Bedmates Soulmates

'Please, call me Kira. And yes, I'm a third-year Communications and Media Studies student at Stamford,'

They'd been chatting for almost twenty minutes now.

Kira started to relax in the captain's company.

He was friendly, humorous, and easy to talk to.

'Impressive. Stamford is ranked among the top ten universities in the country. You must be a straight A student.'

'I try,' Kira gave a modest shrug. 'So which school did you go to?"

"Oh, nothing as exciting as Stamford University. It's in another city, and it's a police academy.

"What was that like?"

"The academy? Training, training and more training."

'Did they give you guns in school?'

'Sure. Knowing how to handle firearms was part of the syllabus. I cut my teeth on a Glock semi-automatic pistol. Have you seen a Glock before? It has..."

There were eight people present-five guests and three hostesses, but they might as well have been in four separate

In the Fun Room was Doctor Chase, enjoying the attention of the hostesses and living it up like Caligula.

In the Chat Room were Captain O'Neill and Kira, who munched on apple slices and sipped at her orange juice, fascinated by the captain's action-packed academy life.

In the Quiet Room was her husband Austyn, neglected and forgotten.

In the Contemplation Room was Mr Matthews, sitting ramrod straight and looking pensive.

After a long while, Kira stood up. 'Excuse me. I need to visit the loo.!

'I'll get an usher to go with you,' Luca said.

It would be easy for a first-timer to get lost in the labyrinthine club.

her way h

here.

'It's okay. I can find my own way.' Kira vaguely recalled seeing the sign for restrooms on h Luca nodded.

Kira left the room.

But she had overestimated her ability to tell directions.

Guided by memory, she turned right and then left, and soon found herself in an unfamiliar hallway.

A waiter passing by rescued her and pointed out the way to the restroom.

Kira thanked him and started walking, hopefully in the right direction.

She came to a sudden halt.

At the end of the carpeted, wallpapered hallway, a tall, slender man slowly approached.

He seemed a little unsteady on his feet and stopped occasionally to lean on the wall.

Kira did not have a single drop of alcohol in her system.

She was stone-cold sober and clear-headed.

She was sure that this time, she was not seeing things.

She wasn't hallucinating.

Which meant that back on Friday night, she wasn't hallucinating, either.

She had seen C Gideon's face for real.

Gideon Garner.

The name she thought she'd buried along with her past.

She'd last seen him three years ago, not counting Friday.

But she recognised his face immediately.

He seemed to have grown taller.

His boyish charm was replaced with manly handsomeness.

Kira stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide open.

What was he doing here?

As soon as the door of the private room closed, an object flew toward Luca's face.

He ducked and narrowly escaped the attack.

The weapon was a Sekai Ichi apple.

Not a slice.

A whole apple, larger than the size of a grown man's fist.

"What did you do that for?" Luca asked. "That thing could've broken my nose.

Austyn shot his friend a withering glance. 'It wasn't enough for you to cheat on Isabel with another woman? Now you're flirting with someone else?"

Luca cocked an eyebrow. "Someone else? You mean your wife? You think I was flirting with your wife?'

Ooh, someone was getting jealous!

Austyn answered his questions with another black look.

Luca raised both hands in mock surrender. 'Fine, I won't talk to her after she comes back. I'll just sit here, zip my lip and act all cold and distant and aloof, like you, is that what you want?" Austyn rewarded his friend with a snort of derision.

Luca shook his head.

"The man's being such a child,' the captain thought to himself. 'What's there to be jealous of?"

He communicated this thought to Damian with his eyes, seeking endorsement.

His brother from another mother refused to side with him, however.

Damian gave him a head shake of disapproval. 'You really need to dial it back. Don't forget you're a married man, and Miss Hewitt is your friend's wife.'

'I wasn't flirting with her!" Luca protested, but neither of his friends believed him. 'Is it my fault that girls find me charming?

That earned a glare from both friends.

Realising he'd offended two men with one remark, Luca mimed a zip over his lips and went to sit with Jesse.

When it was just the two of them, Damian spoke. 'Your wife-where is she from?'

'She was born in Milton, I think,' Austyn said. 'Then she came to Stamford for school. Why?"

'Nothing, just wondering."

Damian tried to remember.

Milton was a small town in the southwest, with a population of less than ten thousand.

He'd been there once.

Is Luca More Handsome Than Me?

There was no going back.

Hence, there was no point in talking to him.

Kira remembered reading somewhere that a person would meet, on average, 80,000 people in a lifetime.

There was no need to remember and maintain a relationship with every one of them.

Gideon belonged in her past, and he should stay there.

She came out of the stall when she finally composed herself.

Washing her hands in the sink, she looked into her own eyes in the mirror. "Out of sight, out of mind. Forget you ever saw him tonight.'

She patted her cheeks. 'Kira Hewitt, you severed all ties with him a long time ago. You're someone else's wife now. Move on and stop dwelling on the past!'

The pep talk to herself had worked, because she willed it to.

The cold tap water had helped as well.

Kira washed away the lingering warmth of Gideon's lips on her cheeks.

She should get a move on.

She'd been out for a long time.

Captain O'Neill might be getting worried.noveldrama

When she straightened up, a body suddenly pressed itself against her back.

Kira's mouth was half open for a scream, but she checked herself when she saw the man in the mirror.

Austyn trapped her between his arms and the sink.

"This is the ladies' room,' she said, staring at his face in the mirror.

'I know.'

'Then unless you've undergone a gender reassignment surgery in the last half an hour, this is not a place for you.'

'So you're aware you've been gone for half an hour,' he said, a hint of accusation in his voice. 'What took you so long?"

'I went for a walk."

"In the restroom?" He raised an eyebrow.

'In the hallways.' She rolled her eyes. 'I wanted to get some fresh air.'

'Have you had enough?

"Yes. I came in here a minute ago to freshen up, I was just on my way out when you so rudely barged in.'

"Then why are you still standing around? Checking yourself out in the mirror? I didn't take you for the vain type."

Kira elbowed him in his stomach. 'If you would be so kind as to step aside, I'm going to dry my hands,

Austyn gave a low moan. "You just assaulted your husband. That's domestic violence."

me

When the man refused to budge, Kira wiped her hands on his bespoke sult.

Scowling, he caught her wrists and pinned her hands behind her back.

Kira was forced to bend over the counter. 'Hey!"

She grabbed his suit and used it like a wipe cloth.

"This is a made-to-measure, hand-sewn suit,' he spoke into her ear. 'It costs eight thousand dollars and has to be dry-cleaned.'

Kira wiggled her hips uncomfortably.

The hard edge of the granite countertop was cutting into her belly.

'Like I said, sue me.'

'You're broke."

Kira shrugged.

"I have a better idea.' Austyn moved closer.

He held both her wrists with one hand and used the other to tickle her right flank.

Kira flinched. 'Haha, stop! Haha...Stop!"

She tried to wriggle herself free, but the tickler easily overpowered the ticklee.

'Stop... Haha...Stop...Someone might come...come in and see...'

'Don't worry,' he whispered. 'All they'll see is an "Under Maintenance" sign outside."

Kira couldn't stop laughing.

She was soon out of breath and in tears.

The ruthless man continued to attack her left flank, her underarms, and just under her clavicles.

He seemed to know all her ticklish spots well

'Haha...I'm...sorry...about your...your suit... Haha...I won't... Haha, stop..."

Austyn finally showed mercy when Kira almost collapsed with laughter.

He wrapped both arms around her waist and rested his chin on her right shoulder.

Kira sucked in several quick breaths.

When she got her wind back, Austyn spoke. 'Did you also laugh this hard at Luca's jokes, hmm?"

"What?"