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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.”

When her body shakes and she bites her lip to keep quiet, I cover her mouth with mine and swallow her moan.

I plant my other hand against the tree above her head while I continue to move my fingers inside her, my thumb circling in rhythm with her rolling hips.

My balls swell, and my fingers dig painfully into the tree bark.

I roll my hips to press my aching cock against her.

I’m going to come purely from focusing on her.

“Fuck it.” I pull my fingers out, remove her shorts and underwear in one quick motion without setting her feet down, and line up at her entrance. I hesitate. “Autumn…”

She rolls her hips and I thrust inside.

“Caspian,” she breathes. Her head falls back, and she bites her lower lip so hard it bleeds.

I place my mouth over hers again, to give her mouth something to do. If she’s going to draw blood, it’s going to be from me.

Her release comes with a shudder that travels through both our bodies. Her inner walls pulse around my dick, and her legs tighten around my waist. Her hands claw at my shoulders, pulling me closer and closer, and I have to restrain from fully crushing her against the tree.

An orgasm crashes over me while I’m milking her through her own. My mouth slacks, and I drop my head so my mouth is near her ear. “Fuck. Even watching you come undone like that is enough to do me in.”

Her legs are jelly by the time she comes down from her high, and I realize we’ve already sunk to the forest floor. I’m holding her tightly in my lap with splinters in my fingers, but the only thing I can think of is her.

For the first time in years, I don’t feel haunted anymore.

Just whole.

Hers.

I slide out from inside her. Autumn’s eyes drop to my hand. “You have splinters,” she says, taking my hand in hers. She examines my fingers where small slivers of wood have embedded themselves from where I braced against the tree.

“Worth it,” I say, but then my voice dies off when she brings my index finger to her lips and takes it into her mouth.

The warm, wet heat of her tongue as she works the splinter out sends a different kind of shiver through me.

Her eyes meet mine as she sucks gently, and I have to remind myself to breathe .

She releases my finger with a soft pop, then spits the splinter out and into the dirt. “Better?”

I can only nod as she moves to the next finger, repeating the process with such tender focus that my chest aches with something I can’t name. By the time she’s removed the last splinter, I’m overwhelmed by the simple intimacy of it. This care that comes after passion.

“About the…I don’t have condoms on me. Didn’t think I would need them, to be honest,” I say.

She places her hands on either side of my face and kisses my lips. “That’s something we can worry about later if need be. I don’t have any regrets.”

My head falls and I bury my face in her hair. I breathe in her scent that’s sweat, earth, and something uniquely Autumn. In this moment, I’m content to stay like this for the rest of my days, with her sitting in my lap and her warmth pressing against my chest.

For once, the darkness holds no terror. Only peace.

The only thing I can think of it her.