Only 04 - Only Love

the time?”
    Whip’s teeth closed gently over the top of Shannon’s ear. He savored the shiver of awareness that went through her.
    “Well, it’s certainly better than nothing,” she said finally. “But if the, er, whole loaf is at hand, why be satisfied with less?”
    Whip laughed silently and wondered if a mancould die of desire while sitting naked in a hot spring with a virgin widow who was as curious as a kitten.
    And as heedless.
    “Women are more likely to get pregnant during certain times of the month,” Whip said. “That’s when the, um, whole loaf is best kept in the bread drawer. Or drawers.”
    “You’re laughing at me.”
    “No, honey girl. I’m laughing, period.”
    “Why?”
    “You delight me,” Whip said against Shannon’s ear. “I want to kiss you from head to heels and back again, but I don’t trust myself not to take you.”
    Shannon shivered and looked into Whip’s silver eyes. The heat and approval she saw made her heart stop.
    “I’d like to kiss you the same way,” she whispered, “all over, head to heels. You have such a beautiful body, all sleek and powerful and—”
    Warm, wet fingers sealed Shannon’s lips, shutting off the tumbling flow of her words.
    “No more, honey girl. You’re burning me alive.”
    Slowly Whip removed his fingers, caressing every curve of Shannon’s lips as he did.
    “I don’t mean to burn you,” she whispered. “I don’t even know how. Will you teach me, Whip? Will you tell me how to turn the world into a glittering black rainbow for you?”
    “No,” Whip said roughly. “Don’t you understand? I can’t.”

18
    W HIP closed his eyes against the desire raking through his body, tormenting him with what he wanted more than breath— and must not take.
    When his eyes opened, he saw the hurt and confusion in Shannon’s.
    “I want you too much to trust myself,” Whip admitted, his voice raw. “That’s a first. I never had any trouble protecting a woman before.”
    Shannon took a deep, shivering breath. “I don’t understand.”
    “I can take a woman without making her pregnant,” Whip said in a clipped voice. “All I have to do is hold back my own pleasure until I’m not inside her anymore.”
    “Oh.” Shannon frowned thoughtfully. “I understand. I think.”
    Whip didn’t know whether to laugh or curse at his earnest, innocent widow’s expression.
    “It’s not foolproof,” he added. “If a woman is in her fertile time, I don’t risk it.”
    “What’s her fertile time?”
    Whip’s eyelids lowered halfway, making his eyes a smoky silver gray against the heightenedcolor of his face. His thick eyelashes were the same radiant gold as the lantern light itself.
    “Didn’t your mama tell you anything?” Whip asked when he could trust himself to speak.
    “Such as?”
    “Such as women are most likely to get pregnant about halfway through their monthly cycle.”
    A flush that had nothing to do with the hot spring’s warmth crept up Shannon’s body.
    “Oh. Er, no,” Shannon muttered. “She didn’t say anything about that.”
    Whip waited.
    Shannon said nothing.
    “When did you last bleed?” he asked bluntly.
    She swallowed and closed her eyes.
    “First I have Silent John and now I have Talkative Whip,” she muttered.
    “When did you last bleed?” Whip repeated, his eyes level and his tone determined.
    “It—it stopped last night,” Shannon said in a rush.
    Desire lanced through Whip, hotter than any steamy spring, tightening his body even more. Just the thought of pushing into Shannon’s snug, sleek body was enough to take him to the edge of his self-control.
    “Last night, huh?” Whip said huskily.
    Shannon nodded and wondered if her face was as bright a red as she thought it was.
    Whip smiled and nuzzled her ear with his tongue.
    “I didn’t know a woman could blush from her breasts to her forehead,” he said huskily.
    “It’s the heat of the water,” Shannon muttered.
    Whip laughed very softly.
    When Shannon shifted in embarrassment, sheencountered the stark reminder of Whip’s arousal. She stopped moving even as he groaned.
    “I’m sorry,” she said hurriedly. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
    “You didn’t.”
    “It sounded like I did.”
    “You made the same kind of sounds beneath the tarp. Was I hurting you?”
    The sensual shiver of memory that went through Shannon was felt by Whip, too.
    “No,” she whispered. “You didn’t hurt me. I didn’t even know that kind of