Dream Shadow (25 page)

“You came to me, Grace. It’s not a two-way door.”

He stopped moving and held her impaled on his staff. It tortured her with prolonged sensation that wouldn’t be satisfied. Instead, all Grace felt was the throbbing of his cock hard and deep inside her body.

“We are finished fighting, Grace.” He moved his hips and thrust into her. Grace moaned with rapture and pushed her hips up for his possession. But he stopped again and she groaned with frustration.

“Tell me to finish.”

It was an arrogant command. Grace glared into his hard eyes and struggled against her pride. He thrust again and held her down while the demand sat between them. But he was right. There wasn’t any place for fighting between them. So she forced her body to relax and let her face soften as the feel of his cock captured her complete attention.

“I want you, Brice.” And she did.

Any concession was enough. Brice thrust his hips with growing speed as she kept time with him.

“Slow down, Brice, if you can that is.” She gripped him with her thighs as her voice turned softly mocking. Sweat beaded on his brow as she neatly turned the tables on him. She set the rhythm and kept it slow as she watched his jaw clench tighter and tighter.

“If you want to play lover, I’m going to kick your ass.” She bucked under him and took his length all the way to the root. Her passage clenched as she climaxed and his cock exploded into her depths.

Grace balanced on the edge of sanity as the vortex engulfed them both. It was searing and draining and she rode out the tide of feeling.

When it was over, Brice gently lifted her face. She looked back at him and let him see the uncertainty she was feeling. But what they had shared went beyond passion or sex. It entered into that world where soul mates met and merged for life. Having found each other, the void would never be filled but by each other.

“I don’t want to leave.” It was the truth, as desolate and trapped as it made her feel. Precious minutes remained, and Grace turned to Brice, wanting to make them last long enough to fill a lifetime.

The sun had been up a good hour before Beth forced herself to get up. She got to her feet, groaning slightly.

“Sore?”

Beth couldn’t meet his eyes. By the feel of her face, it had to be beet red. She had no clue what had gotten into her last night but she had never been such a brazen hussy before in her life.

A large hand gripped hers and turned Beth around. She ran her gaze over the slight grin that was sitting on Jacobs’s face and knew exactly what had gotten into her. Love. She was in deep this time. Beth lifted her chin and gave Jacobs a smile. She was twenty-eight years old. If she wanted to spend the night with a man, well, she guessed she was old enough to make the choice. While the bright light of day might be making her blush, she couldn’t say that she regretted her decision.

Beth gave Jacobs another smile before she set about finding her clothes. She found her shirt. Memory was returning and she had a dim one of Jacobs undressing her. She had been freezing for some reason.

He sat up, stretched and smiled as her gaze returned to his body.

“Sure you want to get up?”

“You want breakfast?” she countered.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Beth had gotten her clothes back on and started to leave but stopped herself. She needed to thank him for taking care of her yesterday. She hadn’t been the most agreeable of patients. Beth realized that if Jacobs had let her leave she could have collapsed and ended up in the hospital or worse, been alone when it happened. She knew he couldn’t discuss what had really happened between her and Grace, but it didn’t change the fact that he had taken care of her when he could have left her in someone else’s care.

Turning around, Beth gave Jacobs a smile. He was still sitting on the cot watching her with that lopsided grin of his.

“I’m sorry I was such a handful.”

Jacobs regarded her for a moment.

“Just a little heat stroke. You should take it easy today.”

Anger started to boil inside Beth. She knew that whatever he and Grace did, it was classified. She had been raised on an army base and knew enough to keep her mouth shut. Her temper got the better of her and she gave into it because she was certain that they were alone.

“I did
not
faint from the heat. I am not asking just what it was, but I do not appreciate you assuming that I am stupid enough to buy that line, Major.”

Beth intended to leave the tent on that note, but Jason jumped to his feet and caught her up against his body. She pushed and twisted a moment, but where most men would have found it difficult to hold her, Jason didn’t budge an inch. Beth finally resigned herself to his hold.

“I’m sorry, honey. It’s just a conditioned response. I know you aren’t the same as any other woman I’ve ever met, but I just don’t know what I can do about it right now.”

Beth watched his hazel eyes for a moment. It was much more than she had been expecting. The warmth that was reflected back at her was heart stopping. She was content to wait. Stretching up, she pressed her mouth to his. Jacobs let her lead for a short time but then took control, and it was another hour before she was thinking about cooking.

Cole nickered in greeting when Grace pulled herself up onto the top of the corral fence. The sun was fully up and it was maybe 0900 hours. A slight smile crossed her lips. It would appear she was the first one to emerge this morning.

Pulling her hair around in front of her, Grace began to brush it out. It was full of tangles. She slowly worked a brush through it. Grace began the task of braiding her hair up and around her head. She was skilled enough at the task that she didn’t need a mirror.

Her hair once again coiled and pinned down, Grace simply waited. Cole nudged her for attention and she ran her hand over the stallion’s neck. If they stayed in Benton, Grace was going to ask Brice to take her for another ride on the creature.

They wouldn’t be staying.

She needed to accept that fact. Maybe she already had and that was the true reason she was avoiding waking her C.O.

Jacobs finally emerged, wearing nothing but his pants. He stopped to sit in the chair in front of his tent to pull his boots on. He shrugged into his shirt as he walked over to where Grace sat, giving her a sheepish smile as he realized that she had been waiting there for him.

Grace watched his hazel eyes for a time. He was tired also, but very much at ease. She wasn’t judgmental. Never had been. Their relationship was built on trust and truth. Jacobs was a male, and Grace simply accepted that he would have sexual needs. Those eyes of his were assessing her in return today.

“Do me a favor, and stop inspecting me like some experiment. I get a little too much of that from your superiors.”

“Brice is bringing out your opinions.”

And Jacobs wasn’t too sure if he liked that or not. Grace could see that written clearly across his face. “You didn’t seem to care for me keeping it to myself either. Make up your mind, Jacobs.”

“Point taken.”

“Things are becoming clearer.”

“What did you find yesterday?”

“My blanket child,” she offered. “That blanket was a piece of bait. For me. I’m sure of it now.”

“How can you be?”

“It wasn’t at the cabin the first time, I didn’t miss it. Someone planted it after I recovered Paige. Someone who left a lot of anger on it and the cabin. That same person was creeping around the woods outside Brice’s house too. I recognize the scent now.”

Jacobs face went hard. “That means we have a leak.”

“Or a rat,” Brice confirmed as he joined the conversation. “And whoever this is wants you here. That’s why they dropped you last month.”

“I think so,” Grace agreed. “I believe Paige was just bait as well.”

“That would explain the mystery of the kidnapping case,” Brice spoke softly. “No ransom demand, no vendettas, no marital issues, no sexual assault. She was just swiped.”

“And held in a remote location,” Jacobs finished. “One you wouldn’t have an issue reaching. In fact, you enjoy the forest.”

“That narrows the field of suspects,” Brice decided. “How many men know her abilities and habits?”

“We’ve got plenty of people who have seen her at work. It’s not going to be that simple to narrow the field. Anyone who has been in contact with us could have set this up. You’re on the top of the list because you shook the bushes to get us out here,” Jacobs said.

Brice shot him a hard look. Jacobs only shrugged. “It’s logical and you know it.”

“Fine. And logic says you can either pull out or try and trap your perpetrator here.”

Grace tuned out the men’s conversation for a moment. Something was nagging her. The morning battle was going on. It had in fact started some twenty minutes ago. The noise from the black-powder guns was very loud here. People had been moving around for the last forty-five minutes. Grace looked at Jacobs’s tent. She had a clear view of the front of it and was certain that Beth hadn’t left it after Jacobs had. The sun was lighting it up now, while there were shadows cast from the furniture of the tent. Grace was almost positive no one was standing inside.

Jacobs and Brice were still discussing possible courses of action, and the black-powder explosions continued in the background. Dread began to pound inside Grace’s head. She had found the child yesterday. This was the first time since that had happened that Beth had been left alone.

She raised her hand and both men went silent.

“Jacobs, don’t you think it’s odd that Beth is sleeping through all this noise?”

Both men surveyed the tent. It took just seconds before they reached the same conclusion Grace had. Pistols in hand, they approached the tent. Jacobs came in from the front and Brice took the rear. The curse that escaped from Jacobs left her in little doubt as to what he’d found. The dread that had begun to twist in her stomach knotted into full terror.

Beth was gone.

Chapter Ten

Grace stood in front of the open tent and watched the two men search. There wasn’t much to find. The canvas of the tent beside Grace’s cot had a long slice in it. The obvious work of a hunting or survival knife. Most of Beth’s clothes were there. Her boots were missing. The slight scent of chloroform was lingering in the tent.

Traveling around the tent, Grace entered it from the front and pulled her duffel bag from under her cot. Jacobs grasped her arm to stop her. Grace returned his look. The man was absolutely furious, and she was sincerely grateful that she wasn’t the target of his anger.

“We have to finish this now.” Grace insisted.

“Colonel Turvel will never agree to that.”

“So call him after I’m gone,” she snapped.

“That’s a very bad idea, especially since I agree with you. This is a setup and I’m pretty sure you’re the target, Grace.” Brice stood with his arms folded over his chest. “Let my men take the case.”

Grace considered both men. Their eyes were busy calculating risk factors and manpower angles. The slightest scent of anger drifted around the tent. She had to go after Beth
now
.

“I can’t wait.” Urgency was building inside her head. Beth’s life was on the line. Grace could feel it. “This is personal. There’s so much anger pointing right at me.”

Brice yanked her forward by the arms. He wanted to shake her and break the psychic link that was pulling her away from any protection he could provide. “I won’t let you go out there. It’s a trap.”

“They only took Beth because they think I care about her. They think Jacobs cares. She’s worthless if I don’t go after her.”

Worthless meant dead, and they all knew it.

“I’m going to find my jeans. Don’t move without me,” Brice warned.

Time was of the essence. The battle would end soon, and the area would be flooded with people. They needed to move out now. Jacobs handed Grace a small pistol. He didn’t often arm her, but these were unusual circumstances and another armed person could make a difference. At the very least it might keep Grace from becoming a burden to Jacobs’s unit and Brice. Her C.O. pulled the silver bracelet out next. Grace didn’t hesitate and took it from him, snapping it onto her wrist.

Now came the hard part. Grace needed something personal to use to get a lock on Beth. There wasn’t time to go up to her tent or to the cooking area. She had maybe ten minutes. She had to be gone by then. Jacobs stepped out of the tent with his duffel bag over his shoulder. The privacy was well received. Grace pulled her mind into tight control.

Grace focused on the cot that Jacobs and Beth had shared. The imprint was there, but it wasn’t strong enough. Kneeling on the ground, she laid her head onto the cot to try again. Too much of Jacobs was here. She couldn’t separate the two images.

Grace stood up and searched for something else. Parts of Beth’s Civil War costume were still under the cot. She pulled the corset out and tried to work with it. Nothing was coming from it. As Grace examined the garment closer she could see that it was new.

Jesus! Just a little help!