Dream Shadow (24 page)

Rising up on her knees, she pulled the pins from her hair. But she didn’t hurry. Instead, Grace watched his face as she surrendered to his whims. She would carry the memory for a lifetime, maybe even beyond.

The thick rope of her braid dropped over her shoulder and he watched as she combed her fingers through the strands to free it.

“You made me a promise.” Her words were whisper soft as she swung the curtain of her hair behind her. She settled back on her knees. “And I want you to keep it.”

The way he rose from the bed made her wary. A slight tremor shook her body. There was an infinite amount of strength contained inside the man. Her body was frail in comparison. His hand searched along her head before it pulled gently down the length of her hair. Her eyes slid closed as sensation renewed its grip on her.

“Yes.” His voice was rough and edged with arrogance.

Moving back to her head, Brice twisted the silk around his fist before pulling her back against his body. Capturing her hips, he rolled her completely beneath him and groaned in pure satisfaction. Her thighs parted at his demand as her hands clung to him in trust.

He lowered his head to draw a beaded nipple into his mouth. She arched her back, offering it to him.

It was unbelievable how good that felt to her. Grace was dancing in the candle’s flame as his mouth seared a path along her breast to its twin. He traveled his hand down her abdomen and slowly moved it into the notch of her thighs. Pleasure spiked her body again as he sought out the sensitive flesh that lay hidden there.

The weight of his body returned, trapping her beneath him in clear purpose. He drove his fingers into the folds of her sex and rubbed along her center until he found her clitoris again. This time, she relaxed as pleasure consumed her. He moved his fingers and made one thrust into her body with firm pressure. Grace gasped as she clenched in sensation.

Brice sent that finger back into her and rubbed against her aching breasts as he did it. Her eyes slipped shut as he continued the motion and sucked one nipple into his mouth.

“Brice, I can’t stand this.”

“Yes, you can.” Brice watched her face as desire drew it tight. “Come for me.”

Her hips thrust upward as Brice thrust two of his fingers into her sheath. The moan she let out was low and deep.

He’d watched her the whole time. Grace studied his eyes and the arrogant pleasure reflected from them. That emotion made her bold. His cock throbbed against her thigh and she simply raised the leg. This time his face tightened and she lowered her leg to watch his jaw clench.

A solid shove on his shoulder pushed him back, but Grace knew he allowed it. Maybe that made it more exciting. She swung the curtain of her hair across his body in a slow gesture that made his breathing harsh.

“I believe it’s my turn,” she informed him. His eyes closed to mere slits in anticipation. Setting her hand onto his thigh, she trailed her fingers along his inner leg and watched his sex jump. She wrapped a hand over it and felt that throbbing travel all the way up her arm. His eyes slipped all the way closed and Grace smiled with pure mischief.

Brice jerked his eyes back open as she closed her lips around his staff. Her tongue immediately stroked his length as she pulled more of him into her mouth.

“Jesus Christ, Grace.” Brice pulled her back by her hair and pinned her to the bed. A naughty smile raised her lips.

“That isn’t very sporting of you, Brice.”

“I never promised to play fair, Grace. I play to win.” He kissed her roughly.

She took his weight and cradled him with her thighs. She tipped her hips up to ease his penetration.

His staff parted her sex and Grace found trust the only thing she needed to hold onto. She didn’t want him to be controlled. Raising her hips, she forced more of him inside her. He gasped and pulled back before giving in to his urge to bury himself into her. Grace absorbed him as he impaled her body.

Brice rode the tempest with her. Both abandoned their separate identities to grasp each other as the tide of emotion swept them along in its current. Emotion quickly crested and Grace found herself clinging to him in intimacy. She didn’t want the feelings to end. She wanted this feeling of completeness, of rightness. But their bodies reached the zenith and left them both panting far too quickly. She lamented how soon pleasure washed over her. But Brice was with her, his breathing harsh as he rolled off her and the bed ropes let out a groan.

Chapter Nine

“Are you cold?” Brice asked.

“Not yet.” Brice’s body was intensely warm. She snuggled close, filling her senses with the scent of his skin.

“Then why are you shaking?” he asked in a voice that was no longer a whisper.

“It’s normal.”

“You’re about as normal as a hurricane hitting Benton, Grace. You’re shivering.” He cupped her chin and raised her face. “Explain what’s happening, because I don’t want to have to go ask Jacobs when you pass out.”

Forcing her eyelids to open, Grace stared at Brice. Even in the dark, she could tell his face was set into a deep frown. “When I work, I get tired. Linking with a vision takes complete focus. It drains me.”

“You mean it sends you into shock.”

“Hmm, that’s a little dramatic. It’s not so bad tonight. No tracking this time. So…I’ll be up…tomorrow. But I can’t pay up.”

“What do you mean?”

Grace lifted her head and forced her eyes to focus. “You took my bet, but I don’t have any money. I’ve never had any money.”

She dropped her head onto his chest. Maybe she should try and tell him what she suspected about the blanket at the cabin. She should, and yet she resisted doing it because she knew it would end their time together.

Just one more night. Then she’d be able to leave him.

A tiny sigh escaped her before her respiration grew slow and even. But her body shook with increasing tremors. The skin on her back lost its heat quickly to the night air. The bedding was kicked down to the foot of the bed. He raised it over them and tucked the edges over her shoulders.

Brice used his own heat to still the tremors, securing her against his length. The shivers eased slowly until she lay sleeping contently against him.

Her scent was thick in the tent and Brice found himself breathing it deeply. He resigned himself to letting her rest. The facts of their lives sat heavily on his mind. If her focus was returning, he doubted she’d remain in Benton County much longer. The type of unit that Jacobs ran was specially trained in the art of disappearing.

Brice had no idea what to do to prevent it from happening.

Jacobs lifted his hand to rub it over his jaw. It was just after midnight and he hadn’t slept a wink. Beth was draped half over his body in nothing more than a couple of pieces of thin Victorian underwear. Jacobs smiled. She looked damn good in it too.

A frown crossed his face. She had been so cold when he’d stripped her down. It’d scared the hell out of him. He’d watched the same thing happen to Grace hundreds of times. He’d been concerned. Maybe even a little worried a time or two. Nothing like tonight with Beth. Ice-cold dread had gripped his gut until he wanted to puke with it.

The reason was clear. Grace was tough as nails. He’d long ago learned to respect the fact that she would survive at all costs. Beth was another matter. He studied her face for a moment. She was a woman, soft and curvy and full of life. She wasn’t weak by any means, but she wasn’t a trained soldier like Grace was.

Slowly running his hand along the side of her head, he smiled. She had warmed up. She was sleeping soundly now with her head pillowed right in the middle of his chest. His body was reacting all too strongly to her, and he knew he wasn’t going to get a lot of sleep tonight.

He didn’t mind.

He’d never spent the entire night with a woman before. Well, other than Grace, and that was very different. Grace sure as hell didn’t pump up his emotions.

Beth stirred and sighed as she shifted her body closer to his. He couldn’t contain a low growl as her knee nudged his erection. One of her hands brushed over his chest as she made some of the sexiest little sounds. He kept his eyes on her face. If she made the mistake of opening those beautiful blue eyes of hers, he wasn’t going to give her much of a chance to get out of his bed.

Beth sighed again and moved her hand over Jacobs’s arm. She wasn’t asleep. Hadn’t been for the last fifteen minutes or so. Lord, the man was built. She wasn’t exactly sure just how she had gotten into bed with him, but she had no intention of wasting the opportunity. Beth had never been so bold in her life. Jacobs just seemed to bring it out in her.

She just couldn’t get enough of the man. Maybe it was because he was so big. It wasn’t often she got to feel small next to a man. Beth knew it was more than that. She loved that lopsided grin he had. She also liked the way he ran his gaze over her body. It made her feel pretty.

Beth wasn’t foolish. She knew that Jacobs and Grace led a somewhat uncertain life. She also knew it was risky of her, but she couldn’t bear to not embrace every second she had with this man. If that decision meant she was headed for a broken heart tomorrow, well, she intended to enjoy today as much as possible.

Beth slowly moved her body again. This time she rubbed her breasts gently against his chest. She moved her hand back across his chest and dug into the thick muscle she found there. He suddenly slapped the cheek of her bottom and firmly gripped the flesh. Beth softly laughed and opened her eyes to stare into his hazel ones. He released her bottom and then gripped it again.

“How long have you been awake?” Jacobs softly demanded.

A naughty little smile was the only answer Beth gave him. She moved her hand down and across his tight abdomen. She started to move her leg again but the hand that gripped her bottom tightened, firmly pressing her hips to his thigh. She felt positively decadent. Yes, Jacobs brought out a level of boldness that she hadn’t known she even possessed. At the moment, it was very exciting.

Beth still had her head pillowed on his chest. His heart was beating at an accelerated pace. She wasn’t the only one that found her actions exciting. Her hand continued to roam. She felt the slightest tensing of his body before he surged up, rolling her onto her back. He accomplished it with amazing ease. Beth found herself completely trapped beneath his body. Even her roaming hand was secured to the surface of the cot.

He brought his knee up and gently pressed it into the soft flesh between her thighs. Her breath caught before her eyes fused with his.

“If you want to leave, Beth, this is your chance.”

He whispered that in a deep tone. She shivered as passion started to burn along her body.

“Right here suits me perfectly.”

And she didn’t want to think about the consequences.

She tried to pull her hand free and he released it. She gripped the side of his head, pulling him down as she raised her own head off the pillow to bring their mouths together.

Beth found herself pressed back onto the pillow as Jacobs opened her mouth, demanding complete possession. With shocking clarity, Beth realized just how controlled he had been the other night when he had kissed her. He wasn’t hurtful, but he was fierce. He sought to master her completely. Beth was fierce in return. She had never felt like this before and she threw herself into the tide of emotions.

Tomorrow was an eternity away.

Grace awoke just before dawn. Her mind was clear. So was her memory. Brice was curled up along her back. The most amazing emotion hit her. She felt cherished.

That tender emotion disturbed her. Yet pleased her. She’d known it would happen, but she didn’t realize quite how strong it would be—and she wasn’t sorry.

No, he hadn’t given the pleasure to her. He had shared it with her. Maybe she was physically new to this emotion, but the idea of binding affection was very familiar to Grace. She had felt it while searching for people for years. It was, however, the first time she had felt it within herself.

The disturbing thought of being parted from Brice reminded Grace of the conclusions she had come to the evening before. She needed to fill Jacobs in on the facts. It was very possible that he would decide to pull out of the county. As much as that pained her, Grace had to be logical. If someone had gone to this much trouble to keep her busy, then they would not be above hurting anyone who got in their way.

Grace felt a twist of fear. Brice was the sheriff of Benton County. Any kind of disturbance would see him in the middle of it. She was not willing to risk his life.

“Grace, has anyone ever told you that you think too much?”

Grace found herself turned onto her back with a very naked, very handsome man pinning her to the bed beneath him. The first faint rays of light were just beginning to fall on the front of the tent as she looked at the face of the man above her. Yes, she did care for this man. She must never let him know it. Grace slowly slid a wall up to keep him from reading her eyes.

“Too late, sweetheart.”

Brice held her steady as she tried to break out of his embrace. Her eyes flashed at him but he simply gave her a steady look back. She twisted again and he pinned her down by rolling between her legs. Pushing his staff into her, Brice watched her eyes register his possession. He gripped her head, refusing to allow her to break the eye contact.