Excerpt of One Moment's Pleasure by Rue Allyn

He saw it coming, and if he'd believed she'd follow through, he might have stopped her.

""How dare you question my virginity! You don't even know me. I, sir, am no whore!""

He put his hand to his stinging cheek and checked to make certain he could still move his jaw.

The slap re–lit his simmering temper, and he advanced on her, retribution his primary goal. She cradled the hand she used to hit him against her waist, using the other to fight a losing battle with her décolletage as step for step she backed away.

The raw panic on her face cooled his ire a bit.

The sinking dress dragged the floor. She caught a heel in the hem, pulling the dress half off her body.

He put out his hands to keep her from falling.

""No!"" She raised her arms as if to protect her face from his fists, giving up all hold on the recalcitrant bodice.

He let his hands drop and closed his eyes to get a mental grip. Finally he got it. He understood what the woman had been saying all along. She wasn't a whore. No whore behaved like this woman–well except for dropping her clothes. Whores did that all the time but not when running away from a client. Whores ran toward clients not away, and drugged up or not they didn't act in ways guaranteed to make a client angry.

He opened his eyes.

""I'm not gonna hurt . . ."" His jaw opened and shut. He couldn't pull his eyes from her naked form. ""For petesakes put your clothes back on.""

He bent, tugging at the cloth around her feet.

""No. Don't do that."" She batted at his arms and twisted downward, trying to rescue the dress.

""Stop fighting me,"" he growled. ""You'll tear it.""

She succeeded in getting a grip on the dress but cracked her head against his. She staggered into him.

""Ow."" He jerked upward, the dress still in his hands.

""Noo!"" Already off balance, her tangled feet slid out from under her along with the cloth. Then her head hit the floor.

For the third time in almost as many days, Dutch had a female at his feet. He stared at the woman sprawled before him. She was beautiful. Naked and beautiful and not moving. How had he gotten into this situation, and who would believe it if he told them? ""Get up. Virgin or not, I'm not fool enough to get down there with you.""

Nothing.

She didn't twitch.