Chapter 50 - Fifty.

Around dawn Kyla wakened with a start and sat up, disorientated. The curtains weren't drawn and the morning light was stealing across the furniture in shades of peach and gold. But all that mattered to her in that instant was the reality that she was alone. The pillow beside hers was dented but empty, and the sheet was cold when her palm traced an investigative sweep across it. She leaped out of bed as though jet-propelled and paid the price for that impulsive movement, wincing as muscles stretched and complained and an ache between her thighs reminded her all too bluntly of how she had passed the night.