Even a woman who'd been raised in the circus would have had a hard time keeping up with all the work he'd thrown at Daisy. He kept telling himself it would only be a matter of days-hours even-before she'd throw in the towel and leave. That meant he couldn't touch her, not the way he wanted to. Sex between them at this point would only complicate the situation, and no matter what his body wanted, he had to leave her alone.

But she still hadn't given up, and he didn't know how much longer he could stay away from her. When he fell into bed at night, he was so aware of her curled up on the couch only a few yards away that he had trouble falling asleep. And just the sight of her during the day was making it impossible for him to concentrate on his work.

Why hadn't she left? She was soft. Weak. She cried at the drop of a hat. But even as he tore apart her character, he remembered that she'd found the guts to take on Neeco Martin and champion those poor, sad creatures in the menagerie. Daisy Devreaux Markov wasn't quite the weakling he'd thought.

The fact that she hadn't proved to be as predictable as he'd figured irritated him nearly as much as the painful effect she was having on his body, and he spoke brusquely. "Put your arms up."

The events of the day had worn her out, and she automatically obeyed. He peeled her T-shirt over her head, leaving her in the frail mint green bra and panty set that stuck to her skin. She was so worn out her head dropped, but he couldn't trust himself to finish the job, which further annoyed him. Turning away, he adjusted the water in the shower and directed her inside, underwear and all.

"I'll feed you as soon as you're done. I got sick of eating from cans, so I'm making chili tonight."

"I know how to cook," she mumbled.

"You've got enough to do for now."

She turned into the shower and let the spray splash over her, underwear and all.

When she finally came out of the bathroom, she had combed her wet hair back from her scrubbed face and wrapped herself in his blue terry robe. She didn't look much older than a teenager as she slid behind the kitchen table.

He set a hot bowl of chili in front of her, then returned to the stove to get his own.

"May I be excused from spec tonight?" she asked.

"Are you sick?"

"No."

He put his own bowl on the table, sat down across from her, and hardened his heart against her quiet dignity. "Then you're not excused."

She seemed resigned to his refusal, and that bothered him more than if she'd argued with him. "I've never been spit at before."

"Llamas'll do that. Don't take it personally."

"Frankie hates me, too. He threw a box of animal crackers at me today."

"It had to be an accident. Frankie's as gentle as they come. He likes everybody."

She propped her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand while she listlessly stirred the chili. "Doing nothing more than walking around an arena in a skimpy outfit is female exploitation in its lowest form."

"It's also great for the box office."

He immediately regretted baiting her, especially since he knew she was too tired to fence with him. The truth was, her costume probably bothered him more than it bothered her. She wasn't as tall as the other showgirls or as busty, but her fresh-faced beauty and sweet smile made her stand out, and he'd had to discourage more than a few randy males in the audience from trying to get to her after the show. To his surprise, she seemed oblivious to the reaction she created.

She crumbled a soda cracker in the chili. "For all your talk about how well the circus takes care of its animals, the menagerie is a disgrace."

"I agree. I've been complaining about it for years, but Owen loved that menagerie and refused to get rid of it."

"What about Sheba?"

"She feels pretty much the way I do. I keep hoping she'll close it, but there's not much of a market for aging circus animals. And they're better off with us than if she sold them to some backwoods tourist trap."

She lifted a spoonful of chili toward her mouth but then set it back in the bowl as if the effort to eat were enormous.

He couldn't stand it any longer. He didn't care if everyone in the circus criticized him for giving his wife preferential treatment because he couldn't tolerate those purple shadows under her eyes for one more day. "Go to bed, Daisy. I've changed my mind. You can skip spec tonight."

"Really? Are you sure?"

Her pleasure made him feel even guiltier. "I said you could, didn't I?"

"Yes! Yes, you did. Oh, thank you, Alex. I won't forget this."

Daisy slept through the first show, but to Alex's surprise, she appeared just as spec began for the second. Her two-hour nap had done wonders for her, and she looked more rested than she had in days. As he circled the arena on Misha, he could see her just ahead of him waving and throwing kisses at the children, oblivious to the effect she and her flame red costume were having on the children's fathers. Alex had to resist the urge to take out a few John Deere caps with his bullwhip.

When the show ended, he went to the trailer so he could make a quick change from his costume into work clothes. Usually Daisy would already have changed by now, but this time she wasn't around.

Feeling uneasy, he dressed hurriedly, then made his way back over to the big top. A flash of red sequins near the marquee in the front caught his attention, and he saw his wife surrounded by three good-looking townies. They were all behaving courteously toward her, and she certainly wasn't in any danger, but he still wanted to smash his fist right through their smug, young faces.

One of them said something and she laughed, the sound a bubble of music floating on the night air. He cursed under his breath.

"What are you so pissed off about?"

As Brady came up behind him, Alex forced himself to relax. "What makes you think I'm pissed off?"

Brady popped a toothpick into the corner of his mouth. "The way you're looking at those townies."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I can't figure you, Alex. I didn't think you cared anything about her."

"Lay off."

"Matter of fact, I'd just about decided to talk to you about her." He transferred the toothpick from one corner of his mouth to the other. "I figure, even though she's a thief and you seem to hate her guts, you don't have the right to work a pregnant woman so hard."

"Who told you she was pregnant?"

"We all just figured. The night of the surprise party, you didn't exactly look like a happy bridegroom."

Alex clenched his jaw. "She's not pregnant."

The toothpick drooped in Brady's mouth. "Then why the hell did you marry her?"

"None of your damn business." He stalked away.

It was a little before midnight when they were done working. As usual, when he entered the trailer, Daisy was asleep, but instead of being tucked away in a nest of rumpled sheets as she normally was, she lay on the couch in her costume, almost as if she had sat down for a few minutes and dozed off without planning to. He decided it was one thing to toughen her up, but it was another to drive her to the end of her strength, and at that moment he knew he couldn't keep working her so hard. As far as he was concerned, she'd paid her debt to society, and it was time to ease up.

Her dark hair fell onto the couch pillow in silky streamers, and her lips were slightly parted. She slept on her stomach, and his mouth went dry as he saw that sweet little ass sticking up, covered only by the diamond-patterned web of her black fishnet stockings. The narrow ribbon of sequins at the center made the sight that much more alluring. Forcing himself to look away, he stripped off his clothes, stalked into the bathroom, and plunged into an ice-cold shower.

The noise of the running water must have awakened her because, when he came out wrapped in a towel, she stood at the sink with his blue terry cloth robe tossed on over her costume. Although she'd turned up the sleeves, her small hands barely peeked out from beneath the cuffs as she opened a loaf of rye bread.

"Would you like me to fix you a sandwich?" She sounded more chipper than she had in days. "I fell asleep before I could eat, and now I'm hungry."

His robe parted, showing the curves of her breasts beneath the sequin flames on her costume. He dragged his eyes away and instead of thanking her for the offer, snapped at her. "If Sheba catches you lying around in one of her costumes, she'll have your hide."

"Then I'll just have to make sure she doesn't catch me."

The renewed spirit in her voice lifted his own mood. "I guess, you can't be expected to learn everything at once."

She turned, but whatever she had been about to say seemed to die on her lips. Her gaze trailed down over his chest to the pale yellow bath towel looped low on his hips.

He wanted to yell at her, to tell her not to look at him like that unless she wanted to find herself on her back. His flagging self-control slipped another notch.

"Would you-uh-like your robe back?" she asked.

He nodded.

She tugged on the sash, slipped out of it, and passed it over to him.

He let it fall to the floor.

She stared at him. "I thought you wanted it."

"I wanted it off you."

She licked her lips, and he watched her struggle for a response. Even as he called himself every kind of fool, he knew he couldn't stay away from her for another night.

"I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that," she said hesitantly.

"I mean that I don't think I'm going to be able to keep my hands off you any longer."

"I was afraid that's what you meant." She took a deep breath and lifted her chin. "I'm sorry, but I've decided I can't do that with you. It wouldn't be right."

"Why is that?"

"Because it wouldn't be sacred. I place value on making love. It's not something I would do with just anyone."

"I'm glad to hear it." Pulled by a force he couldn't resist, he walked over to her.

She drew back against the counter, even as she continued to meet his eyes. "I couldn't do it casually."

"I hope this means I don't have to worry about catching any of those nasty little sexually transmitted diseases you mentioned to that waitress a couple weeks ago."

"Of course not!"

"Good. You don't have to worry about me, either. I'm clean as a whistle."

"That's very nice for you, but-"

"Has anyone ever mentioned that you talk too much?" He set the heels of his hands on the counter behind her, effectively trapping her.

"We need need to talk about this. It's important. It's-" to talk about this. It's important. It's-"

"What we need need to do is stop talking." He cupped her waist with his hands. "We've played cat and mouse long enough, angel face. Don't you think it's time we get serious?" to do is stop talking." He cupped her waist with his hands. "We've played cat and mouse long enough, angel face. Don't you think it's time we get serious?"

Her perfume drifted up to tantalize him. He gazed down at her body, so enticingly revealed by the skimpy flame red sequin costume, and her soft breathing stirred the hair on his chest.

"How-how can you even think about doing something like this with a person you don't respect?"

Her eyes drifted shut as he dipped his head and nuzzled the side of her neck with his lips. "Why don't you let me worry about that?"

"You think I'm a thief."

"Let's just say I've cooled down a little."

She tilted her face up to his, and another pang of guilt struck him as her violet eyes came alive with joy and her soft, silly mouth curled with pleasure. "You believe me! You know I didn't steal the money!"

He hadn't said that. He was simply no longer as angry. Although he couldn't condone what she'd done, he knew she'd been desperate, and he no longer wanted to serve as her hanging judge.

"I believe you're sexy as hell." He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip and found it moist to his touch. "Are you taking care of birth control, or do you want me to do it?"

Her eyes flared. "I'm on the pill, but-"

"That's good."

He dipped his head and caught her mouth beneath his own. It quivered. God, she was sweet. She must have nibbled one of the ripe plums in the bag on the counter because he tasted the fruit on her breath.

Her lips parted a bit, but the movement was hesitant, as if she were still making up her mind. He found something infinitely exciting about her tentative, uncertain welcome. At the same time, he knew he wasn't going to give her any more time to think, and he drew her closer.

Outside the small world of the trailer, the first drops of rain began to fall, hitting the metal shell with gentle taps. The sound was soothing and hypnotic. The patter of the rain somehow isolated them, set them apart from everyone else in the universe and gave them a private place.

Daisy sighed as she felt Alex's kiss, gentle and patient. The icon he wore rubbed against her, and as the tip of his tongue brushed the sensitive inner surface of her bottom lip, warm honey poured through her veins. In that moment all her principles evaporated, and any idea she'd had of denying him disappeared. From the beginning she'd wanted him like this, and she could no longer resist the force that pulled her toward him.

Opening her mouth, she let him in.

He took his time invading her, and when he did, his kiss was deep and full. She responded with fervor, and he let her play as she wished.

She used her tongue on him and her lips, kissed the corners of that hard mouth, delved inside again. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and, standing on tiptoe, nipped his earlobe. She left little teeth marks at the corner of his jaw before she returned to plunge inside his mouth.

Enter and play.

Withdraw and explore.

Inside again.

Her excitement mounted, fueled by the rasp of his breathing and the feel of his hands clasping her so tightly, one at her waist, one splayed across her back. How could she ever have been afraid of him? The image of the whips stored beneath the bed flicked through her mind, but she pushed them aside. He wouldn't hurt her. He couldn't.

She licked a sweet trail from his neck to his chest and poked the tip of her tongue through the dark hair that dusted his pectorals until she could press her lips to the skin beneath. His breathing came more rapidly now, and when he spoke, his voice sounded hoarse.

"If this is the way you kiss, angel, I can't wait to see how you-" He moaned as she found his nipple.