Giant of Mesabi

Fluidly swinging his feet to the floor, Rolt straightened, his hand gliding upward, briefly catching the hem of her skirt to reveal the initial curve of her thigh before the material folds hung straight once more. When he towered above her, the hand rested on her waist. Her nerve ends throbbed at his closeness. She pivoted sharply, knowing she must get away.

But his hands gripped her waist, drawing her shoulders against his chest. He buried his face in the soft tawny curls about her neck. Alanna closed her eyes against the heady wine of desire. His hands slid across her stomach, molding her against the hardness of his frame. Her fingers pushed weakly at his hands.

"No," she protested huskily. "This is crazy. It's only a physical…an animal attraction.

"But isn't it better, Alanna," he murmured against the sensitive cord in

her neck, "to know that when we're married, you won't be revolted by my touch?"

"It isn't enough," she breathed, feeling herself being swamped again by his storm, and knowing a marriage couldn't be built on lust alone.

"To start with, it is." Rolt nibbled at her ear when she twisted her neck away from the disturbing exploration of his mouth. "We'll have children and gradually a genuine fondness will grow between us."

"I don't know," Alanna sighed in confusion. She couldn't think straight, not when he was holding and caressing her the way he was.

"Believe me," he commanded,

Exerting the slightest pressure, he turned her into his arms. Like a feather caught in a whirling wind, Alanna had not the ability to dictate her own direction. She let herself be drawn into the vortex of his deepening kiss, her hands clinging to his hard shoulders to keep some measure of equilibrium.

When he finally lifted his head, she could see the light of victory glittering in his eyes. Not by word but by deed, she had involuntarily given him the answer he wanted.

But it wasn't the answer she meant to give, she didn't want to marry him. He had forced her to choose between her father and Kurt. She wanted to take back her responses to Rolt's kisses. She didn't want to choose. She wanted them both—it wasn't too late. She could change her mind—it was a woman's prerogative.

Wrenching her gaze away from his, she broke free of his loose hold and stepped past him. She squared her. shoulders, preparing in her mind the words she would speak to deny again that she would marry Rolt.

As she lifted her head, she stared directly into Kurt's face, cold with contempt. Paralyzed by the sight of him standing in the opened doorway, she was barely aware of Rolt coming to her side and sliding a supporting arm around her waist.

Kurt's gaze raked her from head to foot, lingering on the gaping front of her blouse. Instinctively her hand reached up to cover it, a fiery warmth of shame burning her cheeks. It wasn't the only part of her disheveled appearance that bore signs of Rolt's lovemaking. She wanted to curl up in a little ball and die.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Kurt," Rolt said quietly. "Alanna didn't know how to tell you, I guess."

Kurt's condemning gaze didn't waver from her face. "A family thing, you said." He bitterly reminded her of the reason she had given for being unable to see him tonight. "I never guessed you meant my family."

"Kurt, please." Alanna swallowed back a sob. "I—"

He broke in, not allowing her to finish. "I would have understood if you'd told me you were seeing Rolt. I would have been jealous as hell, but I would have understood."

"I wanted to tell you," she protested.

"But you wanted to be sure you had Rolt hooked. first, is that it?" he jeered. "Why settle for the poor younger brother if you could have the rich older brother? Did you agree to marry me to force Rolt into making a similar proposal if he really wanted you as much as he claimed? Was it only an affair that he wanted in the beginning?"

"Stop it!" she cried. His poisonous arrows were inaccurate, but it didn't lessen the venom in his tone.

A chilling sound of contempt came from his throat. "Tell me, older brother—" Kurt's gaze slashed to Rolt "—are congratulations in order, or should I say condolences?"

"I've asked Alanna to marry me," Rolt admitted.

Alanna breathed in sharply. "Don't you see he's maneuvering us again, Kurt?"

"You weren't exactly unwilling, Alanna, not when I opened the door. I doubt if you ever were," he accused tightly. "And to think I believed you when you said you would show Rolt the door. You did, all right—the door to your bedroom!"

"That's not true!" Her voice lacked conviction because she guessed that Kurt must have witnessed at least part of that last kiss if not more.

"If you haven't gotten around to buying the lady—" sarcasm underlined the word " —a ring, I have one for sale cheap. It's been tried on once and guaranteed to fit. There's no sense both of us wasting our money on the same broad!"

Alanna flinched visibly at the bitter scorn in his voice. Acid tears burned her eyes, but she had no right to cry. She knew that she deserved part of Kurt's obvious disgust. "Don't Kurt, please," she murmured in a trembling voice.

"I'll leave." His mouth twisted sardonically, his handsome features suddenly bearing a stronger resemblance to Rolt's bluntly chiseled lines. "I can guess how anxious you must be to go back into your lover's arms."