Sweet Silken Bondage (26 page)

"Why, you..." Reina glared at him. Seeing him
through different eyes now, she couldn't imagine
how she'd ever thought him so wonderful. His dark
good looks seemed positively diabolical to her.

Clay cocked one eyebrow at her mockingly. "Yes?"
Furious, Reina looked away from him. She was shaking with anger for she knew he was enjoying
this. She fell silent, knowing the only way to save
herself was to bring her feelings under control as
best she could and take a logical approach to her
situation. She wouldn't think about how Clay had
outsmarted her. She wouldn't think about how embarrassed she was over having thought herself in
love with Clay. That had been a terrible mistake
that would never be repeated. She had learned her
lesson. Never again would she allow her senses to
overrule her judgment.

That decided, Reina knew she had to take first
things first. She had to do something to save herself
from a fate worse than death-marriage to Nathan
Marlow. Maybe, she reasoned, since Clay was a
bounty hunter, money would be the one thing he
would understand. In desperation, she tried the
only argument she thought might work.

"Look, why don't we make a bargain?" Reina
finally asked.

He regarded her levelly, his eyes cold and wary.
Knowing her as well as he did, he hadn't thought
that she'd give up easily without a fight. He'd been
expecting this, and he was anticipating much, much
more. "What kind of bargain?"

"I've got money. How much is my father paying
you? I'll double it. Just let me go."

Clay realized that he should have known she'd
want to talk about money, only money didn't even
enter into this.

"Sorry" his refusal was curt. Dev was the only
reason he'd come after her, and Dev was the only
reason he was taking her back.

"Sorry?" Reina was livid. "You're a bounty
hunter, aren't you? You'd do anything for the right
price, wouldn't you?"

His gaze turned an icy silver as a muscle tensed in his jaw. "It's true that every man has his price.
Mine just happens to be more than you can afford."

His snide comment enraged Reina. She started to
struggle again against the bonds that held her. "Let
me go! Let me up! I swear I'll scream if you don't!"

Clay casually reached for the bandana on the
small table beside him. "This would make a perfect
gag. Don't force me to use it."

Reina blanched at his threat, physically shrinking
back away from him. "You wouldn't dare -"

"I'd dare a lot, Reina. You, of all people, should
know that by now."

"Let me up! Let me out of here! I'm going to tell
the captain of this ship that you kidnapped me and
brought on board against my will!" she seethed
through gritted teeth.

"I don't think so." Clay cut her off.

"And why not?" Reina challenged angrily, beyond
fear.

"Because, for one thing, he's not going to believe
you. You see, when I carried you aboard yesterday,
you were sleeping contentedly in my arms. I told
the captain that we were married - newlyweds, in
fact, and that's why you were so exhausted." Clay
paused in satisfaction as she gasped in outrage.

"How could you!"

"It was easy. But now, if you go to the captain
and tell him this whole other story..." Clay lifted
his shoulders in an expressive gesture. "Well, he
may believe you, but he'll also remember that we
spent the night here in this cabin... sleeping
together in the same bed."

"Why you no-good, low-down..." she stormed
and then looked suddenly stricken. "You didn't...?
You wouldn't have...?"

"Make love to you while you were sleeping?" Clay
asked candidly, reading her thoughts. "No, Reina, I didn't lay a hand on you. As you very well know, I
don't have to drug women to make them want me."

Reina thought him hateful for reminding her of
her weakness! "You're a foul man, Clay Cordell!
You can't keep me tied up here for the whole
voyage! I'm going to get out of here and when I do,
I'm going to tell the captain the truth!" she threatened, not thinking of the consequences that would
result from such an action on her part.

At her continued defiance even in the face of
undeniable defeat, Clay erupted in anger. "If you
want the man to think you're nothing more than a
slut, Reina, you go right ahead and tell him everything!" Clay ground out savagely. "You can even
have me arrested if you want to. Then you'll be all
on your own out here in the middle of the Gulf
with only the captain's good graces to rely on for
your protection. He might be a good, honest man,
and then again he might not."

"What are you saying?" Reina was stricken by his
insinuations.

"I'm saying that as long as you're under my
protection, you'll be safe. Nothing will happen to
you. It's my job to make certain that you're returned to your father unharmed, and I fully intend
to fulfill my obligation to him. But if you have me
locked up..." He looked her straight in the eye as
he went on, "That leaves you alone and helpless.
There isn't much sweeter to a man at sea than an
unprotected, beautiful young woman. The captain
would probably use you first, then, once he's had
his fill of you, he'd share you with the other crew
members."

Reina swallowed convulsively at the ugly tale he
was spinning, but she said nothing.

Clay could tell by her strained expression that
he'd made his point. He only hoped she was smart enough to believe him. "The evening meal is due to
be served soon. It would be nice to be accompanied
by my wife."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Clay Cordell!"
Reina still refused stubbornly.

Clay laughed at her. "Ali, but I'm afraid you are,
Reina-all the way to California. Now, what's it
gong to be? Do I leave you here, tied and gagged,
until I get back or do you come along quietly and
play the part of my adoring little wife?"

"Never!"

"That may very well be, but as good an actress as
you are, you shouldn't have any trouble hiding your
true feelings and convincing everyone on board that
we've just wed and are madly in love."

"Go to hell!"

"It's your decision then," Clay said almost regretfully as he quickly, effectively gagged her. "It's a
shame you're still feeling so indisposed, my darling
wife. I'll give the captain your regrets and tell him
that you'll be joining him just as soon as you're
feeling less indisposed."

Clay checked her bonds once more to make certain she couldn't escape while he was gone. Certain
that she wouldn't be able to work herself free, he
then took care of freshening up himself for dinner.
He ignored the wild-eyed, desperate, hate-filled
looks she was shooting at him. As he started for the
cabin door a few minutes later, Clay turned back to
her one last time.

"There's still time for you to reconsider and join
your husband for dinner."

Beneath the gag, she screeched her fury and
anger at him, but Clay only laughed again and
reached for the doorknob.

"I see you still haven't had a change of heart.
Well, I'll see you a little later. I hope you'll be feeling more amenable when I return."

Reina had never known such blind fury as she
watched the cabin door close silently behind Clay.
All the love she'd once thought she'd felt for him
had now turned to hate, and oh, how she hated
him! The arrogance of him! The unmitigated gall!
Tears threatened again, but she refused to give in to
them. She was no weepy female! She was stronger
than that.

Reina's heart was filled with a burning desire to
teach Clay Cordell a lesson. He wanted to play
tough, and two could play that game. If he'd
thought her "performances" were good before, he
could just wait and see what she was going to do
next! She'd give the outward appearance of going
along with him, but in the end she was the one
who was going to win. She was not going to allow
him to take her back to her father and Nathan
Marlow.

Reina willed herself to relax and to quit fighting
the ropes. Now was the time to plot what she was
going to do. She knew it wasn't going to be easy,
but somehow, someway she was going to escape
from Clay before they got to California.

It was dark by the time Clay returned to their
cabin carrying a tray laden with food. Upon entering, he lit a lamp and found Reina awake, watching
him.

"Good evening, my darling wife," he taunted as
he set the tray aside. "I've brought you a little
something to eat. Hope you're feeling hungry."

Under the stifling gag, Reina told Clay what he
could do with the food.

"The captain sends his regards," he went on, "and
hopes that you'll be feeling much better tomorrow. He's looking forward to meeting you."

Clay went to her then and removed the gag. The
dinner he'd brought her smelled wonderful, but she
wasn't about to let him know that she was starving.
She wasn't about to accept any offer of kindness
from this man.

"Well, the captain will just have to wait, won't
he?" she countered, not yet willing to concede to his
blackmail.

"That's up to you," he answered and then surprised her by releasing her arms.

"You're letting me up?"

"I thought you might want to eat."

"I don't want anything from you!"

Clay ignored her and continued, "And I'm sure
you'll want to take care of your needs and change
into a nightgown."

"I'll sleep in my clothes," she declared firmly as
she got up. Rubbing her sore wrists, she went into
the small convenience room to tend to her private
matters. That done, she had no choice but to rejoin
her captor.

"Sure you don't want to eat? The meal was delicious," he offered again, removing the towel that
covered the tray to reveal the tantalizing food there.
"There's chicken and rice and-"

"I'm not hungry," Reina cut him off, trying to
ignore the mouth-watering scent.

"Seems a pity to waste such good food, but if
you're not hungry," Clay shrugged. "You might as
well go ahead and change then. You're going to be
mighty uncomfortable sleeping in that." He began to
move about the cabin taking off his own clothes.

"I'll be fine," she replied tersely, trying not to
watch him as he stripped down to only his pants.

He turned to face her and gestured toward the
bed. "Lie down. I want to know exactly where you are when I turn off this lamp."

Reina did as she was told, even though it went
against her grain. She lay there stiffly, anticipating
him tying her arms once more. The cabin was
engulfed in deep darkness when he put out the
light. She was tense as he stretched out beside her
on the bed. To her relief, he made no move to
restrain her again.

"I know what you're thinking, Reina, and no, I'm
not going to tie you tonight. Just keep in mind that
I'm a very light sleeper. You'll pay the price if I
catch you trying to get away from me. Do you
understand?"

With his cold declaration, Clay snatched what
would have been a moment of profound relief from
her.

"Yes," she answered sullenly.

"Good. Now go to sleep."

Reina would have liked nothing better than to
drop off into a deep slumber, but it was not to be.
Clay's nearness left her on edge. Seeing him only
half-dressed had reminded her of the time at the
waystation, and in spite of her avowals of hatred for
him, she'd felt an unwanted stirring of passion.
Reina knew that was something she would not allow
herself. But here he was, lying so close beside her.
She could actually feel the heat of his body even
though they were not touching. She wondered as
the hours passed with miserable slowness if the
night would ever end. It was the wee hours of the
morning before she finally managed to fall asleep.

Clay had been exhausted as he'd stretched out
beside Reina. He'd had little rest since their picnic,
and he was sorely in need of a good night's sleep.
Even so, he knew he could not relax his guard.
He'd caught her and now he had to hang onto her.
Folding his arms beneath his head, he lay on his back next to her, trying to ignore the memories of
the last time they'd lain together. Sometime well
after midnight, Clay finally drifted off. His last
thought as sleep claimed him was of Reina and if it
was always going to be this hard for him to fall
asleep with her at his side.

Clay awoke just after daybreak, startled to find
that he'd actually been sound asleep. His first
thought after his head cleared of the cobwebs of
slumber was of Reina, and he quickly sat up to
check whether she'd fled during the time he'd been
asleep. He heaved a huge sigh of relief to find her
slumbering peacefully beside him on the bed.

Clay studied Reina as she slept on, unaware of
his scrutiny. She looked beautiful with her lush,
dark hair unbound and loose about her shoulders.
Her cheeks were sleep-flushed, and her mouth
looked soft and vulnerable. The curve of her breasts
rose and fell in steady rhythm with her even breathing. She looked innocent.