His hands moved yearningly along her back as he stared down at her. He looked as if he didn’t fully trust his luck, Kalinda decided. But she was the lucky one. How could she have ever run away that morning in the mountains?

„I’ll take care of you, Kalinda,“ he promised. „I love you so much. I need you so much. I need you to keep me from drinking too much coffee, to keep me from falling into the trap of becoming a business shark, to keep me from an empty, Incomplete life.“

„And I need you. A man I can trust, a man I can rely on for sound, rational advice, a man who wants me more than trout fishing or empire building.“ Her lips quirked invitingly, gently. „Love me, Rand. Please love me.“

He folded her to him, a reverence and a deep desire forming opposite ends of the spectrum which constituted his love for her. Kalinda felt it and reveled in it, giving herself up eagerly to the urgent need to share the love they had.

„I think,“ he rasped close to her ear as he tugged at the comb that held her hair, „the president of Brady Data Processing should take a little time off now that the immediate crisis is past, don’t you?“

She shivered as her hair tumbled down her shoulders, aware of his hands moving through the golden-brown stuff with masculine delight „A vacation?“

„I was thinking more in terms of a honeymoon,“ he replied, slipping off the jacket of her suit „It so happens I know of a delightful mountain retreat situated picturesquely on the bank of a scenic lake--“

„Indoor facilities, I trust?“

„Only the finest,“ he assured her simply, removing her small-collared blouse as she began fumbling with the buttons of his shirt „Fresh trout in the morning, arts and crafts in the afternoon, daily picnics.“

„It sounds charming.“

As her lacy bra slid to the carpet, Rand groaned and crushed her to his naked chest „It is charming. But to tell you the truth, the place has always lacked something.“

„A woman’s touch?“ She nibbled suggestively at the curve of his throat.

„Not just any woman’s touch,“ he murmured.

„Your touch. Will you come back to the mountains for a honeymoon with me, Kalinda?“ he begged, as they stepped out of the last of their clothes. „I promise you won’t be bored.“

„I wasn’t bored last time, not after I met you,“ she confessed as he molded her body to his own. She trailed her nails sensuously down his back, feeling the instant response of his body. „But don’t you think that tempting the president of the company with visions of a weekend in the mountains may constitute some sort of corporate bribery?“

„Haven’t you learned anything at all about me?“ he whispered thickly, lifting her and carrying her over to the sun-dappled couch. „Ask anyone in town, they’ll all tell you Fm a man who will stop at nothing to get what 1 want!“

„As long as Fm what you want.“ She smiled up at him through her lashes, pulling his mouth down to hers.

„You’re the only thing 1 really want The only thing that counts.“

And men he was demonstrating the wonder and depths of his love to the woman who had developed a passionate love for a shark.