Sweet Silken Bondage (30 page)

Reina carried herself with regal dignity as Clay
ushered her out of the dining room into the passageway. She kept her head held high as he practically dragged her along to their cabin. His grip on
her arm was almost painful, but Reina was not
about to let him know it hurt. She had too much
pride for that. As they reached their stateroom,
Clay opened the door and stood back to let her go
in first. When she defied him, refusing to go obediently, she tested his temper even further.

"Get in there," he seethed in a low, dangerous
voice.

Reina was furious. She heard the threat in his
tone, but refused to heed it. She would not show
any fear before him. Chin up, she marched inside.
She lit a lamp as Clay followed her inside. Once the
door was closed, she whirled around, attacking him
full-force before he could say a word.

"How dare you, Clay Cordell!" she snarled, her
eyes flashing fire.

"Shut up, Reina, before you push me too far,"
Clay returned ominously.

"Push you too far?" she raged. "You've pushed me
too far! How could you embarrass me that way?
How could you say those things in front of Michael!"

Her throwing Michael up to him at that moment
broke the last thread of tenuous control Clay had
over his wrath. He had not intended to get physical
with her, but all rational thought fled. Grabbing her
by the arms, he hauled her bodily up against him.

"Michael... what the hell do I care what Michael Webster thinks about anything?" he ground
out savagely. "There's only one thing that's important to me! There's only one thing I care about!"

"Oh, yes. I know all about what's important to
you!" she taunted. "Money is what you care about
...only money!" She fought to get free of him,
struggling against his hold, as she threw the words
at him in a verbal slap. "You don't care about
honor and decency! You're an amoral bastard!"

Clay gave a vicious chuckle as he worked to
control her. "And you're such a model of virtue?" he
demeaned, thinking of her betrayal of her fiance
and the misery she'd caused her father. "I pity your
father, and I pity the man who wants you. You're a
lying, deceitful, self-centered, little coward. At least,
I keep my word"

"Your word?" she seethed, pounding on his chest
with her fists. "Your word isn't worth the breath it's
spoken with! You'd probably double-cross your own
mother if you thought you'd profit by it!"

Her statement just stoked the flame of his own
fury that much hotter. Releasing her arms and
quickly seizing her wrists to stop her from hitting
him. With one easy move, he'd twisted her arms
behind her back, effectively subduing her, and
yanked her tight against his chest.

"You might as well give it up, Reina. You've
lost"

"I concede nothing" she declared arrogantly. She
glared up at him, her features flushed from the
exertion of her fight.

Clay shrugged. "It doesn't make any difference to me whether you do or not. All I care about is the
job I was hired to do. I'm taking you back to your
father, with or without your cooperation"

"You can try," she challenged, still trying hard to
break away.

As Clay stared down at her, he couldn't stop the
reluctant admiration he was feeling. If nothing else,
she was a fighter. Even against such overwhelming
odds, she refused to surrender to the inevitable.

"It's not a matter of trying. I'll do it," he said
with finality.

"Oh, you...!" She gave a tremendous jerk, trying to break away once and for all.

The effort didn't surprise Clay in the least, and
he reacted accordingly, yanking her back even
closer. All too late, he realized his mistake. She
slammed against him, her slender curves pressed far
too intimately against him. He could feel every inch
of her body as he held her pinioned there. He
froze, suddenly, achingly aware of her as a woman.

"Let me go!" She writhed ineffectually, trying to
get free, but her actions only stirred his tight-reined
ardor all the more.

At the silken feel of her in his arms, his fury
waned. His concern for Dev faded. His emotions
were in turmoil, and his silver eyes darkened as
heat surged through him. He wanted Reina! He
had since the first moment he'd laid eyes on her,
and that desire had only grown with time. Watching
her dress earlier had only teased his senses. Touching her now was more than he could bear.

Reina seemed to sense a sudden change in him
and she looked up. She gasped at the intensity she
saw in his gaze. "Let me go, Clay!"

"I can't," he groaned, not thinking of escape. "Not
now. Not when I've finally found you..."

Reina tensed at the naked desire reflected in the
stormy gray depths.

"No, Clay..." she began to protest, but she had
no time to say more as Clay's mouth descended to
hers, claiming her lips in a demanding exchange.

Reina began to fight again. She didn't want this.
She didn't want him! But as his mouth moved
persuasively over hers, her struggles weakened. This
was no longer Clay, her captor, but Clay, the man
...the man she'd thought she'd loved only a short
time before.

"Don't..." she whispered in hoarse protest when
his mouth left hers, but he ignored her.

When he bent to seek the sweetness of her throat,
a small whimper escaped her. She shivered at the
ecstasy of his touch. When he released her hands,
she pushed ineffectually against his chest for a moment. But that resistance ended completely as he
caressed the full mound of her breast. Passion longdenied exploded within her. With a groan of surrender, she ceased her struggle and melted willingly
against the hard wall of his chest.

Anger and some other equally powerful emotion
mixed together in a tempest of excitement. They
were caught up in a maelstrom of need.

Clay kissed her once more, deepening the kiss
this time. They drank of each other, tasting of the
wine of their desire. They had refused to recognize
it for too long. They had fought it for too long.
Their consuming passion could no longer be held
back, no longer be denied.

Breathlessly, they clung together. They refused to
think about what was happening between them.
There was no time for logic. There was time only
to feel, to react, to give in to the rampant need that
burned hotly within them both and which they were
both finally acknowledging.

Reina groaned softly in anticipation as his lips
left hers to explore the hollow of her throat once
more, seeking out that sensitive pulse point. Clay lifted her easily into his arms, kissing her passionately as he laid her upon the bed. He moved to lie
beside her, and in that instant, their gazes locked.

It would have been the time to put a stop to the
madness that was engulfing them. It would have
been the time to throw accusations at one another
and break apart in brittle hatred, but it did not
happen. Instead, Clay bent to her with loving intent, his lips brushing hers with short, tender-soft
kisses until Reina reached up and drew him down
to her for a full, flaming exchange, murmuring his
name in almost exquisite agony as she did so.

"Clay..."

"Ah...Reina," came his answer, and her name
was a moan of pure desire.

He moved over her, settling his weight upon her,
and she welcomed him with open arms. Reina knew
this was what she'd always wanted, ever since that
day on the stage.. .ever since that night at the
way station.

Clay worked the buttons at her bodice, freeing
her breasts to his ardent caresses, and she was
enraptured. As he shifted lower to press hot, wet
kisses to that silken flesh, she held him close, savoring his practiced touch.

A yearning grew deep within the womanly heart
of her, and Reina knew it was a need only Clay
could satisfy. She wanted him desperately. No other
man had ever stirred such wild, wonderful emotions
within her. It was almost as if she couldn't get close
enough to him, as if she couldn't get enough of his
kisses or touch. She never wanted this to end.

He rose above her to capture her lips once more.
This time it was a tender kiss, but a kiss that held
such promise, Reina felt dizzy from the power of it.

"I want you, Reina," he declared in a love-husky
voice. "I want you more than I've ever wanted any
woman."

"I want you, too," she whispered, drawing him
back for another kiss. She didn't want to talk. She
only wanted Clay, and the joy that would come
from knowing him fully.

At her invitation, Clay could wait no longer.
Impatiently, he began to strip away the gown and
underclothing that she'd just so carefully donned a
few short hours before. He remembered watching
her reflection in the cabin window, and the heat of
the memory fueled his passion to even greater
heights.

When he moved over her again and kissed her,
Reina was ready. It felt right.. .so right - the
crush of her full breasts against the fine, soft fabric
of his shirt, the shock of his belt buckle, cold
against her belly, the long, lean length of his muscle-hardened thighs against her soft, unclad ones.

Clay caressed her silken limbs, his hands never
resting as they traced pattern after arousing pattern
across her satiny skin. He cupped her breasts, laving them with kisses, then moved lower to tease the
slender curve of her waist. He shifted up to kiss her
again as he stroked her velvety thighs, urging them
apart. He explored the heat and desire nestled between them, his caresses seeking the dark, sweet
entrance to her love.

Reina arched upward in surprise at his boldness,
but almost immediately relaxed at his murmured
urging. He began a rhythmic massage then that
transported her and left her enthralled and almost
mindless in her pleasure.

"Clay ...oh Clay..." Reina found herself moving with him, matching his caress.

He quickened his touch. He wanted to please
Reina, to show her the delight that could be found
when passion was sated. Throbbing desire pulsed
deep within her and seemed to gain strength as his
ardent caress became more and more arousing. It seemed Clay was demanding a response from her
body that she had never experienced before. When
he sought her breasts once more with hungry kisses,
Reina was not prepared for the heart-stopping excitement that erupted within her.

Reina trembled in his arms as ecstasy raced
through her slim body. Her hands clutched at him,
holding on for dear life as wave after wave of pure
physical bliss assaulted her. His name escaped her
lips in a cry of breathless wonder as she was swept
away on the tidal wave of love. When the last
pulsing peak of passion had died, Reina lay weakly,
unable to move, in Clay's now-cradling embrace.

Clay stared down at her, his gray eyes stormy
and dark with emotions neither could begin to understand. He felt inordinately proud that he'd given
her pleasure. He had never known a woman so
responsive to his touch, and he never wanted to let
her go.

"Reina..." he whispered.

Reina's eyes flew open at the sound of his voice,
and her expression was soft and unguarded. She
sighed, and her eyes drifted shut as he bent to kiss
her once more.

The fever of Clay's own, barely-controlled desire
was still demanding release.

"I need you," he said slowly in between, passionate, drugging kisses.

Reina could feel the hard, proud heat of him
pressing urgently against her through his clothing.
She wanted to know the perfection of loving him, of
joining with him, of knowing him as only a woman
can know a man. "Yes, yes... please..."

Her encouragement sent his senses soaring, and
he left her only long enough to shed his clothing.
Joining her back on the bed, Reina gasped at the
feel of his hot male body next to hers.

"Clay... I..."

"Hush, just let me love you," he coaxed just
before kissing her again.

Reina had felt so languid that she was startled
when Clay's fervent kisses and knowing caresses
stirred the fire of her passion once more. It surprised her, but it also thrilled her to know that she
could respond to Clay so fully and so easily and
cause the same reaction in him.

Wanting to please him as much as he had pleased
her, she began to return his touch, exploring the
vast, muscle-sculpted width of his chest with her
own arousing caresses then moving lower to his
waist and stomach. When Clay groaned at her
sensual ploy, Reina knew a burst of feminine pride.
She had never realized what power a woman could
exert over a man, and it made her feel good to
know that she could arouse him the same as he
could her.

Reina's innocent brazenness sent Clay's desire spiralling out of control, and he could wait no longer
to sample of her love. He rose above her, fitting his
body intimately to hers.

Her eyes widened at the sensation, so foreign to
her femininity, yet somehow so perfect. She had an
understanding of what went on between a man and
woman, but knew little beside the basic facts. The
reality of his masculinity was much more exciting
than anything she'd ever dreamed. She tensed, waiting for whatever was to come next.