Page 54 of Pure Temptation in Cowboy Boots

The moon lit their path and gave him an arousing view of Tess moving along ahead of him, her hips swaying gently in rhythm with Peppermint Patty’s brisk little walk. When the trail curved so he caught her in profile, he became more convinced that she didn’t have a bra on under her shirt.

And then she took off the shirt.

He could hardly believe she was doing it and wondered if he was having another potent dream, complete with crickets chirping and an owl hooting in the distance.

A few moments later the shirt came sailing back toward him, and he was so dumbfounded he was barely able to snag it before it dropped to the ground. “Hey!”

“What?” She turned in the saddle, giving him a breathtaking view of her breast bathed in moonlight.

“What are you doing?”

Even from this distance, the mischief was obvious in her smile. “Getting you hot.”

“I’m already hot!” Squirming in the saddle, to be more accurate. Panting, lusting, longing for relief from this agonizing need to be deep inside her.

“Then hotter.”

“Damn, Tess.” Her shirt was scented with her cologne, and something even more erotic, the fragrance of Tess, aroused and ready for love. He bunched it in one fist and held it to his nose. Oh, Lord. That scent... memories of lying between her thighs, of tasting her, whirled through his fevered brain. “Why does your shirt smell so... good?”

“A little trick I read in the book I brought along tonight.”

“What trick?”

“Oh, you just find a way to convey your own special perfume to your lover. They say it works better than any manufactured perfume from the store.”

He watched her through a haze of desire. “They would be right. You’re not wearing panties under your shorts, are you?”

“No.”

“So you took this shirt and put it⁠—”

“In a very special place. Then I sent it back to you. You know, the motion of this horse is... very nice.”

Mac groaned. “Ease up on me, Tess. I’m a desperate man.”

“The book says anticipation is everything.”

“Bull. Anticipation is excruciating.” He heard the gurgle of the river ahead. Almost there. Smelling the water, the horses picked up the pace, and he tortured himself with imagining the sweet jiggle of Tess’s breasts in the moonlight. He reached down and pulled the blanket out of his saddlebag and tucked her shirt in its place. He had no intention of wasting time once they got to the river.

Tess headed Peppermint Patty down the embankment and was off her horse in no time. She left the mare ground-tied, as she and Mac always did when they came down here at night. The horses weren’t going far in the dark, and they provided a good warning system for snakes.

Mac’s view of Tess was blocked by her horse as he dismounted, holding the blanket. But when she stepped out from behind Peppermint Patty into a pool of moonlight, Mac lost his grip on the blanket. She was naked.

“Does this come close enough to your fantasy?” she murmured.

As he gazed at her standing in the silvery light like some nymph from a fairy tale, the water rippling and flashing behind her, his throat tightened with desire. “It goes beyond it,” he said huskily. “I don’t think I could dream something this beautiful, so I sure hope you’re real.”

“I’m real.” She walked toward him across the sand and he noticed the small book in her hand. “And I want to make love with you, Mac.”

Make love. His throat ached with emotion as he faced the truth — making love was exactly what he’d be doing, perhaps for the first time in his life. But for Tess, this might only be a stepping stone, an initiation into pleasures she would one day enjoy with another man. He had to protect his heart. “I see you have your reference book, there,” he said, trying to keep his tone light.

“You said you wanted to see it.”

“Oh, I do.” But technique didn’t seem to matter much now. Still, she wanted an education, and he’d been chosen to help her learn. That in itself was an amazing gift he’d been given, and to expect more would be greedy. He leaned down, picked up the blanket and shook it out, settling it on the sand. She stretched out on it while he started taking off his clothes with shaking hands.

The process took longer than he wanted because he couldn’t stop looking at her lying there like some sort of nature goddess. He never would have guessed that their old meeting spot by the river could turn into such a seductive place. More than seductive. Tess made his heart ache with her beauty.

Sunday night she’d totally captivated him with her white satin and rose-colored bedroom, but there was something even wilder about this scene. Not far away a pack of coyotes howled and yipped, hunting, perhaps even mating by the light of the full moon. The sound stirred basic instincts deep within him. He’d do well to ignore them. They could only get him into more trouble.