For Honor’s Sake (22 page)

Hours later, looking rested and extremely handsome in leather trousers hugging his powerful thighs and a short fringed jacket of the same material, emphasizing broad shoulders, Rod prowled the streets of
the city. Though the hour was late the revelers in Casey’s Pleasure Palace were a boisterous lot, drawing Rod inexplicitely through the swinging doors and into the smoke-filled interior.

The first sight to greet his eyes was a somewhat ragged line of scantily clad dancing girls prancing about the stage amid hoots and howls from cheering, clapping miners hungry for the sight of a woman’s flesh. Rod chose a seat at a small table well out of the way and settled down to watch the proceedings. Within a few minutes a striking, dark haired Mexican girl sidled up to Rod, posed seductively for his benefit, and asked throatily, “What are you drinking,
señor
?” There was no mistaking the invitation in her flashing black eyes.

Rita had spotted Rod the moment he entered the saloon. It had been a long time since anyone of his looks and obvious breeding had come her way. Rita immediately assumed him to be a rich
hidalgo
from one of the sprawling
ranchos
nearby and quickly staked her claim. Rita decided she was just the right woman to provide entertainment for the virile stranger who was no doubt bored with horses and cattle and was on the prowl for a little fun.

“Whisky,” answered Rod, raking Rita’s ripe figure with disinterest. Though he hadn’t had a woman in months, he had more important things on his mind than a quick tumble.

Rita sauntered off with a provocative wiggle and returned forthwith carrying a bottle and two glasses. Rod carelessly tossed her a coin which promptly disappeared between her ample breasts. “May I join you?” she asked silkily.

“Suit yourself,” Rod shrugged negligently while Rita settled beside him, poured a hefty measure of whisky into two glasses and handed him one. Rod sipped slowly, allowing the amber liquid to slide smoothly down his throat while Rita quaffed hers in one gulp.

“The name’s Rita,
querido,
” she said, batting her long lashes seductively. “What’s yours?”

“Rod suits me just fine,” Rod drawled lazily. They drank in silence for a few minutes and then Rod asked, “How long have you worked here, Rita?”

“Eight, ten months,” Rita shrugged carelessly, caring little for the way the conversation was going. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m looking for a woman.”

Rita giggled. “That’s what I’m here for, Rod. “Come,
querido,
my room is at the top of the stairs.”

“
Perdicion,
Rita! That’s not what I meant. I’m looking for my wife. She … she disappeared and I have every reason to believe she is in San Francisco.”

Rita laughed lustily. “And you come to the Pleasure Palace looking for her? I have an idea your wife is hardly the type of woman to hang around saloons.”

Rod flushed, realizing the truth of Rita’s words. “You’re right, Julie would never be seen in a place like this. I don’t know what I was thinking of.”

“Obviously not me,” teased Rita archly. “But the offer still stands. I could make you forget your wife for a little while.”

“No doubt, Rita,” replied Rod dryly, rising to his full height. “But I—” Suddenly he froze, his eyes zooming in on a woman in an emerald green dress seated at a blackjack table dealing and smiling at the adoring men clustered about her.

A mass of honey-colored curls were artfully arranged around a face that had haunted Rod’s dreams for months. “Julie!” His words were but a whisper but Rita heard them and stared at Rod strangely.

“Who is that woman? The one in green dealing blackjack,” Rod asked in a strangled voice. He was positive it was Julie. A more mature, lovelier—if that were possible—more elegant Julie than he remembered. But Julie nevertheless.

“That’s just Brandy,” snorted Rita disparagingly.

“Brandy? do you know her last name?”

“If I did I don’t remember,” pouted Rita.

“How long has she been working here?”

Rita shrugged, disinterested. “Two, three months. Why do you ask? Do you know her?”

“I … I thought I did but …” Rod hedged.

“She affects all men that way. Can’t see why myself,” she sniffed. “If you have any ideas about her, forget them,” Rita advised sourly. “She’s Casey’s private property. No one touches her but him.”

“She’s Casey’s mistress?”

“
Si,
that’s what I said, isn’t it?” Rita glowered, becoming weary of the subject. “She appeared out of nowhere and Brett hasn’t looked at another woman since.
Caramba,
I’d like to tear her hair out!”

What must Julie’s father be thinking of? Rod wondered angrily. For that matter, where was the elusive Carl Darcy who seemed to flit in and out of Julie’s life like an errant butterfly. To Rita he said, “Does this … er … Brandy have any relatives in town?”

“None that I know of. Listen, Rod, I don’t want to talk about another woman. Come,
querido,
” she coaxed, “I promise to make you forget about Brandy or that wife you’re looking for.”

Rod had no desire to make love to Rita. How could he expect a woman like Rita to take the place of a honey-haired vixen with bluebell eyes whose special brand of loving was forever imprinted upon his heart and body?

The thought that Julie had become another man’s mistress was repellent to Rod. The longer he dwelt on the picture of her in another man’s arms, responding passionately to another man’s caresses, joined in the act of love with another man, the angrier he became. Forgotten was the fact that he had rushed pell-mell to San
Francisco expressly to find his wife and bring her back to
Rancho
Delgado. Forgotten also was Rod’s fervent desire to tell Julie of his love once he found her.

By now Rod’s emotions were a boiling cauldron of turmoil. In light of what he had just learned from Rita, he no longer was certain of his own feelings. From the moment he learned about Julie and the gambler, whatever love was in his heart seemed to wither and die within him. All his emotions were held suspended in that painful void betwixt love and hate. He had no idea what he would do next nor how he would deal with Julie when he confronted her. He could only hope that the edge was gone from his anger before they met, else he could not be responsible for his actions. His Spanish pride allowed him little room for forgiveness.

“Why the scowl,
querido
?” Rita asked lazily.

Startled to find the sultry beauty still at his side, Rod stared distastefully at her. “I’m sorry, Rita, I’m not in the mood tonight.” He began moving away.

“Do not hurry away,
querido,
” Rita purred, hoping to entice him. “I’m certain I can please you if you give me the chance.”

Rod extracted a coin from his pocket, flipped it carelessly in her direction where it landed with a soft thud against her chest and slipped down between her breasts. “Another time, perhaps,” he drawled laconically.

“Suit yourself,
querido,
” Rita replied, a pout turning the corners of her mouth downward. “I’m here every night.”

Rod slipped back to his table, his thoughts dangerously volatile. Rita watched him through narrowed eyes, then shrugged and turned away in pursuit of a more likely customer. Like magnets, Rod’s ebony eyes were drawn to the blackjack table where Julie sat like a goddess upon a throne robed in shimmering green. Looking handsome and debonnaire,
Brett Casey sauntered over to Julie and Rod’s hands clenched into white-knuckled fists when he saw the gambler slide an arm possessively about Julie’s slim waist and whisper intimately into her shell-like ear.

Rod thought the sultry look she gave him conspiratorial, as if only the two of them shared a secret. He scowled darkly as his imagination ran rampant, causing a grinding ache deep in Rod’s bowels. Like two burning coals his eyes stared fixedly at Julie and her lover, the heat of his gaze enough to ignite the entire room.

Suddenly Julie looked up, as if sensing Rod’s gaze, and she felt the brutal attack of his brilliant eyes as they found and held hers. Shock waves raised goosebumps on the surface of her skin and she swallowed convulsively. His pebble-hard, black eyes seemed to reach out over the distance that separated them, locking her in the prison of his barely concealed contempt.

A dainty hand flew to Julie’s lips. She opened her mouth but could summon neither words nor breath. Their eyes still riveted, Julie surged unsteadily from her stool and felt her legs turn to rubber as she collapsed. Luckly Brett was beside her, his strong arms lending her strength.

“Brandy!” Bret exclaimed, his concern clearly evident. “Are you all right?” Julie nodded weakly. “Good God, you gave me a fright, sweetheart! What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Not a ghost, Brett, but a demon.”

For months Julie lived with the fear that Rod might one day venture to San Francisco and inadvertantly run into her. And now her worst fears had been realized. Why wasn’t her father here when she needed him? Was there no one to protect her from the violence she knew dwelt beneath the surface of Rod’s icy veneer? No, she silently answered her own question. Not even Brett could protect her from her husband’s fury.

17

Rod watched through slitted eyes while Brett saw Julie to her room, handling her slim form as if she were a fragile bloom. Rod had to admit Julie even looked fragile with her pale face and huge blue eyes eating up her delicate features. It was obvious to Rod that Julie’s guilt over her behavior these last months was the cause of her sudden malaise. That and her fear of him. She had good reason to fear him, Rod reflected bitterly, for he still had no idea what would happen when he actually faced his unfaithful wife.

Rod made a mental note of the room Casey and Julie disappeared into and also of the time lapse before the gambler promptly reappeared alone, making his way to the blackjack table where he took Julie’s place. A tiny bubble of joy burst somewhere inside Rod’s brain at Casey’s prompt exit from Julie’s room.

Rod waited a short time, fretting anxiously until he was certain Casey had no intention of rejoining Julie in her room before he arose and made his way unobtrusively toward the stairs. As fate would have it, luck was on his side. Just as Rod started up the stairs the dancing girls strutted out on stage again and all eyes turned in the direction of the scantily clad hoofers, allowing him to enter Julie’s room undetected.

Julie lay sprawled on her bed thinly-clad in nothing but a short shift. Misery gnawed at her, rendering her numb and tense. Knowing Rod, she realized it was only
a matter of time before he showed up at her door, angry and vindictive. What would he do? She shuddered apprehensively. If Elena could be believed, Rod wanted her out of the way for good, maybe even dead. Would he be angered to find her still alive? Drawing a long, shuddering breath, Julie tried to imagine Rod’s reaction to finding her at Casey’s Pleasure Palace.

So intense was her concentration that Julie neither saw the slow movement of the doorknob nor heard the soft whisper of the door open under Rod’s gentle pressure. Only the muted rasp of the key turning in the lock alerted her to the chilling fact that she was not alone.

Raring up into a sitting position, Julie saw Rod’s long, lithe form lounging against the closed door, his sardonic gaze raking her scantily clad body insultingly. Julie felt the unleased violence of his tightly coiled muscles strike her from across the room. It was almost like a physical blow and she recoiled instinctively.

“Rod,” she whispered shakily, the tremor in her voice unmistakable.

“Who were you expecting, your lover?”

Julie flushed, a look Rod instantly mistook for guilt.

“What do you want? How did you find me?”

With studied calmness, Rod walked loose limbed toward the bed, but his stance did not deceive Julie who likened him to a sleek panther about to strike. “I’ve come to take my ‘loving’ wife home where she belongs,” Rod mocked nastily. “Surely your father must have told you he was at the
rancho
.”

“My father!” cried Julie, becoming very excited. “You’ve seen him? Oh, thank God! I thought something terrible had happened to him when he failed to return to San Francisco. I had no idea where he had gone.”

Rod’s black eyes narrowed suspiciously. Here was a turn of events he was unprepared for. “Your father
turned up at the
hacienda
shortly before I left on the last cattle drive. He stayed but a short while.” A puzzled frown gathered along Julie’s brow. “Your beloved parent didn’t bother to reveal his identity to me. He also failed to mention that you were still alive after all these months when I thought you dead.”

Julie could not tell whether Rod was happy or disappointed to find her alive and healthy. “If my father didn’t tell you, how did you know I was alive and in San Francisco?”

“Felicia told me,” Rod stated sourly. “She spent much time with your father and guessed the truth. When confronted with Felicia’s suspicions he admitted his identity and revealed to her that you were alive and living in San Francisco. He promised Felicia he would return you to the
rancho
and Felicia was ecstatic. Of course he never showed up and Felicia was devastated. She told me the whole story when I returned from the cattle drive. Needless to say, I left immediately for San Francisco.” He paused for breath but Julie was still stunned by the news that her father should have returned from the
rancho
weeks ago. Where was he?

“How did you know I was working at Casey’s Pleasure Palace?”

“Purely an accident. I’ve been watching you all evening, you and your lover. Did you think I wouldn’t learn that you are Casey’s mistress when everyone in town is aware of it?”

“Rod, I’m not—”

“Julie,” he interrupted sternly, “the time for lies is long past. What I want now is the truth. Start from the very beginning, from the moment you were abducted until you became Casey’s mistress. Were you Murieta’s mistress, too?”

The lavishly appointed room was amply lit by two tall candles resting on the nightstand as well as by firelight from the hearth across the room and Rod nearly lost
control of his senses when he saw how the lamp glow played over her tawny hair, alive with gold, russet and copper. He had not forgotten the silken feel of those gleaming tresses caressing his body when they made love. Nor the sweep of her dark lashes as she unsuccessfully tried to hide the desire that flared in her blue eyes when she wanted him, or the seductive curve of her smile when sated with love. She was a beguiling creature and Rod fought desperately to corral his rampaging emotions, and in so doing his face appeared harsh and unforgiving, his eyes cold and empty.

Julie knew a moment of panic when she viewed Rod’s rigid features, but in her determination not to be cowed, retorted angrily, “You know more about my abduction than I do!”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Take it any way you want!” Deliberately she turned her head away.

“Damn you, Julie, answer me!” Rod demanded as he grasped her small pointed chin between thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look at him.

“All right, Rod. I know you’re stronger than me,” Julie shrugged, momentarily defeated. “You can force me into anything. If you want me to put into words how you and Elena planned my death, so be it.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” I wasn’t even at the
rancho
when you were taken by Murieta’s men.”

Eyes spitting blue flame, Julie ground out mercilessly, “Elena told me you wanted me gone by the time you returned from San Antonio. Just because she carried out the deed instead of you doesn’t absolve you from guilt. Do you have any idea what Pedro had in mind for me before he killed me?”

“
Por Dios, querida,
you don’t think … Surely you don’t believe I had a hand in anything so despicable? What kind of monster do you take me for?” The
thought of Julie in the hands of Pedro was terrifying. But the knowledge that Julie blamed him for her abduction and possible death was too horrible to contemplate.

Julie looked long and hard into Rod’s horrified eyes and read the truth for herself. Whatever happened to her had been all Elena’s doing, but that did not change things between them.

“Rod, perhaps you are blameless as you say,” Julie acknowledged slowly. “But I can’t forget what I was put through by your mistress. Or the pain you caused me when you deliberately bedded Elena.”

Rod winced. “Did Pedro … was it so terrible,
querida
? Tell me about it. I know Murieta and I find it difficult to believe he could behave so cruelly, especially toward a beautiful woman.”

“Joaquin was not there. Pedro was in charge.” Julie ignored Rod’s loud groan and continued, telling him all she knew. When she came to the part about her father, Rod interrupted.

“So that’s where your father had disappeared to. Thank God he was there when you needed him.”

“And nearly lost his life in the bargain. Joaquin arrived in time to save my father’s life. I’ll always be grateful to him. As soon as he recovered sufficiently, we left Murieta’s camp and came directly to San Francisco.”

There was a faraway look in Julie’s eyes that Rod had no desire to delve into at this time. Instead, he asked, “Why did your father come to
Rancho
Delgado?”

“I don’t know. He told me only that he had business to attend to. I expected him back in a couple of weeks. That was months ago.”

“I suppose he wanted to learn for himself what a despicable libertine you had married,” Rod couldn’t help but remark. “Especially after you told him that I had engineered your abduction.”

“After what Elena told me, how could I believe otherwise?”

“You could have trusted me,
querida,
” Rod said with bitter emphasis. Abruptly he changed the subject. “How long have you been Casey’s mistress?”

Julie fumed with impotent fury. If Rod chose to think she was Brett’s mistress, she wouldn’t disabuse him of the idea. It served him right. Knowing well his pride and arrogance, he probably wouldn’t believe the truth anyway. “Do you know about Mae Parker?” she asked, deftly avoiding Rod’s question.

“
Si,
I went there first,” Rod said grimly. “It … it was a great tragedy.”

Julie nodded sadly. “She would be alive today if she hadn’t run back inside the burning building to rescue her valuables. And I might well have ended up just like her but for Brett. He stopped me when I attempted to follow Mae inside the burning house. Afterwards he found I had no place to go, the money my father left was destroyed in the fire as was everything I owned. Brett brought me here, offered me a job until my father’s return and treated me with kindness. I owe him much.”

“You could have come home, Julie, instead of becoming his mistress,” Rod said, a thread of steel tempering his softly spoken words.

“Believe what you want, Rod, you will anyway. I can see it will do me no good to deny being intimate with Brett.”

“None whatsoever.”

“Hadn’t you better leave? Go back to the
rancho.
No doubt Elena is anxious for your return.”

“Elena is no longer at the
hacienda
.”

“No longer at the
hacienda
?” Julie repeated dumbly.

“That is what I said,
querida.
I … I sent her away. When we return she will no longer interfere with our lives.”

“Return? I have no intention of returning with you. At the rate you casually cast women aside it’s no wonder that you have replaced Elena already.”

“You are my wife, Julie. I married you according to the rites of the church and as long as you live I can never replace you. It is your duty to return with me and fulfill your duty.”

“My duty?” Why must I repeat everything Rod says, Julie asked herself dully?

“I need an heir. As my wife you are the only woman capable of providing one. Legitimately, that is.”

Red dots of rage exploded in Julie’s brain. “Never!” she retorted hotly. “I will not be your brood mare! When my father returns he will take me back east where I belong.” Julie had no intention of leaving California but she wasn’t about to admit that to Rod.

“You belong with me. What if your father doesn’t return? What then?”

“I have my job. Brett is good to me. I can stay here as long as I like.” Julie had no idea how damning her words sounded. If Rod harbored any doubts before, Julie’s outburst convinced him that she was Casey’s mistress just as Rita claimed. Besides, not once had Julie denied his accusation.

Now it was Rod’s turn to become incensed. “
Puta
! Slut! You are no better than Elena! Is Casey such a good lover that you prefer him to me?” His words smote her like tiny pebbles.

“Yes! Yes!” cried Julie vehemently, wanting to hurt, to wound, as he had hurt and wounded her. “He is a much better lover than you could ever hope to be!”

“Perhaps you have forgotten,
querida?
” Rod said with deceptive calm. “Perhaps you need to be reminded how I made you feel, how your passionate body came alive beneath my touch. Come, wife, let us recapture the bliss we once shared.”

Julie was not gulled by his soft words. “Leave me
alone, Rod. Just go away and leave me in peace. You have my permission to tell everyone I’m dead.” She wished she had more than words to fling at him, for once he touched her she knew she was lost.

Rod laughed sardonically, sensing her confusion. “Afraid you might like what I do to you,
querida
?” One long finger traced a delicate path from brow to jaw, then lower to outline the pale skin rising above her filmy chemise. “Afraid Casey might not measure up after I finish with you?”

“You arrogant bastard!” Julie gritted from beneath clenched teeth. Must she fight her own body’s arousal as well as Rod’s compelling voice and male allure, she reflected miserably?

A devilish smile curling his sensuous lips, Rod’s fingers curved insultingly on the thin material covering her breasts and ripped downward. Julie gasped as she felt the chemise slide from her body and the hot rush of Rod’s breath caress the tender flesh he had bared to his passion-glazed eyes.

“Don’t do this, Rod,” Julie begged, vividly recalling their last night together when he took her with a cruelty that left her bruised and disillusioned. “We were wrong from the start.”

“Ah,
querida,
do you not remember what was right about us?” She remembered. “Can you deny the magic of our lovemaking?” Julie could deny nothing. “I have no desire to ravish you, but I will if you resist me. Show me what makes Casey mad for you.”

Hard fingers stroked her shoulders and slid down confidently to enclose her breasts. Hungrily his mouth claimed hers, his tongue surging between her lips to possess her, reminding her that she belonged to him and he intended to possess her utterly, in all ways. His tongue withdrew, and slid along the moist contours of her lips like a searing flame, then delved suddenly between them to drink greedily of her special nectar. He
stroked and caressed, fingertips trailing fire down her throat, playing over her breasts to continue across quivering stomach, settling in the shining curls covering her womanhood.

Julie groaned, fighting her rising ardor, cursing the wav her body rose and swelled beneath his trailing fingertips. “Please, Rod, don’t do this to me.”