Bedmates Soulmates

She should have told him.

He would never force himself on her.

Kira knew that.

It wasn't about her.

He just felt it was beneath him to take a woman against her will.

Neither did he have the need for it.

Money, power, status, not to mention his movie-star looks and male-model body.

Austyn McCarthy was the whole package.

Women would be throwing themselves at him if he just gave the signal.

Kira struggled to sit up in bed.

She took his hand in hers and tried to appease the man. 'It's not that I don't want to. I'm just a little

nervous..."

"We've done it before. What are you nervous about?"

The lust in his eyes had subsided, giving way to simmering displeasure.

Kira squirmed.

She shied away from talking about sex for the most part.

But she knew Austyn wouldn't let her off if she didn't give a convincing answer.

Fibbing was out of the question-the man was a human lie detector.

She offered a placatory kiss on his chin.

Kira lowered her head, her voice barely above a whisper. 'During our first time, it hurt so bad that I...I still feel a bit nervous every time we do it." There, she'd told him the truth.

Their first time was as far from pleasure as the North Pole was from the South.

She wouldn't go

go so far as to call it trauma, but the experience had left its mark on her.

Austyn's eyes widened in astonishment. "I was rough on you on our first night?"

Kira gave a tiny nod.

'What did I do?"

"You pinned me to the bed and rammed into me,' Kira kept her eyes on the sheets. 'I asked you to stop, but you didn't."

A fragment of memory flashed through Austyn's mind

He couldn't quite recollect that night.

Rubbing his temple with two fingers, he said, 'I might have gotten drunk...'

I know."

She still remembered the smell of alcohol on his breath as he shoved his tongue into her mouth.

Kira shook her head to dispel the memory.

She wasn't fishing for an apology or trying to score sympathy points.

It was a long time ago.

The scar was fading

She only brought it up because he asked.

Water under the bridge. Kira told herself.

She sat back on her heels and said with a smile. "Do you still wanna?"

Austyn searched her face.

The smile appeared genuine

The pained look was gone.

Some colour returned to her cheeks.

She sat in front of him, not wearing a stitch, looking up at him with those damn eves that got him every time.

He drew her closer to him. 'Are you trying to seduce me?

Kira pondered it like it was a weighty academic question.

Then she used a finger to push up a pair of imaginary spectacles and nodded with mock solemnity. Yes."

Amused by her playfulness, Austyn planted a kiss on her lips.

His eyes twinkled.

The kiss grew more passionate as he felt her warm supple body pressing against his chest.

He couldn't believe how soft she was

He was gentler this time, making love to her with a slow, languorous pace, pausing now and then to check the expression on her face. Kira was... transported.

She no longer felt the fabric of the sheets underneath her.

One moment, she was floating in the air, cuddled by cotton candy clouds

The next, she'd become one with a dinghy, bobbing up and down with the undulating waves.