Leaned against the trunk of a pine, hidden by the shadows of the dense forest, Rhett Porter pushed the Stetson up his brow. Of all the things he encountered in these mountains--and he came across a lot in his thirty-three years of life--never had he witnessed the likes of this.

Across the stream, knelt at the edge of a flat rock on the riverbed, a golden-haired woman splashed water over her face and naked chest. The snow runoff caused her honey-toned skin to prickle, her nipples to stiffen at the tips of full breasts.

Rhett could almost taste the rosy buds in his mouth, feel her goose bumped flesh under his hands. In an attempt to block out the heat surging to his loins, he shifted his hips, wondering if he should splash some of that cold water over his own body. Clearly, he’d spent too much time alone for he could not deny the fierce reaction to the woman.

Unable to turn away, Rhett adjusted his position against the tree and continued to watch the goddess bathe, not entirely sure he wanted to end the experience. His reason for being here momentarily forgotten, he simply enjoyed. She appeared to be a heavenly vision of beauty, only she was real. Incredibly, tantalizingly real.

It’d been a long time since he’d seen a woman in a state of undress. Like a man in the desert thirsty for water, he longed to cross the stream, unbutton those jeans, dip his hand inside, and feel...

A rustle in the brush behind the woman pulled Rhett’s attention away from his thoughts. Instinctive reaction sent his hand to retrieve the Beretta from its holster. One glance back to the woman told him she heard the sound, too. She jumped from the rock, yanked her shirt off a branch, and attempted to thrust her arms into it as she studied the terrain.

With long strides forward, Rhett focused his sight back on the target. Seeing a camouflage jacket move with his trained eye, he leapt the width of the stream, caught the woman by the waist, whisked her behind him in a fluid motion, and aimed his pistol.

"Redding, drop your weapon and come out. I have my gun pointed directly at you." He kept his voice even, though full of command.

With a shriek, the woman toppled backward, plunging into the stream. Rhett whirled around and pulled her from the icy current. The woman clasped under his arm, he returned his attention to where he saw the man he hunted.

Redding was gone, having taken the moment of distraction for his benefit and fled. "Damn!" Rhett lowered the gun and shoved it into place.

The woman pounded at his chest. He looked down at her, his gaze locked with lucid blue eyes. The world seemed to halt as her beauty captured him. Redding ceased to exist.