Bedmates Soulmates

Austyn stuffed the almost empty pack of cigarettes in his pants pocket and left the study.

The bedroom was dark when he entered.

Kira was sleeping in bed, curled up into a ball.

Austyn removed his shoes and walked barefoot to the bed.

He quietly lay down beside her.

His movement disturbed her sleep.

Kira rolled to the side.

Austyn frowned at the wide gap between them.

He reached out to pull her into his arms.

But he must have accidentally touched her shoulder.

Kira whimpered in pain, her eyes still closed.

Austyn switched on the bedside lamp.

Her right upper arm, just below the shoulder, was swollen.

Austyn got up, padded out of the bedroom, went into the study and retrieved the tube Jesse left.

He squeezed the tube and dabbed the light green ointment on her skin, before

The medicine worked fast.

In less than a minute, Kira's brows were unfurrowed.

She made a low sound in her throat like a cat's purr.

Austyn kept looking at her.

Her left earlobe had a tiny teeth mark.

He'd left it there in a moment of rage.

He had wanted to do more than just leave a mark on her ear.

e rubbing gently to spread it out

He wanted to cover every inch of her skin with his kiss, his scent, eradicating any trace of Liam's touch.

He did once say that whatever Liam touched, he would throw away.

Including Deborah

But he realised he could never do that to Kira.

He knew he was breaking his own word, but he didn't care.

Just the thought of letting her go and never seeing her again was enough to send him over the edge.

When she mentioned divorce, he completely lost it

He couldn't give her up to anyone else, not Liam, not any other man.

But Austyn also knew the biggest obstacle in their relationship was not Liam.

Next to him, Kira stirred.

She must be having a sweet dream, for she mumbled something in her sleep and smiled.

He wondered if she was dreaming about him.

Austyn sat up in bed and just watched her sleep.

He couldn't take his eyes off her.

If only time could freeze at this moment.

He doubted Kira would allow him to come within a mile of her if she learned the cruel truth.

For the first time in his life, instead of confronting a problem head-on, Austyn wanted to run away from it. Kira was woken up by the pain in her arm.

Her right arm had swollen to twice its usual size, like she'd developed bulging biceps and triceps overnight.. An agonising pain shot through her arm when she tried to lift it.

It almost brought tears to her eyes.

Doctor Chase said there would be swelling, but he didn't say it would be this bad.

The swollen area looked greenish.

Kira sniffed it.

It smelled like peppermint.

She caught sight of the ointment tube on the bedside table.

His Plaything

She touched the other pillow on the bed.

It was warm

Austyn must have slept in this bed last night.

Was he the one who'd applied ointment on her arm?

It seemed to be the only logical conclusion, but Kira had a hard time accepting it.

Wasn't the man still angry at her?

No, not just angry.

He was furious.

He was so enraged by Liam's kiss that he almost forced himself on her.

Then he'd left the room and never came back

Austyn made it crystal clear that he hated anyone or anything that came into contact with Liam Cane.

In the restaurant, when Liam said Austyn would throw away anything that Liam touched, Austyn had not denied it. Liam had done more the than just touching her.

So Austyn was going to discard her like trash.

Why would he spend the night in the same bed with what he regarded as trash?

Kira mumbled, 'I'm just a plaything to him."

He would play with this toy when it pleased him.

When someone else touched it, he would toss it into the trashcan and dismiss it from his mind.

Kira shook her head to dispel the image of the one-eyed Charred Rag Doll in 'Toy Story."

Thinking about it wasn't going to make things better.

You Got Off Lightly

Kira went into the bathroom to wash up.

She grimaced when she saw her arm had swollen

wollen to an angry

red colour.

It was quite a scary sight.

She

e applied a generous dollop of the ointment before digging out a white blouse with bell sleeves.

When she went downstairs, the swelling had eased off somewhat.

Elsie came out of the kitchen. 'Good morning, Young Madam." 'Morning, Elsie."