Reckless Moon by Doreen Owens Malek Read Free Book Online Page B

reception.”
    Beth tried to hang on to the last vestiges of her pride, her resistance, but they were slipping rapidly out of reach. This was Bram, and he was touching her, holding her. Other concerns just didn’t seem to matter.
    “We’ve waited so long to be together again,” he said huskily. “Let’s not fight.” His lips brushed her cheek.
    Beth’s head turned involuntarily to bring her mouth to his. He kissed her gently at first, her awareness distracted slightly by the unfamiliar, tactile softness of his mustache, his beard. But then, as the pressure of Bram’s lips increased, she was submerged in a rush of sensual memory so intense her knees went weak and she dug her nails into his arms for support. After all this time, she thought dizzily, how can it still be so strong? She didn’t understand the basis of an attraction that could endure with such force, without contact, for such a long period. All she knew was that for ten years, through every experience of her life, she had never met a man who could make her feel what Bram was making her feel now.
    He lifted his mouth from hers and kissed her neck, brushing her hair away from her ear and whispering into it, “Do you want to go upstairs?”
    When Beth hesitated he bent his head and trailed his lips inside the collar of her dress, kissing her collarbone. He dropped his hands to her hips and pulled her tight against him, letting her feel his arousal. Beth gasped and went limp in his arms. Bram held her gently for a moment, as if to reassure her, and then turned her toward the stairs.
    The movement released Beth from her trance. I can’t let this happen, she thought wildly. He doesn’t love me; if I go with him I will be no different from all the others. Bram was special to her, he always would be, and if she couldn’t be special to him, she would be nothing at all.
    “No,” she said suddenly, clearly, and Bram stopped dead.
    He grasped her shoulders and stared into her face. “What?”
    “I said no. I can’t do this.”
    “Beth, why not? You want me. That’s one thing that has never changed.”
    “I didn’t say I didn’t want you. But I needed more when I was sixteen, and I still do. You can give me your body, Bram, but I want you to give yourself. Until you’re ready to do that please don’t tempt me with glimpses of something that just can’t be.”
    He was silent, his expression shrouded, and then he released her. “All right,” he said finally. “I’ll go. But it could have been very good for us.”
    Beth’s breath caught in her throat. She had no doubt of that. Her heart was still racing from her short time in his embrace.
    “I’m sure it’s been good for you with a lot of women,” Beth replied, her voice unsteady.
    He smiled faintly. “Stubborn as always, I see,” he said softly.
    Her chin came up slightly. “I hold out for what I want, Bram. If that makes me stubborn, then I guess I am.” She touched his cheek, and his eyes closed. “You were my first taste of love, Abraham Curtis, and I’ve always wanted to have the rest. But not this way.”
    His eyes opened and looked into hers. “You think I’m not capable of love?” he asked, with a note of despair in his voice.
    Beth held herself back from putting her arms around him again. He sounded as if he were worried about the issue himself.
    “I think you’re capable of great love,” she answered quietly. “But you have to take a chance with your feelings first. And somehow I know that will be very difficult for you.”
    He didn’t answer, merely picked up the hand that had touched his face and kissed it. Then, without a word, he walked to the door and left.
    Beth went back into the living room and made the drink she’d refused earlier. She heard Bram’s car start, and she sat in the stillness long after the sound of the motor had faded into silence.
    Bram was the only man she had ever wanted, and she had let him go. He was the only lover she had ever desired; in