But the silence that followed said what she wouldn't.
"But you're not," Troy finally said, voicing his greatest fear. "You still want to leave."
Faith turned to face him, resting her hands on his shoulders. Her eyes were brimming with tears.
"No, it's not that. I know that even if I wanted to go home, I couldn't. Everything has changed. I've changed. There's no going back to the way things used to be. But…"
She ducked her head, tears spilling onto the ground. Troy sensed them melting the snow, seeping into the earth, becoming a part of his land.
"I…I just don't know," she finally said, looking up into his gaze.
It was the first time she'd spoken to him with such raw honesty, letting him see her unvarnished uncertainty and fear. She was finally allowing him past all of her defenses.
Troy ran his hands along her arms. Even through the thick wool of his coat, he could still feel her warmth underneath, the steady beat of her heart.
"It's okay," he said. "You can tell me."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I meant it—I really don't know."
"I don't understand."
Faith sighed and looked off into the woods, letting her gaze travel along the dark silhouette of the evergreens high on the ridge, down to the dormant fruit trees he had planted in the rich soil of the valley floor, to the house that he had built with his own hands.
"I don't know what it means to be happy. I don't know what it means to have a life. All I've ever done is follow someone else's rules. I did what my parents and my pastor told me to do and thought what they taught me to think. There was only right and wrong. Happiness never entered into it."
Troy gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind Faith's ear, trying to ignore the painful tightness in his chest that came whenever he witnessed her sadness. "I understand."
"You do?"
"Yeah," he said. "I didn't grow up in a cult, but—"
"It's not a cult," Faith cut him off reflexively.
"Yeah, sweetness, it is," Troy insisted gently, knowing that this conversation required complete honesty from both of them. "Like I said, I didn't grow up like you did, but we still have some things in common. I didn't fit in when I was growing up either. Nothing ever felt right until my nature showed and I came to the Boundarylands. It took leaving behind everything I'd ever known and making a life here to realize who I was and what I wanted."
Faith still seemed unconvinced. "And what you wanted was to fix cars and have sex with prostitutes?"
"Up until a few days ago, yeah," Troy said honestly. "Life was pretty good, for the most part."
"And now?"
"Now, I want to fix cars and have sex with you." Troy pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head, inhaling her scent and molding her body against his. He could feel her smile against his chest.
"That's all it takes to make you happy?"
"What can I say? I'm a simple man." Troy rubbed her back, trying to ignore his cock, which was obviously tired of talking. "Now we just have to figure out what makes you happy."
She sighed, wrapping her arms around him. "Like I said, that's the problem. I don't know."
"Sure you do," Troy insisted. "You just haven't had a lot of practice yet listening to your own body. Your own needs. I promise you, it's simple—just think about what makes you feel good."
He felt her tense, but kept up the gentle pressure on her back, stroking her from the nape of her neck down to the curve of her ass. It was killing him to hold back when what he really wanted was to throw her over his shoulder and carry her into the house.
"Tell me," he commanded, his voice roughening.
"I—I can't."
"I'm not asking," he growled, lifting chin so she had to look at him. "Tell me."
Faith bit her lip, her eyelashes trembling. "Touching you," she whispered.
"That's a start." Troy let go of her just long enough to rip off his shirt and throw it onto the porch. He took her hands and splayed them against his chest. "So touch me."
"Troy, it's too cold out here," Faith protested, but she didn't pull her hands away. "You'll freeze to death."
"Then we'll go inside, and you can touch me there." He picked her up, only to have her let out a yelp and try to wriggle free.
"My bad," he said, setting her down. He backed away a step, then another, putting some distance between them. "I almost forgot how much you liked being chased. Tell me, how much of a head start should I give you?"
Faith gaped at him, her mouth open. For a second, Troy wondered if he'd gone too far, if he'd tamed the whirlwind out of his omega.
Then he saw the shift in her expression, the spark catch fire in her eyes. Her entire body tensed—and then she turned and ran for the trees.
His cock grew rock hard, and a white-hot buzz filled his head as he watched her. Just before she reached the tree line, she glanced over her shoulder, her honey-blond hair tangling in the wind—and it wasn't fear that lit up her eyes, but desire that raged as hot as his own.
He gave Faith another twenty seconds' lead time. No sense making this too easy.
Then he went after her.
It didn't take long at all—but it took long enough. By the time Troy caught up with her, lifting her into his arms as she raced toward the rock formation to the east, her cheeks were pink and her body warm from exertion. She fought him, pummeling him with her small fists and kicking her legs uselessly in the air, but the minute he backed her up against the smooth granite and moved between her legs, letting her see just how hard he was, she stopped fighting him.
"Now tell me," he growled against her throat, nipping her skin with his teeth, making
