Only 04 - Only Love

aroused flesh.
    “No,” he said thickly. “It’s too dangerous. Too many days have gone by.”
    “Then at least let me bring you ease.”
    With an anguished sound, Whip dragged Shannon’s hands back up his body.
    “No,” he said curtly. “Don’t you understand? I don’t trust myself. I start out telling myself that we’ll just pet each other a bit, no more. Just mutual ease and comfort. Then your breath begins to break and you tremble and I feel the honey and fire between your legs and all I want to do is bury myself in you.”
    Shannon’s breath caught.
    “And that’s just what I do each time,” Whip saidbitterly. “I lock myself inside you and the honey flows and the fire burns and nothing else is real. No sorrow, no pain, no thought, nothing but you and me and the kind of white-hot pleasure I’ll die remembering.”
    “It’s the same for me,” Shannon said against Whip’s mouth. “Be a part of me, Whip. I love the way it feels when you’re deep inside me.”
    “Haven’t you been listening? It’s not safe! I don’t trust myself not to make you pregnant!”
    A shudder went through Shannon, hunger and grief combined.
    A baby.
    God, I want Whip’s child. But he doesn’t want to leave that much of himself behind.
    Then Shannon remembered Cherokee’s odd gift.
    “Cherokee gave me something so I wouldn’t conceive,” Shannon said huskily.
    “What?” Whip asked, startled.
    “Over there.” Shannon pointed. “On the shelf. The vial and the little bag.”
    Whip gave her a strange look. Then he stood with swift grace and went to the shelf. Carefully he opened the bag and tipped it over his open hand. Tiny scraps of sponge rustled onto his palm. He took the stopper out of the vial and sniffed. His eyes widened as he smelled jumper and spearmint combined, plus a whiff of something sharp he couldn’t name.
    “I’ll be damned,” he said.
    “But I don’t know what to do with any of it,” Shannon said. “Do you?”
    He nodded.
    “Oh, good,” she said, relieved. “What do I do?”
    Whip selected a sponge, doused it thoroughlywith the pungent oil and turned toward Shannon with a lazy, very male smile.
    “I’ll show you,” he said.
    She blinked, startled by Whip’s transformation. Gone was the wildness of an animal brought to bay. His elemental hunger and his certainty of ecstasy were all but tangible.
    “Don’t be nervous, honey girl. You’ll love learning how to use this. And I’ll love showing you.”
     
    “W HIP ?” Shannon called up the ridge from the cabin doorway. “Lunch is ready. Are you finished dressing out that elk yet?”
    Prettyface’s head appeared from the corner of the meadow where he had been dining on scraps from Whip’s latest hunt. She had heard Prettyface bark wildly earlier, followed by Whip’s stern command for silence.
    “Go on,” Shannon called, waving her hand at the dog. “It’s Whip I’m looking for, not you.”
    Prettyface vanished back into the tall meadow grass.
    “Whip? Where are you?”
    No answer came from the meadow, where three hobbled mules grazed. No answer came from the woodpile, which now held little but chips. No answer came from the lean-to, where strips of venison and fish cured over a slow, smoky fire. No answer came from the ridgeline, where trees stood tall and windswept, lifting green arms to the sky.
    Abruptly Shannon spun back toward the meadow, finally realizing what was wrong.
    Whip’s horses weren’t there.
    “Whip can’t have gone,” Shannon whispered. “It’s been only four days since we left Reno andEve at the mine. They haven’t come back with news of gold.”
    Surely Whip hasn’t left.
    Oh, God, not yet. Not yet!
    Shannon leaned against the door frame as her bones turned to sand and her skin went cold. Her hands clutched at the ragged hem of the shirt she wore. The worn cloth gave way beneath the pressure of her fingers, ripping with a muted sound.
    “Whip, where are you?”
    The ghostly keening of panpipes breathed over Shannon, whispering to her of exotic mysteries, distant sunrises and the unbound soul of a yondering man.
    The haunting music came from behind Shannon. Inside the cabin.
    She drew a swift breath and spun around.
    There was no one behind her.
    “Whip? Where are you?”
    The trembling harmony of the pipes curled around Shannon like an invisible leash, pulling her toward the cupboard that opened into the cave.
    Of course, Shannon thought in relief. Whip just came in the back way