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Mara slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back. For the first few seconds, neither of them hurried. His mouth moved over hers slowly, and she sighed as his hands moved across her back. He tasted faintly of cider and cinnamon, which already seemed like him.

Gabe lifted his head, his eyes dark with unmistakable desire. Mara smiled up at him. “We made it.”

“I was starting to wonder.”

“So was I.” She caught the front of his jacket and pulled him toward her again. “I was afraid fate might be conspiring against us.”

“No,” he murmured. “Fate is on our side.”

“Show me.”

His mouth covered hers again, and this time there was nothing tentative about the kiss. Gabe slid his hands beneath her sweater, stroking her bare skin as Mara shivered and pressed herself closer to him.

She had wanted this at the pumpkin patch. She had known it when she asked him into the cabin that night. But wanting him then and standing here with his hands on her now were two very different things. If anything, the last two days had only made her want him more.

Gabe kissed her cheek and then the sensitive place beneath her ear. “You have no idea how often I thought about this today.”

“Only today?” Mara tilted her head to give him better access.

“And yesterday.”

“Better.”

He chuckled softly against her neck. It was strange how quickly Gabe had become familiar to her. The sound of his voice, the scent of him, the way he touched her as though there was nowhere else he would rather be.

Scott had stopped touching her like that a long time ago.

The thought intruded before she could stop it, but Mara refused to give him any more room in this moment. This had nothing to do with Scott. She was here because she wanted to be here, with Gabe.

He lifted his head and looked at her. “I want you, Mara.”

It wasn’t that she hadn’t known. It was hearing him say it. For so long, she had been the one trying to keep a relationship moving toward a future that never seemed to arrive. With Gabe, there was no hesitation in his eyes and no sense that she was asking him for something he was reluctant to give.

Tonight, she wasn’t asking for promises. She only wanted this.

Mara touched his cheek. “Then kiss me again.”

He did, and she pushed his jacket from his shoulders as they kissed. It fell to the floor behind him, quickly followed by hers. Then Mara caught the hem of his shirt and pulled it upward, and Gabe helped her drag it over his head.

She placed her palms against his chest. She had known he was strong. She had watched him carry flour sacks and trays at the bakery, load crates at the orchard, and hoist the biggest pumpkin in Isaac’s patch as though it weighed nothing, but touching him was different. Her hands moved over warm skin and firm muscle, enjoying the freedom to explore him.

Gabe went very still beneath her hands, and Mara looked up. “Have you changed your mind?”

“No.” His voice was rougher than usual as he covered one of her hands with his. “Just savoring the moment.”

A smile touched her lips. She let her fingertips travel across his chest again and felt his muscles tighten beneath them. “Don’t savor it too long.”

His arms closed around her, pulling her against him, and the kiss that followed made it difficult to think about anything at all.

Gabe caught the bottom of her sweater. Mara raised her arms, letting him pull it over her head, and his hands returned to her bare skin. She shivered beneath his touch as he looked at her.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured.

For once, Mara didn’t question the compliment or wonder whether he was simply saying what a man was supposed to say at a moment like this. She believed him.

And that might have been the most dangerous thing about Gabe Roper. He made it easy to believe him. To believe in him.

He bent his head and kissed the swell of her breast above her bra, and Mara threaded her fingers through his hair. Her bedroom was only a few steps away, but suddenly even that seemed too far. She caught hold of his hand and drew him toward it.