Jackie Merritt - The Coyote's Cry

She moved against him, an involuntary action caused by total surrender to Bram’s will. She felt his hands moving on her back, up and down, and finally stopping on her bottom. The groan she heard deep in his throat as he cupped her buttocks excited her further, and she brought her hands down from his neck to explore his chest. More than his chest was hard, though, and that was the most exciting thing of all. He wanted her. He couldn’t hide his desire or pretend it didn’t exist, not when the proof of his feelings pressed into her abdomen. She was so thrilled and elated that she mumbled between kisses, “Wait…wait. Let me get out of some of these clothes.”

He inched away from her and watched her shed the robe and let it drop to the floor around her feet. His black eyes devoured the sight of her in a rather sheer white nightgown with tiny straps, standing in front of him with all that long, golden hair draped over her shoulders.

“You are the most beautiful woman in the world,” he said raggedly.

“Oh, Bram, do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” she whispered. And then fear gripped her, for something in what she’d said caused him to begin withdrawing before her very eyes.

He touched her cheek gently. “We can’t do this.”

She had no shame, not now, not when they’d been so close to something meaningful. “Why not?” she whispered.

“I think you know why not.”

Jenna cleared her throat. She couldn’t let this happen. Bram had crossed the line tonight and she couldn’t stand the thought of him retreating behind it again.

“Because of my dad’s attitude?” she said in a stronger voice. “Bram, you must ignore him. Prove you’re the bigger and better man by overlooking his ignorance.”

“How does anyone in Black Arrow overlook Carl Elliot?” Bram took a backward step, and Jenna quickly moved forward, wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek on his chest. “Don’t do this, Jenna,” he said huskily. “I was afraid of this happening the second I saw you getting out of the ambulance. I want you to stay and care for Gran…you are the best nurse in town…but you and I can never be anything but speaking acquaintances.” He grasped her arms and moved away from her. After one more yearning look at her beautiful face, he spun on his heel and walked out.

Jenna was devastated. He’d broken her heart, this time for real, for he’d given her just enough of himself to also give her a glimpse of paradise. Then he’d yanked it all away and told her it would never happen again. With tears burning her eyes, she pulled on her robe and dragged herself back to her lonely twin bed in Gloria’s room.

Jenna thought she would cry her eyes red, but instead she stared at the ceiling and accepted the painful knowledge that she’d responded to Bram with the same fervor with which a starving person devoured food. She felt like a fool, a woman with no will of her own. She would never forgive herself for behaving like a tart, nor would she forgive Bram for treating her as one. He’d kissed and touched her intimately, and she would feel his hands on her body for the rest of her life. Damn him! She turned to her side and the tears finally came, and she wept quietly into her pillow until she finally fell asleep.

Bram never did go back to sleep. An immutable fact nearly drove him crazy: he could have made love to Jenna, his beautiful golden girl, in his own kitchen, and he’d turned her down. Dear God, he could have brought her to his bed and made love with her. The many places in his house where they could have made love haunted him, until he finally gave up on sleep and threw back the covers.

He was dressed and on his way to his great-grandfather’s place before dawn broke.

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