Lilac Temptress (14 page)

He didn’t know why the innocent look
in her eyes had driven him to anger. When he was finished
reprimanding himself for not being gentler with her, he walked out
of the tiny room and found Sierra lying in bed still awake. Her
eyes were soft and wide now, and she took in a deep breath. She
seemed rather benign, covered up to her neck by a rainbow colored
quilt.

“
Why are you still awake?”
Drake asked softly. He wore only his slacks and held the rest of
his clothing folded over his forearm. He glanced around the room as
if trying to figure out where it was that he would
sleep.

“
I wanted you to lie with
me for a little while.” Sierra lost her manners and stared at his
solid, well-sculpted chest. His body seemed to be made out of raw
strength and intelligence. He was so good-looking. She was suddenly
pleased that she had not straightened up her room. “You can sleep
in the bed with me, if you like.”

Drake was too exhausted to argue with
her now. In fact, he was too tired for anything at this moment,
even though he still sensed that Sierra wanted something to happen
between them.

He got into the small cozy bed beside
her. It came as no surprise to him that she was still completely
disrobed, and unbelievably warm underneath the spread. He rolled
his head back against the pillow and turned on his side,
back-facing her, trying to forget that she was even there. He tried
not to smell the sweetness of her. How would he ever endure this
night?

“
Drake, are you sleeping
yet?” Sierra murmured softy, a few moments later.

Of course he wasn’t sleeping, he
thought, but he didn’t dare respond. He was trying his hardest to
be responsible under the circumstances. He wouldn’t take advantage
of her. He knew that the day that he received what he’d wanted from
her, he wouldn’t be around to see her the next. But, she had been
accosted, and that changed everything. He didn’t want to take
advantage of her in her current condition. He was obligated to her
now. He wanted to keep her happy for as long as he could before he
might bed her and inevitably leave her.

Sierra assumed Drake was sleeping. Her
burning curiosity made her want to know the feel of his bare skin.
She wondered if she should dare touch him. After all, what harm
could it do? He was sleeping, and he wouldn’t necessarily know how
she touched him. She shifted her body against his, and took
pleasure in feeling his muscular back against her ample breasts,
and then she slowly slid her arm around him.

Drake—startled, knew better than to
react. If he did, he was certain he would make love to her no
matter how expended he was. He endured her silky hand gliding down
the crevice of his chest.

Sierra’s fingertips gently traced his
navel, and then her hand eased lower. His abdominal muscles jerk
reflexively underneath her touch as she fumbled with and then
unfastened the buttons of his pants. She was only inches away from
his groin, and could feel the heat of Drake against her
hands.

Drake heard the sound of a
schoolgirl’s giggle, before catching Sierra’s hand in one swift
motion to stop her from fully gripping his erection.

“
Woman, what are you doing
to me?” Drake was stunned at his voice, which sounded a hoarse,
savage groan.

Sierra’s heart pounded into her
throat. She tried to snatch her hand away, but Drake held it
fast.

“
I’m sorry. I wanted to
feel you. I was wrong to do it. I was curious,” she said
quickly.

Drake rolled over to face her. “You
shouldn’t touch a man like this and you know it.” His voice was
harsh and unwavering.

No I don’t,
Sierra thought. “Summer nights are cool. I only
wanted to lie next to you for warmth,” she added
desperately.

Drake forced his restraint at the
sight of her. Her full breasts were exposed, her nipples blushing.
“I’m trying to do the right thing and not give into you, but if you
persist in touching me that way again, I won’t be able to help
myself. So, please let’s sleep.” Drake sighed, unable to suppress
his fatigue.

“
Is it Liandra and Jasmine
who have left you without vigor?” Sierra whispered.

Drake didn’t respond. He was
sleeping.

* * *

Sierra bolted upward, abruptly
awakened by thunderous pounding on her bedroom door.

“
What is it?” Drake
whispered, coming out of a deep sleep and slowly rising on his
elbows.

“
Please, don’t get up.
Someone is at the door. I’ll see to it.” Sierra gripped the corner
of a nearby sheet and wrapped it tightly around herself. She was
aware that Drake watched every move she made. She bit her lower lip
momentarily at the sight of him. He reminded her of the handsome
Greek god, Apollo. His eyes hesitantly closed as he lied on his
back again and spread himself across the bed.

“
Damn it Sierra, get up and
open this door!”

“
Kyle, have you gone mad?”
Sierra yelped as she cracked the door open, furious at her
brother’s tone of voice with her and embarrassed because of Drake’s
presence.

“
Have I gone mad?” he
laughed bitterly. “Have you?” he returned the insult.

Something was terribly wrong. Sierra
had never seen her brother so angry. “Kyle, I don’t know what has
gotten into you, but you’d better snap out of it now, or
I’ll—”

“
You’ll what, Sierra? Tell
me what you will do!”

“
Is everything okay?” Drake
called out groggily.

Kyle’s eyes widened as he heard the
deep male voice questioning behind the door.

“
Everything is fine.”
Sierra caught her breath. Before another word rolled off her
tongue, Kyle forced her backwards, swinging the door wide
open.

“
So what is this, Sierra?”
Kyle asked, his eyes wide in disbelief.

“
Kyle...” Sierra glanced
back at Drake. He was staring at them, entirely awake, appearing
naked underneath the quilt with only his chest exposed. Sierra
quickly shoved Kyle out of the doorway back into the open hall, and
stepped out of her room, shutting her door. She knew how this must
look to her brother, but she would not defend her virtue to him,
rather she’d put him in his place.

“
Who gave you the right to
talk to me like this, shouting at me like I am a child, waking
everybody up and embarrassing me?” she barked.

Doors to other rooms began opening
down the hall.

“
Now see what’s happened,
Kyle? You are causing a scene.”

“
Sierra, I don’t give a
damn!” Kyle roared, his stabbing royal-blue eyes vexed.

“
Would you two shut the
hell up out there?” an angry rogue called out.

“
This had better be worth
it, Kyle. Or I swear I’ll—” Sierra whispered in a forceful tone of
voice.

“
More threats, Sierra? You
goddamned whore!” Kyle blurted, not letting her finish her
sentence.

Sierra lifted her hand, but before she
made contact with Kyle’s cheek, he stopped her in mid-swing,
catching her delicate wrist swiftly. She lifted her other hand, but
he caught that one as well. For the first time in her life Kyle
intimidated her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sierra
saw Adrienne racing from the far end of the hall, wearing only a
bright orange silk robe. “What the heck is all the commotion out
here?”

“
She’s insane!” Kyle
glanced sideways at Adrienne, watching her as she headed straight
toward them.

“
Stay the hell out of my
business Sierra, I mean it,” Kyle demanded, his tone threatening.
He let her wrists go and pivoted to take his leave. Brushing past
Adrienne, he darted down the stairs.

“
He’s becoming more of a
man everyday,” Adrienne said with impartiality, staring after Kyle.
“So, you gonna tell me what happened or am I gonna stand here all
day?” She folded her arms across her breasts.

“
I made a mistake, that’s
all, Adrienne. I wish I could make Kyle listen to me,” Sierra
admitted.

“
Are you talking about
Claudine?” Adrienne lifted her brows.

“
Excuse me,” Drake
interrupted the women, exiting Sierra’s room fully
dressed.

Sierra noticed the shock on Adrienne’s
face.

“
Are you leaving so soon?”
Sierra petitioned; she wasn’t ready to see him leave.

“
I’m afraid I have to for
now. But I promise I’ll return,” Drake assured Sierra as he lifted
her hand and then kissed the back of it. He tilted his hat by its
brim to Adrienne as he passed.

“
Darn it,” Sierra
whispered.

“
Tell me everything and
don’t you leave out single a word!” Adrienne fussed.

“
Drake!” Sierra called out,
ignoring Adrienne. Fully aware that she only had a thin sheet
wrapped around her, she clutched it to hold it up, and ran down the
stairs after him.

Drake froze, only to feel Sierra
collide into him. He swept her into his arms—astonished by his
material need for her.

Sierra used one hand to secure her
sheet and the other to embrace him. She courageously pressed her
eager lips to his.

Drake responded, startled at first by
her actions, but then surrendered into the kiss, devouring her with
an excessive appetite. He wanted this. He had wanted to know the
taste of her lips again so desperately that he hadn’t even noticed
how inexperienced she was.

He parted from her briefly to catch
his breath before he kissed her again, this time seizing command of
her open mouth.

“
We have an audience,” he
said reluctantly pulling away, glancing upward.

Sierra followed his eyes with hers.
She blushed at seeing Adrienne and three other girls
gawking.

“
We’ll finish this,” Drake
whispered in her ear. “I swear it on my life.” He kissed her again
gently, letting his lips linger on hers for a moment then he walked
out the swinging doors.

“
Do tell!” one of the
half-dressed girls cried out.

“
Finally gone and got
laid!” another girl shouted.

“
He’s a fine specimen.
Didn’t I see him leave Wil’s bar with Liandra and Jasmine last
night?” the other girl mentioned.

“
Oh, you all just want a
piece of him for yourself,” Adrienne remarked. “Come on up here,
Sierra. We’ve got to talk,” she motioned.

As soon as Sierra sat down on
Adrienne’s bed next to her, she began to tell her the entire
story.

Adrienne listened to every word in
silence before finally speaking. “You know them girls out there are
busy bodies, and sooner or later Wil’s gonna hear about
this.”

“
You keep them quiet for
me, Adrienne. You must,” Sierra begged, her eyes
pleading.

“
I will as long as I can,
but those three are envious chatterboxes and you’re different from
them. You are special and they know it, and one day you’re gonna
find the right man and get out of this God forsaken town. This
Drake fellow might be the one.”

“
Not likely, Adrienne,”
Sierra spouted, disbelievingly. “He is a highborn man and won’t
settle for the likes of me.” Sierra exhaled—she’d rather not trust
in a fairytale ending.

“
Ah, but I’ve seen the way
he looks at you, Sierra. It’s more than just his wanting to lie
down with you,” Adrienne said sagely. “You ought to better measure
your worth.”

“
I thought you said that
all any man wanted was to get a pretty woman into his bed.” Sierra
shrugged, doubtfully.

“
Most men in this town do,
but not that one. Haven’t seen you with a man like this one since
Jason,” Adrienne argued.

Sierra frowned. “I asked you never to
repeat that name again.”

“
Now why not, honey?”
Adrienne voiced. With her fingers she began brushing Sierra’s hair
away from her face. “You’ll be over Jason someday, won’t
you?”

Sierra waited for a moment before
speaking again. She thought Adrienne was being insensitive and
wondered if she had ever cared for a man. After all, Adrienne had
never once spoken of any man to her liking. “Adrienne, have you
ever loved a man?”

Adrienne’s baffled face paled at the
question. “Why would you ask me such a thing?”

“
Because you seem to be
taking my feelings so lightly.” Sierra pouted.

“
There was a man once, but
it was a one-sided love affair. He eventually rejected me, and
there is nothing more to be said about it.” Adrienne turned away
from Sierra, thoughtful.

Sierra wanted to know more, but she
knew Adrienne was finished with the topic.

* * *

“
You’re making a huge
mistake, Mr. McCalister.”

Right outside the brothel, Drake
pivoted to find Kyle leaning against the building with irritation
in his eyes. Drake ignored the comment, turned his back, and began
walking away.

“
Don’t you think that you
should know why?” Kyle called out to him anxiously.