was there for hours. It was getting late by the time I came across him. I got him inside and patched him up. He shifted back and I thought maybe he would wake, but he won’t.”
Fear grew stronger inside her with each word he spoke, something crystallising as she replayed the fight between him and the cougars.
He hadn’t given up when he had been fighting, had gone all out and not backed down, but the look that had filled his eyes when she had belittled him to stop the brothers from attacking him had been one of despair.
Of hopelessness.
Of pain.
Lowe was right and he had given up.
He had given up when she had left him.
Holly shoved past Knox and Lowe, ignored them as they growled and broke into a dead run, desperate to reach the cabin before they could stop her, her heart in her mouth and her mind on one thing.
Bringing Saint back to her.
Chapter 15
Saint was dreaming. Had to be. The light brush of fingers through his hair. The sweet smell of berries. It all had to be a dream. A torment. He was aching for Holly and here she was.
He could feel the heat of her pressed against his hip, the warmth of her flowing into him as he drifted in the darkness, easing the chill from his bones and thawing his blood. The delusion didn’t end there. He could hear her voice too, swore she was saying his name in a hushed, gentle tone.
“Wake up, Saint.”
He didn’t want to obey that command, didn’t want to wake. He just wanted to sleep forever, until this nightmare ended. Or maybe he wanted to hold on to this dream of her. Here he could have her. Here she wanted to be with him.
This place wasn’t a dream.
It was Heaven.
Maybe he had died after all. Maybe this was the other side. A place where he could be with Holly just as he had wanted, could have the female he felt sure was his fated one. The only female he needed.
“Wake,” she urged, her voice like summer sunshine.
He basked in it as her fingers danced down his cheek to brush his whiskers and then dropped lower to stroke his jaw, heat following in the wake of that tender caress.
Wherever she touched, he warmed.
And he felt loved.
This Holly loved him. He could feel it in that touch, and gods, it brought tears to his eyes, tore down his strength and humbled him because he didn’t deserve it.
“Come back to me.”
Now Saint knew he was dreaming.
She had wanted to be away from him, and he couldn’t blame her, even when it hurt him. He had done everything wrong from the start. He had listened to his bear side too much, had been too tired to fight it, and by the time he had mustered the strength to be gentler towards her, it had been too late.
The damage had been done.
Hadn’t it?
Her thumb brushed his lower lip, a tantalising caress that had tingles chasing in its wake.
“You’re scaring me now,” she murmured, her voice growing more distant as he relaxed into the darkness, her gentle touch easing the tension from his body and his soul, making him feel heavy again.
Bone-deep tired.
He wanted to apologise for scaring her too. He had frightened her. More than once. He had felt her fear when he had been fighting the cougars. She had been afraid for her kin, had been scared he was going to hurt them. He hadn’t wanted to hurt them, but they had been trying to take her from him, and his instincts had gone wild.
“I wasn’t afraid for them, Saint… I was afraid for you. I wanted you to stop fighting. You were hurt.”
He frowned as she responded to his thoughts. Had he spoken them aloud? Perhaps it was because he was dreaming and, in this dream, she could hear his thoughts.
“I’m not a dream.” Her voice was thick, laced with pain and uncertainty, with that trickle of fear he could sense in her.
Her hand lowered to his right shoulder.
“This looks bad.”
She stroked fingers over a bandage there.
Warmth splashed onto his bare chest.
The scent of salt filled his nostrils, mingling with the berries.
Tears?
He had to be dreaming.
But he needed to be sure.
Saint cracked his eyes open, grimacing at how dry and sore they were. He blinked the grit away and frowned as his gaze sought Holly and found a hazy figure where he swore she was. He blinked harder, squinted to clear his vision.
Stilled