Yet the truly incomprehensible part was her own heart—knowing it was unlike her, she still wanted to let it slide this once.

“……”

Clara tilted her head slightly and stared intently at Dylan, even though his face held no obvious answers.

“Clara?”

Dylan tilted his head in the same direction as Clara. Their gazes locked again. Clara found herself smiling without realizing it. The man mimicking her actions was somewhat cute. Perhaps continuing to push him away based on vague anxiety was cowardly.

“Fine, I agree to getting to know each other.”

But she would need to observe why he sometimes seemed truthful and sometimes not. To understand what kind of man Dylan Berkshire really was. Clara straightened her head and composed herself.

“I need time to watch you too, don’t I?”

“……That’s right.”

Dylan carefully studied Clara’s expression before showing a somewhat disappointed look.

“But…… am I disqualified if I hate carrots?”

“No, how could something so trivial disqualify you.”

The fact that he was concerned about this—she had felt it before, but he did have quite a pure side to him. Clara looked at Dylan’s serious face.

“That’s a relief.”

Dylan exhaled in relief.

“Do you really hate carrots?”

“I wouldn’t say I hate them, but I’m not particularly fond of them either.”

His tone suggested they weren’t even worth considering.

“So my dream was true.”

Clara laughed softly. Dylan stopped walking. Clara stopped as well.

“What is it?”

“That laugh, it sounds nice.”

Dylan looked down at Clara and murmured softly. Excitement gleamed in his eyes, visible through his narrowly opened eyelids.

“……”

Clara became entangled in his gaze, as if enchanted like in last night’s dream. She didn’t avoid his face as it drew closer, nor the hot touch that cupped her cheek. She simply closed her eyes.

Their lips met. A cool, refreshing scent filled her nose and mouth.

“Mmph, hah……”

She quickly became breathless. Clara pulled her head back. But Dylan’s lips followed immediately. He delved in roughly, capturing her tongue. Not content with just sucking vigorously, the movement of rubbing with the broad surface of his tongue evoked memories of that night’s s*x.

Her waist encircled by strong arms, their lower bodies pressed together, a firm, thick thigh between her spread legs. Her senses sharpened acutely at their excessively close contact.

“S-stop……, mmm……”

She barely managed to separate their lips by twisting her head. Clara gasped for breath. She felt his heated gaze. While she was busy keeping up, he skillfully led her on.

Wasn’t this his first kiss? Come to think of it, he had said a man’s private parts were “new.” He never said the same about lips, so maybe……

“You lied about it being your first time, didn’t you?”

Clara raised her eyes with an inexplicable sense of indignation.

“Which first time are you referring to?”

“This.”

“You mean kissing?”

“Yes, that.”

“Why can’t you just call a kiss a kiss?”

“Well……”

Clara averted her gaze in embarrassment.

Just then, something cold touched her cheek.

“It’s raining.”

Dylan smiled brightly. Raindrops began to fall on the roses and leaves with a plop, plop.

“Even getting rained on feels nice when I’m with you.”

It was hard to look away from his refreshing smile. Clara only turned her gaze when the raindrops began to fall more heavily. The raindrops were quite large, suggesting a heavy shower was imminent.

“Come on.”

Clara grabbed Dylan’s hand. Together they ran through the rain toward the greenhouse inside the mansion.

“Haah……”

The moment they entered the greenhouse, the sound of rain disappeared. The warm space, isolated from the outside, held moist air and the fragrance of various flowers, while tropical plants and delicate potted plants created a beautiful landscape.

“Clara is good at running too.”

Dylan said, watching Clara catch her breath. He brushed up his rain-soaked bangs. His chest didn’t heave at all, suggesting he was accustomed to running long distances.

“You seem to be a good runner yourself.”

Clara roughly wiped away the raindrops streaming down her wet hair. The sudden downpour had soaked her pure white dress, making it transparent and revealing her curved figure.

“Besides horseback riding, what other exercise do you do?”

Dylan hesitated for a moment.

“I enjoy fencing.”

Dylan took out a handkerchief from inside his jacket and handed it to Clara.

“No wonder, that body isn’t built overnight……”

Clara muttered with a nod as she briefly wiped her face and neck with Dylan’s handkerchief.

“You’re quite diligent. I only do horseback riding. I’ll wash the handkerchief and return it to you later.”

“You can give it back now.”

“Oh, I only wiped myself.”

Clara realized she had used the clean handkerchief only for herself.

“Just a moment, there might be something here to wipe with……”

“It’s fine. More importantly……”

Dylan’s ash-gray eyes, gazing at Clara who looked beautiful like a rain-soaked rose, were engulfed in heat.

“You must like the rain.”

“No.”

“You were smiling and enjoying it so much earlier. Even now.”

“What I like is taking shelter from the rain with you.”

Dylan backed Clara against the wall, as if to trap her in his arms.

“You held my hand first, and now we’re alone like this.”

His ash-gray eyes shone like stars that never leave their place. They held deep love and unwavering conviction.

As if it were an eternal truth.

“I want to continue the kiss we didn’t finish earlier.”

Clara gave in once more to his affectionate, earnest gaze.

“……Go ahead, it’s not raining in here.”

Clara pulled at Dylan’s collar.

The greenhouse began to fill with another kind of moisture. From the heated breaths of the two people……

⁕⁕⁕

On the sofa in the greenhouse, two n*ked bodies were entwined. Clara’s smooth skin glistened with sweat. Below her br*asts, covered in bite marks, was a different fluid altogether. The shiny white fluid belonged to Dylan.

“Tell me honestly, I won’t get angry.”

After their passionate s*x, Clara caught her breath and pushed away Dylan’s arm that was pressing on her chest.

“……About what?”

Clara sensed that he was more tense than necessary. Why was he so nervous? She had already said they should get to know each other. It was as if he had something to hide.

“This wasn’t your first time with me, was it?”

“s*x…… you mean?”

“Yes.”

In an instant, the tension Clara had been feeling from Dylan disappeared as if released. Clara narrowed her eyes.

“It was my first time.”

“You’re lying. This would be the second time then, but you’re too skilled.”

“Was I skilled?”

“Yes.”

Dylan’s mouth spread into a wide grin at Clara’s firm affirmation.

“That’s a relief. But it really was my first time. It’s more like something you instinctively know how to do.”

“Don’t women have that instinct too?”

“I think they do. You moved your hips quite well.”

Clara’s face, already flushed, now turned bright red all the way to her neck.

“Even animals know what to do during their first heat.”

That was true. Even foals knew what to do when they went into heat for the first time.

“Thinking about Nyx again?”

His voice had grown slightly colder than before.

“No, do you think I spend all day thinking about Nyx?”

“Then focus on me.”

“I wasn’t the one who brought up being in heat. Anyway.”

Clara cleared her throat. Though she had acted impulsively again, she needed to address certain things.

“Ahem, ahem! Regardless, we’ve done it twice now.”

“s*x.”

“Yes, we’ve done that twice.”

Clara pushed away Dylan’s hand that was slowly creeping up toward her chest again.

“As I said earlier, I don’t know much about you. I need time to get to know you.”

“We can say you started by getting to know my body. We’re already covered in marks left by each other.”

As if he hadn’t been deliberately applying pressure until now, Dylan’s hand gently caressed her waist. It was the same place he had gripped and moved just moments ago.

“I want to know more.”

Soft kisses touched her skin.

Smooch, smooch, smooch. The short succession of kisses had already reached her collarbone. The places where his lips had touched felt hot and ticklish.

“My name, please call my name.”

Dylan pleaded as he met her gaze.

“……Dylan.”

It was just calling his name, but her heart pounded fiercely. Clara felt her face growing hot again and pressed her cheek against a large leaf hanging above her head. The leaf was cool but insufficient to cool her burning cheek.

“That makes me happy.”

Through her vision partially obscured by the green leaf, Clara could see Dylan smiling brightly as if he owned the world.

She had to admit, at least about this man’s smile. Dylan was a man who knew how to smile splendidly.

“Are you that happy just because I called your name?”

“Yes, Clara.”

Dylan’s face drew closer. She had been about to ask when they would meet next, suggesting they should see each other once or twice a week to get to know each other, but……

Clara, drawn by an inexplicable force, wrapped her arms around Dylan’s broad shoulders, crossed her legs, and pressed her lips against his.

The air in the greenhouse grew even more stifling. The scent of intimate night blossoms spread through the moist, humid air. The downpour had already stopped, but the heated moans continued unabated.