Only Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

supplies, either. I was going to check out the Avalanche Creek gold fields and your cabin was on the way.”
    “That’s a nice story,” Shannon said, wishing she could believe it. “But I’ve heard it before. I’m not looking for help from women-hungry men.”
    Whip’s hold on his temper slipped as the cold rain lashed one side of his face and the truth lashed the other.
    “I’m not like the others,” Whip said through his teeth.
    “Do tell,” Shannon said coolly. “Does that mean you don’t want me?”
    Whip opened his mouth, then closed it. Lying simply wasn’t his style.
    “I want you,” he said flatly.
    Shannon couldn’t control the shiver that went through her at Whip’s blunt words.
    “But I’d never force you, Shannon,” he said gently. “That’s a promise.”
    “I’ll make that promise easy for you to keep. Mount up and ride.”
    “Listen,” Whip began.
    “No, you listen,” Shannon said tightly. “You’re just like all the others. You want my body and not one other damned thing. No offers of marriage and kids and sharing good times and bad for the rest of our lives. All you want is a few minutes in the dark with the ‘poor little dear’ who might or might not be a widow.”
    “It’s not just that,” Whip said angrily.
    “Oh? Does that mean you’re offering marriage along with the rutting?”
    The look on Whip’s face told Shannon more than she wanted to know. Her short laugh was as bitterly cold as the rain.
    “That’s what I thought,” she said. “Thank you, but no thank you. I’ve got everything I need until Silent John gets back.”
    “What if he never gets back? Damn it, what if he’s dead? What then?”
    Shannon’s finger tightened on the shotgun’s double trigger. Hearing her own fears spoken by Whip’s deep, angry voice reinforced them.
    And undermined her.
    Don’t argue with him, Shannon warned herself. You’ll lose. Then you’ll be like those two sad whores in Whiskey Flat, with every man in Colorado Territory knowing the color of your nipples.
    “You earned the name Whip,” Shannon said harshly, “but even you aren’t faster than a shotgun shell. So take your supplies and your hungry silver eyes and ride out.”
    To Shannon it seemed like a week before Whip finally turned around and began loading supplies back onto his skinny black packhorse.
    Lightning split the rainy twilight, turning the world to burning silver. Thunder followed instantly, loud enough to drown out all other sounds. Rain came down harder and then harder still, a torrent fit to put out the fires of hell.
    Though Whip was only twelve feet away, Shannon had to strain to see him. She blinked her eyes fiercely, knowing she must see through tears and rain alike.
    When lightning came again, the clearing was empty.
    Whip was gone.
    Shannon bit her lip against the urge to scream Whip’s name into the teeth of the storm, calling him back, offering him whatever he wanted in return for food and safety.
    And she knew exactly what he wanted.
    The Culpeppers had made what men wanted savagely clear to Shannon on more than one occasion. What men wanted was to bend her over a chair and rut on her until she begged and bled and begged some more.
    The thought of it made her stomach clench, sending bile into her throat.
    Maybe Whip wouldn’t ask that of me. Maybe he didjust want to help and wouldn’t have asked for anything more than thanks and a home-cooked meal.
    Then Shannon remembered Whip’s words and the heat in his silver glance. She gave up trying to fool herself.
    Whip wants me, all right. Just like the Culpeppers want me.
    Shannon shuddered and felt cold all the way to her soul. Nothing in her experience had led her to believe that women did more than endure men’s brutal rutting in exchange for shelter and food and safety.
    And children. Sweet-faced little bits of humanity to sing to and cuddle and love.
    Prettyface whined and set his teeth gently around Shannon’s hand, reminding her of