A chill went down her spine at the malevolence in his tone, and she prayed for rescue. Oh, what was taking Steve so long? He would come, wouldn’t he? Did he suspect that Luna planned an ambush for him? Surely he must realize that the Spaniard was consumed with jealousy, deranged enough to go to elaborate lengths just for vengeance. Oh God, if only she could get a message to Steve!

Luna brought a bottle of wine to the dingy room in the cheap posada, and with a faint, sneering smile, set it on the scarred table beneath the window.

“Tonight, chica, we shall celebrate.”

“I’m in no mood for a celebration,” Ginny said tartly.

Luna crossed the room to where she was tied to the bed—his first action upon bringing her inside—and squeezed her chin painfully between his fingers.

“But I am in a mood to celebrate, so you will humor me. Ah, if your eyes were daggers, I would be pierced to the heart! Such lovely eyes, so green…and your mouth—it has been too long since I have enjoyed you. Are you feeling lonely or abandoned? I will rectify that soon, I promise, my sweet. Before this is over, we will enjoy each other. I know how you wait for it, and how you long for me.”

Ginny shuddered and he laughed, then flicked his fingers against her cheek before he sat back. He used her small dagger to slice the leather straps tying her to the bed, then stabbed it into the wall, as if to offer her a challenge. The hilt quivered slightly as Ginny glanced at it, temptation casting a shadow against the cracked surface.

“Do you wish to use it on me, puta?” His laugh was soft. “Do you recall what happened the last time you tried to do such a thing?”

A shudder went through her, and she nodded silently.

“I thought you might. If you wish, I shall leave it there, and if you try it again, I will know that you truly appreciate the punishment you receive when you disobey me.”

His hand moved over her face, long brown fingers a dark sacrilege against her pale, gleaming skin. Finally, with a laugh that told her he knew she was too frightened to attempt escape or resistance again, he rose and went back to the table.

A lamp burned with a steady, subdued glow, casting pools of rosy light and wavering shadows. The room was surprisingly large. Through the open window she could hear a dog bark, and far away, the plaintive sounds of a guitar.