She was still justifying her reasons for stopping to say farewell several minutes later as she parked the Mercedes next to the Lotus and opened the door. The sight of the sleek, white sports car brought up the depressing image of a professional gigolo again and Kalinda told herself she was absolutely right in her decision not to see Rand again after this morning. Two ships passing in the night.
The morning sunlight was corning cheerfully through the swaying pines as she knocked tentatively on the door. She really didn’t know that much about his habits, Kalinda thought as she waited for a response. Perhaps he’d gone fishing. Or perhaps he was still asleep. Maybe today he would rouse himself sufficiently to open the gallery.
She was running through the list of possibilities for not finding him at home when the door was abruptly flung open.
Whatever Kalinda had planned to say was squelched before she could form the words by the sight of him standing on the threshold staring at her. He looked terrible! The chestnut hair was ruffled as if he’d been combing his hand through it The hazel eyes were dark and strained and there was a desperately tired, haggard look about him which caught at her heart He was wearing the faded jeans and an unbuttoned white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He held a cup of coffee in one hand.
In the instant of silent regard that passed between them, Kalinda felt the taut emotion vibrating in the atmosphere. She met his eyes and began a frantic search for something reasonable to say. He didn’t look at all reasonable, however.
„Rand, I… I only stopped by to tell…“ she began.
His hand fell away from the door and the cup of coffee was set down on a nearby stand. The hazel eyes flared to life with a deep, hungry gleam as he reached for her.
„You came to tell me you’ve changed your mind about meeting Hutton tonight at the motel,“ he stated evenly, his fingers sliding around her neck while his thumbs went under her jaw to hold her face so that she could not look away.
„Yes,“ she said simply, feeling the currents of physical awareness passing through her. He looked awful, she told herself again, and somehow he made her want to take him in her arms and comfort him. How could that be?
„It’s about time you got here,“ he whispered thickly, pulling her gently, inexorably toward him. „I’ve spent most of the night walking the floor over you, Kalinda Brady. Thank God you’ve finally decided to put me out of my misery!“
His mouth came heavily down on hers before she could think of a way to respond to his words. And as soon as she felt his warm, aggressive passion flood her senses, Kalinda realized this was the real reason she’d talked herself into saying good-bye to him.
„I was sure I could get you to make the right decision,“ he said huskily against her lips. „So sure. But there was always the possibility I’d guessed wrong.“
„Are you often wrong about people?“ she asked softly, her hands sliding up his chest, pushing aside the loosely hanging shirt.
„Very seldom,“ he replied equally softly. „But it’s never been quite this important to be right before!“
Then his mouth closed fiercely over hers once more, the tip of his probing tongue flicking across her lips and ultimately claiming the inner warmth of her mouth.
Kalinda shivered beneath the onslaught, thrusting aside her common sense and knowing as she felt his hands move on her that this morning she was going to surrender to the pull of an intense passion she’d never known before.
He heard the soft sigh with which she accepted the reality of their desire and Rand folded her tightly, tenderly against him, an answering groan of need deep in his chest.
His fingers found the line of her spine and tracked upward, sending out little eddies of sensuous current at every point along the way. Kalinda felt him arch her against his lower body and she moaned her aching response.
„I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you,“ he breathed, stringing slow, damp little kisses along her cheek to the nape of her neck. With one strong hand he held her face buried in his shoulder while his teeth nipped erotically at the vulnerable neck he was baring.
The tuxedo-styled shirt and lacy bra seemed to float free of her body, leaving her nude from the waist up. The morning sunlight danced along the silky skin of her shoulders and she heard Rand’s indrawn breath. Gently he freed her hair.
„I’m exhausted from pacing my floor; I’ve had so much coffee it’s a wonder I’m able to think at all. Never in my life have I had so many doubts about my own judgment, but suddenly I feel fantastic,“ Rand growled as she played her fingers across the muscles of his back, her hands moving under the white shirt.
„Oh, Rand,“ she breathed helplessly, finding his tanned throat with her questing lips. „I shouldn’t be here…“
„But you are and that’s all that counts,“ he interrupted in a passion-roughened voice. He trembled beneath the touch of her lips and Kalinda was thrilled to be able to arouse him as he aroused her. It was crazy and it could only happen between them once but she was twenty-nine years old and she was suddenly determined to sample the depths of true desire. All the arguments against one-time encounters with virtual strangers could be dragged out later when she was back in the reality of Denver. This was a stolen moment out of time that would never come her way again. How could she pass it by?
„Kalinda, Kalinda, I want you so much and I was so afraid at times during the night that you wouldn’t come to me…“
She shook her head wordlessly, her lashes dusting her cheeks as she lowered her eyes from the flaming want in his gaze. She hadn’t known herself that she would come to him like this. Nor did she want to think about her own actions in that moment Instead she clung to him with an intensity that amazed her. She felt the lean strength in his hips as her hands searched out the feel of him beneath the tight jeans.
„Why are we standing here? I have the perfect place for us,“ he rasped and swung her high into his arms. Kalinda pressed her lips to his now-naked shoulder and closed her eyes once more as he strode down the cream-carpeted hall to a bedroom full of caramels and browns.
He settled her gently on the sun-dappled bed, her light-colored hair fanning out across the rich golden brown bedspread. For a moment he stood gazing down at her and then he sat beside her, his hands going to the long tendrils of hair.
„It’s almost the same color as my bedspread,“ he half-smiled, stroking luxuriously. „Your skin looks like cream in the morning light.“ His eyes roamed warmly over her as he slowly unbuckled the web belt of her khaki trousers and finished undressing her.
He performed the task with infinite care, pausing to caress each inch of skin revealed until she lay naked beneath his hands. He stroked his fingers in languid, delicious little circles along the length of her leg from ankle to thigh. By the time he reached her hip Kalinda was trembling with desire.
Apparently satisfied with his efforts, Rand pulled away for a moment, sliding quickly, impatiently out of his jeans and returning to her welcoming arms with a hoarsely whispered exclamation of need.
„I was going to head straight back to Denver after calling David this morning,“ she whispered as he gathered her close. „But somehow I couldn’t leave without seeing you…“
„I would have gone mad if you hadn’t.“
He buried his lips at the curve of her shoulder, nipping gently at her skin while his hand closed possessively over her breast The firming nipple beneath his palm seemed to arouse him further and Kalinda reached down to touch him with intimate wonder.