Sexual tension

The novel I am writing focuses on a young woman - it is essentially a hero's journey that combines elements of greek and roman mythology in a loose allegory of christianity in general.

Here's my problem: I am quite confortable with the character and the story seems to be developing quite naturally. However, I am having trouble finding a way to connect my heroine romantically with another character (a young man) who was written to ultimately serve that purpose, but I am finding that in the writing process there is a natural attraction between my heroine and her friend (another young woman). It is a very confusing time for my heroine, what with the changes in her body and emotions associated with that. I like the idea of working with the sexual tension between them, but I do not know how I should resolve it one way or the other. Please help!

Note:
The following excerpt is not intended to illustrate my dilemma as mentioned above, rather it is simply a sample of the dynamic between the two characters. It is not intended to be read in a sexual context (as far as I was concerned at the time of writing). My dilemma stems from story progression that I am currently developing. Sorry for the confusion!

Excerpt (pending edits):
Moonlight danced off the amber stone mounted in silver and gold on the face of the circlet. Small laurel leaves spilled from the mounting and twisted about the band like vines. Set with incredible care were dozens of dark jade shards. It resembled the circlet the Queen wore on state occasions and at court. No, Auri corrected herself, it was the same circlet. Queen Cerlain gave Auri her circlet. Auri’s hands shook as she touched the finely worked silver and steel band; her fingers ran along its circumference and came to a rest on the golden stone pinched in the mounting. She starred at the circlet in her hands hoping to divine some meaning from its presence.

Auri jumped when the door swung open to reveal Tellia standing in the doorway. The expression on her face was tentative and Auri realized with belated concern that she had excluded her truest friend. The slight was unintentional and Auri beckoned the young woman over. “My Aunt bid me to open this alone.” Auri explained. Tellia’s eyes went wide at the sight of the silver circlet in Auri’s hands.

“Is that real? I mean, is that what I think it is?” Tellia stammered.

Auri nodded solemnly and handed the circlet to her friend. Tellia held it with great care as if she might snap it in two with the barest touch of her fingers. “It’s beautiful.” She whispered. “But why did the Queen give this to you?”

Auri had no answers and she shrugged in response. The two admired the circlet until Tellia urged Auri to put it on. “No. I can’t; this doesn’t feel right.” Auri wrapped the circlet up in the doeskin cloth and bound it tight. “My cousin and sisters are fist in line for the throne if anything happens to her.”

“You’re worried about the Mineadans, aren’t you?” Tellia fell back into the soft sheets of their bed and stretched her arms past her head until she was almost touching the far edge.

“If the Mineadans attack, they will dispose of the Kels who do not submit. Kel’Amareh will never submit to the Mineadans – ever.” Auri knelt at the foot of the bed and reached under to where a small hole wide enough to slip her finger through, was chiseled into one of the tiles. She lifted the small marble tile and deposited the circlet into the dark recess below. They had discovered the small hide-hole when they first moved into the room. There were other little hiding places like the one in the floor but none were as well concealed. Whatever Queen Cerlain’s reasons for giving Auri the circlet, it would remain safely tucked away in the hole until she could find out.

“What will you do, my Queen?” Tellia grinned but her expression faded when Auri shot her a hard look. “Don’t call me that. Please promise me you won’t call me that.” She bit her lip as she stewed over the mystery and lay down beside her friend. Tellia wrapped her arms about Auri and rested her chin on her shoulder. “What will you do?”

“I don’t know.” Auri closed her eyes, hoping the questions would settle long enough to get some sleep. Kittaman expected her early tomorrow and she needed to be rested for training. Tellia was already asleep when Auri looked over. She gave her friend a soft peck on her forehead and closed her eyes. She resolved to talk to Kemmri later the next day. Auri held to the frail hope that the Loarkynn would have some answers as she drifted off to sleep.

Thanks for the advice, I may go on a short tangent later on to explore if this tension between one or both of the characters works for the the characters or myself. zenofeller, the excerpt wasn't intended to explicitly illustrate the tension, rather it is just one of a handful of scenes where innocence might eventually turn in other directions. It is the build up to the tension.

Miss Java, thank you so much for the insight -- that is exactly what has been bothering me; I've been trying to identify the dynamic between the two girls and I think you have hit the nail on the head. I do not want to bring sex into this story unless it serves to further the plot instead of some meaningless act thrown in for a cheap thrill.

As for the male character, he does have a considerable impact in the story and I only write characters into plotlines if they serve a purpose, otherwise they are incidentals and I take them only so far.

Thanks everyone for your replies!

TrainofThought, you are correct in that observation; the excerpt was provided as a glimpse of the characters and not necessarily in a sexual context.

I am happy with my characters so far, as their personalities have developed to a point where the stories and scenes pretty much write themselves. That is not to say that I do not reign them in when they veer to far off of my outline. On that note, I am finding it quite useful to maintain an outline. The exercise of simply fleshing out the story in broad strokes really helps to organize the direction the characters should go in. How they get there comes from their personalities and the way it affects certain decisions. I have learned that setting goals that are too specific inhibits the character's freedom to make choices save those that always skew to the ultimate goal.

The romantic/sexual aspect of this story serves only as a backdrop for character development. It really bothers me when I read books where the sex adds no value to the plot. R.A. Salvatore tends to do this in more of his gothic/vampire novels, but wisely veers away from it in the Dritz series.

There have been so many great responses regarding this post and I am glad for all the different points of view that have served to give me some perspective on the mater. Miss Java has certainly hit the nail on the head with her observation and Éclairer, your observations are interesting in that it highlights a possibility I have been meaning to explore with Tellia.

How about that warm fuzzy feeling!