Raif pointed upriver. “I thought we could keep motoring up toward Swan Reach. Or maybe stop near Big Bend for the night and get to Swan Reach in the morning.”
She nodded in agreement and they started the walk back to the boat. As they strolled together, Shanal mulled his words over in her mind. Perspective. That’s what he was giving her here by taking her away like this. Time to make her problems seem less insurmountable than they’d begun to be. A tightness invaded her chest as she thought of what might lay ahead. So far, for her at least, the concept of perspective wasn’t working all that well. Right now, avoidance was her preference.
She staggered a little as Raif gave her a playful shove.
“You’re thinking too hard—I can see smoke pouring from your ears. Come on, I’ll race you back to the boat. Last one there makes lunch!”
Her mind latched onto the challenge. With his long legs and strength she had no doubt that he’d beat her, so she took advantage of the fact he was still talking, and started to run.
“You’re on!” she shouted over one shoulder.
Rapid heavy footsteps gained steadily from behind, making her squeal.
“I never took you for a cheat,” Raif goaded her, from far too close.
“You have to take the advantage where you can!” she laughed, and pushed herself just that little bit harder.
She was out of condition. With helping at home and all the palaver in the lead up to the wedding, combined with her heavy workload, she’d struggled to find time to even do so much as go for a walk each day. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent any time at the gym. A stitch began to develop in her side but she was nothing if not determined. She would win this race.
Shanal had one foot on the gangplank to the boat, then another, and was about to turn and relish her success when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her clean off her feet. She squealed again, this time in surprise, as Raif spun her a full 180 degrees.
“I win!” he crowed as he set foot on the deck and slowly lowered her down, laughing in the face of her frustration.
“And you say I cheated?” Shanal said through gasps of air, turning to him in disgust.
“Hey, you forget. I’ve seen how you can run,” he teased, obviously alluding to her bolt from the church yesterday. “I had to use every advantage I had. Besides, I like to win.”
“That’s not fair,” she protested. Was it only a day ago? It felt like forever. Or did she just wish it was?
“All’s fair in love and war.” He smiled back cheekily.
“You may live to regret that statement,” she warned. “Remember, I can’t cook.”
Raif shrugged. “I also like to live dangerously, don’t you?”
She looked at him and felt a tug that pulled from her core. It had nothing to do with her labored breathing and everything to do with the fact that he still had her in the circle of his arms. Her heart was already pumping hard, her senses heightened, and all she could think of was how snugly she fit against him, how close his lips were to hers. How, if she just flexed her hips a little, she’d be nestled in the cradle of his pelvis.
But did she dare?
She did.
Shanal lifted her hands to his head and tugged it down toward her. “I haven’t had much cause to live dangerously so far, but I’m willing to give it a try.”
And then she kissed him.
Six
She felt the shock roll through his body as her lips touched his. He was unresponsive for a second, then two. She began to wonder if she’d been foolish to do this, to act on the impulse that had overridden her usually careful and considered way of approaching things.
But then his lips began to move over hers, and his arms tightened, pulling her even closer against his body, against his solid strength. Her fingers furrowed through his short dark hair, holding him in place. Not wanting to let him go for a second, because if she did, she’d have to face the questions that would no doubt be in his eyes. Questions she didn’t know the answer to herself.
All she knew was that she suddenly realized just how deeply she longed for this. For this man, for his kiss. She slid her tongue softly along his lower lip, felt the shudder that racked his body, felt him harden against her.
This was how it was meant to be between a man and a woman. Need, desire, want. Not a cold clinical agreement. Not the feeling of being a possession, to be shaped and molded to someone else’s taste. Just the need to possess and be possessed in return. She moaned as Raif’s tongue touched hers, as a flame of heat speared through her body. She pressed against him, aching for him to fill that emptiness that echoed inside her. Desperate for him to ease the pounding demand that throbbed through her veins.