Jayne Krentz: Corporate Affair

„Neither of which is an adequate reason for taking the risk of seeing him again, dammit! You could get hurt in more ways than one, can’t you get that through your head? What’s the matter? Hasn’t mere been any other man in the past two years who could take your mind off him?“

Kalinda gave him a startled, too-revealing glance and he nodded in grim satisfaction. „So that’s it. He’s the last man you were serious about. You’ve spent the past two years devoting your energies to your firm and you haven’t had time for a proper, flaming romance which might have dimmed the memory of your ex-fiance!“

„That’s a crazy line of logic! And here I was thinking you so perceptive!“ she hissed, infuriated with him suddenly.

„What you need is someone to replace the memories with a much more interesting reality.“ Rand reached for her as Kalinda, seeing the flicker of intent in his eyes, started to edge away. But she wasn’t quick enough.

„Rand, don’t…“

„Give me one night, Kalinda,“ he grated, his hands on her shoulders. „Just one night…“

„Why, you egotistical fool! What makes you think one night with a vacation fling would be enough to wipe out the memories of another man? How dare you even suggest…“

Her words were choked off as she was pressed back onto the blanket Rand moved swiftly, anchoring her twisting legs with his thigh and catching her wrists in one of his callus-roughened hands. Memories poured through her at his determined touch, but the memories were of the previous evening, not two years ago.

„You weren’t thinking of Hutton last night, were you?“ he challenged, holding her still beneath him, his hazel eyes gleaming with purpose and the beginnings of desire. „And somehow, I get the feeling you’re not thinking of his kisses right now either!“

„Rand, listen to me,“ Kalinda pleaded, knowing she was not exactly in a position to goad him further. She would have to use reason and the truth if she wanted to calm him. „I’m not carrying a torch for David Hutton. I’m angry at him for what he did to me two years ago, but I’m not still, in love with him! Believe me! I just want a chance to pay him back for treating me so shabbily. It’s called poetic justice!“

„It’s called being stupid,“ he retorted, leaning his weight across her chest and gently crushing her breasts beneath the thin covering of the tunic top. With his free hand he lightly stroked the line of her throat Kalinda felt the slight tremor of response in her body and knew he’d felt it, too.

„I can assure you that calling me stupid is not a good method of seducing me!“

His fingers trailed to the unbuttoned collar of the tunic and he smiled crookedly. „Who knows? Perhaps lady executives respond to the more unusual methods!“

„Let me go, Rand,“ she ordered forcefully, her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him from the vulnerable position.

His face softened and she heard the new, coaxing note in his voice. „Honey, can’t you see you’re on the verge of making a gigantic mistake? You’ve said I’m perceptive. Why don’t you pay attention to that perception? Regardless of your motivations, the risks are too great In addition to being perceptive, Fm also a man. Give me some credit for being able to predict how another man might react in the situation you’re trying to set up?“

„How would you react?“ she whispered, eyes widening with the question. She didn’t know what had made her ask it. Overhead the pines swayed, breaking the path of the sunlight so that it dappled their bodies. Kalinda was violently aware of the warm strength of Rand and the way his maleness seemed a part of their wild surroundings. The clean, musky scent of him reached her nostrils with a tantalizing tang that elicited a response from her body.

„That’s not easy to answer,“ he confessed a little roughly, „because I can’t conceive of ever letting you go in the first place.“

„Of course you can,“ she scoffed bitterly. „I’ll bet you’re an old hand at managing the short-term affair!“

„If I did find myself in Hutton’s shoes for whatever reason,“ he went on deliberately, ignoring her provocation, „I doubt I’d meekly sit back and let you have your revenge. If I’d arrived at an isolated mountain resort expecting to rekindle an old romance, I’d make damn sure something did, indeed, get reignited. You’d wind up in my bed, Kalinda, regardless of your intentions.“

„But you’re not David!“ she shot back warily.

„No, I’m not Hutton,“ he agreed deeply and lowered his head to take her lips with a passion that Kalinda forced herself to admit she’d wanted to taste again. Ever since he’d first exposed her to it last night.

His mouth moved on hers with mounting desire as his hand slid down the buttons of the tunic, unfastening each in turn. When his fingers found her unconfined breasts, Kalinda gasped, the soft, broken moan in her throat stifled by his probing tongue.

Her own tongue moved instinctively to engage in the small, intimate duel with his and her arms circled him. She raked her nails almost tenderly down the back of his neck and under his collar, delighting once more in the reflexive arching of his body against her.

„Kalinda, Kalinda,“ he groaned as he slid his leg between hers. „Give me one night Just one night I swear you’ll forget all about him by morning!“

He reached down to push her legs farther apart, letting his hand trace an erotic pattern against the material of her white pants. She sucked in her bream as he wove the pattern steadily upward along her inner thigh. His mouth began to explore the line of her throat, moving slowly, inevitably toward the hardening peak of her breast.

„Oh, Rand, Rand,“ she cried softly, „I shouldn’t let you do this to me. I know I shouldn’t Ifs crazy…“

„Stop worrying about it and just accept the way things are between us,“ he murmured against the warmth of her skin. „There’s nothing wrong with two people getting very lucky unexpectedly.“

Before she could summon her thoughts for a rational protest, his teeth had closed carefully on one nipple, sending electric waves through her. The seductive hand traveling along her thigh reached the warm juncture of her legs and she closed her eyes tightly, knowing he must be aware of the heat he was generating in her.

„Honey, you’re practically melting in my hands,“ he breathed with beguiling satisfaction as his fingers closed briefly over the feminine heart of her desire. „Don’t you realize I must have all of you? I have to know what it’s like to lose myself completely in your body. I’ve never ached so badly for a woman in my life!“

Kalinda writhed, arching herself against his hand and felt the instant response of his own body. Trembling, she began a sensitive, questing path down his side until she reached the barrier of the jeans. Restlessly, deliciously, she slipped her fingers just inside and heard his hoarse reaction.

„Please touch me,“ Rand begged, even as he began to fumble with the clasp of her white trousers. „I need to feel your hands on me. So soft, so exciting.“

Unable to resist the urgent demand in him, Kalinda slowly undid the fastening of his jeans. She felt the trembling in him and knew a womanly power she had never known before. It was somehow very important and wholly satisfying to know she could make this one particular man respond. As her senses whirled dizzily some vague instinct told her that this was the only man in the world whose response counted.

With delicate, tender caresses she explored the hard, fully aroused male frame. He reacted to the butterfly touches as if they were glowing lasers. When she sank her fingers into the muscular buttock, she heard him call out her name with a fierceness that excited her beyond reason.