Bedmates Soulmates

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He's With Another Woman

Her shrieking was drowned out by the deafening roar of the thunderclouds.

Kira had been deathly afraid of thunder since she was a little girl.

It was an intense, almost debilitating fear.

Clap!

A storm was about to hit.

Adrenaline surged through her body.

Her heart was racing.

Her mouth was dry.

Her breathing was fast and shallow.

Her eyes were wide open but unseeing.

Boom!

Another thunderclap signalled impending doom.

She loved summer and rain, but she hated thunderstorms.

The thunderclouds seemed to be directly overhead.

Kira curled up into a ball.

She tried to tell herself that fear of loud noises was perfectly rational and that it was rare for someone to be killed by thunder or lightning, but facts did little to soothe her anxieties. The fear was already deeply entrenched.

Being all alone in a big house in the middle of a blackout did not help.

She wanted to crawl under the bed.

Smaller spaces felt safer.

But her legs refused to move.

When Gideon was around, he would always come and find her, gently pull her out from under the bed, hold her in his arms, and stroke her back, cooing in a voice meant for babies. 'It's nothing. You're going to be fine."

He would cover her ears with his big, warm hands.

Cocooned in his strong arms and enveloped by his scent, Kira could momentarily forget about the terrifying noise.

But Gideon wasn't here.

A flash of lightning lit up the room.

Boom!

Crack!

Kira shut her eyes.

In her mind, the thunderclouds had morphed into a monstrous giant ten stories tall, striding towards the house with big, earth-shaking steps.

It was coming for her!

Boom!

Kira's entire body shook.

She groped desperately for a weapon, anything to defend herself with.

A hard object cut into her side.

Realising what it was, she grasped it and pressed the side key.

The phone screen lit up.

Austyn's number was right there.

She hit "dial."

'Please pick up! Please pick up!"

She was willing to apologise, surrender, grovel...anything

Whatever it took to get him to come back here.

Meanwhile, in Farindon.

Cora whipped out a compact mirror and checked her makeup.

Perfect.

Then she adjusted the straps of her pink babydoll to give her 32D breasts an extra lift.

She glanced to the bathroom.

Water was running.

Cora had offered to give him a hand with the shower, but the tall, dark, handsome man refused.

She imagined the powerful body underneath the Zegna bespoke suit, and felt herself starting to get hot. Cora arranged herself in bed, trying to strike an alluring pose. She wanted the man to see the best side of her when he came out.

After a night he wouldn't and couldn't forget, maybe he would consider taking her with him when he left Farindon.

Brrring. Brrring. Brrring..

A ringtone shattered her fantasy.

Cora searched for the source of the sound.

It wasn't her phone.

She found it on the coffee table.

The screen was lit up.

The caller ID showed Kira.

Brrring. Brrring. Brrring.

He's With Another Woman

It kept on ringing.

After a quick look towards the bathroom, Cora answered the call.

'Austyn, where are you?' a weepy voice come on the line. Can you come back, please? It's raining. The thunders are getting louder. I'm scared. Could you-"

"Sorry, Mr McCarthy is not here. Cora had caught that name when the other man, who appeared to be an assistant, talked to his boss.

Kira's mouth hung open, the last sentence stuck in her throat.

She put her phone in front of her face.novelbin

It was Austyn's number, but it was a woman's voice answering the call.

"Who...who are you?"

'I'm the person keeping Mr McCarthy company tonight, Cora said in a breathy voice. "Who are you?"

Beep beep.

The call was cut off.

Cora stared at the screen. "Weird."

Belatedly, she started to fret.

It was her client's phone.

Would the man be mad to know she'd answered the call without permission?

Maybe it was best if he did not find out about this.

Cora tapped her slender fingers on the screen and deleted the call log.

Kira gripped her phone, still in a daze.

Another thunderclap jolted her out of her trance.

She hurled the phone aside and covered her ears with both hands.

'Stupid!" she scolded herself,

Here she was, wrestling with herself over the decision to apologise, then swallowing her pride to make the call.

A small part of her held out a tiny sliver of hope-wherever he was, whatever he was doing, maybe he would be willing to drop everything and come home to her when he heard how scared she sounded. She was prepared for some jibes, maybe even downright rejection. But she wasn't prepared to catch him cheating.

Again.

It wasn't Kayleigh's voice on the line.

'Haven't you been disappointed enough times?' Kira regretted making the call.

She curled into a foetal position and started singing to herself, trying her damnedest to ignore the thunderous noise without and the bitterness within.

Austyn switched off the shower and reached for the towel.

Gother Woman

Then remembering there was a woman outside, he opted for the bathrobe and cinched the belt tight.

The woman was lying on her side in bed, with one hand propped under her head and the other resting on

her hips.

The babydoll had ridden up, revealing her pink thong.

She was still wearing her heels.

Austyn's eyes immediately went to his phone on the coffee table.

He silently kicked himself for leaving it there.

There were confidential documents on that phone.

He should have taken it into the bathroom with him.

The phone was not locked, since he often needed Kai to answer calls for him.

The woman could have sneaked a peek when he was in the shower.

Stupid mistake.

He picked up the phone and stuffed it into the pocket of his robe.

Then he removed his half-empty pack of Sobranie Black Russians and lit one up.

The woman got off the bed and sashayed towards him. 'Sir, let me give you a massage...