Dream Shadow

by Mary Wine

  Getting to her feet, Grace intended to leave.

  “My life is not your concern.”

  “Wrong.”

  Brice pulled her into his embrace with ease. Capturing her head with his hand, he pulled it back.

  “This makes it my concern.”

  Grace knew his intention but was powerless to escape it. His mouth was so warm that it shocked her. Grace attempted to jerk her head away from his but his hand held her still. His mouth firmly opened her own as he pushed her resistance aside.

  He moved his mouth across her own in such a way that her body demanded she answer him. She could almost feel her blood rushing through her veins. Slowly, she moved her lips in unison with his. He growled low in his throat and deepened the kiss.

  Her body was exploding with warmth, as well as the reckless desire to touch him in return. She reached up to explore the chest that her eyes had scanned earlier in the evening. The muscles were hard and pulsing with life.

  Her current clothing didn’t shield her from his body as her historical dress had. Her nipples beaded and pressed into his chest. This time he gently rubbed a hand over one and listened to her gasp at the sensation.

  “I’m still thinking about it. Are you, Grace?” His hand moved again and cupped that breast through the fabric of the sweater.

  He buried his face in the curve of her neck, inhaling the warm scent of her skin. He pushed an arm beneath her knees and swung her up against his chest before she had time to recover her damn logic. He even made sure her wound was away from his body.

  He carried her right through the overly bright hallway of the ward. His scent wrapped around her, making her more aware of the pulsing body hidden by his uniform.

  Grace found herself back in bed before a good retort had formed in her mind. He sat on the side of her bed, looming over her for a split second while his eyes locked with hers.

  “You’re still here, Grace, so whatever facts make it a forgone certainty that we will be parting company can just be damned.”

  He cupped her breasts through the sweater. Grace couldn’t think because it felt so very good. She wasn’t aching anymore. Instead, the touch caused pleasure to move like a wave through every last layer of her flesh.

  Jacobs’s voice drifted through the closed door and Grace snapped her eyes open. Brice’s face reflected his pleasure a moment longer before he pulled his hands away from her.

  “We’ll have to finish this later.”

  The iron determination he displayed irritated her.

  “Don’t bet on it. My hair is staying up. Even if I am not leaving today, it’s still going to happen.”

  Halting a bare step from the door, Brice turned around. Hooking his hands into his belt, he shot her a determined look.

  He reached into his pocket and laid something on the bedside table a second before he left. Turning her head, she looked at the item that he left behind.

  A twenty-dollar bill stood out against the stark white table. Her eyes widened in outrage as she understood his intent.

  The man just took her bet.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jacobs snapped his phone shut and cussed.

  “Trouble, Major?”

  “And then some,” Jacobs confirmed. “My C.O. is being an ass.”

  “Well, it can’t be getting any worse.”

  Brice’s dry comment gained a chuckle from Jacobs. “You don’t know Grace. Now that she’s found her feet, keeping her in that room will become near impossible.”

  “So I just discovered.” Jacobs’s face immediately forged into solid stone.

  “Relax, I took her to the atrium and then tucked her back into her bed,” Brice offered.

  “That won’t last long.” Running another hand over his jaw, Jacobs considered Brice. “Dr. Fenton is rather adamant about me not flying her out of here. He says there is too much damage from that bullet.”

  Jacobs’s problem was just what Brice had been looking for. An opportunity to move just another step closer to Grace. “How’s my place sound?”

  “Meaning?”

  “I’ve got a couple of spare rooms and a very secluded mountain top.”

  Jacobs let out a long breath. “You know, that’s just the solution I need.”

  Brice nodded. “But you see it as a complication too.”

  “My C.O. will have her returned to duty just as soon as he feels she’s fit, Brice.”

  “Which isn’t today.”

  Jacobs eyed him for a long moment before conceding defeat. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Brice savored the feeling of victory. Actually, he dwelled on it because the hard certainty in Jacobs’s eyes was a blunt reminder of just how fast the real work was going to smash through his victory. Maybe he was headed for a fall but he just couldn’t take every chance he had to delay the inevitable.

  It was odd the way her senses would snap on. Sometimes, it was almost like a switch was flipped. A certain amount of pain could be ignored. The amount coming from her side couldn’t be.

  But the vision came anyway.

  Raising her head, Grace rolled completely off the bed while her feet hit the floor and caught her body weight with the precision of countless hours of training.

  Reaching for the vision, her mind closed around it, but there wasn’t enough substance for clarity. She began a course that would lead her to the source of her vision.

  There was something addictive about it. The scent was familiar now. It had lingered at that cabin as well as on Paige. Now it was threading its way along the forest just a hundred feet from Brice’s house.

  The distance was the clearest piece of her vision. Even as her feet carried her closer, her mind pulled and tugged at it, searching for the reason she found it so very intriguing. Emotion floated in thick waves. Anger burned its way into her body, coursing along her bloodstream into every cell of her flesh. Pulsing and biting at her temper, it incited an explosion through the psychic link. She slipped through the back door of the house and dug her feet into the wooden planking of the deck as her body charged forward.

  She smelled smoke and needed to smother the fire…

  A solid band of steel jerked Grace straight out of her steps. Her body screamed in agony as her flesh sent up a roar of pain. Still caught in her quest, Grace struggled against her captor.

  The rage she turned on him caught Brice off-guard. He stumbled as she slipped out of his grasp. Light as a doe, she sprang down the steps of his porch. Throwing his body over the railing, Brice landed a single step in front of her. Her eyes stared completely through him. But the bright red blood seeping into her shirt captured his complete attention.

  Psychic or not, the human body still had basic needs. Planting both feet solidly on the ground, Brice swung her up against his chest. He took his porch steps three at a time and stumbled through the back door before his captive ceased her fight.

  “Grace?” Brice intended to set her back on her feet. Instead, she stumbled as her legs refused to accept her body weight. Her eyes stared right through him as he caught her wrists to prevent her from ending sprawled across his living room floor.

  “She won’t answer you, Brice.” Jacobs issued his conclusion a second before Grace aimed a brutal shove at his supporting arms.

  “Back away, Brice. She linked into something. You’re lucky you didn’t get locked in the current with her.”

  “I didn’t get what?”

  “It can happen. Stop talking, let her concentrate. Maybe we’ll have an end to this at last.”

  Nodding his head, Brice backed away but placed himself in the open doorway. Witnessing the intensity of her abilities brought him an understanding of just why she would have gone after Paige without a care for backup. The woman wasn’t even aware she was bleeding, much less that she needed an escort. Her eyes reflected nothing but burning intent.

  Grace’s head was pounding. She pushed the pain away. It was here. The answer was right here. All she had to do was look at it. She could s
ee the words on the page but they were blurred and her mind refused to bring them into focus. Her body was interfering with its pain. With the discipline of years, she tried to force it aside. It stubbornly resisted her efforts. She rounded on the doorway that led back to the porch. She reached out to feel it. The echo of anger was thick. She stepped closer and the anger built inside her body. Just like any moth, Grace found herself being summoned by the burning flame. Logic intruded, demanding that she break the hold. Wrenching her body back, she fell across the living room floor.

  Forcing herself to get on her feet, she felt the vortex recede and vanish.

  No!

  She wanted the answer. Nothing but emptiness remained. Instead, as her mind’s vision faded her eyes caught sight of Brice’s intense scrutiny. Had he been watching her the whole time? Her side was burning as fatigue caught her in its claws. She really shouldn’t be so tired. Looking into those brown eyes, she tried to form a question from her exhausted brain.

  “I’m sorry.” Every bit of color drained from her face just like the sand did in an hourglass.

  “Jesus!” The curse came out of Brice’s mouth as he jumped forward to catch her collapsing body. Limp as a rag doll, she folded into his embrace without a single ounce of resistance.

  Settling her body back onto the guestroom bed resembled arranging a stone effigy too closely for his taste. Brice considered the pasty white cast of her skin before he attended to the task of cleaning her stitches. The slightest scuff on the wooden planking told him Jacobs was in the room as well. The major reached for Grace’s ankle. The slim black cuff he left behind caused Brice to raise a calculated look at him.

  “What’s happening to her?”

  “I wish I knew, Brice.” Jacobs’s face was covered in concern as his gaze moved to the tracking unit he’d secured to her slim ankle. His hand clenched the control unit that would receive any signals transmitted from the unit.

  “Just what does that mean?”

  “You asked for a psychic, Sheriff. No one promised you answers. Just the kid.”

  Jacobs turned on his heel and left. Brice caught him as the man stepped back out onto the porch. “Is this why you never let her finish investigations? It drives her insane?”

  “Partly.” Casting a sidelong look at Brice, Jacobs returned the man’s probing stare. “She’s practically perfect when it comes to tracking. That effectiveness drops when she gets to the investigating end of the case.”

  “But the cost is rather high for her.”

  “Exactly.” Jacobs stuck his finger out at him. “Which is why I don’t let every law man from here to China run her to exhaustion. We get the prize and they have to figure out the details on their own.”

  “I take it not all of her C.O.s have held that same consideration?”

  “Grace wouldn’t have survived this long if she’d been allowed to be weak.” Jacobs raised a hand to rub over his jaw. “But you’ve got far too much insight. I change what I can, when I can.”

  Jacobs headed down the steps and into the forest. Brice followed him.

  “What would have gotten her attention so badly?”

  Jacobs shrugged. “Like I told you, Brice, I don’t let her waste her time on investigations. My C.O. wants her fit for duty.”

  “Your C.O. thinks about her like she is a machine.” Brice knelt down to inspect a set of fresh tracks.

  Lifting his gaze, Brice found one of the Rangers concealed in the rocks just a hundred yards ahead of him. His fingers flexed slightly as he committed the man’s face to memory. The man knew something. Brice didn’t have Grace’s psychic abilities but his gut told him not to turn his back.

  Grace sat up almost the same second that her eyes opened. The pre-dawn sky had yet to display the first rays of morning, but the darkness was receding as she watched. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed to the floor, wincing a bit as her side ached from the sudden movement.

  Her boots were missing. Looking along the side of her bed once again, Grace ground her teeth together. Her boots were usually either on her feet or neatly lined up within arm’s reach. If they were missing, it was no mistake. But the black ankle band was strapped to her right foot. Grace glared at the thing as memories of Major Fredricks surfaced in her head. That C.O. had delighted in shackling her like an animal.

  Grace was flatly sick of it. Everything. Her life was a cage and she was becoming more and more aware of the steel bars that imprisoned her.

  Padding through the silent house, she made her way out the back door. The night’s chill hit her bare arms, but she welcomed the confirmation that she was no longer separated from the forest by manmade walls. But she was confined to the structure without her boots. Annoyance burned away the last of her slumber. There were few enough things she enjoyed. Being denied walking really made her mad.

  Yet there was something about the house that just breathed life. Grace actually found herself at ease within the structure. Running her hand over the doorway, she brushed its smooth texture. While built of the most basic of materials, nothing was rustic.

  “I hope it meets with your approval.”

  Of course she wasn’t alone. The second she moved the black monitor strapped to her ankle had dully reported it to the base unit. But it was a surprise to see the black wristband on Brice.

  That was a mark of trust from Jacobs.

  Her gaze wandered over him in blatant curiosity. Instead of the pristine picture he normally presented, his hair was tousled and his blue jeans rode rather low on his hips. Slightly rumpled, his unbuttoned shirt betrayed the fact that he had slept in it. There was something very basic about waking this man from his sleep. Despite the fact that it had been an electronic device that had roused him, Grace found herself feeling very much like she’d disturbed him in his bed. Heat stung her cheeks as she moved her eyes back up to his face.

  “You built this house.”

  “That explains a lot,” she remarked.

  “Why?”

  Looking back at him, Grace was relieved to discover that curiosity had replaced the predatory look in his eyes. She was grateful for the change, but it didn’t come free. It was going to cost her an explanation.

  “Every corner has something of your personality in it. The need that drove you is still lingering.”

  Her statement was designed to expose him just as he was exposing her. The dangerous glint that crept into his eyes made her wish that she’d left the matter alone. The man that stood in front of her now was furious at having been unmasked. Forcing herself to hold his gaze, she watched as the emotion surged across its depths.

  Slowly nodding his head, Brice returned her look. “I guess inviting a psychic into my house was bound to have some unexpected results.”

  “I can’t change what I am. You wondered why I avoid people. It’s simple really.”

  “You make them nervous,” he observed.

  “Some missions take a little more R and R to leave behind. This was my personal little therapy project.”

  Grace nodded in understanding. The scars that some missions left had to be sterilized or they would leak poison for a lifetime. Lifting her hand from the doorframe, she moved it over the side of his face, looking for the man that he had become.

  Each fingertip made itself felt. Brice stared in fascination as he felt her searching through his mind. It wasn’t an act of invasion. Instead, they met each other someplace where words held little meaning.

  Reaching up, Grace touched her lips to his, completing the intimacy. She had never felt as complete with any other soul as she did at that moment.

  Opening her eyes, she looked into the eyes of a man who very much considered her his prey. Dropping her defenses was being interpreted as surrender. Stepping back, she slid her walls into place.

  “Come back here.” He issued the words in a low rumble.

  Grace stared into eyes that were sharpening into a razor edge. The strange thing about it was she liked the sound of his command. Because her b
ody liked the feel of his and her memory was crystal clear. His male scent drifted up to trigger sensations that raced across her skin. He shifted and lifted one huge arm toward her with his palm turned up. The invitation was tempting.

  “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

  She shifted her feet nervously. Arousal was an unruly demon and it was striking through her.

  “I didn’t mind. In fact, I’d like you to try it again.”

  “Such recklessness would bring nothing but grief.”

  Pushing away from the doorway, Brice stepped forward and wrapped his hand around the back of her head. Angling her face up, he locked gazes with her. “Some things happen whether you want them to or not.” Dropping his mouth onto hers, he applied gentle pressure to her startled lips. “Stop running, Grace. If all we have is the moment, let’s not waste it.”

  He stepped back. “Let’s go inside.”

  She wanted to…

  Grace turned her back on his invitation, intending to walk off her frustration before she remembered she was barefoot. She whipped back around and glared at Brice. “Where are my boots?”

  His lips turned up and parted to flash her a wide smile. “Right where I put them. Next to my bed.” He opened up his hand to reveal one of her hairpins. Brice held it steady between his thumb and first finger before he very deliberately tossed it over the porch railing.

  “Don’t be so proud of yourself, Sheriff.”

  But he was, and something else glittered in his eyes. It was a challenge, pure and simple.

  “Don’t be so worried about stepping into my bedroom. Unless you doubt that herculean self-control of yours. I’m just a man.”

  No, he was more, because no other man could make her feel like he did.

  She couldn’t get that close to him right now. Not close enough to smell that warm male skin or she’d melt again. Her body was still trembling from his last kiss.

  “You’re more.”

  And she had no idea how to deal with it. But his eyes lit with enjoyment, sending a warm rush of happiness through her. For just a moment, she savored the sensation before walking away.