Sweet Silken Bondage (56 page)

Nathan gave him only a cursory glance. "I don't
remember asking your opinion. So why don't you
just move on along and mind your own business?"
He turned back to George.

"Reina Alvarez is my business," Clay stated with
deceptive calm, as he moved within striking distance. At Nathan's surprised look, he added, "You
see I'm `one of those bounty hunters.' The name's
Cordell. Clay Cordell."

Nathan had only a fraction of a second to let the
truth of his identity sink in before Clay struck. He
lunged at him full-force, and they crashed violently
to the floor. The other patrons scrambled to get out
of their way as tables and chairs were overturned,
and glasses of liquor crashed to the floor and shattered. In a savage test of strength, they rolled over
and over, each seeking to dominate the other, each
seeking to inflict as much pain as possible.

Nathan fought dirty. He threw Clay off and
started to go for his gun. Dev had been watching,
just in case something like this happened. With the
expertise of a gunfighter, he fired once, his carefully
placed shot knocking the gun from Nathan's hand.
Nathan was stunned, and Clay took advantage of it,
tackling him again, pinning him to the ground.

This time, Clay's anger had no bounds for he was certain that Nathan would have killed him had Dev
not intervened. With a ferocity he hadn't known
himself capable of, he began to pound him with
driving blows. Within minutes, Nathan was pleading for him to stop.

"Stop... don't... wait..." he begged through
bloody lips.

Clay heard him distantly through the red haze of
his rage, but something primitive in him refused to
let him off so easily. He landed several more punishing blows before he felt Dev's hand on his shoulder, urging him without words to quit.

Clay hauled Nathan up off the floor by his shirtfront as he glared at him. "You utter another word
about Reina in this town, and you won't walk away
from our next fight."

He saw the bloodlust in the bounty hunter's eyes,
and he knew he wasn't lying. He hated Reina, but
vengeance on her wasn't worth dying over.

"All right, Cordell! I won't," he gasped weakly,
every inch of his body suffering from the terrible
beating Cordell had just given him.

Clay gave him a rough shake to emphasize his
point. "If you ever do..."

"No.. .I'll never say anything! I swear! Just lay

off..."

Clay let go of his shirt then, and Nathan fell
heavily back to the floor. Clay got up then and
dusted himself off. His knuckles were sore, and he
knew he'd be sporting a few bruises in the morning,
but he didn't care. If anything, he was amazed that
he felt better than he had in a long time. He
moved to the bar then, to confront George.

"I don't want to hear that you've been repeating
anything he said, either." Clay's icy gaze met his.

"Oh, no, Cordell. I didn't hear anything!" After
what he'd just witnessed, George knew without a
doubt he would keep quiet about what had hap pened here tonight. He busied himself with picking
up the aftermath.

Frenchie and Josie rushed to Clay to hug him
and congratulate him on his victory.

"I'd be dead if it wasn't for Dev. Thanks, partner."

"You're welcome," Dev replied, smiling as he slid
his gun back into his holster. "That was a man who
was just begging to be taught some manners."

"You're right."

Frenchie and Josie had just thrown their arms
around Clay and were trying to kiss him when Luis
stepped into the saloon, rifle in hand. He saw Clay
first and was thoroughly disgusted by the sight of
the two dancehall girls hanging all over him, kissing
him. This was the man his daughter loved? From
where he stood, he couldn't see Nathan still lying
on the floor or the overturned tables in the back.

"I knew I would find you here, Cordell," Luis
sneered, dreading the thought of having this degenerate for a son-in-law.

Clay looked up at the sound of his voice. He saw
the gun and knew immediately why he'd come.

"There's no need for the gun, Alvarez," Clay
assured him. "I was just on my way out to your
ranch" Shaking off the girls, he strode straight over
to him.

"I'm sure you were," the older man disparaged,
glancing back at Frenchie and Josie.

"Take another look, Alvarez." He was in no frame
of mind to put up with anything from anybody
right now. He'd just found out that the woman he
loved was pregnant with his child, and he was
worried that she wouldn't have him. She had begged
him not to turn her over to her father, and he
hadn't listened to her. He hoped she had it in her
heart to forgive him, and if she did, he was going
to spend the rest of his life making her the happiest
woman in California.

There was a loud groan as Nathan hung on the
bar and tried to pull himself to his feet. Luis looked
in his direction and spotted him for the first time.
The sight of Nathan's swelling, bloodied face
brought a smile to the old Californio's otherwise
stern features. He noticed then the disarray at the
back of the saloon.

"So, you and Mr. Marlow have already met and
exchanged a few pleasantries?"

"Yes, and it was quite a `pleasant' exchange, for
me," Clay replied.

"I can see that. I would have enjoyed watching,
but seeing the outcome is satisfying enough."

Clay wondered at his change of attitude. According to what Reina had told him on the boat, Luis
had been quite taken with Marlow.

Nathan saw Luis with Clay and knew it was too
late. He'd lost. Pulling himself together as best he
could, he left the saloon.

Clay watched Nathan go, feeling quite satisfied
that the man would give them no more trouble.

"Are you ready to go to the ranch?"

"Give me a minute, and then I'll be ready to ride
with you," Clay answered.

"I'll wait for you outside."

When Luis had gone, Dev spoke up first, grinning as he did so, "I thought there was something
on your mind tonight, and now I know what...
make that who, it was. You gonna tell me all about
it?"

"You know too much already" he replied with a
matching grin. "I love Reina, and if she'll have
me-"

"You don't think she loves you?" he interrupted,
surprised. Clay had never had any trouble with the
ladies before.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out right
now."

"Let me know how it goes."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Dev clapped him reassuringly on his back as they
strode from the saloon. Frenchie and Josie watched
them go, their expressions crestfallen.

"I hope their women know how lucky they are,"
Frenchie sighed.

"They do," Josie replied. "Otherwise those men
wouldn't be in such an all fired hurry to get back to
them." As they went to help George clean up the
mess, they were silently hoping that someday a man
like Clay or Dev would fall in love with them.

Clay joined Luis outside, and after retrieving his
horse from the stable, they rode for Rancho Alvarez. They had gone some miles before Luis
spoke.

"My daughter is a very perceptive young woman"
he said obliquely. "She knew Marlow for what he
was before I did."

"Which is?"

"A fortune-hunting, amoral bastard," Luis answered succinctly. "She also says now that she's in
love with you, but she's not sure how you feel about
her."

"I see." Clay was noncommittal.

He was growing agitated by the younger man's
evasiveness. "I assume you heard of her, er...um
... current circumstance?"

"Nathan was making a point of letting everyone
know," Clay said tersely.

"Oh... Well, I promised Reina I wouldn't force
you into anything you didn't want to do, but I must
assure you that you will either want to marry my
daughter or you will not want to marry anyone."

Clay bristled at his blackmail. He didn't need this
old man telling him his obligations. He loved
Reina. All he had to do was tell her the truth about
how he felt and explain to her about Dev's situa tion. Once she understood, everything would work
out.

"Look, Alvarez," he snarled as he reined in his
horse and faced the old man in the moonlight. I
told you when you showed up at the saloon that I
was on my way out here, and I was. I love your
daughter. I have since the first time I saw her, and
I will never stop. I had no idea she was carrying
my child, but now that I know, I fully intend to
make her my wife. I don't need you to force me to
want' to do any thing. In fact, it makes me mad as
hell that you think you'd have to force me to marry
her!"

Luis was shocked by this display of honor by
Cordell. He would never have expected it of him.
Perhaps, he mused, Reina really was a very astute
judge of character.

"I apologize if I've offended you."

They glared at each other for a moment, sizing
each other up for the first time, not as adversaries,
but as potential allies. Where before, Clay had
thought of Luis as a hard, arrogant man, he now
saw him as a loving, desperate father who wanted
only what was best for his daughter. And where
Luis had thought Clay nothing more than a fast
gun, he now saw him more as a worthy man,
capable of caring for Reina and eventually running
the Alvarez spread.

Luis realized then, that though his business deal
with Nathan was over, if Reina and Clay married,
he would still get his American son-in-law and that
would insure that the land stayed in the family. He
considered that maybe things weren't turning out
too badly after all.

Neither man said a word as the edginess went out
of them, and they urged their horses onward again
through the night, heading for home.

The knock at the door roused Reina from her
troubled half-sleep. She'd been dreaming strange,
tormented dreams of Clay and Leo and Mickey and
Nathan, and the interruption left her groggy and a
bit disoriented.

"Yes? What is it?" she called out.

"It's Consuelo, Reina. Your father wants to speak
with you."

"In the middle of the night?" She wondered what
was so urgent that it couldn't wait until morning.

"Yes. He said it was very important that you
meet him in the study right away"

Resignedly, she climbed from her bed. "Tell him
I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

Pulling on her floor length, gold silk robe, Reina
tied the sash belt at her slim waist, then went to
her dressing table to brush out her hair. She took
care with her appearance, wanting to make sure she
looked her best. She knew how proud her father
was of her beauty, and now that things were back
to normal between them again, she wanted to please
him. She tried to disguise her discolored cheek with
a dusting of powder, but it did little good. To her
annoyance, she realized that this last reminder of
Nathan would be with her for a while.

Once she was confident that she looked her best,
considering the hour, Reina left her room to meet
with her father. She was a little apprehensive as she
approached the closed study door. As was her custom, she knocked lightly once, then let herself in.

"Yes, Father? You wanted to see me?" Reina
swept into the room, but stopped, one hand still
remaining on the doorknob, as she saw Clay standing with her father near his desk. "Clay!" she
gasped, her grip tightening on the door so much
that her knuckles showed white.

When Clay turned slowly toward her and their
gazes met across the room, her heartbeat quickened.
He was so magnificently tall and wonderfully handsome that her breath caught in her throat.

For a moment, Reina almost delighted in the fact
that he'd come, but then the truth settled over her.
A sick, sinking feeling weighed in the pit of her
stomach. Her lie. He was only here because of her
lie.

"Hello, Reina."

His voice went over her like a velvet caress, but
she steeled herself against it. She kept her expression closed, her heart wary as she took a step
farther into the room.

"Hello, Clay."

"I'm sure you two have things to talk about, so
I'll leave you in privacy."

Neither of them said anything as Luis let himself
out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Only a single, low-burning lamp illuminated the
room, and across the distance in the soft glowing
light, Clay could not see her injured cheek. All he
could see was Reina clad in golden silk, looking
much like a goddess he might have conjured up out
of a dream. His gaze took in the cascade of ebony
curls that fell around her shoulders, then moved
lower to sweep appreciatively over her slender fig ure. He let his regard linger just for an instant over
the still-flat plane of her stomach. The thought of
his child nestled there... growing within her...
filled him with a great sense of awe and pride. He
wanted this baby, and more than anything else, he
wanted Reina.