Free Dream Shadow by Mary Wine Page A

his hand over her bare midriff, moving upward to unhook her bra.
    “I’ve wanted to taste you since I met you.”
    Brice pulled the thin cotton bra away from her body and cupped the mound of her breast. The warm touch of his breath hit her nipple. She shivered, suspended in the moment. He hovered over the tender peak before he sucked the nipple into his mouth and groaned. His tongue immediately licked over the beaded tip as he pulled it farther into his mouth.
    The pealing tone of an electronic paging unit broke through her intoxication. Her paging unit could issue several tones, the one that was currently filling the air demanded immediate obedience.
    “Tell Jacobs to go to hell,” he insisted.
    The pager was a harsh reminder of reality. Grace shook her head to clear it. A low growl came from Brice as he continued to roll her nipple between his fingers. There was a primitive edge to his face as he looked back at her bared breast.
    “He’ll only come after me.”
    Grace pushed against his chest with a single hand. It was a request to be released, one she wasn’t certain she wanted granted. But the pager continued chiming.
    “I’ve got three minutes before we have company.”
     
    “Yeah, I remember.”
    Grace surged to her feet the second Brice rolled away from her. Propping an elbow against the ground, he watched as she righted her clothing. She drew her face into a tight mask.
    “Acknowledging attraction is useless. Even if the Army can’t stop it, they can certainly interfere. You’re a civilian and I don’t officially exist.” Depressing a code into her pager silenced the unit. Grace gripped her redemption in a tightly clenched fist. Brice climbed to his feet with a lazy ease that she knew was false. She slowly widened the gap between them.
    “Goodbye, Sheriff Campbell.”
    “Goodnight, Grace. The next time I catch you, I’ll make you feel even better.”
    Casting one last look at him, Grace turned toward her unit’s aircraft. It was goodbye.
    Grace struggled to bring her emotions under tight control before facing Jacobs. All she needed was for her C.O. to notice just how Brice was able to jerk her out of her tracks. With her recent run of luck, the giant might decide it was just what she needed.
    Men were crude. Jacobs’s superiors already thought a good trip to bed would improve her attitude. Maybe that was true for men. Well, maybe it was true for women as well. She had to admit that she didn’t know.
    But the sheer intensity of Brice Campbell’s touch shattered her control. She laughed as she pictured Colonel Turvel’s face when her efficiency rate dropped because she was mooning over the sheriff.
     
    His home was silent, confirming that his guests had departed. Slowly moving across the porch, Brice sought any clue that they had ever been there. Not a one remained. His kitchen would have passed a white-glove inspection. Every dish was in its place without even a single soap bubble left behind in the sink.
    She did exist.
    Flattening out a hand on his countertop, Brice chewed on his frustration. As her words sunk in, he felt his temper rise. Exactly who in the hell had the audacity to try and train a human being into believing they weren’t allowed to feel?
    Well, he was going to make sure he interfered with that training. Pushing away from his counter, Brice moved through the house on silent feet. He felt a surge of desire race along his bloodstream as he contemplated the hunt ahead.
    He intended to make sure that they had only said goodnight.
    Goodbye was out of the question.
     
     
    Two days later…
    Making her way among the trees, Grace kept her eyes moving. Jacobs was utilizing the forest to heighten his unit’s senses. Despite the aches that often accompanied such expeditions, the chance to sleep surrounded by nothing more than the night was well worth it.
    But she froze when she realized she’d made her way back to the cabin she’d found Paige in. She looked up but Jacobs had been