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  He opened the bedroom door one-handed. For all his patience and joviality, Pierce was not a gentle lover. Her bedroom door slammed, and then her ass slammed into it. He fused his lips with hers. The sharp point of his teeth pierced her plump lip. She moaned as his canines pricked her skin.

  Her feet left the floor. No man had ever picked her up. She doubted that she would’ve ever allowed it. Pierce was no ordinary man. He handled her like she was a weightless, rag doll that he could bend and twist for his own fun. And by the Goddess she loved every contortion.

  She loved that his hunger for her consumed him and pushed him to the edge of his character. But she trusted him. She knew in the depths of her soul that Pierce would never do anything to put her or her baby in jeopardy.

  She wished she’d bumped into him in the city instead of pining after Daniel. But would she have given any time and attention to a wolf? If that wolf had taken the back of her head in his big palm and held her still, then yes. If he’d pressed that long, thick, impressive, piece of manhood against her belly, then hell yes. If he’d woven his fingers into her thick hair and gave a yank to expose her neck, then oh Goddess yes.

  They’d been dancing around this attraction since they met on the train. Well, he’d been attracted. She’d been consumed with her own problems. But Pierce’s focus, every step of the way, had been on her. Her safety, her comfort, her welfare. Perhaps that could be the foundation of a lasting relationship?

  Viviane didn’t know much about love. She’d told the truth when she said she hadn’t loved Daniel. She’d liked him well enough. She’d loved that he thought she was smart. She’d loved being singled out amongst the other girls in the school as the one he risked his career to have. But Daniel had never indicated a single care about her safety, comfort, or welfare.

  Pierce did in his every action and thought. The scientist in Viviane knew that anything that she wanted to stand on had to have at least three pillars upon which to do it. Safety, comfort, and welfare seemed like three strong legs that could support love.

  Her mother had told her it was better if a man loved a woman more than she loved him. It was evident that Pierce wanted her. What other reason did he have for sticking around?

  If he were truly a loner, he would’ve been long gone by now. It had to be something more. Even if it was something less than love, maybe she could make it more.

  Viviane wrapped her legs around his torso. She wove her arms behind his shoulder blades. Then around his neck and scratched at the back of his scalp. She drank deeply from his mouth, unable to quench her thirst.

  Her core throbbed, aching to be filled by everything beneath the cloth that covered him. She brushed her heels over the rough fabric, aiming to unloosen it. One hand slid down his chest, through the opening of the loose shirt, to rest at his pounding heart. She clutched at the pounding organ; her nails leaving a mark on his skin.

  She felt him wince. And then purr like a lion circling his pride. The sound rumbled through her, shaking loose any remaining inhibitions. She held him tighter, angling to get closer to the source of that satisfied grumble.

  She licked at the scruff on his neck. Her tongue didn’t penetrate the cluster of hairs there, and so she used her teeth. It wasn’t enough. She needed to breach warm skin.

  “More,” she growled. “I need more.”

  She felt the shift in him at those words. It wasn’t an automatic flick of a switch. It was a slow dimmer. Somehow, he managed to pull away from her. It was a feat since she was a monkey around his middle.

  “Viviane,” he said, sounding far too sober for someone with such a hard erection.

  She refused to let him come to his senses. He was her last chance at happiness. He was wrong when he’d said other wolves would line up at the door for her hand. No wolf dared to come on this land with her mother prowling the borders. No man had ever made Viviane feel safe enough to let her feet leave the floor.

  Viviane captured Pierce’s mouth again. He kissed her back, gently, carefully. His kind and careful consideration frustrated her to no end. She broke the kiss and turned her head away.

  “Viviane,” he whispered in her ear. “We can’t do this.”

  He put his hands around her waist and hefted her up, causing her thighs to unhook from his torso. He carried her over to the bed and set her down gently. She clung to his neck, so that he had to follow her down. He sat on the edge of the bed.

  The softness of his hazel eyes made her stomach turn. He was rejecting her. She had opened herself up to him. She had showed her vulnerability, and he was saying he did not want it.

  “Just go.” Viviane grabbed the pillow and pressed it to her chest. She grit her teeth, determined not to let him see her cry.

  “Vivi, look at me.”

  Viviane turned farther away. “I told you. It was the Moon.”

  “It wasn’t the Moon, Viviane.”

  Oh Goddess. Was he going to make this even worse?

  “I want you as much as you want me,” he said. “From the moment I saw you, I wanted you. I stopped because…”

  She turned to look at him as he struggled with his words. His heel tapped an anxious rhythm on the hardwood floors. She couldn’t stand to have him finish that sentence, and so she finished it for him.

  “It’s because you’re leaving.”

  He closed his eyes. His lush lips drew into a thin line. This was worse than when Daniel turned away from her after finding out she was pregnant. There had been a part of her that thought Daniel might. But a moment ago, every fiber of her being had told her that Pierce actually cared about her.

  She looked up at the Moon hanging large in the sky. Dawn was coming and the sun would have its time to temporarily outshine the lunar Goddess. Viviane had let herself get caught up in the stupid fairytale. She’d let herself turn into a damsel that needed rescuing. And now she was distressed.

  “Like I said,” she turned away from him, “it was the Moon.”

  She pulled the covers up and ducked her legs under them. She flounced out on the bed indicating that the conversation was over.

  Pierce sighed. “I’m going to try to run off some of… this.”

  “Don’t come back.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  She listened as his footsteps went across the room. She listened as the door opened. She heard him hesitate at the threshold. But only for a moment. The door closed with a soft snick. The silence hurt her ears as though he’d slammed it shut between them.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Pierce shed his shirt as he ran outside. His body was overheated from Viviane’s touch. His cock throbbed and so he shed his pants as he rounded the barn. The dogs called out to him, but Pierce ignored their pleas to run alongside him. He was not good company at the moment.

  He leapt into the air, and his paws hit the ground with the force of thunder. The wolf tried to outrun his desire. He tried to outrun her scent. He tried to outrun the taste of her on his tongue, the feel of her in his hands. He couldn’t run far enough. He couldn’t run fast enough.

  By the time he dragged his hind legs in exhaustion, he had gone farther than he’d ever been before. He turned back. The Veracruz land stretched out for miles in the opposite direction. The ranch and surrounding houses were only dots on the horizon, like a constellation pointing to true north.

  And still he tasted her, he smelled her, he felt her. The need for her throbbed in his loins. He feared there might be no distance he could run to free himself of the want of Viviane Veracruz.

  Another scent assaulted his nose. The scent he picked up was familiar, but foe. Pierce’s hackles went up, and he balled himself into a crouch, preparing to attack.

  Jesus stepped out of the bushes. The dark wolf glared at Pierce, his silver eyes glowed with menace. Pierce did not back down. He made himself bigger.

  True, Jesus had at least fifty pounds on him, and a few inches in height. Okay, maybe a foot in height. But Pierce was in a mood. This might be exactly the th
ing to wipe the smell, taste, and feel of Viviane from himself.

  Pierce rounded Jesus, growling, and snarling with each step.

  At first, the Alpha held his place, making no move to attack or retreat. Jesus took a step back. His eyes never left Pierce’s. The wolf began the process of shifting back to his human form.

  Pierce sniffed the air, trying to scent out if this were a trick. Perhaps others from his pack were laying in wait and would attack when Pierce was in his more vulnerable human flesh. He caught another whiff of something familiar, a faint trace of Viviane’s earthy scent in the air. Had Jesus touched Viviane?

  His wolf saw red, but the man grabbed the reigns. He’d left Viviane crying in her bed. That was all his doing. Shame shook the adrenaline from Pierce’s veins.

  Taking a leap of faith, Pierce took a step back from Jesus and began the process of shifting. The two men came to each other as equals in their human forms. Pierce noted that there seemed to be an imaginary line that the alpha would not cross.

  “You don’t belong here,” said Jesus.

  “This is our land.” Pierce held his ground.

  “Technically, it’s the border. One more step and you’re on my turf, city mutt.”

  Pierce looked out beyond the imaginary line. There was no visible or physical border. Sniffing the air, he sensed a shift in the foliage. The land changed from grass to bushes. The air coming from the east was sweet, like ripe berries. It must be the Guerrero vineyard.

  Pierce brought his eyes back to Jesus. He gave a slight incline of his head. “I didn’t know.”

  “Of course you didn’t know. Your city senses are clogged with smog and artificial sweeteners. You need to leave.”

  Pierce nodded. “I’ll stay on my side of the border.”

  “No, I mean you need to leave Sonora. You may have fooled them, but I see right through you. You’re a loner.”

  The accusation stung more than any blow ever could.

  “I can smell it on you,” Jesus continued. “My own sire was a loner. The miserable bastard let his lands run fallow so he could run and sow his oats wherever and whenever he chose. He lives just over there now.”

  Jesus pointed to a dark tract of land up to the north. A stone rose from the ground.

  “May his soul rest in hell,” the young alpha growled. “He brought so much strife to this land because he couldn’t keep still, because he couldn’t keep it in his pants. He caused so much devastation, leaving the rest of us to clean up his messes. He caused my mami so much pain, caused the whole pack so much pain, caused the whole ranch so much pain. It took me years to clean off the stain of him. Viviane’s father was just the same. I will not have another of their kind come onto my lands, into my world, and ruin it again.”

  Pierce looked down in shame. Regardless of the possessiveness his wolf currently felt that would be the end result of his time here. One day he would leave. And when he left, he would hurt Viviane even more than he had tonight. There was no good outcome for any of this.

  Except for the fact that he did not want to leave. He felt a physical ache at the thought of leaving this land. Just the thought of going beyond the boundary made him sick.

  “Viviane’s father was a cheat. He raised every skirt from here to Mexico. That’s why Gloria won’t let anyone in.”

  Pierce blinked, turning his attention outward. Had he lost part of the conversation? When had Gloria been brought into this?

  “Viviane and I were promised as children.” Jesus didn’t look at Pierce as he said the words.

  It was a good thing. Otherwise he would’ve seen Pierce turn green. The words kicked him in the gut.

  Pierce looked up at the big, barrel-chested wolf. But instead of growling at the thought of this brute touching Viviane, he smirked. Pierce knew that it would never work between the two of them. Jesus wouldn’t last one day with Viviane. She would tie him up in knots and toss him out in the trash if he even thought he could rule over her.

  Except in the bedroom. In the brief, few moments Pierce’d had her, he’d garnered that Viviane ached for a strong hand behind closed doors. She’d liked it when he’d pricked her lip with his canines. She’d moaned when his fingers dug into her soft flesh. She’d growled her pleasure as their bodies crashed into place like puzzle pieces. He’d left more marks, he was sure of it. More than anything, he wanted to see the evidence of his desire on her flesh.

  “Go home, little pup,” growled Jesus. His eyes looked as though he knew the trajectory of Pierce’s thoughts. “Let the big dogs handle this.”

  Pierce felt no need to respond. At least not to this man. Viviane would meet any force with more force. Just like her mother. But when you gave her her way, when you stood beside her, when you got behind her, you could move mountains together.

  Pierce knew Viviane would never be ruled with a firm hand. He knew it was only softness, and an attentive ear, that would sway her. He couldn’t explain that to Jesus. It was at a sound level this big dog could never hear. But Pierce heard it loud and clear.

  Pierce turned from Jesus and looked out beyond the border between the Veracruz and Guerrero lands. The difference was stark. The Veracruz land was in patches of green and brown. The Guerrero lands looked overgrown in some places; weeds and brush warred with the vines.

  “It looks like you have a weed problem,” Pierce said.

  Jesus frowned. He looked over his shoulder and then back at Pierce. “Yeah, its name is Alcede. Been trying to yank it out by its roots for some time now.”

  “What if you didn’t yank it? What if there’s another way?”

  Jesus’ nostrils flared. “Now you think you’re going to tell me how to take care of my vineyard.” He jabbed a finger at Pierce’s chest.

  “Not me.” Pierce held firm in the face of the poke. “Viviane. She has this idea. It wouldn’t cost you a cent in labor.”

  That perked the brooding wolf’s attention. He retracted his finger and gave Pierce his full attention.

  An hour later, Pierce made his way along the boundary of the Veracruz land. He continued along the border, his bare feet skating the edges. He walked as a man, unashamed of his nudity. The walk back on human feet took three times as long as the run on paws. The sun exchanged places with the Moon on the horizon as dawn crested. By the time he got back to the ranch, his body didn’t feel an ounce of tiredness. He felt rejuvenated, alive, sure.

  Entering the house, the first thing he saw was Viviane. She sat alone in the kitchen chopping a basket of onions in preparation for the first meal. Pierce leaned against the doorframe and shook his head. He knew her actions were to hide the tears she’d shed. He swore he would never be the cause of her tears again.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  She didn’t jerk in surprise at seeing him. He wondered if she thought he’d truly part ways from her in anger. Her eyes roamed his body. But then she stiffened as though angry with herself for looking. She turned her back to him. “I’m busy.”

  He held out his hand. “Will you come upstairs with me, Viviane?”

  He saw the tension seep out of her back at his gentle plea. She didn’t take his hand, but she did turn and precede him up the staircase and into her bedroom.

  “You have every right to be angry with me, Vivi.”

  “I’m not angry.” Her stiff back said differently.

  Pierce approached her with caution.

  She dodged away from him, giving him her back. “But I do want you to fulfill your end of our bargain. I want you to leave. Today. Right now. The longer you stay the harder this will be.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  She whirled around. “What happened to our pact? You said you’d leave me.”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Now you’re going back on your word.”

  “Viviane,” he said softly. “I don’t want to go anywhere.”

  “I can’t do this anymore, Pierce. This may be easy for you, but my family has feelings. Th
ey’ve grown attached to you. And you’re leaving behind a big mess for me to clean up.”

  “Then I won’t leave. I’ll stay forever.”

  Her eyes grew as big as saucers.

  “I tried to leave,” he said. “I’ve tried three times now. Tonight, I got the farthest I’ve ever gone before. I reached the edge of the property. I nearly crossed into the Guerrero territory. Jesus was there to greet me.”

  “Jesus was on our property line? What was he doing there?”

  “I don’t know? It doesn’t matter. He told me I should leave, to back off.”

  “So that’s why you want to stay?” she demanded. “Some kind of male, testosterone-driven competition.”

  “No,” Pierce said simply. “There’s no competition. There’s no game being played. And if there were, I suspect I would have already won.”

  He moved towards her. Viviane took a hesitant step backwards.

  Pierce reached a hand to her waist. She looked down at her waist and then over to his middle section. He was still very naked. And now, despite having run and then walked many miles, he was very awake.

  “He wanted me to leave,” Pierce brought her closer to him. “He wanted me to leave you, to leave this land. And for a moment I agreed with him. I thought he was right. But then I realized he would never be able to take care of you. No man would.”

  Viviane huffed her indignation, but Pierce held her firm.

  “A man like Jesus would never get past your walls. A man like that would bring a bulldozer to get to you. I got past a long time ago. Just by the simple act of looking you in your eyes and listening to your words. I got through to you, and I held your hand, and I stood beside you. And now, I can’t seem to let you go.”

  He brushed his lips against hers. She sighed against him. But the sigh turned into a moan. Not the good kind.