A Night of Desire

The moment Seth Quinn let go of his bath towel, Clara Grant suddenly moved the phone that was blocking her view. ’So it’s a contest of who’s more shameless, is it? It’s not like I’ve never seen it before. Who’s afraid of who!’

Out of the corner of his eye, Seth Quinn saw her sudden shift. One moment she was shyly covering her eyes, and the next she was staring straight at him.

He froze mid-motion and looked at her with a faint smile. "Excited, are we, darling?"

His use of "darling" almost made her shy again, but she fought to remain composed and asked instinctively, "Excited about what?"

"To see your husband’s physique, of course," Seth Quinn laughed.

"Mm, I am pretty excited. Ever since we met, I haven’t really had a chance to properly admire your physique," Clara Grant retorted, not to be outdone. She even raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a challenging glint in her eye.

Seth Quinn’s lips curved into a smirk as he suddenly whipped the towel away. Clara Grant was just about to squeeze her eyes shut when she realized he was still wearing a pair of shorts underneath. She instantly and smoothly transitioned from closing her eyes to merely lowering her gaze, letting out a disdainful sound. "Tch. How boring!"

Seth Quinn tossed the towel aside and pounced on her. "Boring? Then let’s do something exciting."

A moment later, Clara Grant’s cry rang out. "Ah! What are you doing?"

"It’s our wedding night. What do you think we’re doing?"

"What wedding night? You already took care of that!"

"That doesn’t count. Today is your first day as my bride, so only today counts."

"What about just now, in the bamboo grove... doesn’t that count?"

"That doesn’t count. That was outside, not in a proper room. How can it be a ’bridal chamber’ if it’s not in a chamber?"

"You..."

After that, the sounds melted into soft, scattered kisses and murmurs of pleasure.

A short while later, the woman’s voice piped up again. "Ah, we didn’t use any protection in the bamboo grove... Maybe I should take the pill."

"Don’t take any pills; that stuff is bad for you. It’ll be fine this one time. I’ll remember to wear one from now on."

Clara Grant: "..."

’Will I even be able to straighten my back tomorrow?’

...

After leaving home, Autumn Shelby had dinner and drove around aimlessly for a while before finally heading to the XX Hotel.

Evan Shelby had told her to smooth things over with Sierra Sutton, so here she was, to smooth things over.

When Sierra Sutton heard a knock, the baby had just fallen asleep. He tiptoed out of the bedroom to get the door.

When the door opened and he saw Autumn Shelby’s face, his initial shock quickly gave way to elation. "Autumn? What are you doing here already?"

’He’d thought he wouldn’t see her until tomorrow at the earliest.’

’He hadn’t expected her to come so soon.’

Autumn Shelby raised an eyebrow. "What? Am I not welcome? If so, I’ll just go back."

She had just turned to leave when Sierra Sutton grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.

The door clicked shut. Sierra Sutton gazed at the woman he hadn’t seen in over three months, and the deep-seated yearning in his heart finally found its harbor.

His hand reached up to cup her cheek, his voice soft and full of heartache. "Autumn, you’ve lost weight."

Autumn Shelby turned her head, avoiding his touch. "Where’s the baby?" she asked, deflecting.

"In the bedroom, sleeping." Although Sierra Sutton was a bit dejected that she’d pulled away, he was still happy that she’d asked about the baby.

"I’ll go see him."

With that, Autumn Shelby slipped past him and walked toward the bedroom.

A small bassinet was placed next to the large bed. Autumn Shelby knew this hotel offered the service of providing cribs for infants.

She walked over to it. The baby was sleeping soundly, its little mouth smacking from time to time and its tiny fingers twitching every so often.

Unsure if it was out of fear or reluctance, Autumn Shelby only glanced at the baby for a moment before turning to face Sierra Sutton, who had followed her in.