he wouldn’t freak when he got home, but then she had switched off
her phone. So she was a little surprised to glance up as the diner doors
slammed open to find Nathan in the doorway. Clearly it was a day for shocks.

He
stalked toward them and Melodee found herself holding her breath. She figured
he was going to be pissed off but instead he swept her up in his arms.

“Don’t
ever take off like that again,” he muttered into her shoulder. “I’ve been
losing my god damned mind.”

“How
did you find us?” Melodee asked as she pulled back from him.

“The
Rover has GPS tracking built into it. I’d have been here sooner, but I didn’t
get your text until after practice.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Where’s
your car?” Melodee couldn’t see any vehicles outside.

“Matty
dropped me off.”

Melodee
snorted. “Yeah, I’ll bet cursing my name the entire way.”

Nathan’s
features hardened. “He wouldn’t dare.”

“I
was so sure that Chloe died,” Melodee said, stirring her juice around. “Despite
the fact she has the personality of our mother, I can’t believe she’s alive.”