To Love a Stranger (12 page)

Zoey stared at the diaphanous nightgown and burst into tears. Had she married a man she loved, this was exactly the kind of garment she’d have chosen for her wedding night. How could Pierce have known?

Seduction took many forms, she supposed, and obviously Pierce Delaney was an expert.

In the days that followed, neither Pierce nor Zoey mentioned the nightgown or what had transpired the night he had given it to her. Pierce arose early, rode out with the men, returned late, and ate in the cookhouse with the hands. Zoey was already in bed by the time Pierce returned to the house.

Zoey missed him but told herself the coldness between them was for the best. She was putty in
Pierce’s hands. Whenever he touched her she went up in smoke. She’d had no idea she possessed a passionate nature until Pierce touched her. Perhaps it was because no man had ever attracted her like Pierce.

A week after the aborted attempt to break into Willoughby’s office, the banker arrived at the ranch, accompanied by a deputy. Zoey met him at the front door.

“What do you want?”

“Where is your husband?”

“In the barn.”

“Get him,” he told the deputy.

Zoey eyed the deputy warily. “What is this all about?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Willoughby continued to smile complacently while the deputy strode to the barn for Pierce. A few minutes later Pierce appeared, taking a stance beside Zoey. The look he gave Willoughby was daunting.

“State your business, Willoughby.”

“Of course, that’s why I’m here. I brought a deputy to make things nice and legal.”

He removed a sheet of paper from his pocket and shoved it under Pierce’s nose.

“These are foreclosure orders, in case you can’t read. All legal and signed by the judge. You have two weeks to vacate the premises. Take only your personal belongings and keepsakes. The furnishings go with the house.”

“You … you can’t do that,” Zoey sputtered. Though she’d known it was coming, it was still a shock.

Pierce’s arm crept around her and she leaned into him, welcoming his support.

“It’s legal and binding, Zoey,” Willoughby declared. “Had you married me, none of this would be necessary. You and I could be sharing this land and house. But you deliberately chose to thwart me.”

He turned glittering eyes on Pierce. “Something strange went on in my office one night last week. What do you know about it?”

Pierce’s lips flattened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I can’t prove a damn thing, Delaney, but I’m warning you, don’t mess with me.” Then he smiled at Zoey. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. “What are you going to do when your husband leaves you, my dear? He will, you know. His kind never sticks around long. Just remember, I’ll be here long after he’s gone. I’ll still welcome you into my home and bed when you have no one to turn to.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Zoey retorted. “I’ll find a job if I need to.”

“Not in this town.” He tipped his hat. “Good day to you. I’ll return in two weeks to claim my land.”

“Oh, God,” Zoey sobbed after Willoughby and the deputy rode off. “How I hate that smug bastard!”

“Don’t give up yet,” Pierce consoled. He brushed a strand of golden hair from her forehead and kissed her temple. He wasn’t going to let Willoughby force Zoey off her land without trying one last time to prove that the mortgage had been forged. Only this time he would reveal his plans to
no one. Not even Cully. Especially not Zoey.

“He’s taken everything from me,” Zoey whispered, feeling as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders. She was going to lose her home, and Pierce would move on soon afterward. The one good thing to come of this was that it was impossible for Willoughby to force her into marriage. And she would starve before turning to him for comfort after Pierce left.

“There’s always something that can be done,” Pierce mused thoughtfully. “Don’t say anything about this to the hands, it might affect their work. We’ve made great progress these past weeks. The paddocks are nearly filled with Circle F livestock. When it comes time to fulfill your contract to the army, you’ll have those three hundred head that were promised to them.”

Zoey laughed bitterly. “This is too much! How can you act as if nothing will change? Why should the hands round up the cattle for Willoughby’s benefit? That’s what it amounts to. Besides, this isn’t your problem.”

“You made it my problem,” Pierce reminded her.

Zoey was too upset to listen to what he was saying. “Perhaps you should leave now. In two weeks you’ll no longer have a roof over your head.”

“Neither will you. What will you do? Where will you go?”

If it comes down to it, I could always send her to my brothers
, Pierce decided.

“I’m not sure. I’ll get a room in town and find a job. I’ve never lived in town.” Her chin rose stubbornly. “I’ll get by. I’d prefer that you get the annulment.
Getting it in Rolling Prairie would give Willoughby more ammunition to use against me.”

“Since I never intend to remarry, there’s no hurry.”

Pierce turned her toward him, wiping away her tears with his fingertips. She gave him a watery smile. Pierce felt something inside him burst. She was so brave it nearly broke his heart. It was the first time in many years he acknowledged possessing a heart, and it startled him.

“Don’t despair, love. We still have two weeks. All isn’t lost yet.”

“You don’t have to cheer me up, Pierce. I’ve reconciled myself to losing the land my father gave his life for. It was all he had to leave me. He died protecting it. I’ll survive.”

Pierce’s determination to help Zoey grew by leaps and bounds. His own problems could wait. He couldn’t return to Dry Gulch yet anyway. Not if he wanted to live. Riley Reed would love to put a rope around his neck.

Pierce had a plan. Someone at the Circle F was a spy; unfortunately he had yet to find that man. Bud had questioned everyone in the bunkhouse about the night Pierce had broken into Willoughby’s office, but no one had noticed anyone missing. This time Pierce was taking no chances. He’d do what he had to do without interference from a damn spy.

Z
oey tried to present a brave face at supper that night and failed miserably. Though neither Cully nor Pierce mentioned Willoughby’s visit or the foreclosure, it was on their minds, making for a subdued meal. Finally Zoey could stand it no longer. Leaving her untouched meal on her plate, she scraped back her chair and ran from the kitchen.

Pierce started to go after her, but Cully grasped his arm and said, “Let her go. There ain’t nothing you can do now. Ain’t nothing nobody can do. Don’t worry none about Zoey after you leave, I’ll see to her. Always have, always will.” His sharp-eyed gaze speared into Pierce. “You
are
leaving, ain’t you? If you are, you oughta do it soon, before Miz Zoey gets too fond of you.”

Pierce gazed at Cully through hooded eyes. Why did he feel like such a heel? “I reckon I’ll be moving on soon, but not quite yet. I have some unfinished business.”

“That business ain’t Miz Zoey, is it? It better not be what I’m thinking it is.”

“What if it is?” Pierce challenged. “Zoey and I are husband and wife. She’s old enough to make up her own mind.” Though bedding Zoey wasn’t what Pierce meant when he referred to unfinished business, Cully’s words came too close to the truth.

“Don’t get all hot under the collar, Delaney. I know Miz Zoey is a grown woman, but she’s been protected by her pa most of her life.”

Pierce snorted in derision. “You could have fooled me. She was the one who used threats to force me to marry her. I would have been on my way a long time ago if she hadn’t involved me in her problems.”

“She saved your life,” Cully reminded him.

“I’m aware of that. Why do you think I’m still here? Words spoken over us by a preacher wouldn’t keep me around if I didn’t feel I owed Zoey for saving my life. You’re a good man, Cully. Zoey could have no better protector. Well …” He stretched and yawned. “Reckon I’ll turn in.”

Though the night was young, Pierce had plans to make. Tonight he was going to make another stab at breaking into Willoughby’s office and stealing the mortgage.

Her eyes burning with unshed tears, Zoey peered into the darkness through her bedroom window. Her land, the land upon which she’d been born, the land that her father had toiled to hold for her, was lost. Rich grasslands, fertile valleys, bubbling springs, rushing rivers against a backdrop of majestic snowcapped mountains. God, she loved this land and the house upon it.

Zoey’s musing turned to Pierce—he was never
far from her thoughts—wondering if he was relieved that this whole mess had come to a head so soon. He could leave now, without guilt or recriminations. He had remained her husband long enough to thwart Willoughby’s plans for her, and that was all she could ask of him. She had to let him go just as she’d promised. He had problems of his own to resolve.

Zoey knew Pierce well enough to realize he would never beat a woman. Getting Cora Lee with child was another matter. If the way he’d tried to seduce her was any indication, Pierce was fully capable of planning and carrying out a seduction. She hoped all would end well for him even if her own situation was beyond help.

Suddenly her gaze fell on the nightgown Pierce had given her. She had folded it and left it on her bureau where she could admire it. She touched it reverently, wondering how she would look in it. Her skin tingled and her fingers itched to try it on, even if no one but her ever saw her in it. She needed comforting, and for reasons she didn’t understand, the nightgown offered that. The thought that Pierce had picked it out and bought it for her brought renewed tears to her eyes.

She’d lost the land, the house, and now she was going to lose Pierce. She was a wife without knowing the real meaning of the word. She was a woman without having experienced the joy of becoming one. Would she ever know a man’s love?

Determination tautened her jaw; her blue eyes darkened with resolve. She might never know a man’s love, but she could know his passion. All she had to do was walk out one door and into another
… to Pierce. She didn’t know if she loved Pierce, and he obviously didn’t love her, but she needed someone tonight, someone who understood what she was going through. She gazed at the nightgown with longing and came to a decision she hoped she wouldn’t live to regret.

Zoey stripped off her clothes, washed thoroughly, and slipped into the gossamer gown. Slowly she turned and gazed at herself in the mirror, her eyes widening at the way the material hugged her figure, as if specifically created with her in mind. Her hair didn’t look right, so she pulled out her braids and ran her fingers through the silken strands, releasing it into soft waves that hung down her back. Dimly she wondered if Pierce would like the way she looked in the nightgown. She’d never know if she remained in her room staring at her image.

Dragging in a shuddering breath, Zoey opened the door and stepped into the hall. Light flowed from beneath Pierce’s door, drawing her like a moth to flame. She reached his door and paused, her hand on the doorknob. She was shaking from the inside out, frightened yet strangely elated. Anticipation had set up a clamor inside her only Pierce could quell.

Gathering her courage, she turned the knob, opened the door, and stepped inside. A single lamp was turned down low, casting the room into a dark and mysterious haven. She didn’t see him immediately and feared he’d left without her knowledge. Then she saw a movement and turned her head just as he stepped out from the shadows. He was dressed all in black.

He stared at her and prayed he wasn’t dreaming. He hadn’t heard the door open, merely sensed her presence. She was dressed in shimmering cobwebs, her beauty rivaling the moon and the stars. Bathed in lamplight, her body withheld no secrets from him. The world paled. His heart and mind were filled with the woman he’d lusted after with every fiber of his being. He faltered over the word
lust
, but could think of no other explanation for the way he felt about Zoey.

Zoey trembled. She felt alive as never before, seared by the green fire of Pierce’s eyes. She returned his stare, shivering as she felt the sensual heat of his gaze roam over her. Her nerves were drawn taut. She was on the verge of fleeing when she heard Pierce’s whisper.

Pierce tried to speak, but managed only to whisper her name. All of him turned to stone. He’d fantasized about seeing Zoey in the nightgown, but his imagination did not do her justice. She was exquisite. Her body was perfection. From her high, firm breasts crowned with delicate pink nipples to the dark blond patch shielding her womanhood, Zoey was the kind of woman men dreamed about. Her legs were long and shapely, her ankles delicately turned. Her hips flared out gently from a minuscule waist. He wanted her with a passion unequaled to anything he’d ever felt in the past.

He reached out to her, and the gesture unleashed the words building inside him. “Zoey, you’re lovelier than I ever could have imagined you’d be.”

“It’s the nightgown,” Zoey replied nervously. “I shouldn’t have come.” She took a hesitant step toward the door.

“No, don’t go!” He reached her in two strides. “It’s time for us to be together.” Unfortunately Zoey had picked a most inopportune time to come to him. In a few short hours he’d be on his way into town to break into the bank.

Zoey licked moisture onto her lips, which had suddenly gone dry. Abruptly her reasons for being here seemed inappropriate. “The nightgown is lovely,” she said, stalling for time. “Thank you.”

“What’s inside it is lovely.” He pulled her against him, smiling down at her.

Zoey shivered; the raw, exciting power emanating from him lit fires within her. She wanted this, she told herself. She wanted him. She wanted to have something to warm her lonely nights when Pierce was gone.

“You surprise me, love,” Pierce said. He gave her a slow, sensual smile. “Tell me I’m not dreaming. I’ve wanted you for a very long time. What made you decide to come to me tonight?”

Zoey shrugged; her reasons no longer made sense. “Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea.”