Stocking Stuffers: A Five Story Christmas Anthology

by E. J. Darling

  “That’s amazing.” He smiled, trying to convey how happy he was for her, even though a small part of him hated she was so happy with her life without him.

  You left, bud. Remember that. He didn’t get to be upset her life went on without him. He had gone on, too. Without her. It didn’t matter he’d been forced to give Tiffani the life he dreamed for Cami because of some holier than thou moral code. It’s what his dad would have done, so it’s what he did. Even though doing so overrode what he wanted. Ultimately, life didn’t give a shit about plans.

  “Welp, we’re burning daylight.” Cami brought her mug to her lips and tipped back the rest of its contents. “Run upstairs and get changed out of those sweats and we’ll go out and find a tree.”

  “Yes, Ma’am” He gave a mock salute and slipped past her into the cabin. Halfway down the hall he looked over his shoulder to see her eyes roaming over his backside from top to bottom.

  He chuckled to himself when she saw him and tried but failed to shift her attention elsewhere.

  Yup. After all these years, I still got it.

  Chapter Six

  Damn, the Air Force had been good to West. He walked in front of her with Bear padding alongside him. Clad in plaid with an axe over his shoulder, he looked like a lumberjack sent from the heavens.

  She let him believe he would be the one swinging that axe, but between the altitude and any lingering soreness from the crash, she gave him less than ten swings before he tapped out.

  “How about this one?” West pointed to a tree that was decent height, but it wasn’t full like a Christmas tree should be.

  “It looks like the tree equivalent of a pencil dick.” She blurted it out before she considered that maybe she shouldn’t be talking about dicks.

  It could be nerves making her mental filter short circuit. Or it could’ve been that she was falling back into the easiness that always flowed between her and West.

  She needed to get a grip. Fast. It was an accident that he was still there with her. If not for the snow, he would’ve walked away from her. Again. That didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little bit of fun with him while he was there. She’d be fine as long as she didn’t get in too deep. As long as she remembered he would leave once the snow was cleared.

  West tipped back his head and his belly laugh echoed through the trees. “A pencil dick, huh? And just what does a pencil dick look like?”

  “You know, long and skinny. Nothing to fill it out at the base.” She barely contained her smile.

  “So, you’re saying girth matters.”

  “Absolutely. I’d say it’s just as important as length.” She paused and it struck her she’d described a dick, not a tree. “I meant height.”

  She was on a roll. First insinuating she liked waking up to him making breakfast and now using trees to define her dick preference.

  A mischievous smirk formed on his full lips. The same one that consistently made her panties wet. That time was no different. “Did you, now?”

  Heat flooded her cheeks. She should’ve stopped there, but she’d come that far, might as well hit her point home. Cami walked over to a short stubby tree and gave him an award winning smile. “See this one is all girth but wouldn’t hit the ceiling. It just wouldn’t get the job done.”

  He cocked a brow at her. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  She had no doubt he would. Not that he had anything to worry about. From what she remembered, he had one worth writing home about.

  Her nipples peaked under her jacket, and it wasn’t from the cold. She needed to stop thinking about dicks. Especially his.

  They continued trudging through the woods. Every few trees, one of them would make a comment about girth or height and they’d laugh all over again.

  It felt like old times. Warmth filled Cami’s chest, and she struggled to remind herself he wasn’t there for this. He wasn’t even there for her.

  While going on about a particularly short tree, Cami tripped over a fallen log. With catlike reflexes, West looped his arm through hers and kept her face from meeting the ground. He kept her arm firmly in his after that, and she leaned into him. To anyone watching, they’d look like a happy couple on a walk through the woods.

  Still, being this close to him had her considering everything that could’ve been. She needed to know where things went wrong. Why he’d given up on them in the first place. She would have waited, would have gone with him after she graduated. But he didn’t wait.

  “Why her?” Her voice was timid, and she wasn’t sure West heard her.

  He looked down at her with furrowed brows. “Who?”

  “Tiffani.”

  West stopped walking and released her arm from his. Turning to her, he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her to his chest. The steady rhythm of his breathing helped calm her nerves.

  When he spoke, his voice was steady. “It was never supposed to be her. But things happened, and I had to marry her.”

  Cami cocked a brow, her eyes glaring at him. “That’s not exactly an answer.”

  “I know.” West abruptly pulled away, dropping her arm. Before she got the opportunity to lay into him, he pointed ahead on the trail. “Looks like Bear found us one. That’s the tree.”

  Bear circled a tree not far ahead of them. “It’s perfect.”

  And it was. The right height. The right girth. It didn’t have any missing branches or holes. She only wished Bear waited to find it until she’d got some answers out of West. Right now, she didn’t have much.

  For the next fifteen minutes the only sound between them was the axe aggressively hitting the tree’s trunk. West wouldn’t look at her, homed in on the tree as if it was the only thing he lived for. Cami’s eyes roamed over him, trying to discern what was going through his head and ultimately failing. More than once she bit her tongue to stop herself from asking the questions eating at her. Why did he have to marry Tiffani? And if it wasn’t supposed to be her, then who the hell was it supposed to be?

  Halfway through the process of felling the tree, Cami insisted West let her take a turn at the axe. The stubborn ass wouldn’t admit his muscles were sore, even though he’d been continuously rolling his shoulders back and stretching forward every couple swings. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea, mumbling something about being the man, but reluctantly agreed, handing over the axe. She made a show of rolling her eyes at him as she took up the instrument, and with expert precision, wailed on the tree’s trunk.

  Cami hoped to release all the pent up frustration on the tree by the time it fell, but that wasn’t the case. It only rose when West quickly wrapped the tree with rope and took off toward the cabin without a word. He left her standing there alone. Again.

  West walking away from her was becoming a trend, and she fucking hated it.

  Stomping through the forest, she imagined every object in her path as a weapon she could use to smack him upside the head. Maybe that would finally knock some sense into him.

  Pinecones.

  A large stick.

  The axe might do more damage than she intended, but maybe it’d get through his thick skull.

  She knew chucking something at him wouldn’t actually get him to open up, but it might dull the anger within her. What she really needed was to figure out how to get him to talk. To find out exactly what the fuck happened after he left and where Tiffani came into the picture.

  As they approached the cabin, Cami decided to make herself feel better, her anger getting the best of her. She knelt down, formed a perfectly sculpted snowball and chucked it at his back. Hard.

  West whipped around, anger focused solely on her. “What the fuck, Cami? What was that for?”

  “For leaving me.” She marched toward him, her eyes never leaving his.

  He threw his arms out wide, dropping the rope as he shouted at her. “I was like ten steps in front of you the whole way back.” When a glare was her only response, he bent to pick up the tree.

  Before he could grab the rope, she gr
abbed his shoulder and pushed him up, screaming in his face. “It was for leaving me fifteen years ago, asshole.”

  His eyes narrowed on hers, and the muscles on the sides of his jaw ticked. “Now is not the time, Cami. We’ve been getting along. Please just let it be for now.”

  Toe to toe with him she looked up, taunting him. “Oh, it’s not? When would it be better? In ten years when you come home again with zero intention of seeing me?”

  He ran a hand over his face, his gaze finding the ground. His voice was steady but laced with anger. “You know why I had to leave.”

  Cami pushed her finger against his chest and bit back the tears that threatened to fall. Her lip quivered, but her voice remained strong despite the urge to fall apart. “You were supposed to come back. You said you’d come back.”

  West shrugged, his demeanor cool, as if she wasn’t freaking out in front of him, which only enraged her more. “Life happened and you never wanted that life.”

  Her anger flared and her voice echoed through the trees. “What’s that supposed to mean? I wanted you.”

  He sucked in a sharp breath as if she slapped him across the face and glared at her. “No, Cami. You wanted the me that was here. The me that didn’t have responsibilities to his family. I had to go, and you made it very clear you would never leave Aspen.”

  She gasped. “I never said that.” That didn’t mean she didn’t think it once or twice. She’d been young, and Aspen was all she’d ever known. There’d never been the urge to abandon the place she’d grown up in. The ‘get out of dodge’ feeling everyone who grew up here seemed to feel at one point or another. This was her home.

  “You did.” He sneered, mocking her and stepped away toward the cabin. His voice dropped low. “You were drunker than a skunk, but you know what they say. Drunk words are sober thoughts.”

  Fuck. Had she said that? She racked her brain trying to recall the words. Panic bubbled in her chest. There was one night. One stupid night after he’d shared his plan to leave. She’d gotten drunk with her best friends and they’d called West to pick her up. Anger and desperation fueled her need to forget his plans, if only for the night, and in doing so she must have voiced her petty thoughts. She’d led him to believe she wouldn’t follow him. Sealed his plans to leave her. She didn’t remember ever voicing those words. They were exactly how she felt at the time, but ultimately, she would have followed West to the ends of the earth. If he simply asked.

  “I was drunk West. Heartbroken that you were considering leaving Aspen. You never asked me to go with you, jackass. Did I like the idea of leaving my family? My home? No. But would I have done it for you? Every fucking time. You. Didn’t. Ask.”

  “You’re right, I didn’t. I couldn’t handle you saying no. It didn’t matter anyway. I met Tiff at school and then fucking life happened. You have no idea how much I wish I could say it was the biggest mistake of my life.”

  “It wasn’t?” She took a shallow inhale, trying to steady herself. These half assed answers were really beginning to annoy her. She struggled between wanting to smack him and shake him while pleading for him to explain everything.

  “Not even close.” He wouldn’t meet her gaze, a classic West sign that she was too close to whatever it was he didn’t want to share.

  “Care to elaborate on that?” She sidestepped into his line of sight.

  “Nope.”

  “So, that’s all I get? Life happened and you enjoyed it. I think there’s more to the story. You said it wasn’t supposed to be her. What does that mean?”

  “It wasn’t. But life did happen, and it was her. I have nothing left. I’m sorry if that hurts your fucking feelings, Cami. ”

  Her jaw clenched as she stared straight into his eyes. “Get fucked, West.”

  “You offering?” He cocked a brow.

  “I fucking hate you.”

  He raked a hand through his hair. “No, you don’t. But you want to. And honestly it’s probably better for you if I walk away and let you.”

  The sadness in his voice surprised her. She knew there was more to the story. Her West was in there, along with this new man she tried to understand. “What happened to you, West?”

  “Don’t pretend like you care now, Cami. Not after you chose your family and yourself over me. Not after you asked everyone to keep you out of the loop on my life.”

  “Communication is a two-way street, West. I didn’t see you checking on me the last fifteen years.”

  “That’s a load of bullshit. You may not know, but I asked about you every time I talked to my mom. I nearly flew back here the year you wrecked your jeep, to make sure you were okay. I put a hole in a wall when Mom said Johnny was going to propose to you. Then thanked God above when I found out you said no. For years I asked about you. For years I watched from afar, knowing I had no right to you. So stop trying to put this all on me, Cami. If you knew half the hell I’ve been through—”

  “Then tell me West.” Desperation encompassed her voice. “Tell me, damn it. We each have our faults to bear, but we’re here now and nothing is in the way except the past.”

  “Cami…” His voice trailed off, but she didn’t need him to say another word to know he wasn’t going to let her in.

  “Fine.” Cami turned from him and sighed, unable to face him as she spoke her next words. “Then find a way off this mountain. I can’t be stuck with you. Maybe your mom can find someone who will snowmobile up here and get you. I don’t want you here. This time I get to walk away from you. See if you like how it feels.”

  And she did. For the first time she took the first step away from West. Even though it fucking hurt and she wished with everything thing she had in her that he would stop her.

  Chapter Seven

  With every step, the lump in the base of her throat grew, making it harder to breathe.

  One foot in front of the other.

  If he could walk away, so could she.

  Cami inhaled through her nose and forced the breath back out slowly. She didn’t need to have a panic attack in front of him. No, she needed to be strong. Stand her ground.

  West growled behind her, the sound shaking her core. “No fucking way.”

  Before she could turn and ask him what he set him off this time, his hands tangled in her hair at the base of her neck. He spun her to face him and crashed his lips against hers with bruising force.

  Shock gripped her for a split second before he inhaled the moan that fell from her lips.

  God, he felt good.

  So. Damn. Good.

  It was like coming home. As if their lips were meant to be connected.

  Her body warred with her mind and she pulled away, searching West’s emerald depths for any indication of his motives. “What are you doing, West?” Her words were breathy and filled with confusion.

  “What I’ve wanted to do for fifteen years.” His lips brushed over hers, sending a shiver straight through her. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to push you away. Don’t want to lose you again.” His breaths were as chaotic as his spoken thoughts. “Tell me you want this too, Red. Please tell me you want this.”

  “I do.” Cami paused. What she said next would set the tone for the rest of their time together. “But West, I want more than just to fuck you. We aren’t done talking. You need to let me in.”

  “Later.”

  She nodded and that was all the encouragement he needed for his lips to encompass hers once more. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. She opened for him and his hot tongue wasted no time delving forcefully into her, curling around hers.

  It was her turn to groan. All the pent up sexual tension she’d been suppressing attacked her lower gut, warming her from the inside out. She pressed herself against him and her need for connection only intensified by the hardness of his growing erection at her belly. His hands trailed down her body, brushing against her breasts and caressing her hips until they cupped her ass. He gave it a tight squeeze before effortlessly lifting her. She wrapped
her legs around him, and he carried her toward the cabin, never halting his assault on her mouth.

  West swiftly flicked open the slider to the cabin, carrying her over the threshold. Allowing Bear in behind them he closed it, and smiled against her lips. “You’re mine now.”

  Drunk bees took flight in her stomach. She’d waited years to hear him say those words again, and now that he had she was nervous as hell. It’d been fifteen years after all. She wasn’t exactly the same woman she’d been before.

  West stopped in front of the wood stove and dropped to his knees. Breaking their kiss, he peeled off her jacket and lay her back onto the soft fur rug in one swift movement.

  Her breath came out in pants and she looked up at him.

  “Fuck you’re beautiful, Red. And that’s with your clothes still on. I can’t wait to see you before me in absolutely nothing.”

  Her breath hitched. The desire she saw in his eyes dissipated her nerves and fueled her inner sex kitten.

  West fingered her flannel and began unbuttoning. His fingers teased the flesh of her abdomen as he worked his way upward.

  Opening each button with soft strokes of his fingertips, he told her exactly what he was going to do to her.

  “I’m going to kiss every ounce of your perfect flesh.” Button. “Caress every luscious curve.” Button. “Torture your beautiful nipples the way you like.” Button. “Taste your pretty pink pussy.” Button. “And finally, when you think you couldn’t possibly experience any more pleasure, I’m going to fuck you until you’re screaming my name, reminding you who your body belongs to.”

  Her mouth was dry. It could’ve been because it dropped open, hanging on West’s every word. Or it could be because she was speechless. Maybe both. All she could do was nod, wanting to beg him to follow through on his promises.