Sweet Silken Bondage (49 page)

"We sure do like to dance!" Mickey boomed.

"I'm first," Leo insisted, almost dragging her to
the dance area. "C'mon! This one is a real good
tune!"

Reina had no choice but to go along as he took
her in his arms and started to cavort about the
floor. Leo, she discovered, was not graceful, was not
coordinated and was definitely not a dancer. But
what he lacked in talent, he made up for with
enthusiasm. She was jerked, yanked, stepped on, whirled, spun and otherwise abused as Leo had his
fun. Her hair had been done up sedately when
she'd started down the drain pipe, but now it hung
down around her shoulders, torn loose from her
pins by her partner's gusto.

When the music ended she thought she'd be given
a reprieve to catch her breath, but to her misery,
Mickey claimed her for his turn. The musicians
played another tune with a fast beat, and the short
man danced her eagerly around the patio.

In comparison of the two, if there could be a
comparison, Leo was by far the better dancer. Short
as Mickey was, his eye level was at her bosom, and
he let her know in no uncertain terms just how
much he enjoyed the view. His hands were never
still even in the midst of the crowd.

"I really need a drink, Mickey" she told him
when the song was over, willing to do almost anything not to have to suffer another dance with him.

"Whatever you want, sweetheart," he answered,
hurrying off to get her a drink.

Before she could say another word, Leo grabbed
her wrist and tugged her with him out on the dance
floor again. The music was decidedly slower this
time, and he held her as close as he could. He'd
had another whiskey while he'd watched her dance
with Mickey, and he was now feeling no pain. He'd
seen how his friend had pawed her, and he'd grown
aroused thinking of what a great night this was
going to be. He ground his hips against hers letting
her know what was on his mind, unaware that she
was growing more and more panicky with every
passing minute.

Reina was wondering frantically if she'd fallen
from Clay's trap into an even far more dangerous
one. She tried to block Leo's gropings, but met with little success. When he started thrusting himself
against her hips right there in front of everybody,
she tried to pull free of his arms, disgusted.

"Stop!" she insisted, hating the feel of his hands
on her body even through her clothing.

Leo laughed loudly, telling her over the noisy
music, "C'mon, relax, you know you love it! All you
girls do!"

"I'm no whore..." she hissed, trying to fight
him now as she felt the threat implied in the
tightening of his arms around her.

Again he laughed, then pulled her even closer.
"Of course you're not."

"It's true!" She repeated, deliberately stomping on
his booted foot, but he took no notice.

"Sure it is," he coddled her. "You want to drink
instead of dance?"

He leaned back slightly to look down at her, and
she noticed his eyes were hot with desire for her.
Just being this near to him left her feeling dirty and
soiled.

"Yes," she lied, grasping at any excuse to get out
of his despicable hold. She was still firmly convinced that, as drunk as these two men were, she'd
be able to get away from them. All she had to do
was play her cards right and wait for a minute
when they were distracted so she could slip away
and disappear into the night.

Leo led her to a rather secluded table near the
back of the patio, and Mickey joined them there
with a round of drinks.

"Tell us, chica, how long have you been here in
Panama City?" Mickey asked, his eyes riveted on
her bodice.

"Not long," Reina answered, uncomfortable beneath his hungry eyes. She knew her dress was very demure and that the bodice was definitely all buttoned up, but he still continued to stare at her
lecherously as if she was naked. "What about you?"

"We're just passin' through on our way to California. There's still money to be made out there, and
we're gonna get our share of it."

She pretended to sip the cheap whiskey they had
bought her as she listened. Leo, however, noticed
right away that she wasn't really drinking it.

"Hey, how come you ain't drinkin'?" he demanded. "You said you'd rather drink. Then drink."

"I am. It's just that this is strong, and I can't
drink it fast." She forced herself to take a sip of the
awful liquor.

The men were pleased when she did, and they
sat back, savoring the thought of taking her up to
the privacy of their room at the saloon down the
street. By the time they'd finished their whiskeys,
the anticipation they'd been feeling had changed
from mild excitement to a burning need. They
knew they couldn't wait any longer. Exchanging
knowing looks, the two men stood up.

"Let's go," Leo urged.

"Go?" in her naivete, Reina didn't understand.

"C'mon, don't play dumb. We got a room at the
saloon down the street a ways, and we'll pay you
whatever you want."

Reina's heart plunged as ice-cold fear filled her.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. I told you before, I wasn't a-"

"Just shut up and let's go. We've been nice. We've
been showin' you a good time. Hell, we even
bought you a drink," Mickey said in a low, vicious
voice.

Leo grabbed her arm and hauled her up out of
the chair. "If you're thinking that you can do better than us, you're wrong."

Reina realized all too late that she'd been wrong
in comparing them to Clay. They were nothing like
him. Clay might have forced her to go along with
him, but he would never have hurt her physically.
Yet, there could be no doubt about the very real
threat of injury in Leo's unmerciful grip. She swallowed nervously, her eyes darting around in search
of help, but there were no familiar faces in the
crowd of revelers.

"I won't go with you! I won't!" she cried, struggling to get free.

Mickey moved to her other side and took her
other arm in a savage hold. "We're gonna pay you.
Why don't you just stop fussin' and walk along with
us real quiet-like?"

"No! Let me go, now!"

"Shut up, woman," Leo seethed. He was hot for
her, and he did not mean to be denied.

"I won't.. .I..."

"Oh, yes, you will." They were trying to make her
walk away from the table like nothing was wrong.

Reina was fighting against them with all her
might, but it was a losing battle. She realized now
how stupid she'd been to leave the safety and protection of their hotel rooms. Clay was nowhere
around, and even if he did go back there and
discover she was missing, he wouldn't have the
slightest idea where to start looking for her.

Reina wondered desperately where Clay was, and
she found herself wishing, to her own amazement,
that he would show up and save her from these
two. Wish though she might, she realized horribly
that there would truly be no escaping her fate this
time and that she had nobody to blame but herself.

"Please don't do this to me! I'm not what you think I am - really-" she was telling them desperately.

"Look, ckica, we're gonna have our own little
party back at our room. You'll enjoy yourself. Don't
worry. We'll have a lot of fun, just the three of us,"
Mickey said as he kept trying to urge her into the
shadows from the patio.

"I don't think so."

The firm command of the deep, deadly voice cut
through the rutting heat that was inspiring the two
men. They stopped dead in their tracks as they
came face to face with Clay and the very lethal
looking pistol he was holding, aimed directly at
them.

"She's ours," Leo declared possessively.

"She's goin' with us," Mickey agreed.

"Clay.. .Thank God, I..." As perverse as it
sounded, Reina had never been more happy to see
anyone in her entire life as she was to see him at
that minute. Had she been able to, she would have
thrown herself in his arms and hugged him for dear
life. She tried to twist away from the man once
more, but still they would not let her go.

"Well, boys, it doesn't appear to me like the lady
wants to go with you," Clay cut her off, ignoring
the pleading look in her eyes as he concentrated
solely on her companions.

"Sure she does! She told us she wanted to join
the party. That's why she was climbin' down off the
porch roof."

"Climbing down off the porch roof?" Clay
sounded almost casual as he said it, but his gaze
flicked to Reina, searing her for an instant before
turning back on her pair of amorous companions.

"Yeah. She wanted to have some fun, and we're
gonna show her some. Right now," Mickey announced.

"Like I said, I don't think she's of a mind to leave the party just yet. I think she wants to stay here
...with me." With deadly purpose to emphasize
his point, he cocked his gun.

At the sound, both Leo's and Mickey's blood ran
cold, effectively cooling their desire for her. They
still hesitated, not liking the thought of being forced
to back down, but liking the thought of dying even
less. They were glad that they were a short distance
away from the patio so that no one else noticed the
encounter. It was hard enough on them being
forced to give her up, but if they'd lost face in the
process, it would have been even worse.

"Let her go," Clay ordered in a steely voice, his
gunhand steady. "Then you can take off and go
enjoy yourselves drinking somewhere else. If
not..."

Leo and Mickey looked from the gun to the man
holding it and knew he wouldn't hesitate to use it if
it suited his purpose. They were particularly fond of
being among the living, and the thought of facing
this mean-looking hombre down, left their knees
weak and shaking. Intimidating a woman was one
thing, taking on a gunslinger was something else.
They hadn't wanted any bloodshed, just a little fun.
They suddenly felt a driving need for a strong
drink and decided to release Reina and go find one
...somewhere else far away from here.

"You can have her," Leo finally spoke up in
disgust.

"Yeah," Mickey groused as he and Leo backed
slowly away, never taking their eyes off his gun, "she
ain't worth gettin' killed over, that's for sure."

"You're probably right, gentlemen," Clay said sarcastically, watching until they had completely disappeared from sight down the street. That threat
dispensed with, he holstered his weapon and turned his full attention to Reina. His mood was near
savage as he stared at her, and glacial was too
warm a word for the regard he leveled on her.

Reina was completely unaware of the hostility of
his feelings. She only knew that he'd arrived just in
the nick of time to save her from what would have
been a terrible fate. She was trembling uncontrollably from the terror that had not yet had time to
abate.

Thank God, you came along when you did!" she
gushed, ready to launch herself gratefully into his
arms.

Clay was not about to have any of it. When she
tried to embrace him, he did not return it, but took
her by the upper arms and pushed her coldly from
him.

"Clay? What is it? What's wrong?" She looked up
at him in wide-eyed wonder as he held her away. It
was then that she saw his expression.

"Nothing's wrong," he answered curtly.

"Then let's go back inside and-"

"Your friends, there, said you wanted to join the
party." He nodded in the direction Leo and Mickey
had fled. "A spoiled little lady like you should
always get exactly what she wants. She should never
be disappointed." His words were biting and taunting.

"No, Clay, really, I..." She tried to move away
from him, but his hands stopped her, tightening on
her arms.

"Smile, Reina. You're going to enjoy yourself
tonight," he ground out. "If you wanted to join the
festivities so badly that you climbed down off the
roof, well, then, I don't think I should be the one
to deny you that happiness."

The joy she'd felt upon seeing him was rapidly fading as she remembered that he was her captor,
not her savior. When he took her by the wrist and
led her back to the crowded dance area, she had no
strength left to deny him.

"We haven't danced in quite a while, have we,
Reina?" Clay said softly, dangerously as he pulled
her against him. His arms were around her like
iron bands, keeping her close, letting her body feel
the rhythm of his as they moved to the beat of the
music. "Is this what you were so eager to do?"

"No...I..."

"Do you remember the last time we danced?" he
asked huskily, whirling her around.

Reina wondered how she would ever be able to
forget that night at the Randolphs'. She had
thought Clay was perfect then. She had thought
that he cared about her as a woman, and she'd even
thought she was falling in love with him.

"I remember," she whispered, lifting her gaze to
his.