Sweet Silken Bondage

by Bobbi Smith

  Reina was feeling confident. She was making great progress. She was better than half-way down when it happened. One of the brackets holding the pipe let loose, and she lost her hold and started to fall.

  Leo, a tall, bearded, bad-smelling man of massive proportions just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and Reina tumbled like a gift from the gods right into his big, brawny arms.

  "Whoa, there little senorita, where ya goin' in such a hurry?" Leo was laughing as he held her deftly.

  Reina didn't know if she was more embarrassed or angry. Would anything in her life ever go right again? It took her only a second to recover. She was grateful she hadn't landed on the hard ground, but she was not at all thrilled to find herself in the clutches of this stranger.

  "Thank you for helping me," she said sweetly, "but could you put me down now?"

  Leo didn't budge. He wasn't about to let go of her yet. "Tell me your name first, chica," he cajoled, keeping a firm grip on his prize. Mickey was looking on avidly.

  Reina's temper was frayed, but she managed to sound calm. "My name's Isabel."

  "That's a right pretty name for a right pretty lady," he said, but instead of releasing her, he just let her legs down and kept her crushed against him. "Where were you going, sneaking out like that?"

  Reina tried to pull away, but his hands were biting into her flesh, bruising her as he held her with an almost brutal force. Realizing that there was little she could do right except play along, she figured she would try to keep them happy by dancing and talking with them. Then when they got drunk, she'd be able to get away from them. It had never occurred to her that they might turn mean and nasty or that they could very easily overpower her and do whatever they wanted to with her.

  "Why, I heard all the music and laughter and wanted to join the party," she said lightly, gazing up at him with a rapt expression that Clay would have immediately recognized as trouble.

  Leo and Mickey thought she was probably lying, but they didn't really care.

  "Well, let's go," Leo said, still keeping her firmly at his side.

  Reina was wild to get free of his grip, yet she bided her time, waiting for the opportunity she was sure would eventually come.

  "What're your names?" she asked, wanting them to believe she was interested in them.

  "I'm Leo," he told her proudly. He was fool enough to think she really cared.

  "And I'm Mickey," he joined in, refusing to be left out.

  "Well, Leo and Mickey, do you want to dance? I just love to dance," she cooed.

  The thought of spending the evening with a beautiful woman excited them both. They assumed she was a whore out for a good time, and they meant to oblige. It didn't occur to them that she was dressed like a lady. It didn't matter. They merely thought that their luck was finally changing for the better. It had been quite a while since they'd been with a woman, and they didn't mind sharing her between them at all.

  "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 gr
abbed 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.

  "So do I," he replied.

  She caught a glimpse of some flaring emotion in his eyes before his expression suddenly turned grim and he looked away. The beat of the music was fast and sensual, and Reina instinctively followed Clay's lead as if she'd been made just to be in his arms. The throbbing, heated pace heightened their physical awareness of each other.

  Clay knew he should march Reina back upstairs, tie her to the bed and keep watch over her until their boat left port. But for some Feason he couldn't fathom, he was driven to do this. He'd almost lost control when he'd seen her dancing with the other men. She'd told them she wanted to enjoy the party. Well, he was going to make sure she did.

  When the music ended, Reina was breathless from the exertion. Clay took her hand and practically dragged her to a table at the edge of the
dance area. He signalled for drinks to be brought to them.

  "Leave it," he ordered tersely as he paid the man for the bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

  The servant scurried away, and Clay splashed liberal amounts of the cheap liquor in the two tumblers, then handed Reina one.

  "I really don't want it," she said, not picking up the glass immediately.

  "It's what you had with your other companions, isn't it?"

  "Yes, but."

  "Then drink it, Reina, or I swear I'll pour it down your lovely throat."

  His threat was a cold angry one, and she knew she'd better do as she was told. She took a sip of the terrible whiskey and grimaced.

  "Drink it all. Now. You're the one who wanted to join the party. Aren't you enjoying yourself?"

  Holding her breath, she downed it, then glared at him furiously. "There! Are you satisfied?"

  Sudden icy contempt flashed in his eyes. "Not yet, my dear. How about another one to celebrate your near escape?" He didn't give her time to answer, but poured more in her glass and added some to his own. He drained his without even seeming to notice the potency of what he was drinking. "You don't seem very happy, Reina," he remarked derisively. "Would you like to dance again?"

  "I don't want to dance, and I don't want to drink anymore," she said through clenched teeth, wanting only to escape the surrounding revelers.

  "I don't care what you want. I insist."

  Clay drew her to her feet and led her out onto the dance floor again just as the music stopped. They had to wait a moment for another tune, and when it began, Reina was dismayed to find it was a slow melody. Obsessed with proving his point, he pulled her tight against him as he began to move.

  Reina didn't want to dance with Clay, and most certainly she didn't want to like dancing with Clay. The potent liquor was beginning to affect her, though, and the temptation to relax and enjoy the feel of his warm, strong arm around her and the easy fluid motion of his lead was growing. She struggled against it, determinedly. Yet, even as she fought her conflicting feelings for her captor, she realized that he had saved her from Leo and Mickey Whether she was willing to admit it or not, she'd needed him. She might have been dead by now if he hadn't stepped in.