To Love a Stranger (14 page)

He shouted his climax into the darkness, his throat working spasmodically. Then he covered her mouth with his to drink in her cries when she surprised him by coming again to pleasure.

“I knew there was passion inside you, but I had no idea how much,” he said as he eased his weight off her.

“Are you disappointed?”

“Good God, no! A passionate wife is a man’s dream come true.” Then he realized what he’d just said and added, “As long as that passion is reserved for her husband. To my regret, I’ve learned that women are often too eager to share their passion indiscriminately.”

Zoey said nothing. She realized it had taken a lifetime to bring Pierce to this philosophy, and nothing she could say would change his mind. He didn’t want a wife, and she didn’t want a husband who thought so little of women. She wondered if his opinion of her would be different if she hadn’t forced him to marry her.

Pierce winced, smote by a twinge of guilt. He couldn’t help feeling the way he did about women. Nevertheless, he’d already decided to help Zoey, and that wasn’t going to change. His success tonight
meant all Zoey’s problems would be solved, and he could leave, feeling he had repaid her.

“Go to sleep, love,” he said, pulling her against him. “Your body needs to rest now and heal.”

Zoey closed her eyes, content in a way she’d never been before, even though she knew Pierce wouldn’t be hers for long. Pierce’s low opinion of women made it impossible to reach him on any level other than that which they had just experienced. She wasn’t sorry she had given of herself, though. It was high time she lost her virginity, and she was glad she’d lost it to Pierce.

Hours later Pierce rose stealthily from the bed, leaving Zoey sleeping soundly. He dressed with haste in the clothes he had discarded earlier. He stood beside the bed, looking down on Zoey with a mixture of confusion and tenderness. No woman had ever made him feel the kind of emotion Zoey did. The least he could do for her before he left was save her ranch. He hoped to hell Zoey wasn’t mistaken about the mortgage papers being forged.

Picking up his boots and gun belt, Pierce tiptoed out the door and down the stairs, grateful that no telltale squeak gave him away. Once outside, he pulled on his boots, buckled on his guns, and strode to the barn.

“Your horse is already saddled.”

Pierce swore, his hand going for his gun. Then he relaxed when he recognized the voice. “Dammit, Cully, what are you doing here?”

“I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not. How did you know what I was going to do tonight?”

“You ain’t all that hard to read. After Willoughby left, I knew you’d try to break into his office again. We’re wasting time standing around jawing. Our horses are saddled, let’s go.”

“What if we’re followed like the last time? Someone on the ranch is a spy.”

“Bud is keeping an eye on the hands. Trust me, nobody will leave the ranch tonight. You ain’t getting shed of me, Delaney, so you’d best set your mind to having me tagging along. Mount up.”

Pierce could think of nothing to say that would change Cully’s mind. Nodding curtly, he mounted up and walked the horse to the front gate. Cully followed close on his heels. Once they were far enough away to avoid attracting the attention of the sleeping hands, they gave their horses their heads.

Dawn was a faint blush on the horizon when Pierce and Cully returned to the ranch. Bud met them at the barn.

“No one left the ranch tonight, Mr. Delaney,” Bud said. “I’ve been in the barn since you left, and not a horse is missing. I don’t know what this is all about and I don’t want to know. Cully said it was important; that’s good enough for me.”

“Thanks, Bud, I appreciate your loyalty,” Pierce said, dredging up a smile. The night had turned brisk and he shivered from both the cold and his exhaustion. Not to mention the tension he’d been under during this little jaunt tonight. So much had
depended upon his success. “I’m going to hit the sack, I’m beat.”

Cully gave him an inscrutable look, started to say something, then changed his mind. Finally he walked from the barn, muttering to himself.

Pierce strode briskly toward the house, eager to rejoin Zoey in his bed. She had come to him last night out of need, and together they had found Paradise. He never would have suspected Zoey of harboring the kind of passion she’d exhibited. It was beyond anything he’d ever dreamed.

The house was quiet as he crept up the stairs and entered his room. The lamp had extinguished itself, and gray light from a pearly predawn filtered through the window. Shedding his clothes, Pierce drew back the blanket and eased into bed beside Zoey. Her flesh was warm and fragrant as he cuddled her against his own chilled flesh, sighing in contentment.

Zoey muttered in her sleep and stirred restlessly. Her innocent movement created a clamoring in Pierce’s blood. His hellish lust for Zoey wasn’t going to allow him to rest. He caressed her breasts, surprised to find her nipples puckered into tight little buds. He moved his hand lower, between her thighs, and began caressing her there.

Zoey sighed and opened her eyes. “Why are you so cold? Your flesh is like ice.”

“I got up a few minutes ago and closed the window,” he lied. “It was getting cold in here.”

“I’m not cold,” Zoey murmured against his chest. “Shall I warm you?” Her voice was as warmly enticing as her body.

Pierce hardened instantly. “I don’t know if that’s
wise. I was rather rough on you last night.”

“Today is a whole new day,” she murmured as she pulled his head down to meet her lips.

Suddenly Pierce was hot, so hot his flesh was sizzling. He was having difficulty thinking with Zoey’s hands roaming over his body. There was serious business to discuss, but it would have to wait until a more persistent need was satisfied. His mouth slanted over hers as he moved atop her, spreading her thighs with his knees. He entered her easily, and just as easily brought them both to shuddering climax.

Z
oey stretched, awakening slowly from a most arousing dream. Then she moved and realized it hadn’t been a dream at all. Her body ached in places she never knew existed. Despite those aches and pains, a languorous contentment stole over her body. She smiled, remembering the night and the pleasure it had brought to her. For as long as she lived, she’d never forget Pierce, or this night.

Pierce …

She stretched out her hand, searching for him. The place beside her still held his scent, but his warmth was gone. Her face reddened at the memory of his delicious kisses, of how her body had responded to his touch. He had given her ample memories to last a lifetime.

Her next thought made her recoil in fear and horror. Had Pierce left without saying good-bye? It would be just like him to disappear quietly without a word to anyone. She shouldn’t despair, she told herself, she’d known it was coming. From the beginning of their association she’d demanded things of him he’d been unwilling to give. Forgiveness
wasn’t his way. She’d used him in her battle against Willoughby, and reluctant bridegroom or not, Pierce had fulfilled his part of the bargain. Now she had to fulfill hers and let him go.

Determined to face the day and the rest of her life without Pierce, Zoey rose from bed, momentarily disoriented when she found herself in Pierce’s room. Her lovely nightgown lay on the floor, discarded in a moment of unbridled passion. She slipped it on and cautiously opened the door. It wouldn’t do for anyone to see her leaving Pierce’s room clad in cobwebs, not that anyone but Cully would have reason to enter the house, and he was doing chores this time of day.

Zoey halted abruptly when she saw Pierce standing on the landing. Pierce’s steps faltered when he saw Zoey open the bedroom door and step into the hallway. Zoey stared at him and flushed, not knowing what to say after the wanton way she had responded to him last night and early this morning. Pierce found his voice first.

“It’s about time you got up, lazybones.” He gave her a slow smile that made her flesh tingle with awareness. “I was just coming to awaken you.”

“I … I thought you’d left.” He must have gone down to the stream to bathe, Zoey decided, for droplets of water still clung to his dark hair.

He searched her face, and she grew warm as his gaze traveled the length of her body. “Not yet. There’s something I want to show you first.” She felt flushed and disheveled, and she knew from his expression he recalled the incredible night they had spent together. “I thought you might enjoy a soak
in a hot bath. You’re probably pretty sore right now.”

Bright pink stained her cheeks, and her gaze slid down to her bare toes. “A gentleman wouldn’t remind a lady of her wanton behavior,” she murmured, embarrassed.

Pierce gave her a heart-stopping grin. “When have I said I was a gentleman? I filled that tub you keep in the little storeroom off the kitchen with hot water. We can talk while you soak. What I have to tell you is important. You were sleeping so soundly I didn’t want to awaken you, otherwise I would have told you earlier.”

Zoey’s attention sharpened. What was so important about telling her he was going to leave? She’d already guessed that on her own.

“Come downstairs before the water cools.”

“Let me get my robe first,” Zoey said, turning toward her room.

Zoey dawdled in her room as long as she dared before joining Pierce in the small room off the kitchen that she used as a bathing room.

“About time,” Pierce complained. She noticed that he didn’t take his eyes off her. “I had to add another bucket of hot water. Go on, climb in the tub. It will ease your discomfort.”

Why did he have to be so solicitous? she wondered grumpily. “I can manage my bath by myself,” she said when it appeared he wasn’t going to leave.

“Zoey, I’ve seen everything you’ve got,” he reminded her. His green gaze moved slowly over her, smoldering with rekindled passion.

Zoey didn’t want to be reminded, but she desperately
wanted the bath. And if Pierce wanted to remain, she couldn’t do anything about it.

Stripping off her robe, she climbed into the tub, sinking into the water with a sigh. “Feels wonderful,” she said, resting her head against the side and closing her eyes.

“I meant it when I said I didn’t mean to be so rough last night,” Pierce apologized.

“No need to apologize. You didn’t hurt me. Not after the first …” She flushed and looked away. “When are you leaving?” she asked bluntly.

He stared at her, mesmerized by the tantalizing glimpse of creamy breasts crowned with pink nipples bobbing above the water. The sweet enticement of her golden woman’s triangle almost made him forget that he had something very important to impart to Zoey. Deliberately he turned away as she soaped a cloth and began scrubbing various parts of her body. He waited until he heard her splash from the tub before turning back to her.

Zoey had already pulled on her robe, though it concealed little of her ripe curves from him. Her wet body had dampened the material and it clung to her like a second skin.

“I’ve made coffee,” Pierce said. “We can sit at the table and talk.”

Zoey followed Pierce into the kitchen, her expression filled with curiosity. She poured them each a mug of coffee and sat down at the table. Pierce sat across from her, staring into the thick, black brew as he gathered his thoughts.

“What is this all about, Pierce? I know you’re going to leave. Why beat around the bush?”

“You knew I couldn’t leave until I repaid my
debt to you. You saved my life. You could have turned me over to the vigilantes when you found me, but you didn’t. I could have been exactly the kind of man Riley Reed described when he came to the ranch looking for me. A woman beater and seducer of innocent virgins. I’m not ungrateful and I always pay my debts.”

“What are you getting at, Pierce? I literally forced you to marry me. God knows you didn’t want to.”

“Would you really have turned me over to the vigilantes if I hadn’t agreed? You had me at your mercy. I was too weak to run and had nowhere to go even if I’d been strong enough to flee.”

Zoey gave him an inscrutable smile. “You’ll never know, will you?”

“It doesn’t matter. Last night I paid my debt in full.”

“You
what
?” Zoey’s brow furrowed in consternation. “What have you done?”

Pierce reached into his vest pocket and brought forth a sheet of paper, placing it on the table before Zoey. Zoey stared at it for several long minutes, then she gazed up at Pierce through a mist of tears.

She didn’t want to cry but couldn’t help herself. She had no idea Pierce would do anything like this after he’d failed the first time. When had Pierce stolen the mortgage from Willoughby’s office? she wondered.

“Where did this come from? You were with me last night. You couldn’t have—”

“I fear I exhausted you last night. I left after you fell asleep. I told no one of my plans. This time I met with success.”

Zoey was stunned. “Why didn’t you tell me what you intended?”

“And have you tagging along? No, ma’am.”

“You went alone?” Zoey gasped.

“Not exactly. Cully was with me.”

“You took Cully and not me?”

“It wasn’t my idea. Cully must have read my mind, for he was waiting for me in the barn. We both know there’s a spy on the ranch. Cully decided to confide in Bud and asked him to keep watch after we left. He was to prevent any of the hands from leaving the ranch last night. We didn’t want Willoughby alerted this time. Everything went without a hitch. I also found this.”

He extracted another document from his pocket and handed it to Zoey.

“The deed! You found this in Willoughby’s office?”

Pierce nodded. “Let’s check the signature on the mortgage document against your father’s.”

Zoey leaped from the chair, excitement coloring her words. “I’ll check the signatures now. Oh, Pierce, you don’t know what this means to me. If we can prove that the signatures aren’t the same, and that Willoughby forged Pa’s signature, he can’t take my ranch away from me.”

She flew from the room, leaving Pierce in her wake. He followed, delighted that his debt had been settled at last. If the document was indeed fraudulent, Willoughby’s plan to seize Zoey’s land wouldn’t hold water. He watched as Zoey tore into her father’s desk, searching for documents bearing his signature.