Lilac Temptress (5 page)

* * *

“
Adrienne!” Sierra grabbed
the madam’s arm tightly and spun her around on her
heels.

“
Relax, honey. What’s got
you all bent out of shape?”

“
Don’t trifle with me,
Adrienne! Why did you send that man upstairs to my bedroom?”
Sierra’s heart thundered in her chest and her temper flared, her
natural color giving way to a gush of red.

Adrienne’s laughter rang in Sierra’s
ears. “Honey, I think that man is obsessed with you, and he
wouldn’t be the first. He gave me more than a girl makes here in a
night in cold hard cash. I can’t deny that kind of money. Besides,
look at him. Are you blind? I thought I was doing you a
favor.”

“
You have lost your mind,
Adrienne!” Sierra’s voice became so high pitched, that her words
scratched her throat. She noticed some of the other girls in the
room giggling at her reaction.

“
You know I’m not going to
sleep with him. Did you tell him that? Did you tell him that he
wasted his money?”

“
If you sleep with him,
I’ll give you every last cent Sierra—honest.” Adrienne smiled,
while crossing her heart with her fingertips.

“
Well every cent should be
mine regardless, don’t you think? You shouldn’t be teasing me like
this. You’ve just handed me over to some stranger. Wil won’t like
this. And—”

“
And what Wil doesn’t know
won’t hurt him,” Adrienne interjected, her voice changing from
good-humored to pure business. “Sierra, you are young woman. You
have needs and desires, and not just the fancies you have about
leaving this town. Real needs, honey, that only a man can satisfy.”
Adrienne touched Sierra’s cheek briefly.

“
It’s about time you
experience a man, and it will be better if that man is a handsome
stranger, and not one of the no-good scoundrels here in this little
town who talk too much. Indeed, he looks like a fine lover, and
with that intoxicating voice that he’s got… I almost came while
talking with him. I wouldn’t think twice about bedding him if I
were you.”

“
How dare you suggest it,”
Sierra’s mouth drew together in a tight line as she turned her head
from Adrienne, trying to suppress images of Drake’s undressed body,
hard-pressed against hers.

Adrienne sighed. “Okay, honey, so
don’t do nothing at all. Entertain him long enough so that you get
to keep all his money. Don’t you need it? I know you’ve been
secretly saving to escape Jadesville,” Adrienne lifted her
brow.

“
What kind of respectable
man would pursue an unfamiliar woman into a brothel?” Sierra asked
in dismay, blinking at Adrienne—doubt coursing her mind.

“
He looked surprised to be
here, honey. I don’t think he usually finds his women in this sort
of place. Not a man like him,” Adrienne breathed. “Not a man who
just might really be God’s gift to women.”

“
You’ve got him all figured
out, haven’t you, Adrienne? What if he intends to maul me?” Sierra
snapped.

Adrienne roared
hysterically despite the disgust on Sierra’s face. “He will not
handle you roughly. He will respect your wishes. I know men, honey,
and I know his type. No doubt another one of Morgan’s men sent out
to convince Wil to sell?” Adrienne arched her
brows—
what other reason would he have to
be here?

Sierra nodded in agreement before
responding, “Well, I don’t need his money, and I despise you for
this,” she said, giving Adrienne a foul look before heading for the
stairs.

“
But I love you, darlin.”
Adrienne fanned bills across her fingertips, wondering just how
Sierra was going to make it through the night with Mr.
McCalister.

Chapter 3

“
Understand this, Mr.
McCalister. I am no whore!” Sierra slammed her bedroom door behind
her, fuming as she assessed the larger than life gentleman sitting
a few feet away. He seemed bemused by her outrage as he thumbed
through a book he’d plucked from her bookshelf. He was beautiful
she acknowledged, but clearly delusional if he imagined that she
could be bought at any price. She grabbed a small, stuffed
red-haired doll off her dresser, and sat on the edge of her unmade
bed, feeling as if she were sitting on pins and needles, across
from Drake.

For a time, neither of them said a
word, only heightening Sierra’s discomfort and giving her time to
fully assess the mess that was her boudoir. Costumes were scattered
all over the floor. Jars of perfume cluttered the dresser and
bedside stand. Ankle length button-up boots spewed from her
overfilled closet, and were scattered about the room.

She imagined how he must have had to
step over her undergarments and bypass her costume jewels just to
make it to the other side of the room where he now sat in her
chair.

“
I didn’t say you were a
whore, Sierra, and you were much friendlier when I escorted you
home,” Drake said in a reproving tone.

“
Escorting me home and
inviting yourself into my bedroom are two entirely different
things, sir,” she snapped.

“
Agreed,” Drake
voiced, carefully considering his next words. He didn’t want to
further upset her. He had no interest in making love to a
displeased, unresponsive woman. “Have you read this?” he asked,
lifting the book from his lap to reveal the cover of
Gulliver’s Travels
.

“
Would you think me a
simpleton if I told you that I only stared at the pretty pictures?”
Sierra retorted sardonically.

“
Simpleton? Personally I
think you are the most exhilarating woman I have ever met. In
truth, I am held captive by your beauty,” Drake said, his bright
eyes gleaming.

“
Is that so? Adrienne
called you obsessed,” Sierra smirked.

“
What if I am?” he teased
with a wide grin on his face, wanting to lighten the
mood.

Sierra might have taken his words as a
compliment if she hadn’t seen the overconfident gleam in his eyes.
“Stop your rambling, Mr. McCalister,” she retaliated. “How gullible
do you think I am? How many women have thrown themselves at your
feet because you told them that they were beautiful?” Her emerald
eyes blazed. “You came up here to sleep with me, so why are you
wasting your time with flattery?”

“
Sleeping with you is the
point of my visit, Sierra. But I won’t take advantage of you if
you’d rather not, talking will do just fine.” Drake removed his
hat, placing it on the floor and raked his fingers through his
thick, wavy hair.

Sierra could see his face more clearly
now. He was quite handsome, indeed. He needed a shave, but it
didn’t distract from his rugged good looks. And when he smiled at
her with those perfectly shaped lips, she didn’t have to think
twice about wanting to kiss them. But it did not mean that she
would.

“
Mr. McCalister, if you
want to sleep with me then go and get a refund, because I promise
you that will never happen. But given what you paid Adrienne down
there, and if you mean what you say, the least I can do is talk to
you for a little while,” she said.

Drake stood up and placed the work of
fiction back on the shelf without ever taking his eyes off her. She
was determined, everything about her demeanor told him not to
provoke her or else she would throw him out. He wished that he
could read her thoughts.

“
To answer your
question, yes, I’ve read
Gulliver’s
Travels
,” she said, breaking the silence.
“And if you find it at all surprising, know that I find reading a
delightful pastime. If you had glanced at the back cover, you might
have found my notes. I’ve also underlined some of my favorite
passages,” Sierra stated coolly.

She didn’t like the way he appeared
tall and strong standing there. He smirked at her as if he didn’t
believe her, which caused her to babble. “And believe it or not, I
know a thing or two about money as well. I help Wil sometimes with
his record keeping and Adrienne with her ledgers. I am somewhat
educated, Mr. McCalister. A girl learns a lot growing up in the
care of Adrienne. She would have no woman be the simple vassal of a
man.”

Sierra wasn’t at all what he’d
expected. She wasn’t eager for his company like many women were.
And he didn’t understand her desire to make her accomplishments
known.

Unsettling silence fell upon the room
as Drake rocked back on his heels, observing Sierra. “Do you mean
to yank her hair out?” he asked.

“
What? Oh...” Sierra said,
looking down at her hands and realizing that she’d been tugging at
her doll’s little cardinal locks as a child might, and suddenly she
felt small and powerless.

The scene struck Drake as odd. Gone
was the confident, brazen beauty he’d met hours earlier,
transformed into this still lovely, yet somehow timid, creature
before him now. She seemed unsure of herself, like an innocent, he
realized.

Drake considered the picture she now
presented, eyeing her from head to toe—dressed in little more than
a dressing robe, which did little to conceal her curves, he
struggled to comprehend the dichotomy.

He let his gaze linger on Sierra’s
long agile legs, the ones spread over him at the bar, he recalled
vividly. She still possessed her feminine wiles. The thought of her
delicate body lying beneath his had made him eager. But now she
resembled a skittish little girl who made him reluctantly
apprehensive. He despairingly laughed at himself for not knowing
how to handle this woman.

“
You find me amusing, Mr.
McCalister?” Sierra questioned, trying to sound like her normal
self. Drake made her feel quite jittery and she was annoyed with
the way he had suddenly laughed.

“
I didn’t mean to
offend you. I’d do anything but bedevil you.” Drake’s eyes showed
his sincerity. “If you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you tell me
more about
you?
”

“
I do mind, Mr. McCalister,
however you paid so handsomely for me to talk, so I’ll tell you
whatever you wish to hear. What about the story of my life?” She
expertly tossed her hair behind her shoulders. Lifting it with her
hands, she began twirling it above her head into a bun, hoping that
the style would make her look less appealing. She slid to the
furthest corner of her bed while Drake cautiously moved to sit at
the other end.

Every muscle in his body tensed while
he watched her at an angle. He barely could withstand the
smoothness of her arms above her head, and he wanted to trail
kisses along the soft contour of her neck. The glimpse he had of
her ample left breast while she looped her hair in circles, nearly
made him reach out and grab her. He was sure that she didn’t notice
this brief exposure.

“
I’ve lived in this town
all my life. I barely recall my parents. My father left when I was
only three years old, just before my brother, Kyle, was born. My
mother died of yellow fever a few months after his birth.” Sierra’s
eyes never left his while she spoke.

Her openness was unexpected, but
refreshing. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Drake exhaled.

“
Don’t be. Like I said, I
didn’t know my parents well. In fact, I know very little of them.
Most of what I know I’ve heard from townsfolk.” Sierra examined
Drake intensely. Her green eyes darted flaming arrows.

Anytime Sierra asked William about her
parents, he avoided her questions or changed the subject. And when
she turned to Adrienne for answers she found the madam equally
tight lipped, leaving her utterly frustrated.

Sierra was so desperate for details
concerning her parents that she’d even asked the town midwife, whom
she learned had delivered her. The midwife claimed that she could
not remember anything of her mother or father, but Sierra believed
that she was not being completely forthcoming. And when William
found out that she had been asking questions about her parents of
the townsfolk, he told her in no uncertain terms, to leave the past
dead and buried. Sierra didn’t know what she hated most about
William, his government over her life or his expectation for her to
remain blissfully ignorant.

“
Where is your brother,
now?” Drake inquired politely, interrupting Sierra’s
thoughts.

“
My brother Kyle... oh he’s
around. He works as a bartender at Wil’s saloon. He would have been
there tonight mixing drinks with Leon, but he disappeared with that
married tart, Claudine, almost as soon as she stepped foot into the
place.”

Drake caught a flash of anger in her
eyes and something more—melancholy perhaps, he thought, staring at
her. What he didn’t know, he would not try to guess. He wasn’t
there for that reason, he reminded himself.

“
Do you plan to sit there
and ogle me for the rest of the night, or do you want to end the
discussion now and take your leave?” Sierra snapped
irritably.

Do you have to be so
bitter and look so lovely at the same time?
Drake thought displeased.

“
Are you involved with
someone? Is that why you are so upset with me?” he asked
candidly.

Sierra appeared stricken, offering her
own equally forceful response. “I belong to no man if that is what
you are asking.”