His face was above hers, the eyes tender and searching. The blood pounded in her neck and temples. She should push him away...yet she did nothing. His hands slid up her arms, gently caressing her shoulders. Slowly he lowered his head to hers and his lips found hers - warm and questioning. One part of her mind was whispering for her to push him away, but the other side was shouting that it didn't matter. This was the man she loved, and they were engaged. What was so terrible about a simple kiss?
She slipped one arm around his neck and returned the kiss, answering his question. Yes, she did love him. In answer to her response, his kiss lost its hesitancy and became ardent. Not a word said, and yet there it was. They clung to each other in celebration of the occasion.
It wasn't until she felt his warm hand on the bare skin under her shirt that she regained her sense of modesty. She twisted away from him.
"Don't!"
He drew back and studied her face with hungry eyes.
"We can be married in Ashley. No one will ever know. Is it necessary to have someone say words over us, when we already know what we want?"
His words made too much sense - his body so close to hers was warm and inviting. Even his searching hands caused her to hesitate. What was she thinking of? But she had hesitated long enough to lend him encouragement. He pulled her close again, kissing her lips while one hand fumbled with the buttons on her pants.
Suddenly all those annoying rules of conduct began to make sense. She had thought she could never be coerced, but the truth was, she had never been tempted. With every scrap of will power she possessed, she resisted the urge to help him with the buttons. She reluctantly pushed his hands away.
"No," she croaked in a voice barely recognizable as her own.
He frowned, rolling away from her and sitting up. He ran a hand through his hair and clamped his hat on his head.
She sat up, tucking her shirt back into her pants. He was avoiding her eyes. What must he think of her, encouraging him one minute, and then turning away the next? She picked up her hat.
"Are you angry with me?"
He glanced up sharply. "No. You're right. Not here. Not now. It would be dangerous. I should have known better." He smiled wryly. "Now you know why men object to having women on the trail with them."
She stiffened. "Because we tempt men to evil, like Eve did Adam?"