Lilac Temptress (12 page)

“
You meant every word!”
Sierra yelled. She recognized the familiar smirk on Drake’s face as
he caught sight of her. “You find this amusing, don’t you?” she
sneered.

“
Sierra, what’s got
you in such a ruckus, honey?” Adrienne interrupted the dispute. She
glanced at Drake.
Good Lord,
she sighed to herself,
Sierra hasn’t a clue what to do with him.

“
Accursed men! Adrienne
they are all the same! They only want one thing! Damn them all to
hell!” Sierra blasted.

Loud laughter erupted from every man
in the room. Sierra’s face suddenly matched the color of her
scarlet hair when she realized that she had an interested audience.
Embarrassed, she fled up the stairs as quickly as she could. Drake
immediately went after her, but the guard, Toby, used his body to
barricade Drake’s path at the base of the stairs.

Briefly, Drake thought of forcing this
man aside, but using better judgment did nothing. “Goddamn it!”
Drake shouted, turning away from the stocky man, fire flashing
across his face in an absolute fury. He didn’t think Sierra would
appreciate it if he started a fight.

“
Mr. McCalister, I won’t
ask you what happened,” Adrienne spoke casually while approaching
him. “But I will tell you this—she ain’t ever been so
worked-up.”

Drake composed himself. “I’d be
indebted to you if you let me pass. I have to see her,” Drake
pleaded, glancing at Toby who still stood stiffly, obstructing his
way.

“
I’m sorry, honey, but
Sierra is one of my girls. I can’t let you go trotting up there
without her permission this time.”

“
Ms. Wade, what must I do?
I implore you be merciful and let me go to her. She is quite
furious with me and I wish to make amends.”

Adrienne considered his wish for a
moment before making her decision. “You ought to leave, Mr.
McCalister.” She defeated him.

Chapter 5

Rogues ogled, shouted and indulged in
Sierra’s performance. She danced aggressively, spinning, rounding
her hips, and shoving her heals into tabletops. But her mind was
blank. She was in her second number and couldn’t remember the words
to the song she sang, so she made them up. If only she could put
that wretched man, Drake, out of her mind, she brooded.

Unfortunately for them, the men trying
to capture her attention barely existed. Her thoughts were focused
on Drake and the distress in his voice earlier that day while he
pleaded with Adrienne to let him ascend the stairs and go after
her. Part of her wanted him to pursue her, shed admitted to
herself. But Drake had finally departed the brothel, and now she
harbored a secret hope that he might stride through the tavern
doors once more, and she wondered what he might be doing now, and
if he thought of her as often as she thought of him.

She spared another glance at the
doors, hoping against reason that this time his muscular frame
would fill the entryway. There were a couple of new
faces—passersby, she mused, but not her handsome stranger. Then, as
if summoned by her sheer will, he sauntered in. Her eyes locked on
his briefly before she turned from their brilliance, as if they
were blazing hot enough to singe her.

“
Fancy seeing you around
here again,” Stella said with a smile, and seated Drake at one of
her tables. “What will it be?”

“
Whiskey,” Drake said,
automatically.

“
Whatever you want,
sweetheart,” Stella cooed as she turned on her heels to fetch his
drink, returning moments later.

Drake reached for the glass without
taking his eyes off Sierra. The way that she danced and sang—it was
almost lewd how she flung herself at men, groping them as she
swayed to and fro. She seemed to drape over every man except him,
deliberately bypassing him while she worked the crowd. Drake
stewed, sweeping a damning look over her body.

He could not stand
witnessing her detestable behavior and he was unprepared for it.
Whatever she was trying to do to him was working. Pangs of jealousy
and resentment clawed at his chest. He loathed the way she made him
feel. He watched her allow a fellow to run his hand over her leg,
which was perched on his table at eye length. The man shoved bills
between her thigh and garter before Drake could blink. In that
moment, he forced himself to see her for what she was, a parading
whore.
Some Lady,
he seethed.
More like a
trollop.

“
Hello handsome.” A
revealingly clad woman stood in front of Drake’s table,
interrupting his treacherous thoughts. “I’m Liandra.” She invited
herself to take a seat next to Drake. Her face was painted heavily
with purple eye shadow and pink rouge, and her full lips were as
red as the ripest of apples. She wore a green taffeta costume,
overflowing with cleavage revealed by the shape of its low-cut,
heart-shaped, torso. Another pretty girl took a seat next to
Liandra, facing him, perfectly adorned in make-up and wearing a
similar costume.

“
My friend here is
Jasmine,” Liandra said, straight glistening teeth showing as she
perused him.

“
Oh, hush up, Lian. I can
speak for myself,” Jasmine remarked, her eyes twinkling at
Drake.

“
Hello ladies,” Drake
grinned charmingly. “Can I buy you both a drink?” he offered, more
interested in the company of these pretty women than watching
Sierra throw herself at every man in the saloon.

“
We didn’t come for
drinks.” Jasmine smiled evocatively. Her impressionable eyes were
direct and hinted at what she was after.

Drake understood her well enough to
know what she wanted. He smiled a toothy grin at her. Finally, he’d
enjoy some small pleasure in this town, he thought.

“
We would like to keep
company with you elsewhere. Let’s say we have a little private
party of three?” Liandra said, slipping her palm over Drake’s
forearm.

“
Get you another drink?”
Stella interrupted with a loud, penetrating voice. She hovered over
Drake as though she were trying to protect him from two bitches in
heat.

Drake smiled up at Stella. “No, I’m
done here tonight.” He reached into his pocket for a role of
bills.

“
You can keep your money.
Strange enough, Wil said your drinks are on the house.”

Drake shoved bills into her hand
regardless. “You take it.”

Stella beamed with gratitude and went
back to work. Jasmine smiled at Drake while watching him shove the
billfold back into his pocket.

“
Thieves or opportunists?”
Drake raised a brow, eyeing both women.

“
Neither. Pleasure
seekers,” Liandra purred, taking his hand in hers, and pulling him
up to a stance. Drake showed little hesitation at her
invitation.

* * *

Sierra watched Drake being lured away
by Liandra and Jasmine and shuddered, stunned by her own outraged
ego. She couldn’t believe Drake was leaving with those two hussies.
She recalled Liandra bragging about her way with men during stage
rehearsals.

Liandra and Jasmine had set their eyes
on Kyle once, and Sierra had threatened them so formidably that the
whores decided they didn’t want any part of her wrath. But Drake—he
was more of a man than either of them had ever had and what man
could say no to two pretty buxom girls like them? Sierra’s stomach
knotted at the thought of the three of them intimate together and
she became sick as she finished her last routine and hurried off
the stage.

She tried to suppress her nausea while
she sat in a room backstage, but she couldn’t help imagining all
the things that could be happening between Drake, Liandra and
Jasmine. She knew she had no right to feel that way, but it didn’t
change the fact that she did. Just earlier that day, Drake was
begging her to make love to him. He had wanted her so badly and now
he seemed to have forgotten her just as suddenly.

Sierra folded her arms and laid her
head on the vanity in front of her. She stared at her reflection in
the mirror wondering why she had denied Drake twice, even though
the deepest part of her wanted to make love to him. She knew one
thing for certain; she’d never sleep with him now. In fact, she
loathed him more than ever. A light drumming on the door
interrupted her thoughts and William entered the backstage dressing
room as soon as she invited him in.

“
Sierra, honey, you’ve been
back here for over an hour,” William voiced his concern, advancing
toward her.

“
I didn’t think it had been
that long. I thought only a little time had passed.”

William studied her
likeness in the mirror.
God she is lovely.
If only I were a young man again. I was quite handsome in my
day.
“You look a little pale. You’re not
ill are you?” William asked, genuinely worried.

“
I’m fine Wil, really. I’m
just a little stiff from the performance tonight, that’s all,” she
answered.

“
Then maybe I could help
ease a little tension.” Standing behind her, William slipped his
hands over her shoulders and began massaging them.

Sierra felt dreadful discomfort at his
touch, not because he touched her, but because of what she saw in
his eyes through the mirror’s reflection that made her uneasy, and
the way he watched her dance, or sing on stage, or simply do her
chores in the bar during the day. He may have thought his staring
at her from time to time went undetected, but she
noticed.

When she was a little girl, she and
William play-wrestled almost daily. At times he was warm-hearted
and like a father to her. Other times he was so cold and
indifferent, that she couldn’t tell if he even wanted her near him
at all. Now that she was a woman, things had changed considerably
between them. Their relationship was distant and almost
nonexistent. He simply told her what to do and she never disobeyed
him. If she needed something from him, like fancy fabrics for her
costumes, cosmetics, or the lilac scent she wore, which reminded
her of her mother, William purchased it for her. He gave her just
enough to keep her content for a while. It had always been like
that, a cycle that she intended to break someday, when she left
with her own things and her own money.

“
I think I should get home,
Wil,” Sierra said abruptly. “I just need some sleep. Excuse me.”
She stood up and walked toward the dressing room’s exit, leaving
William staring silently after her.

She was thoroughly sickened and shaken
to her core. Finally after all of the uncomfortable glances and
unexpected barges into the dressing room, William had touched her
in way that made her feel like she was becoming less of the little
girl he took in when she and Kyle were orphaned.

William had overstepped his
boundaries. She could deal with his pressing up against her from
time to time, but not placing his hands on her. William might have
tickled her when she was a little girl, but he must have known that
touching her now, as a woman, was improper. He made her feel so
vulnerable at times. She hated feeling like she owed him her
loyalty for taking care of her and Kyle all those years.

* * *

Deserted silence embraced the cool and
breezy night air. A few lights were shining through building
windows, but not nearly enough. Sierra walked swiftly, not having
far to go before she reached the brothel. As she walked on she
picked up the sound of footsteps, coupled with the unintelligible
low murmur of voices, behind her. The sounds following her became
louder as they came closer. She quickened her pace to a skip—a very
real fear gripped her for the first time in her life. If Wil and
his stooges were pursuing her, would they mean to harm her? It was
absurd to think such a thing and she knew she should just turn
around and look back, but she didn’t. She only moved
faster.

Seized suddenly, her body was being
dragged backwards. A large hand firmly covered her mouth before she
could make a cry for help. The man holding her was not William. She
dug heels dug into the ground, attempting to make it more difficult
for her assailant to handle her. She watched in horror as another
man came into view.

Without question, Sierra knew these
men planned to assault her. She struggled in the man’s arm as best
as she could, twisting and turning every which way. Then she
realized that the man holding her in his death grip was Pete, the
man she had allowed to stuff bills between her garter and thigh
earlier at the tavern. The other man was Quinn.

She bit into Pete’s hand, battling to
scream. “Wil is going to see you both dead for this!” she yelled,
her instincts urging her to fight as hard as she could.

“
He’ll have to get his
hands on us first,” Pete sneered. “I rather enjoyed touching you
like that tonight. I’ve been watching you strut your tight rear for
years, giving you my hard-earned money. It’s time for you to pay it
all back.”

Sierra could smell the heavy liquor on
both men’s breath, but vowed not to let these drunks violate her.
With all her strength she managed to knee Quinn in the groin and
scratch Pete across his face. There were two loud cries of pain as
she managed to tear herself away from Pete’s stronghold.