An Alaskan Christmas

by Jennifer Snow

There would be no escaping the sights and sounds of Christmas here in Wild River, and that sucked. Hard. Christmas was not a season for the lonely hearted.

  When the door to the station opened an hour later and Tyler walked in, Reed had never been so grateful to see the guy. Anything to take his mind off Erika. “Hey, man.”

  “Hey.”

  “Heard your girl went back to Anchorage yesterday.”

  So much for taking his mind off it.

  “Too bad. She would have made a great team member... I still can’t believe she had the balls to do that tracheotomy right there on the mountainside.”

  Three days later and it was still all the crew was talking about. It had definitely spurred the conversation about having a trained medical professional on the crew. While they were all trained in CPR and first aid, that hiker would have died without Erika.

  Tyler let out a low whistle. “You got yourself a good one, man.”

  Reed nodded, checking his phone. Nothing. He knew she was a good one. The best, even. The problem was, he already felt her slipping away.

  * * *

  IT WAS AFTER 2:00 a.m. when Erika finally locked her office door behind her and collapsed on her cot. Two surgeries and a four-hour meeting with her clinical trial team had her brain fried. She couldn’t understand it. This was the same pace she’d been keeping before her vacation, so why did it feel nearly impossible to keep up now?

  This was why a break was a bad idea.

  She felt so out of the loop with the trials. Despite Darren withdrawing his request for a transfer, her father had moved him to Dr. Connolly and she’d been assigned a new intern while she was away. She couldn’t remember the young female doctor’s name if her life depended on it, and her coffee never tasted the same. She missed Darren.

  The surgeries that day had gone well...but could have gone better. Over and over, she replayed each decision, torturing herself with the things she should have done differently. Both patients were in recovery—they’d be fine, but they hadn’t gotten her best.

  Though she was proud of herself for dealing with both sets of family members directly before and after the surgery. She’d met with them to discuss the procedure, answered their questions and even tried to give reassurances.

  So, maybe the break wasn’t such a bad thing. She was definitely approaching her role in a slightly different way. And hopefully in a few days, she’d be feeling like her old self. Get her routine back on schedule.

  Hearing her phone buzz in her desk drawer, she retrieved it and, squinting in the dimly lit office, she read the text message from Reed.

  Thinking about you.

  Received 9:08.

  That morning.

  Shit.

  A dozen times that day, she’d intended to go back to her office, where she’d forgotten her cell, to text him, but each time she’d gotten pulled in a different direction. Time seemed to move faster at the hospital. In contrast to the excruciatingly slow, thorough movements of a search and rescue, the pace here was lightning fast. An hour passed in what felt like seconds.

  Reed had been on her mind constantly...

  No, that wasn’t entirely true. While he was there—in her mind and her heart—her job required focus and she’d successfully pushed all other thoughts away when she worked. Lives depended on that narrow focus.

  Besides, thinking about him only made her miss him more. Lack of downtime was a good thing.

  She sat back on the cot and texted him.

  Sorry, it’s been a crazy day... I miss you.

  His reply was immediate, making her feel instantly guilty. She’d hoped his day had been as busy as hers and he hadn’t been worried when she hadn’t replied sooner.

  Want to chat?

  She did. She desperately did. But after an eighteen-hour shift, she could barely keep her eyes open. If she called Reed now, they’d be on the phone for hours, like the night before.

  But she missed him. She longed to hear his voice. The night before, she’d talked nonstop about the clinical trials and after they’d hung up, she’d gotten the feeling that he’d been wanting something more from her. Needing something more.

  Not only did she not know what that something was, she wasn’t certain she could give it to him even if she did. A long-distance relationship was going to require a lot of communication, and while she’d grown a little during her time with him, this wasn’t going to be easy on her. Being around him, touching him, kissing him was easier.

  But right now, phone calls, texts and Skype were all they had.

  Dialing his number, she blinked the tiredness from her eyes and cleared her dry throat. When was the last time she’d stopped for a glass of water? She was certain she hadn’t eaten. Her new intern hadn’t gotten the memo that she was fueled by espresso yet.

  “Hi.” His voice after the first ring sounded sleepy but happy, and she was glad she’d called.

  She wanted to reassure him that things were fine...they were still fine. She also needed that reassurance—not from him, but from herself.

  “Hi,” she said, readjusting her pillow on the cot and settling in for the night. With less than five hours until she needed to be back there, there would be no going home. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

  “Because my bedsheets still smell like you and I can’t close my eyes without seeing your beautiful, naked body lying beside me.”

  Despite her exhaustion, her body responded to the words. A dull aching in her heart mirrored the one in her pelvis. “I wish I was there,” she said, closing her eyes.

  “What would you do if you were?” he asked, his husky-sounding voice holding more than a note of desire.

  Obviously he planned to steer the conversation away from talk of work that night. And that was completely okay with her. “I’d lie in your arms completely naked and kiss you, hard...savoring the taste of your mouth and lips...” She had no idea where the teasing, erotic words had come from, but they’d had an immediate relaxing, calming, yet arousing effect.

  An unexpected and completely new experience for her.

  If Reed was surprised by her response, she couldn’t tell. “And then what?” he asked, the sound of his voice telling her he, too, felt this mix of longing and pleasure.

  Closing her eyes, she summoned an image of his naked body—sculpted shoulders, muscular chest, abs and obliques that gave way to the sexiest V leading to his cock... She imagined running her hands over his body, feeling every inch of him—so hard, so sexy, so perfect.

  She could feel herself getting wet and she wiggled her hips and clenched her thighs together as she answered, “Then I’d crawl lower on the bed, running my hands along your chest and stomach... Wrapping my hand around you, I’d stroke the length of your cock, slowly pumping up and down, watching you get thick and hard beneath my hand.”

  His breathing became heavier as he listened. “I’m touching myself just like that now. It feels incredible... Go on, what else would you do?”

  Just the question had her imagination soaring. What she’d love to do to him right now. No longer tired, she unzipped her dress pants and slid a hand inside her underwear, touching herself. So wet. So ready for a man hundreds of miles away. “I’d lower my head to your cock and I’d lick you from the tip all the way to the base, swirling and circling around the shaft, as my hands continued to massage your balls.” Her eyes closed tight, she imagined tasting him, wishing he were there. Her own chest rose and fell in a heavy, steady rhythm and her fingers massaged against her clit.

  “Damn, Erika, I’d love to feel your mouth on me,” he said in a heavy whisper. “I’m so hard right now.”

  Her entire body was on fire, need and desire flowing through her. Turning him on was turning her on more than she could ever have thought.

  “Keep going...”

  “I’d take you deep into my wet, warm mouth...al
l the way...in and out. Holding the base of your cock, I’d follow my lips with my hand, moving up and down...” Her own waves of desire demanded to be satisfied with each word.

  “Fuck, I’m almost coming already. I wish I could grab your sexy ass and explore every inch of you while I watch you take me in your mouth.”

  Oh. My. God. So close to orgasm.

  “I’d slide my fingers inside you and tease that sexy little clit until you were begging for release... Are you touching yourself?”

  She swallowed hard, her mouth watering at the thought of all the dirty, delicious things they could do if they were together. “Yes, and I’m so wet for you, Reed. Wet and ready...” She slid a finger inside her body and felt her muscles tighten around it. It was hardly Reed’s big, solid, thick cock, but she’d take any relief in that moment.

  “Think of me, sweetheart, sliding in and out of you...thrusting hard, deep inside your body...”

  She pumped her fingers in and out, adding a second...then a third.

  “I’d kiss you, teasing your lips with my tongue as my cock buries deeper inside...”

  Oh my God. His words, her touching all had her on the brink. She quickened her pace as she heard his breathing grow heavier.

  “I’m so close...” she panted, arching her back as the first wave of pleasure rippled through her and she nearly dropped the phone.

  “Me, too. Come for me, Erika. I want to hear you come,” he said, and she did.

  Her head spun and her toes curled as her body convulsed in waves of pleasure. Sensations rippling through her body made her shiver as she pulled her hand out of her underwear, the intensity almost painful.

  She heard him moan in his own release, and the aftershock of her orgasm stole her breath.

  “That was sexy,” Reed said a second later, sounding sleepy, but perfectly at peace.

  She turned onto her side, clenching her thighs together as her body continued to tingle. “That was a first,” she said, letting her eyes drift closed, a new exhaustion taking over.

  “Not as perfect as the real thing, but until I can have you in my arms again, I can live with phone calls like these.”

  She could imagine the satisfied smile on his face. And for now, when all they had was each other’s voice on the other end of the line, that’s what she’d cling to...for as long as it lasted.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  THE WEEK FLEW BY. Marcus’s evaluation to become a full member had gone well. He’d been voted in by a unanimous decision, and Reed was relieved to have another permanent crew member to help at the station throughout the holidays. The Hug-A-Tree school programs were done for the year, but between one short rescue call, a search for a lost Labrador retriever and several ski patrol assists, it was Friday before Reed could see his mom.

  Now, sitting across from her at Mountain Slope Café, he sipped his coffee, listening to her daily recap of life in Willow Lake. He hadn’t lived in his small former hometown in a long time, but it sounded like not much had changed.

  His mother’s schedule was the same as always, though she had started a new Zumba class at the community hall on Thursdays. She’d been forced to change hairdressers because April, her longtime stylist, had moved to California. “The blond is too blond, isn’t it?” she asked, removing her hat to reveal the ash-blond, shoulder-length bob.

  It looked the same as always to him. “Maybe a little too blond,” he said.

  She swiped at him, put the hat back on and launched into the current drama between her neighbors. They were fighting over an old tree that sat on both their properties. They both wanted to decorate it for Christmas but couldn’t come to an agreement on colored versus white lights.

  Man, if only I had their problems.

  Unlike Cass, he didn’t mind his mom’s nonstop chatter. She was entertaining and well, all he had to do was nod and smile.

  Today, though, he fought the urge to tell her about Erika. It was really the only thing he wanted to talk about—when he did get a word in—but he wasn’t sure what to say. Technically they’d been dating two weeks. He’d never told his mother about girls he’d dated before, but this was different. He was in love with Erika...though the lack of contact in the last few days was making him anxious.

  Combine that with the ever-increasing awareness that Christmas was all around him—sights and sounds of couples in love and families excited to be spending the season together, all the things he’d barely noticed before—and he was feeling on edge. He wanted someone special to spend this season with...and every season.

  He’d found the one. He just wasn’t sure how it was going to work out. The late-night calls were all they had and eventually they wouldn’t be enough. What did they do then? Did one of them move? Give up everything and relocate?

  Would Erika even consider that? Would he?

  Maybe he’d hold off on telling his mom anything just yet.

  “How are things with you, sweetheart?” she asked just as the waiter set their food in front of them.

  “Good.” He folded a piece of bacon and popped it into his mouth. He barely tasted the salty, greasy meat. Food had lost its flavor lately. Nothing was like it was before Erika.

  “How are things at the bar?” she asked between bites of her eggs Benedict.

  He nodded as he swallowed. “Getting busier.” The night before, they’d been at maximum capacity by ten—much busier than a normal Thursday night. He and Tank had been run off their feet. Thankfully, their seasonal staff was increasing that weekend. “We should put you to work while you’re here,” he said.

  “Your sister needs me, even though she’ll never admit it.”

  He cleared his throat. “So, how is Cassie?” He’d seen his sister only once since the avalanche rescue, but she’d texted him almost every hour of every day to tell him their mother was making her crazy.

  His sister’s texts were making him crazy.

  Every time the cell chimed with a new one, he dived for it, hoping it was Erika. Unfortunately, her texts were less frequent. A lot less frequent...

  But they still chatted at the end of each day.

  Which was why he was exhausted. The late-night calls at the end of her long shifts were killing him, but it was worth it to hear her voice. Despite the stress of her job, she seemed so excited about the clinical trials starting the following week and so far he’d been successful in not asking whether they would prevent her from visiting on Christmas Eve. It was a new relationship and he didn’t want to push her away by being needy or demanding. He wasn’t that guy. He’d liked his independence just fine. The single, bachelor life had suited him great...until Erika.

  Now, he was totally feeling capable of becoming a stage-one clinger.

  “And she’s grown an additional toe...” his mother was saying.

  He blinked. “What?”

  Arlene laughed. “Who’s the girl?”

  “What girl?”

  “The one you’re losing sleep over. You look like shit and you haven’t been listening to me at all...and you keep checking that cell phone like baby Jesus is going to call, so out with it. Who is she?”

  He’d never been able to keep things from his mother. Growing up, she’d had to play the nurturing role of mom and the kick-ass disciplinary role of father. He was still amazed at how she’d been successful at both. And still irritated that she’d had to.

  “It’s Erika.”

  Surprise registered on his mom’s face, then she was nodding. “Makes sense.”

  “It does?”

  “Yeah... You were always intrigued by her.”

  “I’m not sure I remember things that way.” He’d always felt intimidated by Erika, but he’d refused to get close enough to her to be intrigued. Until that night in the woods, anyway, and he’d certainly gone out of his way to avoid her afterward.

  But Arlene
insisted. “You were. I mean, as she changed from a tall, skinny preteen to that amazing curvy body she has now, you certainly took notice.”

  He shifted in his seat at the mention of her body. A body he’d kissed every inch of, touched every soft part of... A body he missed having next to him at night.

  “But it was more than that,” she continued. “She was different from the rest of you guys...she was quieter, more serious. She had a determined strength of character that appealed to you. She wasn’t flighty and flirty like most of the girls Cassie hung out with.”

  He might have been interested in Erika from afar, but his interest came from trying to get her approval. She’d been so much better than the rest of them. His mother was right—she was smart and determined and she’d motivated his sister to do better. He’d respected her for that, even if they’d seemed too different to be friends.

  That wasn’t the case anymore. They were more alike than he could ever have imagined. And they fit together so well...at least they had when she was in Wild River.

  “And of course, after that night in the woods...you’d already lost your heart.”

  He shook his head, refusing to admit to his mother that she was right. “No, back then, she was irritating and annoying and I struggled to understand her...”

  His mother raised an eyebrow.

  He sat back in his chair. His appetite vanishing the more they talked about the woman he was missing like crazy. She was right. His ambiguous teenage feelings for Erika had been the first step in developing this attraction and connection, and he was certainly hooked on her now.

  “Well, you’ve certainly chosen well. True, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her, but from what Cassie says, she’s certainly able to match you in terms of drive and pigheadedness,” she said with a smirk. “A surgeon, wow.” She sipped her tea.

  “Yeah...she’s amazing. And busy,” he said, checking his phone again.

  Still no response to his good-morning text two hours before.

  “Long-distance relationships aren’t easy, but you’ll figure it out if it’s meant to be.”