“Not…not a long time.” Her small hands went to push his away, but they lingered as his fingers spread to her waist and moved to hold her there. Involuntarily, her hands slid over his. Her heart was almost shaking her.

His mouth went to her neck. His lips smoothed over it, through the soft strands of her long hair. Odd, how hungry he was for her. He’d never toyed with innocents, not ever. He confined his pursuit to women who were in his own class, models and debutantes, movie stars, even sports stars. This was a tragedy in the making, and he knew it. But she was so damned sweet. She made him ache for things he’d never wanted.

“Mr… Mr…” She swallowed hard. “I can’t remember your last name.”

“My name is Cort,” he whispered at her ear. His big hands contracted, warm and strong around her waist, and pulled her closer. “Say it.”

“Cort,” she whispered shakily. This was wrong. She had to stop it, now while she could. She turned in his grasp.

But before she could protest or say a word, his pale brown eyes caught hers and held them. His hands went to her back and pulled, ever so gently, until she was almost completely plastered to his long, muscular body.

“I… I can’t…” She tried to speak.

“Yes, you can, Mina,” he whispered as his head bent. “Easy,” he murmured as his mouth smoothed tenderly over hers and she jerked in his arms. “Slow and easy. It’s like…dancing.”

She wanted to push him away. She really did. But her body ached from the contact with his. She felt safe. Restless. Hungry. Shaky. And his mouth was doing something unfamiliar to hers. It wasn’t like with Jake. This was arousing, the soft, slow brushing, the faint nip of his teeth, the harsh sound of his breath as the contact worked on him.

Over the years, there had been just a few kisses, most recently Jake’s. But this was totally out of her experience. He made her want something more, harder, deeper, and she found herself going on her tiptoes to try and coax his teasing mouth to do what she wanted it to do.

He smiled against her lips. He knew how women reacted. He knew all too well. He was practiced in this ancient art. His lips coaxed hers apart and his hands half lifted her into a more intimate contact with him. And then the teasing stopped.

His mouth ground into hers, hard and hungry, his arms enclosing her, possessing her, as the kiss grew more intimate by the second.

She felt his powerful body shudder. He groaned against her lips. She was lost, floating, starving to death for something she didn’t understand.

One big hand went to the base of her spine and pushed her hips into his. He shivered, letting her feel the sudden, growing hunger of his body as it began to swell.

She wasn’t so innocent that she didn’t realize what was happening to him. She was almost drugged by the pleasure his mouth was giving her, but the abrupt change of his body brought her back to reality. He was a cowboy. He’d had plenty of women. She knew by the way he was with her. She could recognize experience, even though she had very little. She eased her mouth from under the crush of his and tried to move back.