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And as she stared into Seth’s eyes, she knew he had heard. He knew. He would have heard her prayers. She knew she prayed in her sleep, where she refused to pray while awake. She didn’t pray, because she knew He didn’t listen.
But Seth did. He had heard her and he had brought her back from the dream. He had kept her from her screaming. He had kept her from feeling the pain. She knew that in a distant part of her consciousness. She might not remember the dream, but she knew the pain she always awoke to. Until now.
“Hold me.” Her voice was harsh, desperate. “Don’t make me be alone.”
But he was already gathering her closer, the muscles in his powerful arms flexing around her as those prayers, a child’s prayers, echoed in her head.
“You’ll never be alone again,” he whispered at her ear. “Don’t you know, Dawn? God sent me to you. Tell me what to do, baby, just tell me what to do.”
“Just hold me.”
She wasn’t shuddering, she wasn’t praying. She held on to him like a lifeline and felt a coil of dread begin to unravel in her soul. Because she remembered the eyes, and she knew, knew, somewhere at some time, she had seen those eyes again.
Seth stared into the dimness of the room and felt Dawn slip slowly back into sleep. He still rubbed her back in slow, easy circles as he held her tight to his chest, his heart racing furiously.
Terror had clenched his heart when she had jerked out of his arms, her arms and legs slamming to the bed as though jerked in place by some unseen force. And then she had begun praying.
Distantly, he remembered hearing the rumor that Dawn never prayed. She never attended the religious services provided for Sanctuary, and refused to be in the pastor’s presence. She was one of the few that claimed God hadn’t made Breeds and He hadn’t adopted them.
But she prayed in her dreams. In a child’s broken voice, hoarse with pain, she prayed in her dreams. God save me…
And he knew what she had pleaded to be saved from. She had prayed to God as they raped her, and they hadn’t stopped. They had hurt her, over and over again. She had been taught in those labs that she didn’t have a soul. That she was created by man, not by God. That God had no interest in Breeds. A child suffering through what she had suffered through, how could she help but believe it was the truth?
His little Cougar Breed believed God had abandoned her. And then everyone else had as well. Callan had left her to Dayan’s insanity and then Seth had left her to the mating heat. Dawn had known only betrayal, only pain.
And yet here she lay in his arms, relaxed, sleeping deeply.
Seth had demanded monthly reports on Dawn after he left her. For years, he had called Jonas personally, making certain she had everything she needed, providing what he could to make her safer, more comfortable. And through those years he had gained some information on her.
He knew she often woke the estate with her screams, until the past few years. He knew most nights she didn’t sleep at all. She dozed through the day, sometimes she napped in the forest. She made few friends, she trained religiously, and the male Breeds within the compound lived almost in fear of her. Jonas hadn’t mentioned why. Dawn had been amused at the accusation, her gaze glittering with laughter.
He saw glimpses of a prankster in her, a smart-ass if ever one had been born. A strong, stubborn, determined woman, far different than that shadow of a broken child that he had glimpsed ten years before when his chauffeur had mauled her breasts and called her a Council plaything.
And now here she lay in his arms, more a lover than any other woman who had ever touched his body.
But still plagued by the shadows of a past that she refused to remember, and the God she believed had deserted her.
He sighed tiredly and kissed her brow, a smile, both of sadness and of thanksgiving, curving his lips as she purred for him again. A slow little rumble as she tucked herself tighter against him, her thigh sliding between his, her little fingers flexing against his flesh.
She was his. Now he had a find a way to save her.
“Sleep, baby,” he whispered as she muttered against his chest and tried to turn. “Right here, Dawn. I have you safe.”
She relaxed against him once more, her breathing light and slow, and a few moments later another little purr. And how he loved those purrs.
How he loved his Cougar Breed.
CHAPTER 13
The house came awake several hours later. The tragedy of the other night wasn’t forgotten, and the guests were filled with snide questions and brittle remarks concerning the deceased.
It seemed there were few people who had truly liked Andrew Breyer aside from Seth, Dane Vanderale and Ryan Desalvo. The other guests, while outwardly shocked, some even appearing grief-stricken, were gluttonously excited over the fact that someone had actually died.
Dawn could feel the excitement humming among the guests, which totaled nearly a hundred. Hell of a board meeting getaway, she thought as she followed Seth and watched how effortlessly he played the perfect host.
The evening’s festivities were yet another party. Despite her objections, the band that had been hired for the event had flown in that afternoon and set up in the huge ballroom at one side of the house. The many French doors lining the room were thrown open and crystal chandeliers cast a golden glow over everything.
Drinks flowed freely, a buffet had been arranged for those whose hunger hadn’t been assuaged by the outdoor barbecue earlier, and many of the couples were dancing slowly in the center o
