Dawn’s Awakening (41 page)

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Authors: Lora Leigh

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CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5 Seth couldn’t get the look on Dawn’s face out of his mind when Caroline ran to his arms with her obviously false tears and accusations. It was in that moment that he knew an engagement to the heiress wasn’t going to happen. Hell, he hadn’t even been in her bed for more than a month and the thought of going to it now was more than he could stand. He sat in his suite, his head resting on the pillowed back of the couch, and stared at the ceiling. In that one moment, he had seen so much agony in Dawn’s eyes that he had been shocked to his soul. Or what was left of it. It had burned in her eyes, like live coals stoked to a bitter flame. A pain he couldn’t bear seeing there. Seeing it—he closed his eyes. Seeing it had destroyed him. He had thought Dawn had gone blissfully through the past ten years unaware of the hell he had endured himself, but looking in her eyes he suspected something far different. His questions regarding the mating heat had gone largely unanswered over the yea

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6 He hadn’t meant for this to happen, Seth thought hazily. He had been furious when she followed him and Caroline outside. He wanted to send the other woman home without too much anger, without hurting her, without humiliating her. Caroline had been a friend. He didn’t love her, she didn’t love him, and they both knew it. They would have made a society match, little more. But there would have been children, a legacy, someone he could love and receive love from unconditionally. He had known the second he saw Dawn earlier that day that it wasn’t going to happen. He had known, and he’d made the deal with Dash. Now look at him. Ah, God, she tasted so fucking sweet, so hot. He licked and sucked at her tongue, then groaned with desperate pleasure as she sucked at his. And he was touching her. Jerking her shirt from her pants, groaning against her lips, nipping at them as her hands dug into his hair and held him closer to her. She was kissing him. Her lips were moving beneath his, she

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7 Seth lowered his head and braced it against the shower wall as the stinging spray attacked him from front and back. He was breathing harshly, almost shuddering from the exquisite pleasure of the water’s caress against his flesh. He hadn’t forgotten what this felt like, but it was worse this time. He could taste Dawn in his mouth now as he never had before. On his tongue as he licked his lips, in his senses as he tried to take a breath without feeling her on his skin. It was the worst agony, a bittersweet pleasure enfolded in an ache that bit straight to the bone and filled him with a furious arousal. His dick was as stiff as a poker, heavy and engorged with blood as it stood out from his body. He lowered his hand and palmed the stiff sac of his balls, grimacing as he braced his hand tighter against the shower wall at the pleasure that sang through his sensitive flesh. Even in the most hellish nights of those first few years after making the commitment to stay away from Dawn,

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8 That night, Dawn dropped her clothes to the floor and collapsed into her bed before curling into a tight ball. Her womb was twisting inside her belly, convulsing as fire poured through her veins and the taste of the mating hormone filled her senses with dark arousal. She lay atop the sheets, the temperature control in the room turned down to the fifties, and still she was sweating. Sweating and exhausted. So weary from lack of sleep, from fighting the mating heat and herself, that she was praying for sleep. For once in her life the nightmares weren’t as frightening as lying here night after night, awake, and needing Seth with a bitter intensity that she was suddenly afraid would pour free. She had stayed far away from him as much as possible throughout the day. She stared blindly into the darkness of her room, her eyes dry, the tears locked inside her. She couldn’t force herself to be around him, even to breathe in the scent of him that she needed so desperately. Just the sce

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9 Dawn crouched by the body and lifted her gaze to watch Dash’s expression as he surveyed the dead board member as well. “Seth has contacted the authorities on the mainland,” she murmured. “They’re on their way in.” Dash nodded slowly, his amber eyes narrowed as he stared at the blood that stained the carpet and the expression of blank shock on the dead man’s eyes. His name was Andrew Breyer. He had a wife and two children who were currently being comforted by Elizabeth and Cassie in another room. He was fifty-two years old, robust and in good health, and he had three holes made by a high-powered, silenced rifle buried in his chest, dead center to his heart. “He’s close to Seth’s height, though wider, a bit thicker in the middle,” Dash murmured. “There’s no doubt the shooter was after Seth.” Dawn swallowed tightly. That shooter had managed to lay a gouge along Seth’s shoulder before he had thrown them both to the floor. She stared around the sitting room, feeling the bile gathe

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10 Cassie stared at Seth Lawrence as he stood talking to her father, her senses gathering the information she needed, processing it as she tried not to watch the pitiful shadow of the child hiding in the corner of the room. That ghost of what was dying inside Dawn. If the child was lost then Dawn would be lost as well. She was still shaking from whatever she had sensed outside, just before Seth’s arrival. She had been drawn to the balcony, some sense, some awareness pulling her outside though she knew better than to go there. She wasn’t a stupid little girl, and she wasn’t ignorant of the danger to her life at every moment. But something had been out there. Something she was certain she couldn’t miss. But she had felt…scared. Not in danger, but frightened on a level she didn’t understand. So frightened a cry had come unbidden from her lips and drawn her father’s attention. She gave herself a mental shake and focused on Seth again. He hadn’t taken Dawn. She had marked him. The m

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11 She purred. Seth heard the sound and felt the head of his cock flex and throb before pumping a fierce blast of semen against her back. He thought he was going to lose it right there. She had purred for him. Rumor was that the female Breeds didn’t purr. The males could, especially during sensual, sexual activities, but not the females. His female did. She stretched in his arms, her pert little ass tucked against his thighs, and a low, soft rumble vibrated either in her throat or beneath those pretty, swollen breasts, he couldn’t be certain which. It wasn’t a constant rumble, about the duration of a sigh, but it went through his bloodstream like wildfire. His Cougar purred. His fierce, determined, explosive little mate had purred for him. His teeth clenched as he opened the door of the shower, keeping one arm securely around her, and jerked the towel from the warming bar on the shower door. It was soft and warm, perfect to dry her. Just as the scented oil he had laid out by th

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12 When Seth finally managed to pull his mind back into his body, he found his arms clenched around Dawn, holding her to him as she licked his shoulder lazily and he realized—A rough chuckle left his throat. “You bit me again.” “Hmmm.” She licked over the wound. “Makes three times.” He had to smother a yawn before kissing her shoulder. They were plastered against each other, damp with perspiration and fading pleasure. Seth was still buried inside her, and she was still hot and tight around him, the muscles of her pussy flexing lazily around the still-erect flesh. She was like a sleepy little cat against him. As he stroked her back, he heard that faint little purr again. Just for a second, as though it had slipped past some unconscious barrier. “I like that,” he whispered drowsily. “Like what?” “That little purr.” He rubbed his chin against her hair and placed a kiss at the tip of her ear. “I love the sound of it.” She was silent, still, for long seconds. “I’ve never done that b

CHAPTER 12

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 f

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14 Seth caught Callan’s arm as the other man tensed to rush after Dawn. He had seen what he knew Callan didn’t want to face. The woman emerging inside her, the one fighting with the past and the child she tried to keep buried. Quickly, Seth moved in front of Callan and ignored the powerful hand that latched on to his throat, the sharp canines that flashed in lethal warning. “She’s not yours to protect now,” he told the other man softly, staring back at him in determination. Callan wasn’t a man he wanted to fight, but he would. The Breeds were damned strong, they had been engineered for strength, for endurance, but Seth had found there were more than a few advantages to the mating heat hormone. In the past ten years, he too had grown stronger, his muscles more adaptable, gaining in strength and endurance. A decade ago he would have been no match for the pride leader, now, he’d at least give him a hell of a fight. “She’ll always be mine to protect,” Callan snarled, jerking his ha

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15 The next morning Seth had no choice but to attend the meetings that had been scheduled for the the two-week-long house party. Too much had happened, and the other board members were growing distressed and angry now. The subtle rumblings of dissent against the Breed presence were growing louder, and many of the board members felt that Breyer had been killed because of that presence. Only Dash, Seth, Callan and Dawn knew better. Because they had the note Breyer had carried with him. Tell Seth now! But tell Seth what? Dawn and Dash had gone through the Breyers’ suite; they had questioned the family and searched every article of clothing and every drawer, looking for an indication of the information Breyer had possessed. There was nothing to be found. There was an investigator to deal with though. As Seth continued the meetings, Dawn and Dash waited next to the heli-pad for the investigator’s heli-jet to land. Detective Bryan Ison, as Dawn remembered. “Give me your impression of

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16 “I should start flying every last one of them to the mainland,” Seth growled as they entered the suite, his body tight, humming with anger as he released her arm and moved to the bar. Dawn watched him, her chest heavy, her heart aching as though someone had cut into it with a dull knife as she watched him pour a drink and breathe out heavily. “Board members are like death and taxes. Can’t get rid of them.” Dawn quoted him. He’d made that comment years before at one of the parties he had attended at Sanctuary. He glowered at her, but his shoulders seemed to relax marginally. “Bastards,” he finally muttered before sipping at a whiskey and turning back to stare at her. The look in his eyes fired her blood immediately. It made her think of soap made in Paris and the wild scent of his lust clinging to her body. “The board members aren’t the only problem we have,” she told him, hating the necessity of making the situation worse. At least in his eyes. “Investigator Ison arrived jus

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17 Consciousness didn’t return in a rush. It came slowly, the sound of voices rising from the mists of her own screams and the brutal dark eyes staring down at her. When she felt the prick on her arm, the knowledge that a needle had pierced her flesh, awareness flooded into her brain. Her hand shot out, her fingers clenching around a slender neck, tightening. Her eyes jerked open, but her senses were still dazed, her vision hazy. “Dawn. Let the doctor go.” A hard hand slid over her wrist, not gripping, just touching. Seth’s touch. She blinked, letting her fingers loosen slowly as she felt her hand cradled in his and her vision slowly cleared to see Dr. Morrey standing over her. Ely’s face was pale, her dark eyes worried as she drew back the hand and the hypo-syringe she was using. “What is it?” Dawn questioned the injection groggily. “Just something to clear your head.” Ely coughed slightly, a hand lifting to her neck as she massaged the reddened skin. “I didn’t expect you to h

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18 The fear was burning in her stomach, nearly as hot as the arousal, tearing at her control and the memories she had contained for so many years. Dawn didn’t want to face them. She didn’t want to face the pain and the horror, the helplessness she knew she would have felt. She didn’t want to feel that, ever again. She just wanted to feel this. Seth’s hands as they roamed over her wet body, sliding and heating, stealing her mind from the fears and the shifting shadows of pain and turning it to pleasure instead. Kissing Seth was like kissing sunlight. The same heat, the same blinding acceptance and wash of joy moved through her as it did when the sunlight touched her face. In the past days, experiencing passion in his arms had opened a world for her that she had never known existed. A world she never wanted to lose. “You’re still dressed.” She dragged her lips back from his long enough to pull at the sodden shirt. Curled against him as she was, she could feel every inch of his ch

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19 It was the parties that were making her nervous, Dawn realized several hours later as she stood next to Seth while he socialized with Dane, Rye and another of Seth’s allies on the board, Craig Bartel, and his wife, Lillian. Lillian was taller, with the lush womanly figure and breasts Dawn knew men lusted after. She was dressed in a loose, flowing evening gown of smoky grays and ice blues that complemented her eyes and cool blond hair. Her husband was a bit more portly, but he had a friendly smile and warm hazel eyes when he wasn’t arguing with Seth over some ball team they both seemed to have a stake in. What, did these men own the known world? The twelve board members were practically the Who’s Who on the National Registry of Arrogant Billionaires or something. And Seth was in his element. She listened to him argue the team’s stats, the players’ weaknesses and strengths, and realized he did it with the same daring and confidence that he had used when relating financial figu

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