Hell no, he wasn’t going to try to sleep. He was going to stare at the damned ceiling all night long. Again. He jerked the door open, then paused in shock at the sight of Cassie. Her face was paper white, all those curls hanging around her and flowing to the waist of the long, white gown and robe she wore.
“Seth.” Her voice sent chills up his spine. “You have to do something, Seth. She’s waking up.” Her eyes were huge, neon blue in a face parchment white.
“Dawn.” His gaze jerked to her door. He knew she hadn’t left her room. “What do you mean, Cassie?”
A tear fell from her eye. “She’s waking up, Seth. You have to go to her. Now. You can’t let her wake
up alone. Please, Seth. Please.”
He clenched his fists at his side then ran his fingers through his hair.
“Cassie,” he groaned in frustration. “Dammit, I can’t go to her.”
“Seth. Don’t you love her anymore?”
Love her? He had never stopped loving her.
“This isn’t about love, Cassie.”
“But it is, Seth. If you love her, you’ll be there when she begins to wake up. You have to, Seth. You have to, or she’s lost to us forever.”
The chills that went up his spine turned to daggers of fear. He didn’t know what the hell she was talking about, but he had heard enough about her over the years that he couldn’t ignore it. He grimaced painfully, then stepped back into his room and closed and locked his door, before striding to the door that connected to Dawn’s room. And, of course, it was unlocked. She could lock the hall door, but she just had to leave this one unlocked.
He stepped into the dark room, not certain what to expect, but he wasn’t expecting what met his eyes. She lay on her bed, stiff and still, her breathing harsh and heavy as small, terrified mewls left her lips. She was sweating heavily, her body jerking.
And something broke inside him, because he knew where she was, he knew what dreams had stolen her and why Cassie was so concerned now.
“Dawn,” he whispered her name as he moved to the side of the bed and sat down warily. He didn’t want to frighten her, didn’t want to make the nightmares worse. But God damn it if he could stand to see her this way.
“Dawn, baby, wake up.” He reached out and realized his hand was shaking as he touched her hair then and had to clench his hands to keep from shaking her.
“Oh God. Oh God. Oh please God…save me…save me…” The words whispered from her lips; desperate, guttural, tight, pain-filled sighs, a breath of sound, nothing more.
“Dawn! Wake up!” he snapped, raising his voice, suddenly terrified. Her eyes flew open. She stared at the ceiling, her breathing harsh, her pupils dilated and she jerked as though attempting to free herself.
It hurt him to watch her try to breathe, hurt him to see her gasping for air. He reached out and gripped her shoulders, unable to stop, breaking apart inside at the fear on her face, and pulled her to his chest.
“Dawn, please, baby. Please wake up.” He held her head to his chest, his head bent over hers, and he wanted to cry. He wanted to kill. He wanted to spill the blood of the bastards who had dared to hurt her this way.
“I’m okay.” Her voice was ragged, tearing past her throat in rough growls as her hands jerked up and gripped his forearms. “Get away from me.” She shuddered, shook as though freezing. “I’m okay.”
But he wasn’t. He buried his face in her hair and held on to her. He couldn’t let her go. God help him. The feel of her against him, in his arms, against his chest—that was all he wanted. Right now, just this.
“Did I scream?” Panic filled her voice now as she began to shake harder. “Please, did I scream?”
Seth shook his head. “No. No, Dawn, you didn’t scream.”
No scream could have been as tragic, as desperate as those frightened mewls, that desperate, whispered prayer that had fallen from her lips.
“I’m okay then.” She shook off the nightmare with an ease that left him in shock. Her muscles lost their tension, and she relaxed in his embrace, breathing out softly. “Don’t let me go yet.”
Let her go? Coyotes couldn’t pry his arms away from her right now.
“I’ve dreamed of this.” She sighed against his chest, her nails kneading at the material of his shirt as she shifted from fear to sensuality.
Seth gritted his teeth, and he tried to unlock his arms from around her. He tried to let her go. She was awake now, she would be okay, surely to God she would.
He had never known torture like he knew it now. He remembered once, when he had been captured during a mission in his years in the military. One time, and the bastards had spent two days torturing him. That was nothing compared to this. The pain of holding her, the arousal building in his body like a fever, and feeling her slide against him.