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Page 427

| Paulette needs me," she said thinly. "I must hurry home to her. I can't let anything happen to her." |

| "That's my girl," Ashton said, drawing her into his embrace. He cradled her close, burying his face in the perfumed depths of her hair. "Let's go home. I'll get you settled in and then I'll go and find our son if I have to search to the ends of the earth for him." |

| "Thank you, Ashton," Sasha whispered, clinging to him for dear life. "Oh, darling, thank you." |

| Arm in arm, they went to Sasha's horse. Ashton helped her into the saddle, then mounted himself and rode protectively beside Sasha until they were home again. Seeing how drawn she was, Ashton went to her and lifted her from her horse. As they walked toward the porch, something on the ground in the shadows of the steps grabbed their attention. |

| "My Lord, that dingo is having pups at our doorstep!" Sasha said in a rush of words. |

| Then her eyes widened and she inhaled a quivering breath of air when she recognized the dingo. There never could be another dingo with that identical marking on its head. There never could be another dingo that would come in out of the wilds of the outback to have her pups so close to humans, normally the enemy. |

| "Lightning?" Ashton said, kneeling down beside the dingo and the three pups that had already been born, just in time to see a fourth slip from inside the mother. |

| "Oh, it is Lightning," Sasha sighed, so badly wanting to scoop the dingo up into her arms to give her a welcome hug. "You've come home. And you've brought us some special gifts! You wanted to share your pups with us." |

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