Page 56 of Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas
With a small giggle, Zoe wiggled closer. Lucy made a small sound of complaint before moving to another section of the bed to groom herself. “I like your stories. Tell me more about me and Wyatt in college.”
Camille complied. In just a few minutes, she heard Zoe’s breathing deepen to a soft snore. Raising her head slightly, she saw that the girl was asleep. Carefully lowering her head back to the mattress, Camille stared at the ceiling. She was stuck. If she moved, Zoe might wake up, but what if she slept until morning?
She heard a light tap on the door and turned to see Steve stick his head in. When he saw the two of them, he smiled. “When it got quiet, I figured one or both of you had fallen asleep.”
“What do I do?” she whispered. There was an itch behind her right knee, and she couldn’t scratch it without disturbing Zoe. “Am I trapped here for the night?”
He muffled a laugh behind his hand as he walked over to the bed. “No,” he said softly. “Once Zoe’s out, she’s dead to the world.” He gently lifted her, and Camille scooted out from underneath, immediately scratching the itch on her leg with utter relief. Steve turned Zoe so she was lying the long way, her head on the pillow. Stroking her hair back from her still-damp cheek, he gave her a kiss on the temple and then ushered Camille out of the room.
As he closed the door softly behind them, Camille started to move toward the stairs, but he caught her hand. Surprised, she allowed him to gently tug her toward him, not stopping until they were almost touching.
“Thank you,” he said, raising their clasped hands and brushing his lips against her knuckles. “You’re such a kind person.”
“Oh…” The kiss and unexpected compliment—as well as Steve’s proximity—threw her off-center, and it took a second for her to recover her ability to speak coherently. “Zoe’s easy to be kind to. Did you hear any of that?”
“Yeah.” He grimaced in sympathy. “I didn’t realize how close she was with Wyatt, but I should’ve guessed. She’s always had a tough time making new friends. The moves have been hard for her.”
The guilt that flashed in his eyes made Camille bold enough to reach up and cup his jaw with her free hand, running her thumb over the slightly bristly skin next to his mouth. “From what you and the kids have told me, you had good reasons for moving. They’ll always have three built-in friends in each other, too.”
His smile stretched wide enough to reach her thumb. “Yeah, I heard. They have friends who will help Zoe test her rocket pack while I huff and puff.”
“And pace.” With the corner of his mouth right there, she couldn’t resist the urge to run her thumb over the fullness of his bottom lip. “Don’t forget that part. Oh, and you rub the back of your neck when you’re upset or worried.”
He sucked in a breath at her touch, his lips parting slightly. She moved her fascinated gaze from his mouth to his eyes, and she was instantly caught by the smoldering heat she saw there.
“Camille…” His voice was so low and guttural that it was almost a growl. The sound of it vibrated through her, melting her, turning her insides into molten heat. Her hand slipped from his face to his chest, and she knotted the flannel fabric of his shirt in her fist, needing to hold on to something and feeling not quite brave enough to grab a handful ofhim.
He released her fingers and cupped her face in both hands, his burning gaze flicking back and forth between her eyes and her mouth. Camille went still, unable to believe that this was actually happening. If she hadn’t felt his gentle, callused hands or the warmth of his breath against her lips, she would’ve thought it was yet another daydream.
This close, she could see the heavy sweep of his lashes and the light laugh lines at the corners of his eyes. She inhaled deeply, taking in his peppermint and evergreen scent, tucking it firmly into her memory so that she’d never forget this moment with Steve.
He shifted closer, and her breath caught, her heart pounding like a jackhammer in her chest. Finally,finally, he closed the last inch between them. With a low groan, his lips pressed against hers.
Chapter 14
She’d been waiting for it, wanting it, needing it, but she went still, startled, when his mouth finally met hers. He was usually so polite, so considerate, often even reserved, but the way he took over her mouth was something totally different. It was hungry and desperate and intense, and it made everything else in the world disappear.
He was kissing her. Steve-freaking-Springfield was kissing her. Despite all her unspoken hopes, Camille had never imagined it would ever happen…or that it would be so incredibly, unbelievablygood.
He tilted her face up, and her paralysis broke. Pressing closer to him, she made a sound so filled with need that it startled her.Did that come from me?Desire roared through her body, heating her skin from the inside out, and she returned his kiss with a hunger that matched his.
His teeth closed lightly on her bottom lip, and she groaned at the unexpected pleasure bubbling up inside her. Taking advantage of her parted lips, he deepened the kiss. The touch of his tongue and the firm pressure of his lips made her shiver and burn at the same time. It was so much more than she’d ever expected, ever imagined in one of her frequent daydreams. The real-life version took her breath away and set her on fire.
She needed more. Clutching his shirt with both hands, she dragged him closer. He came willingly, his chest meeting hers, and he walked her back until her shoulder blades touched the wall behind her. Kissing her even harder, he pressed into her, his hands slipping from her face and finding her sides, tracing the curve of her waist before landing on her hips.
His body holding her against the wall shouldn’t have been as arousing as it was, but she loved it, loved the heavy weight of him as he kissed her deeply. It made her feel both utterly safe and incredibly aroused at the same time. Releasing his shirt, she reached up to slide her fingers around to the back of his head and pull his mouth even more tightly against her own, needing him as close as they could get.
“How’s the Zoe situation? Will you be wrapping things up pretty soon?” Will’s voice got gradually louder, and Steve broke the kiss, lurching back several steps until he bumped into the opposite side of the hallway. Camille panted for breath, and she could see that Steve’s chest was heaving just as much as hers. Her muscles felt so watery that she didn’t trust them to hold her up, so Camille leaned against the wall behind her, letting it take her weight. It was a poor substitute for being plastered against Steve, but Will’s voice was getting closer, and she knew they couldn’t continue making out in front of one of the kids.
“Not to make it all about me, but I’m starv—oh!” Will came into view and stopped abruptly, looking back and forth between the two of them. Even though she and Steve were several feet apart, Will’s slow smirk showed that he knew exactly what they’d been doing before he’d interrupted.
“We’ll be down in a minute.” Steve’s voice was rough, but Camille was impressed by his ability to form an intelligible sentence. Not trusting herself not to babble endlessly if she opened her mouth, she just gave Will an awkward smile that he returned with a wide grin.
“Sorry,” Will said, doing an about-face. “Never mind. We’ll just go ahead and eat. Carry on.” His words faded as he hurried back down the stairs, but his yell to Micah and Maya carried clearly up the stairs to them. “Dad and Camille are making out, so they’ll probably be a while. Let’s eat.”
Steve leaned his head back against the wall, and she let hers fall forward, taking a second to catch her breath before she allowed herself to be mortified that a fourteen-year-old—Steve’sson, no less—had almost caught them kissing. Just calling it kissing made it seem too mild, too tame for what had just occurred. Complete-body kissing? Full-contact kissing? Whatever it was, it’d been mind-blowing, and Camille had to admit to herself that she couldn’t wait to do it again.
With a quiet groan, Steve pushed himself away from the wall behind him. Suddenly, Camille felt unsure and resisted the urge to wrap her arms around her middle. Oddly shy, she kept her eyes on his chin, since she figured it was the safest place for her to focus on. Too high, and she saw his full, slightly swollen mouth, and she’d remember exactly what wonderful things he’d just done with it. Too low, and she’d be looking at his hard chest, and she’d remember just how it felt pressed tightly against her.
