We Spent the First Night Again - Chapter 19

Brandon tightened his grip on Callie’s arm.

As a result, their skin pressed closer together.

The fear of falling off the horse, Brandon’s reassurances as he held her tight from behind, and the embarrassing feeling of the arm now pressing over her chest as they climbed further overwhelmed her.

“Whoa, Calix. It’s me, it’s me. So, stop now.”

Clutching the reins, Brandon braced himself on his horse’s back and soothed Calix.

Fortunately, when Calix recognized his voice, he calmed and went back. Their bodies that had been leaning back finally sat upright on the horse’s back.

Callie almost fell, but thanks to Brandon’s firm support from behind, she didn’t.

“Well done, Calix,” Brandon soothed the horse, calming down Calix as if he understood what his master said.

He barely managed to calm Calix, but it was dangerous to continue riding in such heavy rain.

Brandon, who had lived here a long time as a child, knew the terrain well.

“We’d better take shelter from the rain in a nearby cave until the rain stops.”

“There’s a cave?”

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“It’s not too far from here, so bear with me.”

“Okay.”

Callie obediently followed his advice.

She only thought of him as a playboy and didn’t know he would be so dependable and reassuring in a moment of crisis.

When they reached the cave, Brandon got off first and reached out to Callie, who was completely exhausted and had no energy to move.

Callie unwillingly stepped down from the horse into his arms, and when her legs finally stepped on the ground, they trembled.

Brandon held on to Callie, who was about to collapse because her legs weren’t strong enough.

“Are you okay?”

“Not bad enough that I feel like dying,” Callie replied jokingly, as Brandon had done before he jumped on Calix.

What a joke in the midst of all this.

As he stared at her, Brandon smiled and carefully wrapped his arms around Callie’s shoulders to guide her to sit on the floor.

“Let’s sit here and rest.” Brandon followed her and made her lean her head against his chest. “Lean on me. That would be more comfortable.”

“Thanks.”

Callie, unlike before, obediently followed what he told her to do, as if she had become a docile sheep.

“You listen well in difficult moments, young lady. You’d usually just reject everything I said.”

“Now that I’m in this situation, I realize the person I’m with is more dependable.”

“That being said, I should be grateful to Calix. I finally got my wife’s trust.”

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Even as he spoke, Brandon stroked Callie’s rain-soaked shoulder, keeping her body temperature from dropping.

She was grateful, but she had been soaking wet for some time, and her chills were growing.

“It must have been very cold.”

“A little. Your servants will come looking for us, right?”

“I guess. But it’s raining, so it will take some time.”

“Should I pray for them to come find us soon?”

Even at Brandon’s touch, Callie had lost her body temperature and was now shivering. Brandon even felt it as he embraced her.

He looked at the entrance to the cave, where the rain continued to rage.

The rain showed no sign of stopping.

Callie’s stamina was completely exhausted, so if she continued like this, she would suffer from hypothermia.

Brandon thought about how to manage her body temperature immediately, and while he knew Callie wouldn’t like it, for now, it was for the best.

“Callie, you better take off your clothes.”

Surprised by his unexpected order, Callie’s eyes widened and she quickly covered the front of her chest.

“Clothes… Take it off… Here and now… Are you saying you want to do something?”

Brandon, who understood her meaning, playfully raised the corner of his mouth.

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“It’s true that I want to sleep with you quickly, but that’s not what I mean right now, so don’t worry.”

“Then why are you telling me to take off my clothes?”

“You can’t keep warm if you stay in wet clothes. Take off your wet clothes and I’ll hold you. It will be better because of each other’s body temperature.”

“Take off my clothes and you’ll hold me… So you’re telling me you’re staying?”

No matter the situation, how could she take off her clothes and let him hold her?!

Callie shook her head, thinking she would never do that.

But Brandon, having said it once, seemed to have his way.

He took off his wet jacket and laid it on the floor.

Callie’s eyes widened at the sight.

He really was taking off his clothes.

“W-wait a minute, Brandon. I don’t think this is a good way.”

“Is there any other way? Please tell me if you have a better idea. I’ll follow you.”

What could be better in this situation?

Callie only objected, but she hadn’t thought of an alternative.

She didn’t want to undress, though, so she moved away from Brandon and crossed her arms in front of her chest, clasping her arms tightly together.

Brandon stared at her in disbelief. He had no ulterior motives, but Callie had acted as if he did. It was dumbfounding.

While thinking of how to persuade Callie, his gaze shifted to the reddish hem of her skirt.

His eyes widened.

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The red stain on the sky-blue dress was definitely blood.

“Callie! You’re bleeding.” Brandon didn’t give her time to reply and lifted the bloody hem of her skirt.

“Ack, Brandon.”

When Brandon suddenly lifted her skirt, a panicked Callie tried to stop him, but his hands were quicker.

Her thighs, covered in blood, came into view.

Callie, who had been so distracted that she didn’t even notice that her injured thigh hurt, was more uncomfortable with his gaze than the wound’s pain.

She tried to cover the exposed skirt again quickly, but Brandon’s hand blocked her.

“When did this happen?”

“I don’t know. It must have happened because I was holding out to keep myself from falling off the horse.”

She was riding the horse with her thighs pressed against the saddle, and when Calix raised his front legs, her body staggered, causing her thigh to tear when she hit the saddle.

As his gaze pierced the inner thighs, she forgot the cold and felt embarrassed.

“You’re more foolish than you look.”

Brandon grunted, grabbing the end of his shirt and tugging with both hands. Callie watched his rain-soaked white shirt tear all the way.

“I didn’t know either. I was too busy worrying about falling off the horse, so there was no time to feel the pain of this level of wound.”

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“After entering the cave, didn’t you start feeling it? You were no longer in danger of falling off the horse. Or did your heart tremble because you were so close to me that you didn’t even know you were in pain? If that’s the case, I understand.”

While he teased Callie, his hands moved quickly and tied up the wound with pieces of his torn shirt.

“What nonsense is that? Aah!” Callie let out a short scream as pressure was applied to her wound.

His hand stopped moving at her scream.

“Does it hurt?”

“No.”

He was hurriedly tying up the wound, but his hands slowed down and moved cautiously.

“Don’t put up with it foolishly again.”

“I didn’t put up with it.”

His casual way of speaking flustered Callie, so her words came out awkwardly.

After her parents passed away, it was the first time other than Noah and Lisa that Callie heard someone worrying about her.

“It’s more of a problem if you don’t put up with it. You don’t even know you’ve hurt yourself.”

Callie was furious at his sarcasm.

“Yes, I’m dull and stupid. Is that okay?!”

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She was so cute even when she’s mad.

“Not yet.”

“What else is left? There’s no way to treat it any more than you did since we’re in a cave and there’s no medicine.”

“I told you earlier.”

His eyes were focused in front of her chest, and involuntarily went to the loose opening.

“Take off your clothes.”

“D-do I really have to go that far? You said the servants are looking for us, right? Let’s wait a little longer.”

“How much longer do you think you can last while shivering in the cold? I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can hold on any longer.”

After speaking, Brandon unbuttoned his shirt and quickly removed his arm from the wet shirt. He even took off his slacks without the slightest hesitation.

As she watched him do it, Callie quickly lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

“Now it’s Madam’s turn.”

“I-I don’t want to. I won’t take it off.”

Even though he was her husband, she wasn’t ready to take off her clothes in front of a man she could not even be close to.

I’ll hold out. I can hold out.

However, contrary to her thoughts, her body was shaking because her temperature had already gone down for a long time.

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Meanwhile, Brandon grabbed Callie and held her tight to his chest. Her slender shoulders fit snugly in his arms.

At first, Callie was embarrassed and tried to get out of his embrace, but when his warmth reached her, that thought quickly disappeared.

“I’m not doing this for anything else, so stay comfortable.”

Callie did as he said and relaxed.

“I’ll hug you tighter because it’s good for body temperature to be in close contact. Even if you don’t like it, bear with it.”