Blackbird (5 page)

“Ouch!” Nate yelled, shooting up from the table to
look down to where Claire was holding his calf muscle. “That hurts!” he
growled.

“Your muscles seem sorer today. I’m not pushing
you too hard, am I?”

Nate laughed. “No, it’s not you. It’s my
extra-curricular activities that have made me sore.”

Miss Blonde from Wednesday night had turned into
Miss Thursday as well.

She looked at him, confused.

“If you get what I mean?” He winked.

She stared at him, going over what he’d said in
her mind, and then it hit her. She went bright red and dropped her eyes.

“Well, I think we’re done for the day,” Claire
said as she got up from her stool. She screwed her face up and held her thigh “
Ow
,” she cried.

Nate touched her shoulder concerned. “Are you
okay?”

She stretched out her side, still holding her leg.
“Yeah, I guess I’m just a little sore as well.”

He chuckled. “Not for the same reason as me, I’m
guessing.”

She turned to him. “I dunno,” she said softly.
“I’m thinking it’s
exactly
the same reason.” She traced the top of her
lip with her tongue.

Nate shook his head. “Sure…”

Claire moved her hand up to her neck, tracing it with
her fingers. “It went for hours,” she breathed deeply. “It was so hot. Sweat
was dripping off my body, I could feel it
everywhere
.”

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and
moving her fingers down her neck, skimming the skin beneath her shirt. He
caught a glimpse of her pink lacy bra as she pushed the shirt further down with
her fingers.

He was her captive, hanging off her every word.
Her every touch.

“It was dirty. Rough.
Hard.
Firm,” she exhaled, hanging on to each word.

His dick was hard, that was for sure. He reached
out, grabbing her arm and pulled her close, her body between his legs.

She was startled by his quick movement, but only
for a moment. Nate held her hips as she dropped her hands onto both of his
thighs, slowly moving up him.

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m being too rough. I
mean, I don’t want to pull too hard from the tip and break it. That’s why I
always start from the base.” She leaned in, her lips inches away from his, and
breathed, “But in the end, it’s only a weed. It doesn’t have feelings.”

Nate was so focused on her seductive trance it
took him a couple of seconds to grasp what she’d said. “What? What are you
talking about?”

She pulled her face away. “Gardening, why what
were you talking about?” She smiled, pushing herself out from his grip.

She causally walked over to the nearby desk and
started writing in his file.

Little minx.
She’d
had him hook, line and sinker, and she knew it. What he’d give to have it all
over again. She might just be the sexiest little devil he’d ever come across.
She liked to play did she? Well, two could play at that game.

Standing, he leaned against his crutches and
adjusted his raging hard on.

“Okay, so we are all done for the day, keep up the
exercises at home and I’ll see you next week,” she said, turning to him and
giving him a sheet of paper with suggested exercises. “I think you should also
take it easy, if you know what I mean.” She smiled. He knew exactly what she
meant.

“I’ll see what I can do. There’s plenty of…
ways
I guess I could still have just as much fun without moving.” He smiled
playfully.

He turned and started for the door.

“Oh, and Nate,” Claire called behind him.

He turned his head towards her, her body leaning
against the doorframe.

“Next week we start our sessions in the pool.
Clothing optional.”

Nate shook his head smiling. “I’ll be here.
Couldn’t miss an opportunity to see you get wet.
If you know
what I mean.”

Claire’s face turned into shock as she disappeared
into the room out of sight.

Yeah that’s for the boner you left me with
minutes ago,
he chuckled to himself.
Two can definitely play that game.

Claire held her hands in her face.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Why did she have to play along with his games? She
should have held her ground and not given in. She had a boyfriend. A boyfriend!
Yet here she was moments ago flirting with someone else.

It wasn’t even the flirting that really bothered
her, it was the fact she had enjoyed it. The fact she had lost herself in the
moment. She didn’t want to think of what could have happened if he’d kissed
her. It felt wrong doing this. Being with Nate like that. Part of her felt
drawn to him. She wasn’t herself around him and she knew that. But what did
that mean? She wasn’t ‘that girl.’ She may have been fun, outgoing, spontaneous,
but she wasn’t a cheat.

She’d been with Dave now for nearly six months. He
was good to her, treated her right. He was an amazing boyfriend. She wasn’t
just going to walk away from that, especially when she couldn’t forget what had
happened between Nate and her that night months ago. Nate wouldn’t treat
her the
way Dave did, with love and respect. Nate was a bad
boy, through and through.

***

“Earth to
Claire!”
Layla
yelled.

They were in the extremely small plane about to jump
14,000 feet, and all Claire could think about what Nate.

She turned her head towards
Layla
.
They were dressed in the most unflattering jumpsuits, and each attached to an
instructor.

“Sorry, just thinking about what’s it going to be
like,” she said nervously.

‘Well you’re about to find out!”
Layla
laughed.

“I just wish Dave could be here, too.”

Layla
leaned across and
rubbed Claire’s leg. “Hey, don’t worry about it. He had to work. There wasn’t
much else he could do about it, right?”

“I guess you’re right.” Claire smiled. “Thanks for
filling in, you’re the best.” She said with a wink.

Dave had called Claire half an hour before they
were expected to jump and told her he had been called into work, so he wasn’t
able to make the jump. They’d booked and paid for it months ago. To say she was
upset was an understatement. She’d been trying to get Dave out of his shell, to
do something crazy with her, for months, and now that they had their chance he
couldn’t make it.

Thankfully
Layla
had
come to watch them, so she was more than happy to fill in for him. In fact,
Layla
seemed to be getting close with the hot male attached
to her right now.

Claire hadn’t been skydiving yet, but had always
wanted to go. Although they were doing a tandem skydive, she couldn’t help but
feel nervous.

“Ready?” Steve, her instructor, said behind them
as he shuffled them forward towards the open door.

Her feet now dangled off the edge, and she could
feel the force of the wind beneath her. She kept her eyes closed tightly

“On the count of three,” Steve said behind her.
“One.
Two-” He didn’t even get to three before he pushed her
forward and out the door.

Claire screamed. Opening her eyes she saw herself
falling fast. It was exhilarating. All previous thoughts were banished from her
mind. Her only thought was of flying.
Freedom.

***

Nate threw his phone across the
lounge room. He crossed his hands over the back of his head and leaned up
against the back of his couch.

He was sick and tired of being told to get out of
his apartment. If he felt like leaving, he would. But it just so
happened
that he had a nice supply of alcohol to keep him
company on a Saturday night. If he wanted to go out he would. He just didn’t
want
to,
it was a simple as that.

His sister had arrived on the coast early this
morning to stay at their mum’s place. The anniversary of Nate’s father’s death
was fast approaching, and Nate dreaded the thought of it. Apparently it meant
that Nate needed ‘saving’ more than ever.

He just wished people would leave him the fuck
alone and let him get on with his life, however he wanted to.

***

Today would be different. There
would be no flirting, no physical contact, unless necessary. No thoughts about
what his lips would taste like, or the way his touch sent shivers down her
spine. No, today Nate would be the patient, and Claire would be his therapist.
Claire was finished with all the mind games. Playing them never made her feel
any better.

She watched Nate limp over to the pool with his
crutches. This week was the week they would use the pool to get him walking.

“Morning!”
Claire said
cheerily.

“Morning,” Nate grumbled in reply.

Claire frowned. He obviously wasn’t in a very good
mood today. She noticed he already had his board shorts on, ready to get in. He
reached the pool steps and rested the crutches against it, pulling himself down
to sit on the first step. Claire quickly walked over to him to help.

“I’ll be fine,” he growled, shooing her away.

She quickly took her shirt and pants off,
revealing her red full-piece swimsuit, and slid into the water.

He looked up at her and frowned. “I better not be
getting wet for
no
reason.
This
better work.”

Jeez, what’s his problem today
?

Claire watched as he used his good leg to help him
slide down the next step. He was clearly struggling, and she wasn’t just going
to stand there and watch him.

She reached forward and held onto his chest to
help him down.

“I can do it myself,” he snapped.

“Will you just shut up and let me help you?”

“Whatever.”

Claire rolled her eyes. This was just perfect,
cranky Nate. If he hadn’t already pissed her off enough he was sure going to
try to today.

Claire held his chest as she moved him off the
left side where there was a long steel bar hooked to the side of the pool.

“So I’ll need you to hold onto this bar and use it
to steady your weight. Start off by putting minimal weight on the sore leg, and
when you feel like it’s getting easier add a little more pressure. All you need
to do is walk back and forth along this bar, okay?”

Nate didn’t answer. Instead he used his strong leg
to limp to the side of the pool. Once he reached it, he started doing as
instructed.

“That’s it, don’t put too much weight on it yet,
you don’t want to hurt yourself,” Claire said encouragingly.

“Can you not talk?” he said sharply.

Claire was over his attitude already, but decided
to keep quiet, staying close by in case he needed help.

She watched as he went and lapped the pool,
applying more pressure each time, and then suddenly he stopped and pulled his
hand off the rail, and looked down at his legs.

“Stop, Nate! You’re not ready for that yet!” she
called out to him. He was going to try and walk.

Nate glared at her.

“Don’t look at me like that, you’re not doing it
Nate,” she warned.

“Try and stop me,” he said harshly.

It all happened so fast. One minute she was
watching him take a step, the next he was screaming in agony. She tried to swim
to him as fast as she could, but by the time she got to him, he was completely
submerged. Claire pulled him from the water using all her strength-he was
easily double her weight.

Nate emerged from the water gasping for air.
Pulling him to the side of the pool, she shouted for a nearby therapist to call
the ambulance. While they waited, Claire tried talking to Nate, but he remained
silent, even as he was strapped into the gurney. She stayed with him as they
pushed him out into the car park.

“Did you want to go with him to the hospital?” the
ambulance officers asked her.

She opened her mouth to say yes but before she
could, Nate interjected. “No, she’s not coming with me.”

Claire looked down at Nate. His face showed no
emotion.

“I’m done, Claire. I’m done with all this shit.
I’m done with you.”

Claire stood there stunned and watched as Nate was
lifted into the ambulance and taken away. She couldn’t help but feel like it
was all her fault, even though she knew she’d done nothing wrong. Or had she?

CHAPTER
FOUR

“Claire? Baby, what’s wrong?”

Claire broke from her daydream at the sound of
Dave’s voice. She shifted her body against his and pulled the doona tighter
around her chest.

It had been one week since her therapy session
with Nate. One week since he’d told her he was done with her. One week of
feeling like absolute shit. And one week since she’d had a decent night’s
sleep.

Nate’s doctor had phoned the clinic not long after
he left the hospital to let them know that, apart from some minor water
inhalation, Nate had suffered no injuries  and would be fine to continue
his therapy sessions. Nate never returned, though, and for some unknown reason
it ate Claire up inside. She had called him several times, left messages, but
he never answered.

 “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” Claire
lied, smiling at Dave.

She wasn’t fine. Her days were filled with
distraction, unable to focus on anything but Nate. Her nights left her tired
and restless, and to make matters worse, she couldn’t understand why she felt
the way she did. Why she cared so much about Nate.

Every part of her told her to forget about it,
walk away. She shouldn’t be feeling like this, shouldn’t be thinking about him
like that. But she did.