Sweet Silken Bondage (23 page)

"I must see you again, Isabel." Clay pressed ardently, for he was sure that once David and Lucien
located them, he wouldn't get another moment
alone with her for the rest of the night. He needed to see her again so he could set his plan in action.
There were arrangements that had to be made, and
people who had to be contacted....

"I'd like that..."

"Are you free tomorrow? We could go on a picnic, and I could show you Windown."

"Yes, yes, tomorrow would be wonderful." Reina
was dazed. Everything seemed to be happening too
quickly. A part of her warned that it was dangerous
to have anything more to do with this man, that
she had already been far too reckless, that she
should be cautious and evasively refuse to see him
again. But her heart overruled her sensibilities.

To Reina's way of thinking, there was no danger.
Clay didn't know who she was, and he was attracted
to her as a woman, not as Reina Alvarez. The
thought thrilled her, and she could hardly wait for
the next day. She wanted to be with him, to be held
in his arms and...

At her acceptance, Clay's spirits soared. He had
done it! Tomorrow everything would fall into place!
Tomorrow he would be on his way back to Monterey to free Dev.

Realizing that he had to keep up his pretense,
Clay smiled tenderly, gently framed her face with
his hands and kissed her one, last, fleeting time. It
was a simple kiss, a mere grazing of their lips, but
he found it so intoxicating that he drew away,
unsettled. Clay had had a tight rein on his emotions and hadn't expected to feel anything.

Reina was moved by Clay's tenderness and caught
up in the thrilling thought that he cared for her and
wanted her. She suddenly felt the need to confess
everything to him, to be fully open and honest with
him.

"Clay, I-" she began, but just when she would
have told him the truth, Lucien and David came upon them.

"Here you are." David's mood was jolly. He had
stalled Lucien as long as he could before finally
agreeing to come looking for Clay and Isabel.

"We were wondering where you'd gone," Lucien
sounded almost sullen.

"We just came outside for a while to enjoy the
night air, but we're just about ready to go back in."

"Good," Lucien agreed, quickly moving to insinuate himself between Clay and Reina. He offered her
his arm. "I'd like to finish our dance without interruptions this time, if it's at all possible."

Trapped because she could not refuse without
insulting him, Reina agreed and allowed Lucien to
escort her back inside. She managed one last glance
back at Clay where he still stood in the shadows.
Their gazes locked briefly until the other man's
conversation forced her to look away.

Clay scowled as he watched her disappear indoors
with Lucien. He wondered why he felt suddenly
driven to go after her. He'd gotten what he'd needed
from her-a promise to meet him tomorrow Why
should he care what she did the rest of the night?

"Clay? Are you coming?" David asked as he
waited for him near the french doors.

"Yes, right now."

"Isabel's some woman, isn't she?"

"That she is" he agreed. Though he hated to
admit it or give her credit for anything, there was
much more to Reina than just her exquisite looks.

"Are you going to give Lucien a run for his
money with her?"

"Well, we've already made plans to picnic tomorrow. Who knows what will happen after that? Let's
go get a drink, what do you say?"

They entered the house and as they made their
way through the ballroom toward the study, Clay saw Reina on the dance floor with Lucien. He told
himself that he didn't care that she was in his arms,
laughing and obviously having a good time. But as
he watched them, an emotion he'd never felt before
gnawed at him. He was glad when he and David
reached the hall and moved out of sight, and he
knew a bourbon was going to taste real good right
then.

"I can't believe it, Reina!" Emilie said with open
delight as they sat together later that night in
Reina's room sharing tales of the party. "Clay Cordell really asked you to go on a picnic with him
tomorrow?"

"Yes," she answered excitedly, almost ready to
count the hours until they'd be together again. "Oh,
Emilie, he was so wonderful..."

"It's not fair! Here, Rose and I tried all night
long to get an introduction and we never could, and
you didn't even want to meet him, and you're the
one who ends up seeing him again!" Emilie raged
on good-naturedly against the injustices of romance.

"I know," she mused. "Clay seemed to think that
it was fate that brought us together."

"Fate or the Randolphs," her friend remarked with
a grin. "Well, at least, I'll get to meet him tomorrow when he comes for you."

"He told me as we were leaving the party that
he'd probably arrive a little before noon. He wants
to show me around their plantation."

"Windown is beautiful. The Cordells breed the
finest horseflesh in the state, and do they have
money!" Emilie's tone gave testimony to the Cordells' considerable fortune. Then, ever the romantic,
she fantasized wildly, "I've got it!"

"Got what?"

"The solution to all your problems!"

"Oh, really," Reina chuckled.

"Really! You should elope with Clay! That way
you'd never again have to worry about your father
or Nathan Marlow."

Reina's eyes sparkled with merriment, though in
her heart she couldn't deny that she found the
thought of being married to Clay quite a pleasant
prospect. "That's not a bad idea, Emilie, but he has
to ask first."

"Who knows? Maybe he will."

"Well, if he does, I just might take him up on it!"

They laughed together in easy camaraderie and
then fell to discussing the rest of the evening.

"I have to be honest about this and tell you that
it doesn't sit well with me," Philip said as he spoke
with Clay much later that night in the study at
Windown.

"And it doesn't sit well with me that Dev's locked
up in a damned jail cell in Monterey!" Clay ground
out.

Philip didn't respond. He knew there was nothing
he could say that would change his son's mind
about what he had to do.

"I'll be leaving tomorrow," Clay finally spoke
again.

"Do you know when you'll be back?" Philip
changed the subject, wanting to avoid any further
controversy on this, their last night together.

Clay appreciated him not talking about Reina
and the job he had to do. He softened toward him,
visibly relaxing a bit. "I can't be sure. I promise
you, though, I'll try to return as quickly as I can."

Philip managed a bittersweet smile as he regarded
his offspring. He was proud of Clay. He had grown into a fine, strong man. "I can't ask for more than
that. But when you do come back, you have to do
one thing for me."

"What?"

"Bring Dev with you."

Clay smiled easily. "I will."

"I'm going on up to bed now. It's been a long
day.

"I'll be up for a little while longer. There are still
a few things I have to take care of tonight." Clay
declined to detail any more of his plans for he
didn't want to involve his father.

"I'll see you at breakfast then."

When Philip had gone, Clay sat down at the desk
and drew out pen and paper. A little while later he
summoned Jacob, one of the servants who had been
with the family for years and who he knew to be
completely trustworthy.

"Yes, Mr. Clay?"

"I have an errand for you to run, Jacob. I need
for you to go to New Orleans," Clay told him.

"Right now? At this time of night?" He was
surprised by the unorthodox request.

"That's right. It's important. Now, listen -" Clay
quickly explained exactly what he needed for him to
do. He then handed him two envelopes, one with a
letter and the other bulging with cash. "Think you
can handle this?"

"Yes, sir. I'll do just like you told me to, Mr.
Clay. I'll make sure everything is all ready for you
when you get there."

"Good. I'm counting on you."

Clay watched as Jacob left the house, then returned to the desk to write the other note he
needed. That done, he folded the missive and
tucked it safely in his pocket. Clay knew that there
was only one more thing he needed. Leaving the study, he unlocked the closet where his father kept
his medicinal supplies and took the bottle of laudanum he found there.

Clay reviewed his plan several times in his mind
and could find no fatal flaw as he headed upstairs
to his bedroom. He was sure he had covered everything. With any luck at all, by this time tomorrow
he would be out of New Orleans and on his way to
California. Clay's mood was determined, but excited, and though he was going to try to get some
rest, he doubted that he would sleep at all that
night. He was too close to his goal. He was too
close to success.

"You look lovely today, Isabel," Clay complimented Reina as he drove their carriage over the
back roads to Windown.

"Thank you," Reina replied, smiling at him as she
smoothed the full skirt of her pale blue daygown.
She was glad that he'd noticed for today, for the
first time in her life, she'd deliberately dressed just
to please a man.

Before Clay, Reina had never cared enough about
any man to want to do anything special just for
him. Oh, she always wanted to look her best, but
she'd dressed to suit herself. However, Clay had
changed all that. Reina wanted to please him. She
had chosen this particular dress, because, sedate
though it was, the style flattered her. The formfitting bodice was demurely cut, yet hinted at her
very feminine curves beneath. It enticed while revealing nothing. It was a gown designed with men
in mind. She had also worn her hair down for him
today, pulling it back from her face with only a
simple ribbon and then letting the thick, ebony
tresses tumble casually about her shoulders. Her
suitors back home had always loved it when she
wore her hair unbound, and she hoped Clay would
react the same way, too.

"It's not too much farther," he was saying, "just
around the next bend."

"Oh, good. I haven't been on a picnic in ages.
I'm really looking forward to this," she told him.

"So am I," Clay responded with deep meaning.

"Do you take time for picnics very often?" Reina
asked.

"Hardly ever. In fact, I really can't tell you the
last time I did."

"Good" she teased, "then today will be special for
both of us."

"It most certainly will," he agreed, turning the
carriage onto a narrow, slightly overgrown side
road. They drove on only a short distance before he
reined in at a small grassy clearing framed by
ancient oak trees. "What do you think?"

"It's perfect," she said, looking around at the lush
greenery of the Louisiana countryside. It was far
different from her California home, but beautiful in
its own right.

"Let me help you down," Clay offered, taking her
hand and assisting her in her descent. "Now, I'll get
the basket, and you can carry the blanket."

He handed her the folded cover and then led the
way to the shade of one of the spreading oaks.

"How's this?" he asked, setting the basket down
and taking the blanket from her.

"Wonderful," Reina replied as she watched him
unfold the cover and spread it upon the soft grass.
He looked so very, irresistibly male in the dark,
slim-fitting pants and a white shirt he wore that her
heart thudded wildly in her breast. She realized
then that the suspicion she'd had during the long,
sleepless hours of the night just past had been true.
She had fallen in love with him.

Reina knew it was illogical. Clay was the man
who'd been hired to make sure she showed up for the horrible wedding her father had planned for her.
But even as she acknowledged that it was irrational
to feel this way, she also knew that he was the man
who'd haunted her dreams for weeks now. In the
beginning, right after they'd parted company in California, she'd thought she would forget him. It
hadn't happened, and having tasted of his passion
last night, she knew she never would.

Though there was a risk involved, Reina planned
to pick up where she left off last night, and tell
Clay the truth about everything just as soon as she
could. She knew it would be difficult, but she didn't
care. Today, she intended to clear up the many lies
that lay between them. Their relationship could not
be based on deception.

It was a happy determination that filled Reina.
She remembered how she'd been so instinctively
drawn to Clay the first time they'd met, and now
she understood why. Somehow from the very beginning, she'd sensed he was the man for her. All she
had to do now, she realized, was convince him of
that.

Clay was feeling confident as he finished arranging the blanket. His plan was going perfectly. It
wouldn't be long now! Just a few more minutes
and -