Only 04 - Only Love

make the honey flow and the fire burn and—”
    The sound of a door opening down the hallway cut off Whip’s seething words. He flinched as though a lash had been laid across his shoulders.
    “Caleb?” Willow called softly from the hall.
    “Just me, Willy,” Whip said, his voice low and rough.
    Abruptly he moved so that Shannon was between him and the doorway where Willow would soon be.
    “I was just talking to Shannon about that position you offered,” he said.
    Willow appeared at the entrance to the living room. Her hair was mussed by sleep. She was rubbing her eyes and trying not to yawn.
    “Oh, good,” Willow said, looking past Shannon to Whip. “Do you need anything?”
    “No,” Whip said, smiling through his clenched teeth.
    Willow yawned behind her hand.
    “Wonderful,” she murmured. “I think I’ll sneak off to the bathhouse before I start dinner. Would you mind watching Ethan while I’m outside?”
    “Not at all,” Shannon said quickly.
    “Thank you,” Willow said, covering a yawn again. “I’ll hurry.”
    “No need,” Shannon said. “I started the stew while you slept. If Ethan wakes up, I’ll hold him at bay with some cow’s milk from the well house.”
    “You’re an angel.”
    Shannon thought of what Whip had been saying to her and how she not only had listened, but had felt her bones turn to fire at his words. She had never wanted to feel a man’s body locked deep within her own until she met Whip.
    Now she wanted nothing else.
    “An angel?” Shannon asked with a bittersweet smile, looking with helpless hunger at Whip. “Hardly.”
    But Willow had already vanished back into her bedroom. She reappeared a few moments later with a change of clothes in her hand.
    “I won’t be long,” Willow repeated.
    “Don’t rush,” Shannon said. “There’s nothing here that won’t keep for a while, including your son.”
    Whip watched Willow leave, grateful that his sister was too sleepy and too hurried to notice the blunt ridge of his arousal thrusting against his trousers.
    Thank God I’ve solved the problem of Shannon’s safety , Whip told himself savagely. I don’t think I can keep my hands off her any longer.
    It’s time and past time to find a sunrise that is more beautiful than Shannon’s eyes when she looks at me.
    “Don’t worry about your things,” Whip said abruptly to Shannon. “Cal or one of his men will help you fetch them when you go back for Prettyface. If you wait a week or two, that hardheadedson of a bitch will be able to walk on his own rather than being slung over your saddle.”
    Shannon blinked and shook her head, feeling as if she had just awakened into someone else’s dream.
    “What are you talking about?” she asked. “Even if we wait a fortnight to go back to my cabin, I don’t need any more clothes.”
    What Shannon didn’t say was that there weren’t any more clothes at the cabin, whether or not she needed them.
    “And why would I bring Prettyface here anyway?” she added, perplexed.
    “I thought you’d want to keep him,” Whip said. “Cal and Willy say it’s fine with them. They’ve been trying to get a dog that was big enough and tough enough to survive the wolves and Texas longhorns and winter winds, but they haven’t had much luck.”
    “Of course I’m going to keep Prettyface! What on earth are you talking about?”
    “I’m talking about you coming here to help Willy out. She needs it and the two of you get along better than sisters and—”
    “No.”
    “—you can’t keep living in that goddamn rickety shack off in the back end of nowhere and we both know it!”
    “No.”
    “It’s not safe!” Whip said savagely. “You have to—”
    “No.”
    “—leave!”
    “No.”
    Whip reached for Shannon with stunning speed. Before she knew what had happened, she wasjerked off her feet and brought to Whip’s eye level.
    It wasn’t a comforting place to be. His eyes were pale, glittering, dilated with rage, the eyes of a trapped animal.
    “ Yes, ” Whip snarled.
    Shannon flinched but didn’t back down.
    “No.”
    The word was soft, final. The words that followed were equally soft, equally final.
    “I have a right to live as I want to,” she said.
    “Or die,” Whip shot back.
    “Or die,” she agreed.
    His hands tightened harshly on Shannon’s arms, but she didn’t protest. Whatever pain she felt was nothing compared to the anguished fury driving Whip.
    “You’re trying to tie me down,” he said