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When she first moved to Pelican Town, the farmer was nothing but a swirling polar vortex barely contained in her own skin. Years of hunching over a desk, kowtowing to middle managers, and apologizing to stupid customers had scooped out her insides and left nothing but roiling frost behind.
She could feel it – she knew she was made of ice.
Though she occasionally felt tempted to allow herself to melt, charmed by the picturesque beauty of the valley in spring and the friendliness of her new neighbors, she held firm. The ice protected her. It gave her the resolve she needed to push through long days on the farm despite the sore muscles and the lingering loneliness of moving to a new town.
Even as the heavy heat of the Pelican Town summer squatted over the valley, she maintained her cold inner composure. Her neighbors would have described her, if asked, as outgoing. Gregarious. Warm. They didn’t realize just how capable she was of maintaining an emotional distance from the people she interacted with. The farmer’s closest friends were Leah and Elliott, with whom she laughed over glasses of wine in the Stardrop Saloon without telling them anything they could potentially use against her.
That all changed when she finally met the town doctor.
It all started with a look.
Dr. Harvey Caldwell maintained a cool veneer, but on the inside, he was always one step away from boiling over. He had never anticipated spending his professional days counting pennies to keep his clinic afloat, trying to convince people not to go into dangerous places like the mines without proper protection, and frantically working to learn the ins and outs of insurance coverage for his poorest patients. Every disappointing phone call with an insurance rep and every fruitless conversation with a stubborn patient pushed him closer to the edge of a flaming inferno.
Nobody in Pelican Town knew.
And yet, when the farmer trudged into the clinic for a tetanus shot after scraping her arm on a rusty nail and met Harvey for the first time, she immediately recognized the mask he wore. The fire in his eyes threatened to melt her, if only she would let it.
How strange that, in her six months since moving to Pelican Town, the reclusive doctor and the reclusive farmer never met. How strange that she hadn’t noticed him – his height, his thick brown hair (graying at the temples), his firm, sure hands.
The paper covering the examination table crinkled and crackled under her thighs. She wore her usual summer uniform: short overalls, a tank top, work boots, a thin layer of dirt. He wore his usual summer uniform: white coat, glasses, a slightly tense smile. She shifted uncomfortably as he prepared the shot, pressing her thighs together, trying to ignore the way his shoulders filled out his coat.
The farmer’s eyes closed as she inhaled the arctic blast of the air conditioner, trying to gather the frigid air around her like a shield. Harvey stepped closer, and she felt the heat emanating from his body.
He seemed to do his best not to touch her bare skin directly.
She did her best to ignore the tension she felt as the seconds ticked by, chattering lightly about the ridiculous heat wave as he responded with small nods and smiles. There was just one problem: as he finished putting a bandage on the injection site, his hand brushed against the bare skin of her arm. He snatched it back as if burned, but she thought he was the one actually doing the burning.
A tiny tendril of flame curled in her abdomen, making her blush with its heat.
She could feel the ice begin to melt, just a little bit.
After that, the farmer saw the doctor everywhere. She couldn’t even drop by to see George, the only person in Pelican Town as cantankerous as she felt on the inside, without seeing the fiery eyes of the town doctor. When she smirked at Harvey after convincing George to listen to his advice, it felt like he understood her in a way nobody else in Pelican Town did – like he, too, saw through the mask she wore to the ice underneath.
So really, in a way, it was inevitable.
What started as a tiny spark grew with every interaction. Each time she saw him treat a villager with outward kindness and turn away, barely masking his frustration with their reluctance to listen to his advice, that little finger of fire in her gut grew.
Every accidental touch – touching arms while reaching for the same jar of pickles at Pierre’s, brushing fingers when Harvey passed her some forms to sign – made things worse. Soon, the farmer actively cursed her luck, desperately trying to hold on to her ice.
And failing.
So, when the entire town crammed around a couple of pushed-together tables at the Stardrop Saloon for Willy the fisherman’s birthday party, who could blame her for ending up next to him? Who could blame her for being drawn like a moth to his flame, despite herself? His shoulder pressed into hers – it all felt a little like the games of sardines she played as a kid, but around a burnished wooden table instead of a dark hiding place. Too little space, too many people. She hated it then, but now, she couldn’t seem to make herself mind.
The farmer crossed and uncrossed her legs. A drop of sweat traced its way down her back.
Marnie, on the farmer’s left side, chattered on and on about her new goats, a welcome diversion from the heavy, warm weight of Harvey’s shoulder on hers. Eventually, the farmer found herself staring down at the whorls on the table, counting the nicks on the wood to distract herself from the firm set of his mouth, the way his tie hung loosely around his neck.
Pam’s loud laugh, bursting forth from the other side of Harvey, pulled her from her reverie, and she caught him staring at her mouth. Instead of looking away immediately like she hoped he would, his gaze lingered.
She pressed the still-frosty beer glass to her cheek surreptitiously, hoping to cool down the unwelcome flush creeping up her neck.
Only a few seconds passed, but by the time Harvey looked away, she had forgotten to breathe, frozen in time and space. Slowly, his leg pressed up against hers, as if testing for her reaction. She exhaled shakily.
Steeling herself, she moved her hand to rest on the edge of her right leg. She rubbed her thigh slowly, fully aware that each motion also rubbed against Harvey’s leg where it touched hers. His shoulders tensed, and she did her best to hold back a smirk. She left her hand there, touching him with one side of her hand, as she turned her attention back towards Marnie.
Through the next five minutes of conversation about types of hay and the latest shenanigans of Marnie’s ward, Harvey never moved his leg away. He turned his attention to his other table partner, and as he talked, he placed his hand on his leg, right next to hers.
When he began slowly moving his fingers against hers under the table, her breath caught.
Marnie paused, confused by the expression on her face. “You okay there, kid?”
The farmer swallowed heavily. “I’m fine. Just... forgot something I meant to do on the farm today. It’ll be okay.”
Under the table, Harvey’s pinky finger wrapped around hers.
She plastered a vacant smile on her face while Marnie smiled and continued telling her about Jas’s newfound interest in baking. The farmer nodded politely at what she thought were appropriate moments, but she was, quite understandably, distracted.
Under the table, Harvey’s thumb slowly brushed back and forth across her knuckles, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Despite the heat of his touch, she shivered.
Just when she thought she couldn’t handle any more tension, Harvey shifted in his seat, removing his hand from hers. She pushed away the heavy disappointment that settled into her chest, trying to retreat into her ice shield, when his lips brushed against her ear.
“Meet me at the clinic in five minutes?” he muttered.
Startled, she turned to look at him and was shocked to see his pupils blown wide, a faint flush on his cheeks. She had expected a smirk, but instead he just looked... earnest.
She nodded slowly, eyes wide. He squeezed her hand, then pushed away from the table, walking over to Willy to say his goodbyes. The farmer tried to return her attention to Marnie, but found herself distracted by Harvey’s long fingers as he pulled cash out of his wallet to pay for his drinks, by the way he seemed so calm and collected when she knew he was every bit as affected as she was as he walked out the door.
Five minutes never went by so slowly.
She excused herself in a daze, too aware of where her clothes touched her sensitive, overheated skin to offer anything more than a cursory goodbye to Willy.
She crossed the square to the clinic, trying to remember her ice shield.
Get it together. Keep your cool.
In the two minutes it took for her hand to land on the door handle to the clinic, she calmed her breathing. Did she even really need to go into the clinic? It was safer to stay away from Harvey’s heat. No chance of melting if she stayed away.
She lingered, indecisive, when the handle suddenly moved under her fingers. Harvey opened the door, and one look into his olive-green eyes sealed the deal.
“Hi,” he said, his gaze wandering down to her mouth. “Would you like to come in?”
The farmer was surprised to find herself nodding without hesitation. She stepped forward into the icy chill of the clinic. Harvey didn’t move back, and she found herself inches away from his button-down shirt. He had been kind enough (or perhaps cruel enough) to undo the top two buttons and loosen his tie, and she swallowed hard as she noticed it.
“My apartment is just up the stairs. I can pour us a night cap.”
“I’d like that,” she said. She followed him through the double doors at the back of the clinic and up to his second floor living space.
Later, she would be ashamed to realize that she remembered almost no details about Harvey’s apartment. She would never forget the way she wanted to run her fingers through his hair when she noticed one lock of hair sticking up, slightly out of place. Harvey busied himself at the kitchenette, pouring her a glass of her favorite wine. Later, she would wonder how he knew what she liked. But for that moment, nothing else mattered except the pull of his jacket against his shoulders and the smooth line of his jaw.
Nothing else mattered, so she closed the gap between them, every nerve ending alight. He turned to face her, his back against the kitchen counter. Inches apart, his wine-warm breath filled the air as her eyes fluttered closed. She was nothing more than tinder, bone-dry.
“Can I?” he said, licking his lips and lifting up her chin to look into her eyes.
“Please,” she breathed, perhaps a little too earnest for her own good.
He smiled, threading his fingers through her hair. The moment his lips met hers, an enormous chunk of the glacier within her melted. Her hands came up to rest as lightly as possible on his chest – which is to say that she gathered the fabric of his shirt in her fists and pulled on him greedily, his body abruptly flush against hers. She couldn’t bring herself to calm down, to play it cool. Every nerve ending in her body burst into flames, and she could only give in to her urge for more.
His mouth, where it met hers, was warm, inviting. She lost herself in the way he consumed her, all heat and need. His lips left her mouth, trailing soft kisses over her jaw line before nuzzling at a sensitive spot just behind her ear. His hands strayed downward, exploring, tracing fingertips over her waist, her hips. She moaned softly, running one hand up his back and burying her fingers in his short hair.
He groaned, turning them around while lifting her up. Before her arousal-fogged mind could catch up, she was sitting on the countertop, Harvey’s fingers drawing lazy circles on her thighs as his tongue slipped into her mouth.
Without warning, the last of the ice melted. The tiny spark within her combusted, carrying her away in a scorching inferno of need.
Harvey’s fingers slowly moved towards her core, light and sure and patient. She couldn’t stop herself from reciprocating, moving her hand up his thighs and over the heavy ridge of his cock. As she began to stroke him gently, his breath hitched.
“Please, Harvey,” she whispered, pulling back slightly to look at him, his fingers paused over the zipper of her jeans. “I need you.”
Electricity danced on her skin as she let her fingers trace the outline of his red, kiss-swollen lips.
Eyes locked on hers, Harvey pulled her zipper down slowly. She bit her lip as he popped open the button. The next thing she knew, both of their pants were undone, pooled around their hips, and her hand was wrapped around his cock, stroking it firmly as his eyes fluttered shut. She marveled at the velvety hardness of him, the way that his need for her revealed itself so clearly between her fingers.
Harvey’s fingertips drifted under the band of her underwear. Her fire raged ever stronger as he cupped her core, pressing the heel of his hand to her most sensitive spot. She sighed. Her hips pushed forward into his hand. Against her lips, he smiled. His hand pulled back – his thumb rubbing slow, sure circles over her clit. He pulled back to watch her reactions as he rubbed first one direction, then the other. Once he found a rhythm she liked, he kept moving until she forgot all about his cock in her hand in a haze of arousal.
Dazed, she could hold herself back no longer. “Bed. Please, Harvey,” she said breathlessly.
He grunted and assented immediately, fingers digging into her backside as he walked them blindly into the bedroom. She lost herself in his fierce kiss, a sea of flames separating her from the rest of the world. He laid her down gently (later, she would marvel at his gentleness), tongue exploring her mouth.
One hand supported his weight while the other drifted up, cupping her breast. He pulled her shirt and bra down, exposing her to the chilly air. A groan escaped her before she could help it, and he smiled. Leaning down, he wrapped his lips around one nipple, sucking lightly.
The softness of the blankets under her back didn’t matter. The cold, air-conditioned air didn’t matter. She arched into him impatiently, blood buzzing in her ears.
Finally, finally, he leaned his hips into hers, his cock settling between her legs just where she needed it. She thrust up against him impatiently, incredibly aware of how empty she was as she clenched around nothing.
Desperately, greedily, she shoved her thumbs into the waistband of his pants. He acquiesced with a quiet chuckle, removing his underwear and pants right before he removed hers. She lifted up her hips to help him, biting her lip at the deep flush painting his chest.
He reached into his nightstand drawer, pulling out a condom with a bashful smile at her. The corners of her lips pulled up as she watched him roll it on with a practiced motion.
Then, his mouth was back on hers in a bruising kiss, leaving her breathless and wanting. She tilted her hips up, urging him towards her core with a quiet whine.
“Please, Harvey,” she said. “Please.”
He let out a shuddering sigh and cupped her jaw gently. With his eyes trained on her, he pressed into her gently. Patient as always, careful as always, he moved a little deeper with each stroke, leaving every nerve on fire as he stroked her mouth with his tongue at the same time as his cock moved more deeply within her.
The farmer groaned. “Fuck, Harvey, you feel so good.”
“You’re perfect,” he said roughly, burying his face into the crook of her neck.
The tension built with each press of his cock into her. Harvey took his time, moving slowly, deliberately, and the sheer discipline it took for him to keep his calm brought her close to the edge. Her eyes fluttered shut and she pushed back against him mindlessly, lost to everything but the feel of him inside of her and the light suction of his lips against her neck.
Fire pooled low in her abdomen. She crossed her ankles behind his back, urging him to move faster, deeper. White light erupted in the space between his lips, his cock, and the feel of his fingers on her breast, shattering and splintering her world as she pulsed hard around him.
Harvey worked her through the orgasm, moving steadily as the aftershocks rippled through her. Finally, he moved to chase his own pleasure, the thrust of his hips becoming more erratic as he pressed one of her knees to the mattress with one hand. The farmer moved her mouth to the juncture between Harvey’s neck and shoulder, sucking lightly as he rode out his own waves of pleasure.
The farmer quickly found herself sinking back into the ice. The combination of the chilly air, the stickiness between her legs, and her inability to say literally anything interesting after fucking the town doctor left goose bumps on her skin and a frosty chill in her chest. She began planning her exit strategy, desperate to get back to the comfort of her icebox.
That is, until the town doctor, in all of his burning heat, disposed of his condom and curled around her, running his fingers through her hair.
“I’ve never felt anything like that before,” he murmured, scratching her scalp lightly. “Will you stay with me tonight?”
The farmer smiled and nodded, the ice in her chest melting into a warm glow.