by Mary Wine
“You are finished when I say so, lady.”
A slow smile crept across her face. One thing was going to change today. She wasn’t a lady. Grace was going to have the satisfaction of telling this man to go to hell.
“Take your orders and be damned,” Grace said.
“I’ll see you eat those words.”
Grace raked her gaze over the man’s face, which was currently etched with rage.
Too bad.
She was finished holding her tongue. She refused to become his tool. If the only other option was to become a thorn in his backside, then she would adapt.
“Really? Just what did you have in mind? A life of servitude without a single return?”
“You get first-class protection in return, girlie.”
“You seem to be rather short of psychics. If you want my efficiency rate to remain where it is, I suggest you adjust your attitude,” she informed him in a frozen tone. “I no longer work for the same compensation as a bloodhound.”
“You’re flirting with insubordination.”
“It’s better than being run on a leash,” she countered. “Did I know Turvel was an ass? Yes. Not that you ever took a moment to ask me my opinions. Somehow, I’m guessing Susan got the same from you.”
“This is the Army.”
“But we never signed any enlistment papers.”
“I’d be happy to show you some that would hold up in court,” the general said.
“Fine.”
She’d surprised him and his eyes narrowed.
“Because along with those papers would go a basic level of rights. Something Fredricks made sure I had little of. He made damn sure I couldn’t report it to anyone and you never checked up on him, just on my performance numbers.” She stripped her glove off and held up her hand. “I’m getting married. Another basic right.”
“Not unless I say you are.”
“Am I under age?” Grace leaned over the desk. “This is your opportunity to redefine how you treat your psychic operatives. I’d like to think you’re only guilty of trusting the men under your command. That’s forgivable.”
The general slowly sat back. His chair groaned before he began to chuckle. It was a low, crusty sound of appreciation.
“You’re quite the bitch. I wish I could take credit for training you.” The general extended his hand across the desk.
Grace regarded his hand for a time. No commanding officer other than Jacobs had ever willingly touched her. He kept his hand extended as she watched him. Grace stuck her hand out and clasped his. The man didn’t flinch but returned her grasp with his own firm one.
“Well now, it seems we do have some things to discuss,” Slynn said. “Because you’re right.”
Grace couldn’t have agreed more.
It was well after four in the afternoon when Grace finally finished her meeting with General Slynn. She was actually beginning to like the man. Just a bit. The day was running very long now and Grace wanted nothing more than to get outside of the walls that enclosed her at the moment.
Fall was quickly approaching. It was being carried on the afternoon breeze. Grace decided that it must have been a beautiful day in Benton. The blacktop stretched out in front of her and she surveyed it dispassionately. She wanted to walk, but not here. Grace had spent endless hours walking the confines of the base in the past. At the moment, the gated area reminded her of a large dog pen.
A slight step behind her caused her attention to shift. Grace turned to find Jacobs standing next to her. He was still wearing his game face. Rock hard. Grace simply returned it. His eyes started to twinkle as one of his lop-sided grins split his face. Grace felt an answering smile cross her own features. Jacobs leaned over to scoop her up into a hug.
“You need to learn how to hug, Gracie,” he informed her.
“Go play with someone your own size.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Her pager came sailing through the air as Jacobs turned away. She caught the unit and slipped it onto her belt with an action that was effortless from countless repetition.
“Going somewhere?”
It shouldn’t have surprised her that Brice had found her. He would search her out no matter their location. The link that bound them was stronger than any barrier that life could construct to separate them.
Grace looked in the eyes of the sheriff of Benton County. Everything that she had ever needed sat looking back at her—steady, strong and completely honest. She would never completely understand him, but she would never understand herself either.
“I might be.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Brice kept his face set.
“If you can handle all my baggage, my answer is yes.”
His forehead creased in thought. Reaching up, Grace smoothed the skin as she searched his eyes.
“Yes, I will marry you.” She settled her fingertips over his lips to seal them shut.
“But that landing pad is going to get bigger, and I have this rather testy C.O. that will insist on hanging around. He’ll want to move right onto your property along with a host of other inconveniences.”
He twisted her hand away from his face and held it in a bone-crushing grip. Grace got a quick glimpse at his joy before he turned on his heel and used his grip on her hand to pull her along with him. The pace he set forced her to a near jog to keep up. It wasn’t until he stopped that she recovered enough breath to question his behavior.
“Brice, what are you…”
“Can I help you?”
Grace stared at the nurse who asked the question. Brice had dragged them both into the base hospital.
“We need blood tests for our marriage license.”
It was such a common request that the nurse simply motioned her two clients to follow her.
“Brice, it’s not that simple.”
Brice picked her up by her waist and set her on the table that the nurse indicated. He worked at the buttons that held her shirt closed at her wrist. Rolling her sleeve up, he locked his eyes with her emerald ones.
“Grace, I’m taking you home. We’ll figure the rest out later.”
“Home?”
Her voice betrayed the confusion that her emotions were causing to run inside that head of hers. Brice simply grinned. He was going to enjoy upsetting her world.
“Yes, home.”
Chapter Fourteen
Spring was in the air again. Grace felt the change in the weather. There were still a few patches of snow on the forest floor. Slowly walking along the back patio, Grace looked up at the half-finished house that was being built two hundred yards up the hill. The sounds of construction drifted on the morning air.
The home had been started the season before. Construction was forced to halt when the snow started to drift. Jacobs and Beth had spent their second winter in the back guestroom. This year, however, they would move to their own home. Brice and Jacobs were both currently working on the roof of the house. Grace watched as they secured roof tiles to the framing of the house.
Brice had dragged her to the chapel the second that nurse had finished drawing their blood. The twenty-four hours needed to complete the testing had not pleased him. Having gained the opportunity to legally bind them together, Brice had thrust through the barriers with amazing force.
Somehow he’d persuaded the chaplain to marry them despite their lack of paperwork. In fact, they were pronounced husband and wife before the sun had set.
Grace smiled. Did it truly matter? She had been bound to the man from the moment she met him. There were a few interesting moments just before their wedding had begun. The chaplain had asked for Grace’s maiden name. General Slynn had given Grace a wide avenue of freedom. She had a home. She even had a bank account now, complete with monthly pay. However, she still didn’t have a public past. Her birth family name would not be following her into her future. The man had never encountered a bride without a maiden name and a few moments had stretched out awkwardly. Jacobs had stepped f
orward to inform the man that she was his sister. If the man had doubts about the truth of that statement, he kept them to himself, duly noting “Jacobs” on her marriage license.
This was home now. Grace was truly amazed to discover that she had a home. She and Jacobs still worked the unit and a hangar had been added to the landing pad. Well, Grace thought, they hadn’t been working for the last five months. Grace ran a hand over her distended tummy. She had hidden the pregnancy from Jacobs for almost five months. They had been out tracking down a pair of lost hikers in California when he noticed that her flight suit didn’t quite fit any longer. It had not been a high point in their relationship.
Grace had discovered that her pregnancy was a very personal thing. The child that grew within her was something that she was very aware of. Grace could feel its presence every minute of the day. She knew when it slept and when it was awake. If something did go wrong she would ask for help. That had not happened. It was a private thing between her and Brice. He spent hours lying in front of the fireplace in their room. Brice would hold her in front of him and simply stroke her belly.
A pain crossed her body. It was another in a chain that had started before dawn. Grace took one last look to ensure that she would not have company anytime soon. Her son was ready to be born and Grace wanted privacy for the birth. Brice would have a fit, but this was a personal time for her. Her husband would have to understand.
Grace intended to birth her child where he had been conceived. A hospital was completely out of the question. If she needed help, her pager lay close at hand. Grace had never feared pain and now was no exception.
It was not quite noon when Grace came back onto the patio. The sun had chased the chill from the air. Grace contemplated her son in the bright light of day. She had bathed and dressed the child in preparation to greet his father. The baby looked up at her with her own emerald-green eyes. Grace had known that the child would have her eyes. She had felt it before his birth, and now as Grace held her son she knew that she had brought another gifted child into the world. It would be interesting to see what abilities he held.
The baby amazed Grace. How was it possible to love something so much? This small creature that she felt she already knew was a living, breathing expression of her love for Brice. It was almost as if their love had broken off a small piece and now she held it in her arms. This child would carry on the love that his parents had shared long after they were gone.
Starting up the hill, Grace carried her son to meet his father. Standing next to the house, Grace looked up at the two men who were still working on the roof. It would have been simple to have the home built by contractors, but Jacobs was enjoying doing the work himself. Brice seemed to enjoy it as well.
Beth came around the corner and smiled at her. As she came closer, her face reflected slight shock as she noticed the child. She came closer to stare at the newborn infant.
“You give the rest of us women a bad name,” Beth informed her.
“What did you say?” That had come from Jacobs. He hung his head over the edge of the roof in search of his wife. He grinned as he caught sight of the two women together. Grace calmly waited for him to notice the baby. Jacobs had keen eyesight, and it didn’t take very long. He pulled his head up out of sight and Grace listened to the whistle that he let out to get Brice’s attention.
Grace watched as her husband descended the ladder at breakneck speed. He had discarded his shirt at some point and she ran her eyes over his chest. He had already started on a tan from working on the roof. Grace knew that he would turn brown as the season progressed.
Brice looked at her with a mixture of wonder and frustration. His wife simply returned his look with that steady confidence of hers. Brice shook his head. He decided that he should be grateful that she hadn’t taken off into the forest to have their baby. She was just as much a wild creature today as she had been when he had met her.
Brice slowly looked at his son. The baby lifted its eyelids to display its emerald eyes. Brice took the child and held him. A son. Brice looked up at Grace and smiled. She had given him so much, and now she had given him a son. Despite the fact that it seemed inadequate, Brice said it anyway.
“I love you.”
Grace knew that. The bond between them never stopped strengthening. It was her greatest source of security now. They were bound together by the bonds of family.
It was complete.
It was whole.
It was love.
About the Author
You can find me at www.MaryWine.com. Dream Shadow was the first book I wrote and Grace is very special to me. Drop by my website to find out when you can read more about the Campbells and psychics.
Look for these titles by Mary Wine
Now Available:
Evolution's Embers
Full Disclosure
Let Me Love You
Still Mine
Prisoner of Desire
When love presents itself, take your shot.
Model Soldier
© 2012 Cat Johnson
Red, Hot, & Blue, Book 8
When Emily Price is assigned to an ad campaign featuring one of Uncle Sam’s finest soldiers, she’s thrilled. Who better to break up the monotonous parade of smooth, perfect models than a rough, war-hardened alpha male?
Maybe she’ll even get lucky like one of her colleagues and find romance. Unfortunately, when she meets her model, he’s more caveman than Prince Charming. Now her dreams of love—and her career—are dangling precariously from his callused fingertips.
Staff Sergeant David Hawk Hawkins never imagined refusing a command…until he loses a bet and is ordered off the battlefield and into a new role: Poster boy for the Army’s recruiting campaign.
From the start, their relationship is more fire-and-ice than fairytale. Yet beneath their sparring simmers an attraction that finally explodes into a night of lovemaking that haunts them to opposite sides of the globe after they part.
But love isn’t through with them—and neither is the public. The campaign is a hit and Hawk becomes a star. Soon he and Emily are thrown together again, but this time it’s on Hawk’s turf, where flying bullets could settle their battle before it begins.
This book has been previously published and has been revised and expanded from its original release.
Warning: Contains sex hot enough to travel halfway around the world, and a love strong enough to bring them back home again.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Model Soldier:
This had not turned out at all the way she’d pictured in her dreams. In fact, it was becoming more and more like a nightmare.
Jai looked as if he was nearly ready, so Emily figured she’d better be brave and broach the next subject. “So we’d like to um…” how to say this without getting shot down again, “…make your, uh, physical form stand out in the photos.”
There was that brow again, but this time accompanied by a smirk.
He remained silent, so she continued. “So maybe you could roll up the sleeves of your camouflage uniform shirt so we can see your arms a bit?”
Even though she’d remembered to call it a uniform and not an outfit—as if she would ever forget that again—she still got the disapproving look and head shake.
“No can do. And it’s called a jacket, not a shirt.”
Why couldn’t he just do one little thing without being difficult as well as correcting her terminology? Humph. As if she should know what military clothes are called.
“Why can’t you?” Emily widened her stance, ready for battle. He wanted to argue, she could argue.
“Because it’s against the rules, that’s why.”
“But I swear I’ve seen guys with their sleeves—” The steady sway of his head still shaking at her finally stopped her in her tracks. “What?”
“You may have seen it, but it is against our regulations and I can’t do it.”
He meant won’t do it. Emily couldn’t imagine that his captain real
ly gave a darn what his sleeves looked like.
“Maybe we can ask someone if it would be okay—”
He actually laughed at that. “No.”
With a huff, she gave in.
“Fine. Are you allowed to take off your jacket?” Emily emphasized the word that he’d insisted on correcting her on. “Can you wear just your T-shirt or is that against the rules too?”
“Yes, I’m allowed.”
Finally, a yes, but still he didn’t move.
“Could you please take off your jacket?”
Hawk smirked boldly but thankfully complied. With a chuckle, he took it off.
Now he was laughing at her? Emily planted her hands on her hips. “What’s so funny?”
“It’s been a long time since a woman ordered me to take my clothes off. Maybe this gig won’t be so bad after all.” Hawk hung what still looked more like a shirt than a jacket on the back of a chair and turned back to her. He paused with a hand on his nylon belt. “Pants too, doll?”
Doll?
She narrowed her eyes at Hawk. “No, thanks. Maybe later.”
Pig. Worst of all, a pig with bulging biceps and beautiful pecs beneath a very tight T-shirt. His dog tag chain nestled right between those delectable pecs. Emily suddenly imagined him standing before her without the shirt. All big and burly.
What was she doing? He was such a…a… There simply were no words to describe him.
The chuckle from Jai’s direction didn’t help Emily’s mood. She shot him a nasty look as well.
Emily turned back to Hawk and sighed. She had to get into a professional mindset. No more pouting that he wasn’t Prince Charming. No more bickering because he was acting like the typical difficult model. She was used to that at least.
Thinking like Katie would, Emily imagined the finished print advertising. Hawk, standing in his T-shirt and camo pants. Arms crossed…make that hairy arms crossed.
Darn. BB was practically hairless but Hawk, no such luck. What were the chances of Emily being able to get him to wax the hair off his forearms? And if they chose to do a few topless shots, would he wax his chest? Probably his back would require de-hairing, also. Stifling a laugh at the ridiculous notion, she figured the odds of him agreeing were slim to none.