The man called her by her first name right away, on their very first meeting. Even though calling someone by their surname was the proper thing to do between strangers. His unabashed manner made Anais finally let out a small laugh. He seemed unbothered by anything she did. Well, it was only a name. She thought that and hurled a question to him.

“What should I call you?”

Even as she spoke, the man’s scent, deepened by the rain, crept in at the edge of her nose. Behind the faint smell of alcohol, his own scent was rich and heavy.

Those violet eyes held nothing but her. Under that gaze, Anais swallowed without meaning to. Tension moved through her body. At last, the man’s lips parted. Anais couldn’t pull her eyes away from those red lips.

“Call me Killian.”

“I will.”

Even after she answered, his gaze didn’t leave her. Anais understood what he was waiting for and opened her lips again.

“…… Killian.”

Only then did the man extend his hand.

“Here, take my hand.”

The gaze coming toward her was so intense she looked away first. The large hand reaching out to her wore no glove.

Bare hand.

Anais hesitated for a moment, then remembered she was in the south. She wavered, then lifted her hand. He glanced at her white lace glove and gave a small smile, gave an approving tip of his chin, and closed his hand around hers. His hand was very warm.

Once inside the carriage, Anais turned her gaze to the window. Looking Killian in the eye felt unfamiliar and strange.

Unlike the Bellini carriage, which rattled badly the whole way because it was hired in a hurry, his carriage was remarkably comfortable. It seemed built for roads like this from the start.

Anais watched the rain pouring down in sheets, and a low, soft voice reached her ear.

“This is your first time in Solean, I take it, Anais.”

“Yes, that’s right. How did you know?”

“Solean rarely gets rain, but when it does, it comes down mercilessly. So on days like this, people tend to stay indoors.”

“Then is this your first time in Solean too, Killian?”

She knew it wasn’t, but she asked anyway. Killian gave a short laugh.

“No, I enjoy encounters like this. I came out on the chance I might be lucky enough to meet a lady like Anais.”

The pale blue gaze that stubbornly held to the window finally turned to Killian. She laughed at the absurdity of it, and Killian reached out his hand. Without thinking, Anais extended hers. Their fingertips brushed. Hers were cold; his were still warm. She caught her breath, and something was placed in her palm. Chocolate.

“Eat this. You must be cold.”

“Thank you.”

Then he held out his linen jacket. She shook her head to refuse, and he studied her for a moment before leaning in and wrapping it around her himself. Again, his scent swept in, sudden and unannounced.

She tensed for just a moment, but Killian simply draped the jacket over her and stepped back cleanly. Anais quietly steadied her breathing.

Even being alone in a carriage with a man was a first for her. And Killian, who came to her aid, seemed very well acquainted with the ways between men and women. So at the very least, Anais wanted to hide the fact that she was a first-timer.

“I don’t think we can make it all the way to town in this, so I was thinking of going to my villa nearby. What do you think?”

“You have a villa near here?”

She asked with wide eyes, and Killian nodded.

“It’s an excellent spot for hunting, this area.”

A man who owned a hunting ground on the outskirts of Solean… She was briefly curious about who he really was, but Anais let the thought go. It didn’t matter. She smiled, pulling up the corners of her lips.

“I’d be grateful.”

“Good.”

His unabashed stare was hard to hold, so Anais looked down again. She put the chocolate in her mouth and smiled without meaning to as the sweetness spread. Some of the tension seemed to ease.

The carriage rode on for about another hour before arriving at his villa.

It was a small, cozy space. No butler or maids were visible. Yet the fireplace on the wall was already burning, as though it knew Killian was coming. Food and warm drinks were already prepared as well. Killian held out a warmed glass of wine to her first and spoke.

“Take it off, Anais.”

Anais startled and asked back.

“Pardon?”

“Even if you wash up right away, there’s nothing to change into while your clothes dry, so taking off the jacket and sitting by the fireplace to dry off seems like the only option. What do you say?”

She wore a thin dress, thinking the weather would be hot to the point of stifling. Because of that, the wet dress was likely showing through to her skin. She knew it, and he surely knew it too, yet Killian made no move to give her any privacy.

She would have to take it off and sit by the fireplace with him regardless. Her mind made up, Anais raised her cold hands and removed his jacket. His scent already lingered on her dress. With every breath in and out, his fragrance clung to her.

It wasn’t unpleasant. But it wasn’t something she was used to either, and Anais found herself fidgeting awkwardly.

“Sit over here.”

She sat on the sofa closest to the fireplace as Killian said, and sipped the warmed wine in the mug. Her body began to thaw a little. By the time the cup was half empty, warmth rose through her. She turned to Killian, sitting beside her, her face flushed, and asked him a question.

“Are there no servants here?”

“There are. But…… I thought a lady might feel uncomfortable.”

“Ah……”

Killian tilted his head slightly and laughed low. His thoughts were plain on his face, and Anais let out a small laugh. She dropped her gaze to the tips of her feet, avoiding his eyes, suddenly feeling like she’d slipped away to meet a lover without her parents knowing.

“Anais.”

But at the sound of her name, spoken so gently, she looked back at him as though under a spell. No sunlight reached this space. Outside, rain poured down as though a storm had come.

It felt like being left alone with him at the end of the world.

The firelight cast deep shadows across the man’s face. She seemed to be the only one tense about any of this. Anais, out of habit, reached for her glass to take a sip and hide her nerves. Killian covered her hand on the glass at the same moment.

“You might want to slow down.”

Even though her body was much warmer now, his hand still felt unbearably hot. Her heartbeat quickened and she couldn’t blink. His eyes, lazily half-lidded, looked straight at her.

“It’s no fun if you get drunk.”

Mm? He said it with a quiet laugh. Even someone oblivious couldn’t have missed it. If there was a spark between them, it would blaze like the fireplace right beside them.

Killian’s face drew closer. Close enough to share a breath, close enough for their noses to brush. If he came just a little nearer, their lips would touch. Anais sat frozen, unable to move. With only a hair’s breadth between them, Killian parted his lips. Anais couldn’t even breathe. She felt that if she did, their lips would meet.

“The rain will stop soon. But I……”

Killian stopped speaking. He shifted the hand covering hers and laced his fingers through hers. Stroking the back of her hand slowly with his thumb, he smiled with his eyes and continued.

“I’d rather you didn’t leave.”

His breath drew even closer. Killian tilted his head slightly and took Anais’s full lips between his. Unlike her, flushed with warmth, his tongue was cool, and his breath carried the scent of strong liquor.

She didn’t refuse. She didn’t want to. Satisfied with her consent, Killian raised his other hand, cupped her cheek, and began kissing her deeper. Deep enough that his tongue and the inside of his mouth grew warm from her.

His thick tongue, which sucked and licked at her lower lip, parted her teeth and slipped inside, moving gently. He drew her small tongue to him, sucked on it softly, and tasted everything, the soft flesh beneath her tongue, the roof of her mouth, even the line of her teeth.

He swallowed her soft, nasal m*an too. It was so gentle it was maddening. Was it always like this? She didn’t know.

Something welled up, unmistakably warm and wet between her thighs. Anais gripped the skirt of her dress tightly with her free hand.

Their lips slowly parted, a thin silver thread stretching between them. Anais stared at the sight in a daze, like something out of a dream. Killian stroked her flushed cheek slowly with his thumb and said, in a voice full of temptation, “How about it, Ana?”