«I’m — all right,» Shannon said jerkily, trying to catch her breath and speak at the same time.
«Easy, honey girl. Just lie still until I see how bad you’re hurt.»
«Just — breath. Shotgun — knocked me —»
Whip’s hands hesitated. He looked down into the beautiful sapphire depths of Shannon’s eyes.
«Recoil?» he asked.
She nodded and concentrated on breathing.
Saying nothing, Whip probed Shannon’s hair with long, surprisingly gentle fingers. When he found only the warmth of her scalp, he moved on down her body. His hands ran over every bit of her and found nothing but heat and a silky female softness that made him feel like he was caressing fire.
Abruptly Whip came to his feet. He looked down at the breathless but otherwise uninjured Shannon for a long, tense moment.
Then he held out his hand to her.
«Can you stand?» Whip asked quietly.
Too quietly.
Warily Shannon looked at Whip’s eyes. Where there had been tender concern a moment before, now there was only wintry gray. His eyes were almost opaque.
She had seen Whip look like that only once before, when the Culpeppers were baiting her. Whip had been furious then.
He was furious now.
Shannon scrambled to her feet without touching his outstretched hand.
«I’m fine,» she said. «See?»
«I see that you’re a fool, Shannon Conner Smith.»
She winced. «Why are you yell —»
«You could have been killed!»
«But you were —»
«I told you to get back,» Whip continued, talking over Shannon harshly. «Did you listen? Hell no! You came running up and shoved that antique shotgun right up the grizzly’s ass!»
«It was his arm, not his —»
«If the recoil hadn’t knocked you down, you would be dead right now! Do you hear me, you little idiot?You would have died and I couldn’t have done a damn thing about it!»
Adrenaline and anger combined to overcome Shannon’s good sense. She put her clenched fists on her hips and glared right back up into Whip’s face.
«So what was I supposed to do?» she demanded. «Stand by and darn socks while that grizzly clawed you into pieces too small to use in a rag rug?»
«Yes!»
«Ha! Andyouhave the gall to callmea fool! Well, let me tell you something, yondering man. When it comes to being a fool, you not only win the race, you also take second, third, and fo —»
Shannon’s tirade ended in a surprised sound as Whip yanked her off her feet and buried his tongue in her mouth. She fought for an instant, then gave back the kiss every bit as fiercely as he was giving it to her.
Prettyface snarled and circled the grizzly again, then darted in and set his teeth into the furry hide. He shook his head hard, harrying the prey.
Neither Whip nor Shannon noticed.
It was a long time before Whip let Shannon slide down the length of his torso until her feet touched the ground once more. The rigid arousal of his body told Shannon the same thing the kiss had.
Whip wanted her. All of her.
And all of him was doing the wanting.
«Oh, my,» Shannon said raggedly, hanging on to Whip as her knees buckled. «I’ve been hoping you would kiss me like that every day since the hailstorm.»
Whip let out a long, long breath. Then he tilted back Shannon’s head and looked at her with eyes that were no longer the color of winter.
«Why didn’t you say something?» he asked. «I thought you didn’t want me to touch you anymore.»
«What was I supposed to do? Walk up to you and say I wanted you to — to —»
«Yes,» Whip said simply.
Shannon blushed, bit her lip, and looked up at Whip with eyes as wide and deeply blue as the sky.
«Cat got your tongue?» he teased.
She made a fist and hit him lightly on his muscular shoulder.
Laughing softly, Whip gathered Shannon close and rocked her slowly from side to side, resting his chin on top of her head.
«How anyone can be so fierce and so shy at the same time is a pure wonder,» he said after a few moments.
«I’m not fierce. And I’m not shy.»
«Of course not,» he said gravely. «You’re a tender little mouse who cowers at the first hint of danger. And you’re a brazen little hussy who throws herself at a man.»
«You’re teasing me.»
«Not just yet. I’m thinking about it, though.» Whip smiled like a cat licking cream. «I’m giving it a lot of thought, in fact.»
Shannon couldn’t see Whip’s smile, but she could hear it in his voice. She smiled in turn and nuzzled against his chest.
Hair tickled her nose.
She made a startled sound as she realized anew that Whip wasn’t wearing a shirt.
«What is it?» he asked, holding Shannon away so that he could see her face. «Are you hurt after all?»
She shook her head.
«Then what?» Whip asked.
«You.»
«What about me?»
«You’re not wearing a shirt.»
«I was just getting dressed when the bear showed up. But if it will make you feel better, you can take off your shirt, too.»
Shannon stared at him, then laughed out loud.
«Now youareteasing me,» she said.
She smiled, but didn’t rest her head on Whip’s bare chest again.
«Does it really bother you to see me like this?» he asked.
«No,» Shannon admitted softly. «It’s just that the sight of all that silky fur makes me want to pet you like Prettyface.»
«Head to heels and back again?» Whip suggested in a deep voice.
For a shimmering instant Shannon looked at Whip from head to heels and back again. The thought of touching him in the same way made her almost dizzy.
«The look on your face…» Whip said, laughing. «Come on, honey girl. We’ll leave Prettyface to worry over the bear in peace.»
Whip swung Shannon up in his arms like a child and began walking back toward camp. He didn’t stop until he reached the opposite edge of the forest, where he had made a night camp separate from hers.
«I’ve been meaning to ask you why,» Shannon said, looking at his bedroll, «but you were so darned touchy I thought better of it.»
Whip made a questioning sound.
«Why did you camp over here instead of by the fire with me?» she asked.
«This is close enough to hear you if you need me, and far enough that I don’t lie awake listening to you breathe, listening to you move, listening to the blankets slide over you the way I want to.»
Shannon tried to speak but couldn’t. The look in Whip’s eyes stole her breath and made heat glitter through the center of her body.
«You couldn’t sleep either?» she managed to whisper.
«Passion is a two-way street. Didn’t you know?»
She shook her head.
Whip opened his mouth to say something about Silent John’s limitations as a lover, but thought better of it. Right now Whip didn’t want to think about Silent John.
And he sure as hell didn’t want Shannon thinking about Silent John, either.
«Tell me again,» Whip said almost roughly. «Tell me that you want me.»
«Yes,» Shannon whispered. «Oh, yes. I didn’t know this kind of wanting existed.»
Her words aroused Whip fiercely, yet gave him more self-control than he had had since he first saw Shannon’s hips swinging gently as she walked past him in Holler Creek.
The waiting was finally over. She was going to be his lover. Nothing could stop it now.
«It’s going to be good, honey girl,» Whip said, lowering Shannon to his bedroll. «It’s going to be so damned good.»
«As good as before?»
«Better.»
«I think I’ll die of it, then.»
Whip’s smile was as sensuous as his lips brushing over Shannon’s mouth.
«Lie still for me,» he whispered against her mouth. «I’ve been dreaming about how it would be to undress you, look at you, touch you. Now I won’t have to live on dreams anymore.»
A shiver that was part nervousness and part delicious anticipation went through Shannon. With half-closed eyes, she watched Whip kneel at her feet and remove her boots. He peeled away her much-darned socks and wrapped his hands around her slender feet.