Crushing Desire by April Dawn Page B

came to her cheek, his thumb caressing her jaw.
    It was agreeable, and yet somewhere in the back of her mind Reena felt she was betraying Joshua. It was an odd thought. After all, Joshua wasn’t even courting her. Joshua’s face morphed in her mind, and she saw him lying on the ground as he was after her botched kiss, eyes wide, mouth open.
    Michael’s mouth slid to cover her lips more fully. Her mind screamed at her to stop him with the image of Joshua’s face floating in her head. She tried to tell herself that if she continued to wait for him, she would soon find herself a spinster. Her nineteenth birthday was days away. She might be put on the shelf if she didn’t find a husband in the next year or so.
    She broke off the kiss and looked out the carriage, her fingers wiping discreetly at her lips. His kiss had not been unpleasant, not that she was a consummate judge of course, but there was no fire. When she was confronted by an amorous suitor, there was always the concern that he would eventually seduce her. Yet she was even more worried in some ways that she would not be seduced, by anyone. Ever. That she would become a dried up spinster, destined to chaperone nieces, and grandnieces until at the last she died alone, having never known the truth about love, passion, and the difference between them.
    “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself,” he said. Reena shifted back to face him, and Michael’s eyes softened. Then as he always did, he turned to jokes. “It’s the full moon, you know, turns us men into raging beasts.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
    She hoped he didn’t think there was a problem with him—that she disliked him personally. He was wonderful; she was the one with the problem. A tall, blond problem that her heart refused to fix.
    “No, it was lovely. I…I was concerned that Ms. Benton would wake.”
    Emily stirred, mumbled and slept on. Reena suppressed the smile that fought to come.
    “Of course. I do suppose I could have been a tad more discreet, couldn’t I?” His huge grin lit up his whole face, and he took her hand again, entwining his fingers in hers. “But alas, we brutish men and that enticing full moon. I may not be able to control myself tonight. I may have to kiss you again. In a more discreet location, of course.”
    He leaned in, his breath hot against her neck.
    “Perhaps the neck? Or the ear?” he whispered.
    The thought of his warm lips on her collar where his breath fanned her was surprisingly sensual. Reena found herself holding her breath, waiting to see if Michael would move his lips there now when she realized that she was imagining him to be Joshua.
    As Joshua came to her mind again she ran her tongue over her lower lip, facing the curtained window. The coach heaved to a stop, and Reena could hear running water as the nearby river raced along its banks. Thick trees lined the water on both sides, and the clean scent of nature permeated the carriage. Michael stepped down, handed her down and started away from the vehicle.
    “But, Emily...,” she began.
    “She’ll be all right. We need some privacy tonight anyhow.” He continued along the river.
    Reena walked with him, her heart beating hard. Was he going to ask her? No, surely not. Perhaps she should insist they get Emily. But if she did, any chance of a romantic proposal would be lost. But did she want a proposal? If he did, could she bring herself to say yes? Could she marry this man and face the gut wrenching guilt that might fill her at his every touch for the rest of her life? And what if he only hoped to lull her into a sense of security so that he could seduce her.
    She had just decided that she would insist that they get Emily when the river unexpectedly widened.
    Reena gasped at the delightful little waterfall that she’d known nothing about. It ran into a pool that, in turn, formed the long river. The sparkling water shimmered as it moved beneath the light of the stars and moon. There was a thin white