A Night of Desire

Clara couldn’t see in the darkness and grew frightened. Her body trembled slightly as she began in a quavering voice, "Seth, it’s so..."

Before the word "dark" could leave her lips, they were captured.

Even when she tried to force her eyes wide open, Seth Quinn’s face remained a dim, unclear silhouette. But in that instant, her heart settled, and every trace of fear vanished.

’With Seth right here, what was there to be afraid of?!’

The kiss was both tenderly lingering and blazing with passion.

Gradually, Clara’s body went boneless, melting in his arms. Seth wrapped an arm around her, guiding her to a sturdier bamboo stalk. He pressed her back against it, supporting her upright.

Then, his hand slipped inside her clothing again, a searing coal that set both her body and her heart ablaze.

Clara came back to her senses, her dazed eyes fluttering open. Her lips trembled. "Seth... let’s... go... home..."

"It’s too late!"

Seth’s voice was more like a pained, muffled groan. "Clara, give yourself to me..."

Hearing his tone, Clara’s heart softened. She stopped resisting; she no longer had the strength to. All she could do was instinctively wrap her arms around his neck, yielding to his lips, his hands, his body...

A bird in the bamboo forest took flight with a sudden flurry of wings, disappearing into the distance...

As for the couple within, their hearts, too, had drifted off to who knows where...

For a long while afterward, Clara shyly buried her face in his chest. Even knowing he couldn’t see her blush in the dark, she didn’t dare lift her head.

’I can’t believe we just... outside...’

Seth tried to coax the woman in his arms to look up, but she stubbornly refused. He chuckled lightly. "Clara, let’s go. Or were you planning on spending the whole night here?"

Clara finally mustered the courage to lift her head, but she wouldn’t look at him. She started walking straight out of the bamboo forest, but her legs were so weak she nearly fell.

Luckily, Seth caught her just in time, laughing again. "Legs feel weak? Was I a little too intense for you?"

Clara bit her lip and gave him a light punch. "You’re still laughing? You have the nerve to say that! I was just nervous. Whose idea was it to do it out here, anyway?"

"Don’t you think it’s romantic? Outside, under the moonlight, in a bamboo forest like this?" Seth’s voice still held a trace of playful mischief.

Then, before Clara could respond, he crouched down in front of her. "Hop on. I’ll carry you back."

Clara instinctively refused. "I don’t think so... What if someone on the path sees us?"

Seth looked back over his shoulder at her. "No one comes down this path at night."

’He’s the reason my legs are weak, after all,’ Clara thought. ’If he wants to carry me, I’m more than happy to take it easy.’

"You said it. Okay, I’m coming up."

With that, she wrapped her arms around his neck and, with a light hop, jumped onto his back.

Seth deliberately swayed backward. "Whoa, you’re heavy! I don’t think I can carry you."

Thinking he was about to fall, Clara got scared and immediately tried to jump off, but his hands held her steady. He then straightened up, his laughter light and cheerful.

Hearing him laugh, Clara realized he had just been teasing her. She huffed, bounced on his back a couple of times, and grumbled, "I hope I crush you!"

Seth chuckled. "Honestly, you’re not heavy at all. You’re as light as a feather."

Clara smiled to herself, resting her head on his shoulder and leisurely swinging her legs.