«Just a bit of petting? That’s all the women wanted?»

Whip made a rumbling sound of agreement.

Shannon frowned. «All 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 man could 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

Whip 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 heightened color 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, she encountered 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 pleasure was possible. Can I truly make you feel like that?»

«Yes,» Whip said simply.

«How?»

Closing his eyes, Whip took a deep breath…and a tighter rein on his own driving hunger.

«We’ll start with a kiss,» he said. «Would you like that?»

«Oh, yes. Would you?»

«It’s a start,» Whip said tightly, lowering his head.

An instant later Shannon felt the velvet penetration of his tongue. The heat and textures of Whip’s kiss rushed through her, making her dizzy.

With a soft whimper, she turned her face up and parted her lips even more, wanting to get as close as she could to Whip. Her arms slid around his neck and her fingers searched through his hair, holding him hard against her mouth while she tasted him as deeply as she could.

With a rough, throttled sound, Whip kissed Shannon in return, pressing into her mouth, thrusting against her tongue, devouring her as thoroughly as he could with just a kiss. Finally, shuddering, he pulled free.

«Whip?» she asked huskily. «Is something wrong? Why did you stop?»

«You make me too damned hot.»

Shannon looked around the gently steaming pool. «Maybe we should get out of the water.»

He laughed despite the agony of his unruly, unfulfilled desire.

«It’s not the water,» Whip said. «It’s you. I feel like I’ve wanted you forever. You burn me even in my dreams.»

The look in Whip’s eyes made Shannon forget to breathe.

«Does that mean you’ll let me pet you?» she whispered.

«Anytime. Anywhere. Any way you want.»

And I’m a fool to even suggest it, Whip said silently to himself.

But he didn’t say the words aloud. He wanted Shannon’s hands on him too much to be wise.

Watching Whip’s face, Shannon ran her hands over his shoulders and chest, luxuriating in the strength and resilience of his flesh. Slender fingers kneaded, discovered, and enjoyed every difference in texture from hair-roughened chest to the flat, surprisingly smooth male nipples.

Whip’s eyelids lowered as waves of pleasure visibly swept through him.

Smiling, Shannon petted and stroked Whip from his forehead to his powerful thighs, loving the heightened color of his skin and the burning silver of his half-opened eyes. After a time she turned her head and touched the base of his neck with her tongue. The caress had a catlike delicacy and curiosity.

Whip’s whole body shuddered, raked by passion. Shannon murmured and ran the tip of her tongue over the steely tendons in his neck. Then she gave in to an urge she didn’t understand and tasted him thoroughly, savoring his skin with the sensitive surfaces of her tongue and lips.

«You’re salty,» Shannon said against Whip’s skin. «I like that. It makes me want to lick more of you. Is that all right?»

Breath came from Whip in a harsh rush. One of his hands went to Shannon’s head, caressing and pressing, encouraging her to more forceful explorations.

«Whip?»

«Your teeth,» he said huskily. «Let me feel their sharp little edges.»

A few minutes earlier Shannon would have hesitated, but not now. Now she wanted to give the primitive caress as much as Whip wanted to receive it. She lowered her head until her chin was barely above the steamy water. Slowly she opened her lips. Her teeth tested the pad of muscle that surrounded a nipple.

A thick, hungry sound was dragged from deep within Whip’s chest.

«Whip?»

«Do it again, honey girl. Harder.»

«Are you sure?»

Whip laughed, bent his head swiftly, and lifted Shannon up at the same time. With no warning he fitted his mouth to the base of her neck. Then his teeth tested her resilient flesh with a force just short of pain while his mouth tugged at her silky skin.

Fire burst in Shannon. Her eyes closed and she lifted herself against Whip’s mouth. She twisted slowly, increasing the power of the fierce caress. Whip laughed low in his throat and gave her what she was asking for, branding her with his mouth until she cried out.

Instantly he released her.

«I’m sorry,» Whip said. «I didn’t mean to hurt you.»

Shannon’s eyes opened, luminous with fire.

«Hurt me?» She shook her head and laughed. «Oh, no.»

Her mouth went to Whip’s chest and returned the fierce love play, tasting and biting and branding Whip with her heat until he groaned. Slowly she lifted her head.

«Am I hurting you?» Shannon asked.

But her eyes said she already knew the answer.

«You’re killing me,» Whip said huskily, «but you’re not hurting me one bit. Well, not most of me. One particular part of me is aching fit to die.»

«Where?»

«Guess,» he said succinctly.

«Oh. There.»

«Yes. There.»

Shannon’s hand slid beneath the water and rubbed down the taut muscles of Whip’s torso. Her fingers met a dense cushion of hair and a blunt, rigid thrust of flesh.

«Here?» she asked.

Breath hissed through Whip’s clenched teeth.

«Does touching you make it worse?» Shannon asked anxiously.

«Depends.»

«On what?»

«On where you touch me. And how.»

Shannon bit her lip, looked away, and went very still.

«I don’t know how,» she said.

«Explore, honey girl. I’ll survive.»

«But —»

«Unless touching me offends you?»

Shannon’s head came up in surprise. «How could it offend me? You feel wonderful.»

Whip shrugged. «Some women don’t like touching a man at all, much less where he’s most a man.»

«Truly? I’ve spent most of my time wishing I could touch you, even…there.»

«You’ve got your wish.»

She smiled despite the blush burning across her cheeks.

«Tell me if I hurt you,» she said huskily. «Although how I could hurt anything so hard is beyond me.»

Whip made a sound that was part laugh, part groan. The feel of Shannon’s fingers exploring him beneath the surface of the hot spring was a pleasure so great it was almost pain. As she caressed his length several times from blunt tip to rigid base, blood hammered so fiercely through him that he was afraid he would burst.

«Shannon.»

Her hand froze. «Am I touching too much?»

«Not enough.»

«I told you I didn’t know how,» she said unhappily.

Breath hissed between Whip’s clenched teeth. When Shannon would have withdrawn her hand, his fingers closed around hers.

«Like this,» he said hoarsely.

Shannon felt the circle of her hand being moved slowly over Whip’s hard, silky length, felt the fierce beating of his life’s blood beneath her palm, and savored the sleek combination of satin and steel that was uniquely male. She smiled and gave a shivery little sigh of pleasure at being permitted the freedom of Whip’s body.

The knowledge that Shannon was truly enjoying his arousal almost undid Whip. As her fingers pressed firmly around him, measuring and pleasuring at the same time, his blood leaped wildly. He dragged at breath and self-control and found neither. Release surged through him, taking him by surprise, for he had never been so quick off the mark before.

But then, he had never had a virgin widow looking at him before, watching his eyes and enjoying his flesh like a cat discovering catnip for the first time.

«You’re shivering,» Shannon said after a time. «Are you all right?»

«Much better.»

She smiled and stroked all of Whip’s body slowly, soothingly, for she could feel that some of the tension had left him. As she caressed him, she looked down at the swirling surface of the pool, where streaks of golden lantern light intertwined with black water.

«I wish I could see as much of you as I can feel,» Shannon said, trailing her fingertips down over Whip. «I’d like to see how you change when you want me.»