Page 115 of Flirty Fall Fling

“Jamie.” Her voice is strained, desperate even.

It reminds me that our time is running out.

Panic quietly.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she says, almost as if she’s answering my thoughts.

I give her more of me, and she loves it. Her nails drag down my back while her heels lock behind my thighs. With each thrust, she pulls me deeper.

“Don’t stop.”

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

She tenses beneath me, and I bury myself inside her, following her lead.

“That felt different,” she says.

The crackling of wood and our hard breathing fill the room. That tingling sensation runs from my toes to my fingers.

“Yeah.” It’s the only word I can form after that.

She lies against my chest in the narrow space, blanket pulled to her shoulders, drawing lazy shapes over my heart. Her hair smells like apple and cinnamon. I run my thumb along her bare shoulder, knowing I’m falling.

“I think I could stay right here forever,” she mutters.

“Don’t tempt me.” It comes out low.

She’s silent for a moment, but her fingers don’t stop moving. “You have a life in New York. You told me you missed it, so you went back.”

“And what happens when I miss you?” I ask, holding her on the couch while the light through the windows streams gold.

How many more afternoons do we have? If only there were a version of this that didn’t end on Halloween.

“You can always come back and visit,” she says with a smile.

She means it. Visit is what you do to a place you don’t plan on staying.

“Sure,” I tell her and kiss the top of her head.

Blaire falls asleep for a brief second, then jumps awake. She wiggles out of my grasp and stands, taking the blanket with her. “The sun will set in a few hours.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Yes.” She slides her sweater on, not reaching for her bra. “There’s one thing we have to do together.”

I find my jeans. She moves into the kitchen and opens the cabinet above the stove, where all the spices are kept. She pulls out a very large mason jar of salt and rosemary and hands it to me, then slides another one out.

“We need to ward the house. Keep all evil away while we’re here.”

“How?”

She smiles, pulling me with her out the back door. This view of the property is gorgeous. It’s a meadow with tall grasses. I’m sure, in the mornings, animals graze here. I follow her onto the ground.

“We’ll walk around the house, sprinkling salt. We’ll start back-to-back and meet face-to-face. Set the intention. Protection. Peace.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t stop walking once you’ve started, and don’t set the jar down until we’ve closed the circle.” She positions me by the shoulders until my spine is against hers. “On the count of three.”