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And that was all the warning I got before those fingers were gone and he was pushing into me — hot, thick, a low satisfied growl against my mouth.

This morning was different from last night. Slower, almost languid. Until it wasn’t. One big hand pushed my leg up and to the side, spreading me wider. He looked down at where our bodies were joined.

“Fuck, Autumn. Look at you take me.”

I didn’t have to look. I could feel it. I could feel everything. He was a big man and even after last night, the stretch was immense. In and out, harder with each thrust. His mouth found my breast, taking the nipple deep. Then he was hooking his hands under my thighs and moving faster and faster, grunting as he slammed into me.

His eyes were on my face the whole time, like he was afraid he’d miss a second of it. I loved that. I loved him taking what he needed and still looking at me while he did it.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” He cursed as he came inside me. Hard and fast, pushing in so deep it was almost painful. But it triggered my own release, and I let it wash over me.

He slumped over me, our bodies still connected, his face pressed against my throat. I ran my fingers through his hair, over his back, along his sides.

Over his scars.

“Damn it, Autumn. I’m sorry.”

I knew what he was referring to. Last night he’d made sure I found my satisfaction. “You can make it up to me.”

That made him smile. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He turned us over, somehow still staying inside me. “How about like this? You seemed to like it last night.”

“Maybe,” I groaned even as I moved my hips. “But I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“There’s no wrong way. Just do what feels natural.”

I spread my thighs, sinking down on his still-hard cock. I moved forward then backward, never letting him go. The move rubbed my clit along his stomach. He let me take what I needed and it didn’t take long for me to start that climb again.

“That’s it. Are you going to come on my cock like a good girl?”

I didn’t know why those two words set me off but they did. I shuddered above him, my movements jerky. And then I was no longer in charge. His fingers dug into my hips and started moving me up and down. I helped as much as I could, but I was still fighting the effects of my release. Within minutes, he slammed me down on his cock, his fingers keeping me locked in place as he came inside me. I collapsed on his chest. When he was finished, his hand smoothed the hair back from my face. “Well, that was quite a morning-after experience,” I murmured against his skin.

“The last one you are ever going to have.” He raised my chin and kissed me, hard and deep. It felt more intimate than anything we’d done all night.

Grimm’s aggravated whine came from the foot of the bed.

“He’s going to need therapy,” I said.

Later, Wilder made breakfast and I sat at his beautiful walnut table wrapped in a blanket that smelled like him.

“I meant what I said last night,” he said, setting a plate in front of me. “Morning is part of the bargain. I want this. Tonight. Next week. The boring day-to-day after that.”

“I want that too. But I am not folding my life into yours. I’ve got a shop with my name over the door and an apartment I love even when the heat dies. Whatever this is, it has to include both. Not one of us disappearing into the other.”

“I wasn’t asking you to disappear.” He sat across from me, steady. “I’m not interested in a version of you that gives anything up.”

I decided I could live with that answer, which was an alarming thought to have over scrambled eggs. I’d met a ghost in the alley just a few short days ago and now I was thinking like this? But somehow, it felt right.

We took our time over breakfast before reluctantly going back down the mountain.

The road back to town was littered with remnants of the storm. Tree branches, standing water. And leaves. So many leaves had fallen last night. Yesterday had been the last day for the vendor part of the festival, and the storm had cut it short. I’d lost sales thanks to the storm, but I had gained so much more.

Tonight was the last night of the festival, dedicated solely to the dark. Witches and goblins… and ghosts.

I had my ghost right beside me.