A Night of Desire

Chapter 198 - 195: Only My Mark Remains

Seth Quinn acted as if he hadn’t heard, pulling Clara Grant out of the dressing room without a backward glance.

The smile on River Sterling’s lips widened. He finally shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned leisurely against the dressing table. "My, my. Seth is just too impulsive, always running off with a girl at the drop of a hat. That’s no way to act. Not at all. He has no appreciation for the fairer sex."

Poppy Vance, however, shot him a flirtatious glare. "Brother Sterling, you’re so bad."

The moment she spoke, Linden Jennings pinched her nose. His voice held a warning as he said, "Poppy, from now on, you’re forbidden from saying those three words—’you’re so bad’—to any man but me. Got it?"

"Alright, alright, I get it." Unconcerned that River Sterling was still present, Poppy Vance pouted flirtatiously.

Linden Jennings couldn’t resist planting a loud "SMACK!" on her lips. River Sterling was speechless!

"Linden, I’m begging you, just marry Poppy already. That way you two can lock yourselves at home for all your... adult activities."

"Poppy isn’t even of legal marrying age yet. Otherwise, you think I’d need you to tell me? Besides, we can be affectionate behind closed doors at home anytime. We’re just in a good mood and feel like showing it in public. You got a problem with that?"

Linden Jennings wrapped an arm around Poppy’s waist and shot River Sterling a challenging look, one eyebrow raised.

"..."

’I have a huge problem with it! You two might be in a good mood showing off your love, but do you have to be so inconsiderate of a single guy’s feelings?’

’This won’t do. When I get back, I’m going to find a few girls to soothe this tortured heart of mine.’

...

Clara Grant stumbled as Seth Quinn dragged her along. She tried to pull away but couldn’t break his grip. Afraid of being seen, she panicked, and her face flushed so red that even her thick foundation couldn’t conceal it.

"Seth Quinn, what are you doing? Let me go! Someone’s going to see... Seth Quinn..."

Despite her shouting and struggling, Seth Quinn remained completely unmoved, just continuing to drag her forward.

When they reached his car, he tapped on the window and issued a grim command to Chase Childs inside, "Get out!"

Chase Childs had been getting drowsy in the car. He jolted awake at the sound of Seth’s voice and immediately scrambled out.

Seth Quinn shoved Clara Grant into the passenger seat and quickly slid into the driver’s side. Without even waiting for her to get her balance, he gunned the engine and shot off with a "WHOOSH."

Startled, Clara Grant scrambled to grab the handle. She glanced ahead, thinking, ’He’s not actually taking me back to the city, is he?’

Just as she was about to ask, Seth Quinn pulled over in a relatively secluded area. Clara Grant breathed a sigh of relief when he stopped the car.

She turned her head, about to ask why he had brought her here, when Seth Quinn suddenly grabbed her arm and roughly wiped her lips with his free hand.

His movements were rough, and Clara’s lips burned with pain. She couldn’t help but cry out, "Seth Quinn, what are you doing? You’re insane..."

Before the words were fully out of her mouth, his lips crashed down on hers.

Staring at the man’s handsome face, now magnified before her eyes, Clara’s brow, which had furrowed in an instant, gradually smoothed out. She could feel his cool, thin lips soothing the burning sting from where he had wiped them.

...

She lost track of how long he kissed her. Only when Clara Grant was on the verge of suffocating, her lips slightly swollen from his insistent mouth, did Seth Quinn finally release her.

With dazed eyes, Clara Grant lowered her gaze and subconsciously pressed her lips together, only to find they seemed to hurt even more from his kiss.

An intense, unreadable emotion swirled in Seth Quinn’s eyes. Seeing her lips swollen from his kiss, he nodded in satisfaction and rasped, "Good. Now my mark is the only one on your lips."

His words snapped Clara Grant back to reality, but she didn’t immediately grasp his meaning. She instinctively looked up and asked blankly, "What?"

Seth Quinn stared into her misty eyes, a smirk playing on his lips as he repeated himself. "I said, now your lips bear only my mark. I don’t like—and I won’t allow—any part of you to carry the mark of another man!"

Clara Grant finally understood. ’So he was upset that I kissed Miles. He wanted to erase every trace of him from my lips.’

The haze of passion gradually receded. Clarity returned to Clara Grant’s eyes, and Seth Quinn’s face came into sharp focus.

Suddenly, Clara Grant stared at the corner of his mouth and let out a snort of laughter.

Her laugh caught Seth Quinn off guard. "What’s so funny?"

’Is she laughing at me for being childish?’ he thought. He didn’t think he was being childish at all. ’What man could stay calm after seeing his own wife kiss another man?’

Clara Grant tried to suppress her smile, but the corners of her lips remained stubbornly curved. Her gaze drifted from his mouth to his eyes, meeting his directly. "I just kissed Miles, and now you’ve kissed me. So... doesn’t that mean you and Miles just had an indirect kiss?"

Her voice was laced with unmistakable mockery.

"So what? Maybe I don’t care about gender. I swing both ways," Seth Quinn said with a show of indifference. Inwardly, however, he was kicking himself. ’How could I have forgotten that detail? I definitely need to rinse my mouth out later.’

The smile on Clara Grant’s lips froze. She suddenly recalled the earlier scene where River Sterling had grabbed his hand. It hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time, but now, after hearing what he just said and replaying it in her mind...

A shiver ran down her spine. ’No wonder someone as fussy as him would let another man grab his hand without showing any disgust or resistance. So he’s... bisexual!’

Though she didn’t discriminate against people with different sexual orientations, the thought of the same mouth that had just kissed her also kissing other men made her stomach churn.

Seeing her eyes go wide at his prank, her expression a mix of panic and feigned composure, Seth Quinn had to fight back a smile.

’Heh. This little minx wants to mess with me? Fine, I’ll play her game.’

"You... you’re a pervert! Miles is your own brother!"

’What an animal! Other men would be one thing, but he wouldn’t even spare his own brother?’

Hearing her say Miles’s name so familiarly again, half of Seth Quinn’s good mood instantly vanished. He abruptly leaned in closer, his eagle-like eyes narrowing.

"Miles? Sounds like you’re on pretty familiar terms with him, hmm?"

Without a second thought, Clara Grant shot back, "What else am I supposed to call him? I’m technically his sister-in-law. Isn’t it perfectly normal for me to call my younger brother-in-law by his first name?"

The words were out before she could stop them, and her heart gave a lurch as she processed what she had just said. ’Can I really face the fact that I’m now Miles Quinn’s sister-in-law so calmly?’

’And when I said it, while I still felt a little awkward, that familiar pang of heartache was gone.’

’Thinking back to the kissing scene, I realize that apart from the feelings Tina had for Young Master Kingston, I felt none of my own personal feelings for Miles Quinn.’

’And after the scene was over, there was none of the excitement or giddy surprise I would have expected from finally kissing the man I loved.’