Authors: Connie Mason
Julie breathed a sigh of relief when Polly came bounding over with her new husband. “Isn’t it exciting?” she said, her green eyes shimmering with happiness. “We’re going to spend the night at the best hotel in town and leave tomorrow for Conner’s claim. He built a cabin for us while he was waiting for the Westwind to arrive.”
Introductions were made all around and when Rod and Conner were engaged in conversation Polly sidled close to Julie and whispered, “Your husband is so handsome, Julie, but I think I’d rather have my Conner. He’s much more uncomplicated than your Rodrigo. I’m not sure I could survive the passion of your tall
caballero
.”
Julie gasped, shocked by Polly’s bold words, although by now she should be accustomed to her friend’s habit of openly speaking her mind. But before she could reply, Conner flashed his bride a look of intense longing and made their excuses.
Turning to his own bride, Rod said, “Come along, Juliet.”
“Where are we going, Rodrigo?” Julie asked timidly, wondering if they would be staying at the same hotel with Conner and Polly.
“Call me. Rod, Juliet, it’s less formal,” Rod said, still
frowning. “I’m taking you to my room.”
“Oh,” was all Julie said. “My … my friends call me Julie.”
“Do you consider me a friend, Julie?” Rod asked, his lip curling in amusement. If she knew what he had planned for her, Rod decided, she would be far from friendly.
Julie bristled at his words. “I had hoped we could be friends. It would make our marriage much more pleasant.”
“It is not to be,
querida,
” Rod said softly, almost regretfully.
“What … what did you say?” Julie asked, not certain she had heard right.
“Never mind, I’ll explain later,” Rod muttered, shrugging. Somehow he must explain to Julie the circumstances that made their union impossible.
They proceeded to the end of the street where Rod crossed the road, expecting Julie to follow. He was nearly to the middle, mud sucking at his boots, when he became aware that Julie was no longer at his side. Perplexed, he glanced over his shoulder to see her poised on the far edge of a deep puddle holding up her blue skirt, one slim foot and well-turned ankle lifted daintily.
Cursing under his breath, Rod turned back intending to carry Julie to the other side of the road, but he was too late. Scowling fiercely, Rod stood helplessly by while another man scooped Julie into his brawny arms and carried her effortlessly across the street, setting her on her feet with a flourish. Rod quickly caught up with them, recognizing his wife’s rescuer immediately.
Brett Casey owned Casey’s Pleasure Palace and was a renowned womanizer. He changed mistresses as easily as he changed his shirts. He was the type of man Rod did not wish his wife to associate with. Abruptly Rod faltered, realizing that his thoughts were taking a
dangerous direction. Never could he consider Juliet Darcy his wife. The title belonged to Elena, one of his own kind. By the time he reached Julie, Casey had already taken his leave.
“You should not have been so friendly with that man, Julie,” Rod warned darkly. “He’s not the sort for you to consort with.”
“He certainly was polite enough, Rod,” Julie insisted, blushing under his reproof. “It was very gallant of him to come to my aid.”
“Is that a slur upon my character,
querida
?” Rod sneered lazily.
“Take it any way you want,” sniffed Julie, wondering why she and her husband barely had a civil word for each other when they hardly knew one another. It was eerie the way a strange tenseness invaded her body whenever Rod looked at her with those hooded dark eyes. A tingle of anticipation raced through her blood, making her aware of their wedding night and what would no doubt take place when they were alone. Would he be a gentle, considerate lover? Julie wondered, blushing at the direction of her wayward thoughts. Or was he the kind to take his own pleasure, caring nothing for her tender feelings.
Julie knew very little about the relationship between husband and wife until Polly, bless her, imparted all that she had been told by her mother. Julie knew she would feel pain the first time Rod took her, but if he was gentle and understanding she would feel great pleasure, also. Now, watching the play of emotion upon Rod’s stony features, fingers of fear clutched at her heart. She doubted that her haughty, arrogant husband had a shred of tenderness in his tall, well-proportioned frame.
Before long, Rod stopped before a sprawling two story house sporting a wide front porch. The sign above the front door said simply,
ROOMS FOR RENT.
Rod led
her inside where they were met by a short, round woman of late middleage with whispy graying hair and pleasant features. Her bow-like lips were pursed in disapproval as she eyed the young couple warily, hands on ample hips.
“Don Rodrigo, you know I run a respectable house,” the woman bristled, eyeing Julie through slightly myopic eyes. “There will be no hanky-panky going on upstairs. You will have to find another place to entertain your … er … lady friend.”
Julie blushed furiously, knowing full well that the woman thought her to be a woman of loose morals. Rod raised his head and laughed uproariously, the first time Julie had seen him in good humor since their hasty marriage. “Mae, this lady is my wife, Julie,” he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Julie, meet Mae Parker. She owns this boarding house and thinks she’s mother to every homeless young man ever to set foot in San Francisco.”
Julie could tell Mae Parker was truly astounded by Rod’s declaration. “I’m glad to meet you, Mrs. Parker,” Julie said timidly.
“Call me Mae, honey, everyone else does. Is it true? Are you really Rod’s wife?”
“Yes,” verified Julie. “We were married less than an hour ago.”
“Are you one of those girls from the east who came out here to become brides?” Solemnly, Julie nodded. “I don’t understand, Rod,” Mae said, truly puzzled. “You told me yourself your father expected you to marry—”
“I’ll explain later, Mae,” Rod cut in quickly before Mae had a chance to finish her sentence. “It’s a long story. Right now I’d like to take Julie upstairs. She’s had a tiring day and I know she’d like a hot bath.”
“How thoughtless of me,” Mae apologized. “Take your wife to your room and I’ll have Ling Wu heat water for her bath. I’ll bet you’re both hungry, too. I’ll
cook you up a proper wedding feast.” Before Julie could offer her thanks the friendly woman bustled out of the room.
Within a few minutes Julie found herself standing in the center of a large room whose two long windows faced the street. Though the room was by no means lavishly appointed, it was adequate and appeared scrupulously clean. Julie gazed about thoughtfully, directing her eyes everywhere but at the large bed decorating the center of the room.
“I come to San Francisco quite often,” Rod said, startling Julie out of her reverie, “and always stay here rather than at one of the hotels. Even San Francisco’s finest leaves much to be desired. Mae Parker’s is more to my liking.”
“It’s very nice,” Julie agreed in a stilted voice. Try as she might, she could not relax. She had no idea what to expect from the tall, commanding man she had married.
Rod was not unaware of Julie’s tenseness and immediately recognized her fear.
Dio mio,
she was lovely, he thought, with her hair the color of warm honey tumbling about her shoulders. His eyes fell unbiddingly to her miniscule waist before focusing on her magnificent full breasts straining against the lace inserts of her bodice. She was all woman and Rod found himself reacting violently to her nearness. His body began to swell with desire, a desire he refused to recognize when he first laid eyes on her standing on the platform looking like a lamb being led to the slaughter.
Julie saw the direction of Rod’s gaze and shifted uncomfortably, wondering if he intended to ravish her on the spot. It was within his right to do whatever he pleased to her, she knew, but she prayed desperately that there was some compassion in his soul, She had heard much about the cruelty of Spaniards. But what troubled her most was the fact that Rod had felt the need to acquire an unknown bride from the east. She
had thought the aristocratic Spanish usually married within their own race. Julie suppressed a shudder of dread as Rod’s inky eyes boldly raked over her lush curves, visibly undressing her.
Sighing heavily, Rod lifted his eyes to settle finally on Julie’s face. No matter how much he wanted the girl, he could not in all conscience take her … unless …
“Are you a virgin, Julie?” he asked abruptly, his question bringing roses to her cheeks. Completely confused, Julie could only nod dumbly. “
Por Dios,”
Rod cursed, disappointment furrowing his brow. “Then you have nothing to fear from me. I will not claim your maidenhead.”
To Julie, Rod’s staccato-like words could only mean that she did not please him or that she had said or done something to anger him. Only minutes before she had recognized the glimmer of lust in his eyes, but now there was nothing but cold indiference in their fathomless depths.
“I … I don’t understand,” she stammered. “If I’ve done something to anger you, or—”
“It’s nothing you’ve done,
querida,
” Rod said, his voice softening with regret. “Circumstances have ordained that we can never be man and wife, even though I find myself desiring you as a man desires a woman. But I will not ruin you for another.”
Suddenly Julie became very angry, her rage transcending any fear she might have felt for her intimidating husband. “Are you telling me we are not truly wed? That the ceremony was merely a sham? I can’t believe Mr. Goddard would …” She faltered, unable to continue.
Rod smiled indulgently, highly amused by Julie’s show of temper. It proved she was no meek miss and he briefly regretted the code of ethics that prevented him from giving in to his desire. “In the eyes of the law we are legally bound,” Rod explained patiently, “but it is a
marriage my father will never accept. I have been engaged since childhood to the daughter of an old aristocratic family. Even now Elena awaits my return so we can be wed.”
Red dots of rage exploded in Julie’s brain, turning her eyes into shards of blue ice. “You bastard!” she charged, shocking him with her unladylike language. “You bigamist! What did you intend? To keep one wife at your ranch and one in San Francisco? How dare you trick me!” Unable to control herself she flew at the unsuspecting man, her bared fingernails gouging deep grooves into both cheeks.
“
Bruja
!” Rod cried out. “Witch!” Catching her arms and whipping her about he forced her body against his until she was immobilized in his punishing embrace. “If you allowed me a moment I would have explained it to you. Do you always act so impulsively?”
Struggling in his arms, Julie gasped, “Let me go!”
“Not until you hear me out,” Rod insisted, tightening his grasp about her slim form.
“Why did you pay my way over here if you already had a fiancée?” Julie challenged, kicking backwards in a futile attempt to free herself. Her soft slipper encountered a well-muscled leg encased in leather and Rod chuckled as she uttered a soft cry of pain.
“Are you ready to listen?” Rod asked, shaking her until her teeth rattled.
“Y … y … yes,” Julie ground out.
Dragging her to the bed, Rod sat her down none too gently and settled beside her. “I did not send for you,
querida,
” he informed her. Julie’s eyes opened wide but she said nothing. “I won you in a poker game.” Rod paused for her gasp of outrage and was not disappointed.
“A young man named Kevin O’Brien paid your way to San Francisco. He and I met in a poker game several weeks ago. O’Brien lost heavily and in the end wagered
the only thing he had left of value … you. His hand was good. But not good enough.”
“You were the man Kevin O’Brien lost to,” Julie intoned dryly. “Did you cheat the poor man out of his possessions?”
Rod exploded in a whirlwind of anger. “
Bruja
! I do not cheat at cards! Kevin O’Brien was a young fool who wagered a fortune on a turn of a card. Had he any sense he would never have gotten in over his head in the first place. As it turned out you were the one to come out the winner. O’Brien was not the man for you.”
“And I suppose you are?”
Rod turned thoughtful, suddenly certain that he was exactly the right man for the little hellion. She needed someone to match her fire, a man capable of taming the wild streak in her. He was convinced their coming together would be more like an explosion than an act of love and his tense body yearned to be the first to elicit those cries of ecstasy from her full red lips.
“Whether or not I am the man for you is unimportant,” Rod finally said. “Of necessity, our marriage is over before it begins.”
“Why? Why did you marry me? You could have backed out.”
“If it is any consolation to you, I did consider walking out of the room and deserting you to your fate.”
“What changed your mind?”
Rod flushed. What indeed? he wondered dismally. Were his motives purely selfish? That was something he would ask himself the rest of his life. “If I didn’t claim you, you would have gone up for grabs. I understand Julius Goddard screened the prospective bridegrooms quite thoroughly and only the best of the lot were allowed to participate in the drawing. Did you get a good look at the men in the room today? They are the dregs of humanity. Scum. Criminals. Had I not
appeared you would now be the possession of one of them for they would have held a lottery for you then and there.”
“So you saved me from a fate worse than death,” snapped Julie sarcastically. “Am I supposed to thank you, Don Rodrigo?”
Her gibe stung. “You little fool. I am giving you back your life. As long as our marriage isn’t consummated it will be relatively simple to obtain an annulment. I’ll pay your way back east where you can take up your life as if nothing happened. One day you’ll find a man of your own choosing.”
“Back east!” Julie exploded. “I will not be shipped back to New York like so much discarded baggage! I came to California with a purpose and I won’t leave until I accomplish what I set out to do.”