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“Whenever you find yourself alone in the dark, or when your ghosts come to haunt, think of me instead, with my lips around you.” Then she wraps her lips around my aching cock and sucks.

I brace a hand on the tree behind me, while the other gets lost in her hair, in those purple strands that I’ve wanted to touch like this since the first moment I saw her.

The fear, the noise, the ghosts all vanish until she’s all that’s left. All that exists is her and the way she holds me together with her mouth and her hands and the sound of my name between her lips while they’re wrapped around my cock.

Everything stops, except sensation.

The world blurs, and my ghosts retreat from her light. I’m lost in the warmth of her mouth, in the gentle pressure of her hands, in the flutter of her eyelashes as she looks up at me with an expression that makes me feel whole for the first time in years. My hips roll forward and back in a consistent rhythm as I fuck her mouth, unable to hold myself back.

My pulse picks up, and I bite my lip to keep from crying out, from making too much noise to draw in any more rotters.

A warm liquid trickles down my chin from where my teeth sink into my bottom lip. My balls strain painfully.

Her fingernails dig into my thighs and I welcome the pain along with the pleasure until I’m exploding into her mouth with a shudder that feels like surrender.

She swallows every piece of me that falls apart.

I reach down and pull her to her feet. She wipes the trickle of blood from my chin, then takes my hands in hers and presses her lips to my throat. Her thumb brushes across my jaw with a sweet touch.

“You okay?” she asks against my throat.

I wrap my arms around her back and pull her against me before burying my face in her wild purple hair. “Better than I’ve been in years.”

This woman. This absolutely incredible woman.

Her lips curve into a smile against my neck. “Good. I wasn’t sure if it would help.”

I cup her face and tug her up so I can look her straight in the eyes. “Autumn…it’s the one thing that has. You’re the only one who has ever brought the light.”

She leans into me, and I lift her with ease. My arms wind around her back and her legs wrap around my waist like it’s instinct. I kiss her again, and this time it’s slower. More focused. My hips roll against hers, and I feel her moan before I hear it. I whisper against her lips, “There’s still something I want.”

She pulls back, and I see the hurt in her eyes. “Was I…” She swallows. “Was I not good enough?”

It would have hurt less if she would have stuck a blade through my heart.

I kiss her again. “Autumn, you were incredible. What I meant, though, is that I want to focus on you.” I spin us around so she’s pinned against the tree and I roll my hips against her, smiling when I elicit another moan from her. “I don’t want to let you go without feeling good, too. What can I say? I’m a gentleman like that.”

Her fingers twist in my hair, and my lips find the dip between her neck and her collarbone. “Well, if you so insist on being a gentleman, who am I to complain?”

My hand travels down her front until I reach the hem of her shortened shirt and slip inside. Her skin is warm satin beneath my fingers, and I trace the contours of her body with reverence. The soft swell of her breast fits perfectly in my palm. Each curve of her body is a revelation, and I explore her like I’m discovering something sacred.

Her back arches as I touch her, pressing her more firmly against me. Every response of her body is like a gift. The way she gasps when I brush my thumb over her nipple, the way she trembles when my lips find the sensitive spot beneath her ear.

“Caspian.” She whispers my name like a prayer on her lips.

My mouth trails kisses along her jaw as I touch her, learning what makes her breath catch, what makes her fingers tighten in my hair and her nails sink into my flesh.

My hips thrust in a smooth motion against her core while my free hand slides around her waist and squeezes her ass. I let myself get lost in her, this beautiful and incredible woman whose body responds to my touch like we’ve known each other forever. My hardening cock grinds against her core and I promise that next time, there won’t be a clothing barrier between us.

I slide my hand lower, past the waistband of her shorts, and find her wet and ready. The sensation of her slick heat against my fingers makes me groan against her neck.

Her breath shudders and her body hums. I circle her most sensitive spot with my thumb while sliding a finger inside her, watching her face transform in the moonlight.

The world narrows again. It’s all heat and her and the sound of our breath, the press of her body writhing against mine, the erupting fire that finally drowns out the dark.

She moans and moves her hips in time with my hand. “Caspian…”

I tilt my head down and press my lips to her throat and suck her supple skin. A shiver wracks through her and I add a second finger, curling them to find the spot that makes her gasp and shudder. “Let go for me, Autumn. I’ve got you.”