"My G.o.d, sweetheart," he groaned. "You're flaming like a torch for me!"

Kalinda could only gasp her wonder and desire. No man had ever beckoned to her deepest needs with the irresistible lure of such honest and overwhelming male hunger. It was primitive and it was real yet it was astonishingly tender at times. It cut through all the layers of civilization and sophistication.

She cried out as the threshold was reached, her body shivering with a sudden convulsive energy she'd never known before. It arched her throat, tautened every muscle in her and brought a mind-spinning sense of release.

Above her she heard the harsh, m.u.f.fled shout of satisfaction and male triumph as Rand followed her over the magic threshold, wrapping her rightly to him in preparation for the long, languid descent on the other side.

"Kalinda, my sweet Kalinda," he breathed over and over again as the sunlight played across their damp, naked bodies. The fragrance of the mountains drifted through the open window, combining with the earthy, honest scent of their pa.s.sion and Kalinda inhaled it deeply.

"Tell me the truth," Rand grated urgently. "Do you have any regrets about not seeing that other man? Any at all?"

She turned against him, lifting her eyes to meet the surprisingly vulnerable expression in his own.

"None," she smiled softly.

He closed his coppery lashes for a long moment and she felt the grat.i.tude in him.

"You had me so d.a.m.n scared," he admitted wryly, leaning back against the pillows to stare intently at the ceiling. "So d.a.m.n scared!"

"Somehow I can't envision you scared of anything," she retorted lightly.

"You should have seen me at four this morning!"

"Were you really so concerned about me?"

"If you hadn't shown up here or at the shop by this afternoon, I would have taken matters in my own hands. I couldn't let you meet him, Kalinda. It would have been so dangerous!" He shook his head once on the pillow as if awed by the near miss.

"I appreciate your interest," she murmured gently, "but it really wasn't that big a risk! He's simply not the violent sort!"

"You're a little naive, sweetheart, but that's okay," he half-grinned, lifting a hand to ruffle her already tangled hair as he turned to look at her. "Even if you were right about his degree of potential violence, there was my other, equally strong fear!"

"That I'd fall back under his spell? That was never a possibility, Rand. Believe me."

"But you still felt so strongly about him," he persisted.

"No, talking to you made me realize all I felt was the habit of hating him. The feeling that he ought to be punished. But it was a hollow sort of emotion. It was a relief to call the whole thing off. Then, too, I kept thinking about his poor wife. In the end, I just thanked my lucky stars I wasn't in her shoes as I so easily could have been."

"How did he take it when you phoned him this morning?"

Kalinda lifted one bare shoulder dismissingly. "He wasn't very pleased. I gave him all the logical reasons why we shouldn't meet His wife, our reputations. I tried to make it sound as if two reasonable people should agree to call the whole thing off before it got started."

"Did he buy it?" There was a wary look in the hazel eyes as they narrowed slightly.

"He kept trying to talk me into staying here until he could arrive and talk me around," she confessed. "I finally got fed up and told him the truth, that I had agreed to the weekend in the first place because I wanted a Utile revenge for the way he'd treated me two years ago. Then I told him not to call me again and hung up the phone."

"Hmmm."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, mouth curving at his skeptical tone.

"Forget it, honey. We'll talk about it later." He yawned extravagantly. "h.e.l.l, I'm exhausted! You wore me out," he chuckled affectionately.

"You wore yourself out pacing a floor for no reason at all!"

"Oh, I had my reasons," he retorted sleepily. "But my reasons are all tucked safely into my bed for the moment. Will you think I'm a callous brute if I grab a nap, honey?" He slanted her a pleading glance.

He looked so sleepy that Kalinda found herself smiling with a tenderness she'd never felt toward a man. Almost lovingly she stroked the angled plane of his cheek.

"No."

"We've got a lot to discuss," he murmured, already half-asleep.

Kalinda felt the moisture behind her lashes and blinked it away determinedly. She waited until she felt his hold on her loosen and knew for certain he was making up for the sleep he'd missed the previous night.

Then, aware there could be only one ending for this kind of pa.s.sionate interlude, she slowly rose from the caramel bedspread and began to dress.

5.

Kalinda stood at the window of her office in downtown Denver and looked out across the Mile-High City with remote eyes. Situated on the plains with the mountains nearby to the west, Denver had become the lively, thriving headquarters of the business empire of the Rocky Mountain states.

The swirl of new money from the energy boom which had so affected the city had, in turn, stimulated other businesses. Gleaming highrise buildings in the downtown area gave evidence of the investment capital pouring into the area.

Oil, coal and uranium had beckoned the modern prospectors and speculators. In the last century it had been the lure of gold. But Denver's residents, while they may have been lured to the gateway city by the promise of new opportunities, soon became a fiercely loyal lot for other reasons.

Not the least of those reasons was the city's proximity to the fabulous vacation areas of the Rockies. During the winter the mountains offered some of the finest powder snow for skiing that could be found in the world. Many claimed the Colorado mountains were the United States' equivalent of Europe's Alps. During the summer those same mountains were a breathtaking wonderland of craggy peaks and green valleys.

And that, Kalinda thought with disgust as she turned away from the window, was all she seemed to be able to think about for the past two days. The mountains. Was she doomed to remember the man she had met there everytime she looked out her window?

How long did it take to recover from a weekend fling? she asked herself for the thousandth time as she poured a cup of tea and moodily surveyed her office. It was an attractive office with gold carpet and a heavy mahogany desk she had inherited when she took over her father's role. The colors weren't hers, but there had been more important uses for the company's funds during the past two years than redecorating the president's quarters!

She sipped her tea, staring at the report in front of her and told herself she was going to have to put Rand Alastair out of her head once and for all. And the most efficient way of doing that was by throwing herself back into her work. She should be worrying about the c.o.c.ktail party she was giving that evening, not dwelling on the exhausted features of the man she had left sleeping in the house by the lake. Determinedly Kalinda brought her well-developed powers of concentration to bear on the company's recent audit report She wanted the numbers clear in her head when she met with the members of the board later that week.

She was well into the matter at hand when the intercom chimed softly on her desk.

"Yes, George?" she said absently into the speaker, her eyes still on the figures in front of her.

"There's a call from Mr. David Hutton, Miss Brady. Will you take it?" George Barrett's calm, efficient manner was laced with just a hint of his own feelings on the subject George, to the astonishment of almost everyone, had turned out to be the perfect secretary. He saw himself as breaking the s.e.xual discrimination barriers in reverse and strove tirelessly for professionalism and competency. He never allowed a hint of his personal thoughts to interfere in the conduct of business unless he sensed something crucial was at stake.

Over the past few months, ever since Kalinda had hired him for the permanent position after he'd been sent as a temporary by an agency, Kalinda had come to respect George's instincts. He knew she was routinely refusing calls from David Hutton. He must have a reason for bothering to check with her now to see if she had suddenly changed her mind.

"What's wrong, George?" she asked quietly, switching her attention completely to the little intercom. "You know I have no wish to accept his calls."

George hesitated. She could visualize him in the outer office wearing his three-piece suit and dominating the entrance to the inner sanctum. He was a young man, about twenty-five, pleasant looking and serenely competent The other office workers had eyed him skeptically from the start but he was now a well-accepted figure in their day-to-day world. In fact, Kalinda knew, he had recently had to set down some very strict visiting rules. Not for Kalinda's sake, but for his own. George had become quite popular with the women on the staff.

"I don't believe this call is of a personal nature, Miss Brady," he finally announced formally. "He won't explain the reason but there's something else involved. I can tell."

Kalinda gritted her teeth and then sighed in resignation. "Okay, put him through. If you're wrong about this, George..."

"I know," George interrupted, unbending slightly at the mild threat in her words, "I'll be the one who has to explain why you hung up on him."

Kalinda grinned and took the call.

"What is it, David?" she asked without preamble, her voice turning cold and crisp.

"It's about rime you took my call," he drawled. "That d.a.m.n secretary of yours has been putting me off for two days!"

- "On my instructions. Now that you're through, will you please state your business and get off the line? We really don't have anything to say to each other." Kalinda realized vaguely that her only feeling toward David Hutton now was one of impatience. The thirst for revenge that had driven her into the mountains last weekend had been well and truly eradicated. Another reason why it would be difficult to stop thinking about Rand Alastair.

"Business is exactly why I'm calling, darling," he murmured, and something in his tone chilled her. "You should have met me at that motel, Kalinda. Things could have been handled a lot more pleasantly if you had." "What in the world are you talking about?"

"A merger, Kalinda. You've done some astonishing things with Brady Data Processing. Two years ago everyone said it had no choice but to go under. You've created a total turnaround situation and your company, my love, has become one very enticing little pigeon. 1 want it"

Kalinda swallowed in shock and outrage. It was several seconds before she could control her anger into an icy refusal. "Out of the question. Brady Data Processing is not interested in merging with anyone, David, and quite definitely not your firm!"

"You aren't going to have any choice. I'm filing forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week."

"What!" Kalinda stared at the phone. Filing forms with the SEC? There could be only one reason for that...

"That's right, love," he taunted with pleased satisfaction. "I'm going to force the merger on you since you weren't willing to discuss it under more amicable conditions."

"You mean since I wasn't willing to give you an opportunity of trying to seduce me into surrendering the company without a fight!"

"Precisely," he agreed smoothly. "I would have preferred a 'friendly' sort of takeover but since you've proven obstinate, you may as well know I don't mind a fight It will cost more this way, of course, because I shall have to offer a premium price for your stock, but it will be worth it in the end."

"How much of the outstanding stock have you picked up already?" Kalinda forced herself to ask bravely.

"Just under the five percent limit," he acknowledged easily.

She winced. Anyone going after more than five percent of a publicly held stock had to register that intention with the SEC. Hence the papers David claimed to be filing. He could now start hunting down vast quant.i.ties of the shares on the open market. All he needed were enough to give him control of the firm. Kalinda felt the panic begin to rise in her. After all her work in getting Brady Data Processing back on its feet! She couldn't bear the thought of having it forcibly taken from her. What about all the people who worked for her? Company morale would go to h.e.l.l when word of this leaked out. Nothing sent shivers of fear through a firm faster than rumors of an intended hostile takeover move. And there were so few defenses for a company in Brady's position.

"Why are you doing this, David?" she asked coldly, trying desperately to think of defense tactics. She knew so little of this sort of thing. She'd never faced it before.

"The usual reasons," he retorted bluntly. "My firm is heavy in cash right now and we need some acquisitions. I've seen your balance sheet, darling, and you are ripe."

"You're telling me there's nothing personal in this, right? Just business?" she scoffed angrily.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't say that," he chuckled arrogantly. "It will give me great personal satisfaction to take Brady Data Processing. It should have been mine two years ago."

"You didn't want it two years ago!" she flung back.

"I've changed my mind. Thanks to you, Kalinda. No one thought you could pull it off, you know. Everyone was sure that firm was headed for the bottom. But now that you've done all the hard work..."

"You think you can just step in and help yourself? I've got news for you, David. We'll fight"

"They all say that in the beginning. Go ahead, love. It will only make the process that much more interesting. Perhaps somewhere along the tine you'll even consider that little mountain rendezvous we planned. Now that would be amusing, wouldn't it? I wonder how many chief executive officers of firms facing a hostile merger have tried to buy off the raiding company with their bodies? Interesting thought, isn't it...?"

Kalinda slammed the phone down, his confident, knowing laughter ringing in her ears.

She sat in stunned silence for several minutes, gazing with unseeing eyes at the framed mirror on the opposite wall. It reflected her well-tailored white business suit with its narrow skirt and close-fitting jacket.

Her hair was up, as usual,, and the yellow silk blouse she wore was open at the neck with a rakish air.

My G.o.d, she thought dazedly. What did she do now? Handling hostile mergers wasn't one of those subjects stressed when she had been in business management school. It was something one learned on the streets, a true urban guerrilla warfare. She knew all about building a company up from within, obtaining capital, promoting research, making the firm's stock appear attractive to the a.n.a.lysts of brokerage houses so that they would, in turn, encourage investors to buy it; she knew about those things. She'd learned some the hard way and some she'd studied in school.

But this was a different kind of game. Unfriendly mergers were something that happened to other companies, not to one's own! She closed her eyes briefly in self-reprisal. She had made a bad error in not planning ahead for such an eventuality. But she had been so swamped just trying to save the business it had never occurred to her that someone would come along and take the salvage prize right out of her hands.

Not to mention the hands of the loyal management. Breaking the news to them would be the hardest part. It was their jobs, after all, which were most likely to be destroyed by such an action. The rank and file were probably the safest. They would be needed to keep things running. But all those in management positions who had worked their way up during the years would find themselves in real jeopardy. They could be replaced and most likely would be by aggressive young movers from the acquiring firm.

Everything she had worked for during the past two years would be gone. Kalinda, of course, would be the first to go....

But that was negative thinking, she told herself furiously, getting restlessly to her feet and walking back to the window. She was going to fight She had to. She owed it to her company to try to save its independence. Tomorrow morning she would call in the company officers for an emergency strategy meeting. She shook her head sadly. It was going to be a shock for all of them.

But in spite of the crisis and the need for planning, there was nothing she could realistically do that evening. She couldn't very well call off the party and it wouldn't do her any good even if she could. Grimly she paced back to her desk.

Several hours later Kalinda paused in her duties as hostess to take stock of the c.o.c.ktail party's success. There were several important business a.s.sociates here this evening, many of them male and that meant she had to be especially nice to their wives. The last thing she wanted was to risk a case of wifely jealousy. She had walked a fine line for two years and thought she'd done a good job of rea.s.suring suspicious wives and still maintaining the solid business contacts she needed.

She glanced around the room, taking in the well-dressed, affluent crowd in their expensive suits and gowns, wondering who among them she might go to for advice and professional consultation. She needed to talk to someone, she thought Someone who knew about the dirty in-fighting that went on in a hostile merger situation. It was a cinch she wouldn't get much constructive help from her own staff. They'd never encountered such a maneuver.

Before she could decide if there was someone in the crowd who could be potentially helpful, Kalinda was interrupted by the effusive thanks of a charming, older woman who glided up to her in a cloud of perfume and wispy chiffon.

"Kalinda, my dear! Thank you so much for the lovely picture you gave Harold and I! So nice of you to think of us while you were on vacation! But your dear father was like that, too. Always so thoughtful of others."

"I'm glad you like it," Kalinda smiled, thinking of the price she'd paid for the watercolor she'd purchased in Rand's gallery. A weekend affair...

"It looks perfect in Harold's den! And you look quite perfect yourself tonight," Mrs. Sebastian added with a warm smile, surveying her hostess's printed beet-red silk jacquard sheath with its touches of peac.o.c.k blue. A fine gold braid edged the neckline and wrists. It was a sumptuous, almost oriental effect which Kalinda wore well. The b.u.t.tery material slid fluidly over her small b.r.e.a.s.t.s and rounded hips.

"Thank you," Kalinda said, hastening to return the compliment She stood talking for several minutes to the wife of one of her top managers and then edged away with the excuse of checking the buffet table.

Around her the crowd swirled happily amid the lush green and ripe apricot decor of the town house. The green in the plush rug gave the apricot print-covered furniture a dramatic background. The color scheme emphasized the focal point of the room which was a huge sun parlor that formed one entire wall.

Brilliant patches of white had been used sparingly against the rich colors in the form of an occasional lamp and gla.s.s-topped coffee table. The dining table was also a stark white and stood in front of a mirrored wall which reflected the colorful buffet food set out on it.

As usual, Kalinda spared no expense when she entertained, deeming it a business necessity. But even she had to smile at that justification. The truth was, she enjoyed entertaining. Tonight was an exception. But, then, who could take pleasure in such things with a sword hanging over one's head?

Only a few people knew that she, herself, prepared the elegant little canapes and hors d'oeuvres served at her parties. Others just seemed to a.s.sume she used a caterer and she let them think that Only she knew that such gourmet cooking was a source of relaxation for her. She had discovered it during the past year and was continually amazed at how she could escape her business concerns for a few hours in a kitchen.

Across the room she caught Colin Wayne's eye and smiled at him as he advanced. She had gone out with him on a couple of occasions recently and found his easy charm made for pleasant evenings. He was in his early thirties, with carefully styled blond hair and laughing blue eyes. He was also, she had discovered, a brilliant player on the lively Denver Stock Exchange.

"Another great party, Kalinda," he grinned approvingly, reaching behind her to help himself to a little cracker covered with rich, dark caviar. "Beats me how you throw these affairs together so easily when you work so hard! You' d have made a great corporate wife, you know!"

"You've got a lot of nerve eating my food and insulting me at the same time!" she grumbled in response to his teasing.