Giant of Mesabi

Her heart leapt in fear. The low, mesmerizing voice was painting a picture that Alanna could see all too clearly. It was as if she was looking into the future and seeing her fate written in the indigo glitter of his gaze.

Her head made a tiny movement of protest. His fingers relaxed their grip on her throat as if knowing she was incapable of looking away. The hand traveled down the slender curve of her neck to cover her breast, her heart hammering madly against it.

"I will be the one to caress you, Alanna," Rolt continued huskily, "the one to learn your intimate secrets. It will be my name you will whisper in the night." An inarticulate sound came from her throat, almost a surrender, and satisfaction glimmered through his impassive mask. "Your eyes tell me that you think it might be true. It is true. You will find it out—in time."

Then he released her completely. Alanna swayed unsteadily. She felt hot and cold at the same time, numb with shock yet every nerve alive. The ambivalence of her reaction was frightening. She stared sightlessly at the patio floor, trying to understand how she could feel so many things at the same time.

Something was wrapped around her shoulders, and she glanced up, dazed. The beach jacket covered her bikini, providing her protection too late. Rolt was standing beside her, watching her. Blankly she met his enigmatic look.

"I want you to have dinner with me tomorrow night," he stated.

For a moment she could only stare at him, still lost in her split world. Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, her will surfaced.

"No," she refused flatly.

Rolt shrugged, as if to say it was only a matter of time, and accepted her decision. When he spoke, his voice was soft yet very clear, quietly unrelenting.

"Don't forget what I've told you."

Alanna covered her ears with her hands. "Get out of here!" she shouted hoarsely.

Her eyes were tightly closed, trying to shut out the picture he had painted so indelibly. Rolt left the patio as quietly as he had come. Alanna's position didn't vary, not until the distant sound of a motor turning over in the driveway reached her muffled hearing. With a broken sob, she slumped on to the chaise lounge, but she didn't cry. There was too much anger, frustration, and confusion for tears.

Nothing he said was possible, she kept telling herself. He couldn't make her marry him against her will. It was only the momentary spell he had woven that had allowed her to believe it for a few frightened seconds. None of it could come true without her consent. And she would never give it. Never!

Chapter Four

THE PORCHLIGHT dimly illuminated the front door.

The night air was scented by the ever-present, pervasive perfume of pines, crickets and cicadas droned endlessly. The little traffic on the street at that late hour was far away.

In the shadows cast by the porchlight, Kurt's kiss deepened with persuasive ardor. It wasn't his kiss that Alanna experienced. Unwanted, unbidden, the brutal mastery of Rolt's kiss rocked her senses. The memory returned so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that she violently wrenched away from Kurt's embrace. When she saw the puzzled blue of his eyes instead of the indigo glitter of Rolt's, she realized what she had done.

"What's the matter? What have I done?" Bewildered laughter laced his voice.

Alanna turned away, taut, unable to meet his searching gaze. "It's…it's nothing" A trace of irritation at her own behavior accompanied her faltering denial of any wrongdoing on Kurt's part

"Something is wrong," he insisted, his hands turning her tense shoulders around so she faced him. "Tell me what it is," he coaxed gently. She looked into his handsome features, and a wave of hopelessness washed over her. There wasn't any way she could tell Kurt about Rolt's visit this afternoon or explain the way it had affected her.

She tilted her head back, moving it in a weary, negative motion. "I—I have a slight headache."

That had to be the oldest excuse on record, but Kurt had no reason to question her statement. He accepted it at face value and smiled ruefully.

"You should have said something earlier," he told her.

"I didn't want to spoil our evening," Alanna said.

"You probably got too much sun this afternoon," Kurt suggested.

Too much Rolt, she thought grimly. "Perhaps," she conceded with a brief nod.

"I don't want to let you go in, but I guess I'd better. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" His dark head was tipped to one side.

"Yes," Alanna agreed, and lifted her mouth for his goodnight kiss.

He brushed her lips lightly, but they remained cool and untouched by his gentleness. The memory of Rolt overshadowed the reality of the moment, spoiling any pleasure she might have obtained from Kurt's caress.

Inside the house, she leaned against the closed front door, shutting her eyes for a brief instant. Don't forget, Rolt had said. He needn't have bothered, she thought bitterly. He had successfully come between her and Kurt tonight, and she had the uneasy feeling it wasn't going to be the last time that it would happen.