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«God, woman,» Whip said roughly, muffling his voice against Sha
«I didn’t mean —»
«I know,» he interrupted, his voice raw and low. «My fault. I should know by now that kissing you only makes it hurt worse. But when I’m not kissing you I can’t believe that anything can hurt worse than that.»
Sha
Whip shuddered again, fighting for control.
«Every time I look across the room and see your eyes watching me,» he said in a low, uneven voice, «I know what you’re thinking, what you’re remembering, what you’re feeling. Your eyes tell me that you would lie down and hold out your arms and give me everything I need. And I need you, Sha
«Hush,» Sha
Sha
But Whip could no more turn away from the gentle, terrifying beauty of Sha
«Sha
«Then tell me what to do. I want to ease you, not hurt you more. Please, Whip. Tell me. Teach me.»
The thought of it almost brought Whip to his knees. A bolt of violent desire transfixed his body and dragged a raw sound from deep in his chest. He closed his eyes and grappled with a kind of hunger he had never felt for a woman. Like Sha
«Whip?» Sha
With his last shreds of restraint, Whip reminded himself that he was in the living room of his sister’s home. It was full daylight. Willow could awaken from her nap at any time and walk into the room.
«No,» Whip said roughly, setting Sha
«But you were the one who —»
«— tell me that you would let me open those men’s trousers of yours and put my hand between your legs and feel your honey pooling in my hand like silky fire. Don’t tell me it would be all right to unfasten my pants and push all my need and my aching and my hunger deep into you. Don’t tell me you would let me take your maidenhead.»
Sha
And Whip saw it, all of it, the hunger and the need.
«Hell, you wouldbegme,» he said, «because I can make you ache as much as I do right now. I can 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 Sha
«I was just talking to Sha
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 Sha
«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 di
«Not at all,» Sha
«Thank you,» Willow said, covering a yawn again. «I’ll hurry.»
«No need,» Sha
«You’re an angel.»
Sha
Now she wanted nothing else.
«An angel?» Sha
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,» Sha
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 Sha
It’s time and past time to find a sunrise that is more beautiful than Sha
«Don’t worry about your things,» Whip said abruptly to Sha
Sha
«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 Sha
«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 Sha
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.
Sha
«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 Sha
«You’re trying to tie me down,» he said through his teeth. «You think I won’t leave until I know you’re safe.»
«No,» Sha