She eased hers open and angled her head a bit more. She needed to relax! But what about her tongue? She was definitely going to use her tongue, but how much of it? And when?

Mat felt Nell’s growing tension and started to draw away to see what was wrong, but some instinct made him hesitate. One moment she’d been soft and warm, but now she was stiff as a board. She seemed to be working at it instead of just enjoying what was happening.

He could almost hear the hinge on her jaw creak as she parted her lips. The tip of her tongue ventured forward, then stalled. He remembered that stupid comment he’d made last night about the way she kissed. For someone who knew a lot more than he wanted to about female psychology, he’d made an unbelievable blunder. Now he had to fix the harm he’d done.

Although it cost him, he drew back from that determined little hard-pointed tongue, grazed her earlobe with his mouth, and whispered, “Take it easy with me, sweetheart. A man can only handle so much.”

Her eyelids flickered against his cheek, and he knew he’d given her something to think about. Her body relaxed. She cupped his head in her hands and sealed her mouth right across his. This was a lot more like it. He smiled to himself.

She jerked back, her eyes stricken as she looked up at him. “You’re laughing!”

His stomach sank. He really was a jerk, even when he wasn’t trying to be. “You bet I am. Kissing you makes me the luckiest man in the world right now, and I’m celebrating.”

She didn’t look quite so agitated, but she did look suspicious. “Go ahead and critique me,” she said. “I know you want to.”

“What I want to do is get back to kissing you.” Screw it. He’d given sensitivity his best shot, and now he pulled her hard against him. Some men were better off just being jerks.

This time he didn’t give her a chance to get those mental wheels turning. Instead, he staked his territory and let her keep up.

Their kiss was deep and so lusty she didn’t have time to think about where her tongue was going because his was already there. He’d never been able to understand men who only wanted to get to the main event. He loved kissing. And kissing this innocent, classy woman was especially sweet.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders, and he slipped his hands under her top so he could do what he’d been wanting to all day.

Her skin was as soft as her mouth. He moved his palm up along her side, only to discover she wasn’t wearing a bra. Just like that, he captured the sweet, small mound of her breast beneath his hand.

She quivered.