Page 50 of Ghosts of the Dead

The salt of her skin mingles with the lingering smoke from the fires. She tilts her head back to give me better access, and I take advantage, placing open-mouthed kisses along the column of her throat. Her fingers tighten in my hoodie when I find a particularly sensitive spot. The fabric stretching under her grip and the small gasp she makes drives me wild.

“Caspian.” Her breath fans over my hair when she breathes out my name, and it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. Her voice is breathless, wanting, and something primal stirs in my chest.

I pull back to look at her, and the sight steals what’s left of my breath.

Her lips are swollen from our kisses, her cheeks flushed, her hazel eyes dark with desire. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on, and somehow she’s here with me, looking at me like I’m not broken beyond repair.

When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing hard. I rest my forehead against hers while framing her face with my hands. “Autumn. You shouldn’t be here. My ghosts aren’t yours to fight.”

She rises on her toes to press another soft kiss to my lips. This one is tender, a stark contrast to the fire we shared. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. Not even if you try to make me go.”

I let her hold me together, even though I should be the one protecting her. “That night…when you touched me…” I swallow around the lump in my throat, the words rough on my tongue. “It helped more than I knew how to say.”

She lets go of my hoodie to squeeze my hand. “You don’t have to say. I know something’s wrong without you needing to ask for help.”

I look down at her, at the way her eyes don’t waver, at the way she never flinches away from the broken parts of me.

She’s pure warmth and light that I never thought I’d find in this wasted world. I swallow hard. “That’s what makes it worse.”

She shivers against me, despite the heat still pulsing between us.

Without hesitation, I push the flannel off her shoulder. “Take this off.”

Confusion flickers across her sparkling eyes, but she does as I ask.

I pull back enough to tug my hoodie over my head, ignoring how the cool night air bites my skin.

This is something I should have done much sooner. I place it over her head and watch as it swallows her much smaller frame. Once she’s snug inside, I cradle her jaw in my hands and press one last kiss to her soft lips, lingering long enough to memorize the feeling.

“Remind me to tell Mars I found a way to keep you warm without leading a horde of rotters into the campsite,” I say.

It’s not much. Just a hoodie. But it’s the only thing I have to give her. The only way I can keep her safe tonight.

Her laugh spills into the night air and her eyes shine with something I haven’t seen in far too long.

Something that makes me believe maybe we have more than just survival to look forward to. “The moment Mars wakes up, I’ll gladly remind you.”

We’re preparingto scout the collapsed building Jace spotted with his binoculars yesterday while he was pointedly avoiding Autumn. He thought he saw signs of human activity there, so we’re about to go see if it leads to anything useful. Or dangerous. At this point, they’re usually the same thing.

The others gather near the fire. No one says what we’re all thinking; we’re still raw from the last attack. But Autumn is holding it together better than the rest of us. Hell, probably better than I am.

The morning sun burns through the lifting fog, already heating the air. Autumn stands near the flames, reaching to shrug out of my hoodie from last night.

The fabric catches on the hem of her tank top when she pulls it overhead, tugging the already-shortened shirt higher. My breath catches. The torn tank barely covers her, and now it rides up to bare her toned stomach and the soft curve of her breast. The way her body moves under that thin scrap of fabric hits me like a punch to the chest. And the worst part? She doesn’t even realize how gorgeous she is.

“You’re dangerous when you look like that.” The words are out before I can stop them.

Shit.

My jaw tenses, but I can’t take it back now. I dart forward and step in front of her to block the view from prying eyes. My hands find the hem of her shirt and tug it down carefully, fingers brushing warm skin. I help her pull the hoodie off without further incident, using my height to maneuver the fabric over her head.

She hands the hoodie back with a soft smile. “Thank you for letting me borrow it. I might steal it again later. Fair warning.”

I shove it into my bag. “You can have it anytime you want.”

She tilts her head back to meet my gaze, and her brighthazel eyes catch the sunlight. “Wait…I’m dangerous when I look like what?”

Oh yeah. She heard that.

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