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Her hips rolled toward him.

Her head tipped back, eyes closing as he found the rhythm she wanted. When he slid two fingers inside her and curled them forward, she made a small, broken sound.

“Don’t stop.”

He had no intention of stopping.

He worked his fingers in a steady rhythm while his mouth stayed on her, letting the tension build. Her thighs trembled on either side of his head, her body clenching around his fingers until Mara said his name again, softer this time, barely more than breath.

He loved the way she stopped thinking and planning and let herself go.

When the tension finally broke, Mara cried out, her hips pressing hard against his mouth as the climax moved through her. He stayed with her until the last of it faded, while she trembled against the tree.

For several seconds she remained where she was, eyes closed and breathing hard.

Then she looked down at him.

Gabe rose, kissing his way slowly back up her body, her inner thigh, her hip, the soft skin below her navel, until Mara caught his face between both hands and kissed him deeply.

He spread his jacket beneath the old tree, covering the driest patch of ground he could find. Fallen leaves lay thick around it, red and gold and deep brown, carrying the rich earthy scent of fall when Mara lowered herself beside him.

She glanced around the orchard. “This definitely wasn’t on my itinerary.”

“You were always on mine.” Gabe smiled and kissed her.

His bear had known what Mara was from the beginning, but Gabe had fallen in love with her one day at a time: her laugh, her lists, her stubbornness, the way she drank her coffee, and the way she could walk into chaos and find the one thing that actually needed fixing.

Mara touched his cheek, and Gabe turned his face into her palm before kissing it.

Mara tugged at the button of his jeans, and he shoved them down. He moved between her thighs, and she reached down and wrapped her hand around him, guiding him to her entrance.

The first touch drew a sharp breath from them both.

He held himself there for a moment before pressing forward slowly. He entered her in one long, unhurried stroke, and Mara’s inner walls stretched around him. Gabe stopped when he was fully seated inside her, his weight braced on his forearms and her thighs warm against his hips.

Her breath left her slowly, and her hands came up to grip his shoulders.

He wanted to remember this. The cool air against his back, the dry leaves beneath them, the pale strip of sky visible through the old apple branches overhead, and Mara beneath him.

He withdrew slowly, then thrust back in.

Her arms drew him closer, and Gabe bent to kiss her. When she tilted her hips to meet his next thrust, pleasure rolled through him so suddenly that he sucked in a breath against her mouth.

He moved again, finding a slow rhythm that let him feel every response of her body.

Mara’s hands slid over his shoulders and pressed against his back. Her heels dug into the backs of his thighs, urging him deeper, and when she met his next thrust the added friction sent a hard jolt of pleasure through him.

He kissed her, and for several moments they moved together without breaking the kiss.

Pleasure built low and heavy inside him, but he held it back. He wasn’t ready for this to end.

Mara opened her eyes and drew him down to kiss her again.

Their rhythm gradually deepened. Her fingers dug into his back, and Gabe knew from her breathing that she was getting close.

Her face turned into his neck.

“I love you,” she whispered.