Christmas in a Small Town

by Kristina Knight

  Levi’s gaze was fierce, his breathing uneven, one of his legs insinuated between hers, and his arms on either side of her.

  “What was that about?”

  “That was about making this last longer than thirty seconds,” he said as his hands found her breasts again, the sensation of him against her sensitized breasts magnificent. He tweaked one nipple and then the other, making Camden’s toes curl against his muscled leg.

  “If you keep doing that...” she warned, a smile on her face.

  “I’m going to keep doing this,” he said, taking her nipple into her mouth. Camden arched her back. “And this.” His fingers found her core, and her belly clenched. He kissed his way to her other nipple. She couldn’t take her gaze off him as he worked her body. “And this,” he said, and she felt as if her body rested on a taut piano wire, waiting to topple to the ground. Levi thrust two fingers into her wet core.

  “Touchdown,” she said.

  “Told you there was a football metaphor for everything,” he said, grinning at her. His mouth left her breast, kissing his way to her belly button, where he paused for a long moment to explore it with his tongue. Camden gave herself over to the sensations darting along her nerve endings.

  Levi’s tongue dipping into her belly button. His fingers in her core. Her eyes closed. His heat everywhere.

  She felt as if she was coming apart, the fire that had been comfortably hot in her belly scorching through her veins now. He made her want things, and the things weren’t just sexual. When she was with Levi, she wanted to let go. To not worry about anything except what happened when they were together. Not her work, not his. Not her past, not his. Nothing but what the two of them could do together.

  Levi worked his way back up to her breasts and bit her nipple gently. The combination of pain and pleasure sent a wave of wetness between her legs and, lord, the man knew what to do with his hands and his mouth. Camden began to feel wobbly on the leash of desire.

  “Levi,” she said, his name crossing her lips before she knew what she wanted to say.

  “At your service,” he said, satisfaction clear in his voice. That cocky expression was back on his face, and when he grinned at her, her stomach flip-flopped.

  She tried to hold on to her sanity, tried to think of anything that would slow her body’s reaction to Levi, but she could only take in the smell of him, like a hot, summer afternoon, and the feel of him, taut and hard beneath her hands. She wanted more of him, wanted all of him, and she wanted him to have all of her.

  She’d never wanted a man to have all of her before, but instead of the thought scaring her back to sanity, it pushed her insane attraction to him up another level.

  Levi’s mouth closed over her core, replacing his hands, and Camden forgot to breathe for a long moment. She could only feel his tongue against her clit, the suction of his mouth on her. Camden’s hands clenched against the silk of the comforter, but she didn’t want fabric. She wanted man.

  She ran her fingers through his hair, and then everything went boneless for a moment. Her world shattered, bits of Levi seeming disjointed around her. His shoulder here, his pec there. He rested his arms on either side of her head, and that brought him back into focus. That devilish look was back in his eyes. His penis teased against her opening, and just like that, the molten fire he seemed to control in her burned to life. Levi thrust into her, filling her, and Camden thought nothing had ever felt better than that.

  Despite the toe-curling orgasm of a moment ago, she was ready to plunge over that ledge with him again. Levi withdrew, and when he thrust back inside her, Camden raised her hips to meet his. She locked her legs around his hips as he plunged inside her once more.

  “Levi,” she said, his name a whisper against his shoulder. He reached his hand between them, finding that bundle of nerves easily. “More, more,” she said, and raked her hands down his back, wanting more of him. Wanting everything.

  Levi gave it. He caught her mouth with his, and the wave of her orgasm crested once more, taking her over the edge and toward oblivion.

  “Camden,” he said, her name a fierce growl from his lips as he thrust in and out, in and out. He grunted his own release a moment later, his body tensed and he collapsed on top of her.

  Camden was lost, somewhere between dreaming and waking, listening to Levi’s harsh breaths soften and calm. He moved to the side, burying his head in the pillows but leaving an arm across her torso. Their legs remained tangled atop the soft bed, and Camden ran her fingers lightly over his arm.

  “I,” he began but stopped, drawing her closer to his body. Camden couldn’t keep her eyes open. “Didn’t expect this,” he said after a long moment.

  “Me, either,” she said, feeling drowsy. They should maybe spend the rest of this trip inside the hotel room, away from everything and everyone that might make her second-guess her decision to sleep with Levi Walters.

  “I’m glad we skipped the last part of the dog show.”

  She didn’t care if she ever went to another dog show again. Training Six, rebuilding the school—neither seemed as important at this moment as Levi did. She just wanted to be here, wrapped up in this man. The thought scared her, but the need to stay right here with him won out. Camden’s eyes closed, and she let herself drift.

  CHAPTER TEN

  SUNDAY MORNING AFTER they returned from Tulsa, Levi sat atop one of the training tunnels at the dog school, enjoying watching Camden work.

  She signaled Six with the clicker in her hand, and the runt went perfectly still until she offered another signal. She wore the unicorn rain boots again. Levi had decided this had to be her favorite pair. The December air was crisp this morning, as if snow might not be far in their future. Snow on the ground before Christmas. Levi couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.

  Camden used her clicker again, and the dog took off at a steady pace, weaving around the apparatus on the training course.

  He still didn’t understand why Camden was working with the dog using what appeared to be seesaws and crawling tunnels and a toddler slide set. She’d said it had to do with Six learning to listen to her commands, and the dog would graduate to working with actual animals in another month or so.

  From what Levi had seen with the cattle last week, Six was ready for animal herding now. She signaled the dog, who went down in a crouch and waited, tail still, eyes focused on Camden. When she gave another signal, Six trotted to her side. She gave the dog a treat from her pocket.

  “I thought we might walk awhile, do some training off the little course.” She used the clicker, and Six trotted to the edge of the training area and waited. “Do you have that presentation to work on? You don’t have to wait around here just because we’re—you know.”

  “Sleeping together? I know. I like watching you work.”

  Camden grinned. “I thought you considered Six a nuisance.”

  “He is, when he’s bothering my cows. Lately he hasn’t been bothering them, though.”

  “I put him in a run with a roof and added a locking mechanism that isn’t so easily manipulated.”

  “He’s a smart dog. And I’m happy to walk with you.”

  They fell in step together, walking in companionable silence across a couple of pastures. Instead of continuing toward the land Levi rented from Calvin, Camden detoured to another area of the Harris farm. The area was heavily forested and had obviously not been used for quite a while. Six’s ears went up when he heard something off in the brush, but Camden used the clicker in her pocket and the dog stayed on the makeshift path.

  “Where are we going?” he asked.

  “The old railroad tracks. The tree growth and heavy vegetation make great hiding for bunnies, opossums and other small animals. The distraction of their noises makes for interesting training for Six.” Camden clicked again when the dog st
opped walking to focus on something off to the side of the narrow track.

  Levi moved a low-hanging branch out of the way so they could pass. “You could use a trail dozer up here, or at least a chain saw.”

  “Maybe, but the challenge of this area is the most important thing, at least at this point in Six’s training. I was thinking of moving the obstacle course up here, to give the dogs more of a training hike, then the apparatus, then another hike. At least in the beginning stages of their training.”

  After a long walk under the cover of the trees, they came to a clearing. Six was walking along what appeared to be old train tracks, but this wasn’t part of the railroad. That was farther to their south, cutting through the acreage he rented from Calvin. Levi inspected the area with Six.

  What had likely once been railroad ties were nearly buried under grass and debris, and what appeared to be an old spike or two was almost completely black from exposure to the elements. Definitely a railroad, but not one he remembered. And Levi made it a point to know everything about his town.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s the spur they used when they were putting the railroad through. Things they didn’t use here but that weren’t easy to ship on to other areas were trained up here and dumped at the end of the spur.” She pointed to a gap in the trees about three hundred yards farther on. “If they’d continued it, the spur would meet up with the part of the tracks that go through Harris and Walters land right through that area.”

  Huh. He had never known this was here. Of course, most of his boyhood exploration had been closer to the lake side of the ranch. Still, the placement of the spur was interesting. “Let’s follow it, see where it goes.”

  “I just told you where it goes.”

  “Six looks interested.”

  The dog had walked to what appeared to be the end of the spur and was looking on toward the gap in the trees as if wondering where it led. Levi thought he knew, but he wanted to make sure. Because if it led where he thought it did, his issues with the bike trail could be put to rest.

  “Why didn’t you try to make a comeback?” she asked after a moment, and the question surprised Levi.

  “After my knee went?”

  She nodded.

  “Meniscus injuries are challenging, not just in the rehabilitation but in protecting the knee from relapse—”

  “The real reason,” she said, interrupting the answer he’d given to so many reporters over the years that he knew it by heart.

  “I didn’t want it.”

  Camden made a sound of disbelief in her throat. “What American male doesn’t want the chance to play professional sports?”

  “I’d already been playing, though, remember?” Levi shrugged. They made it through the gap in the trees. Below them, on a slight decline, were the nonorganic cattle. A fence lay across the hilly area, separating the cows and pasture from what would have been a continuation of the railroad spur. It likely would have followed the top of the rise, only dipping down on the far side, where the railroad began cutting north again. This was where the trail should be, high on the hill where hikers and bike riders could look out over the sweeping vista of green pasture and tall, tall pine trees. In the distance, he thought he saw a ray of sunlight dance off the lake.

  “Still, you walked away. Didn’t you ever look back?”

  Levi studied Camden, who in turn studied the distant sky and trees. He had the distinct impression her questions weren’t about his walking away from football as much as they were about her walking away from the life she’d been bred to lead. If she were having doubts, if she wanted to go back...

  A cold feeling swept through Levi.

  He wouldn’t hold her here if she wanted to go back. He stayed in Slippery Rock because this was where he belonged. It was the place that called to him every time he crossed the city limits, even if he left for only a day. If this wasn’t that place for Camden, it was probably better to know that now than later.

  “I’ve looked back. It helps that I have something solid, a business that means something to people all over this area, to keep me focused on the future.”

  Camden signaled the dog, and the three of them started walking toward the cows in the pasture below them. “Is it weird that I haven’t looked back? I know this is going to sound weird, like I’m looking for trouble where there is none. Maybe I’m too close to Thanksgiving still, but when I have tried to look back, to imagine what might have been, all I feel is relief that I walked away from it. Is that how it is for you?”

  The pang that he usually blocked out when anyone brought up football or the might-have-beens struck fast and hard in his gut. If he hadn’t been injured, he might be in the middle of a playoff run. He might have a better chance at the Hall of Fame. He would definitely have millions more dollars in his bank account, not that his account was unhealthy in the slightest.

  Levi had socked most of his contract money in safe investments, and he’d lived in cheap apartments and driven leased cars while he’d been playing, knowing that he wanted to be comfortable from the moment he retired from football until the moment he died. Living cheaply had its benefits, and he could count those benefits into the tens of millions of dollars.

  “I miss football,” he said, telling Camden something he hadn’t even shared with the guys. “The friendships, the crazy high of a playoff run, the adrenaline rush that comes with winning a big game. When I look back, though, I’m looking at something that was always a means to an end. I belong here, in Slippery Rock, raising my cows. Making safe, healthy products for people I’ll never meet.”

  “I want that kind of connection.”

  “You’ll find it.”

  She took his hand as they crossed into the pasture with the cattle. Six paused, but when Camden used the clicker, the dog fell in step with them.

  “I’m glad you came over today.”

  “I didn’t have any place else to be,” he said.

  Even if he had, he’d have made an excuse. Because lately, being with Camden was the most important part of Levi’s plan.

  * * *

  MONDAY EVENING, CAMDEN sat in the town hall on a hard, metal chair, listening to Thom Hall run down the list of the week’s holiday activities. They were bringing in an ice maze that sounded absolutely miserable to Camden. The kids would love the ice stacked up to resemble a frozen version of a hay-bale maze, but Camden thought there wasn’t enough coffee, vodka or hot toddies in the world to warm her up after walking through an ice maze that took up all of the area around and inside the grandstand.

  Not even Levi, naked and atop her in bed, would warm her if she had to spend more than a minute inside the frigid maze.

  Her shoulder brushed his, and the familiar zing of attraction that accompanied even the smallest of touches between them flared to life. She wanted this meeting to be over. Wanted to drive with Levi back to his big farmhouse and climb into his big mahogany-framed bed and forget about ice mazes and Christmas concerts and why, after several nights filled with passionate lovemaking, being with Levi still felt urgent. As if she might combust without the feel of his skin against hers.

  She’d never felt this way about anyone, not even her out-of-control teenage crush on Colin Farrell. The crush that had her dreaming of the Hollywood actor every night of her junior year in high school. The dreams she’d had about Colin paled in comparison to the reality of sharing a bed with Levi.

  “We could still use a few volunteers at the bazaar next week. Ticket takers, setup and teardown are the most needed,” Thom was saying.

  “You will regret it more than anything else in your life,” Levi whispered in her ear when Camden started to raise her hand.

  “I want to help.”

  “Then man the booth with Bonita, but swear on the baby Jesus in the manger scene under the clock tower that you won
’t volunteer to be Thom’s cleanup crew.”

  “It can’t be that bad.” She started to raise her hand again, but Levi clasped her palm in his, stopping her.

  “You volunteer and then I have to volunteer, and if I have to deal with Thom’s anal approach to sweeping the floor, I might push him in the lake.”

  Thom dismissed them without anyone volunteering to be on his cleaning crew. The man looked crushed, and Camden decided she would volunteer for cleanup duties when Levi wasn’t around to dissuade her. After all, she wanted to become part of Slippery Rock. She wanted what Levi had had all of his life: a sense of community and belonging.

  “I need to talk to Thom about something. I’ll be right back,” Levi said.

  Camden grinned. He was going to volunteer to sweep and clean, despite his refusal a few minutes before. “I’ll meet you outside by the chestnut vendor,” she said and followed the crowd outside. She stopped short when she saw Grant leaning against the hood of another rented sports car in the parking area. His was one of the few cars parked adjacent to the building that the sheriff’s office shared with the town hall and the county offices. Residents tended to park closer to the Slope, since most of them wound up there after town hall meetings. Camden had picked up on the routine after that first meeting: listen to Thom, snipe a little about Thom, leave the meeting to get a drink, go home.

  Many of the older residents, her grandparents included, skipped the meetings. Tonight, Bonita and Calvin had opted for movie night at the Methodist church off Main Street instead of Thom’s upcoming happenings meetings. They were showing the original Miracle on 34th Street, one of Bonita’s favorite films.

  Camden couldn’t pretend not to have seen Grant in the parking lot, not when the crowd from the meeting had already dispersed. Camden zipped her coat against the chilly wind and made her way to Grant.

  “Camden.”

  “Grant.”