Read Dream Shadow for Free Online

slip out of the room. But a dry hinge could end her game with a tiny squeak. Patience paid off as Grace slipped through the door and onto the sidewalk.
    The morning air was wonderfully crisp. Grace let a smile cross her face as she stepped away from the building. The very first rays of light were reaching up on the horizon. The motel looked out on miles of untamed forest and the dawn was slowly bringing the trees to life.
    Grace forced herself to stop. She itched to move beyond the concrete sidewalk but that would bring company intruding on her sunrise. Having evaded Jacobs’s unit so very recently, there was no way those same men would again make the mistake of not watching her every step. Not for some time to come anyway.
    She wanted to enjoy Benton’s forest. Exactly why she hadn’t woken up secured on base didn’t matter. The fresh air that surrounded her did.
    A slight movement caught her eye as Clark changed positions. He was doing it on purpose, making sure she knew he had her in sight. She had to expect the men to be pissed at her but that still didn’t make her sorry.
    The sheriff had been pissed too.
    Grace smiled with satisfaction, but it didn’t last long. Being in Benton meant she was still in the sheriff’s territory. Her body leapt with just the idea of the man. The surge of emotion made her curious. She certainly wasn’t a stranger to being leered at. But Brice Campbell’s look was different.
    The sheriff’s eyes had been alight with some unspoken promise. Her body burst into sensation as she considered exactly what kind of promise the man was giving her. The biggest surprise was that it excited her.
    The idea of him pressing her to the floor made her body throb. She was keenly aware of him in the deepest places inside her body. Sexual tension after an assignment was normal. The heat building between her thighs two days later wasn’t. Her nipples were tightly beaded yet again as her skin began to tingle.
    Clark shifted again, bringing Grace to immediate attention. Tilting her head, she caught Jacobs in her sight. “Why are we still here?”
    Jacobs’s face turned into solid stone. Grace knew the expression. He used it on his men regularly. Well, she knew how to hide behind a mask as well. Grace caught the angry flash from his eyes as she slapped her own expressionless face on.
    “You seemed in a hurry to see the forest a couple of days ago.” Grace didn’t even blink in the face of his displeasure.
    “I was, and I achieved my goal.”
    “With your back exposed.”
    She didn’t care, but Jacobs did.
    “Were you caught up in a link?”
    She shook her head. “I chose to let it consume me.”
    “Why?”
    He was pissed but trying to understand her. It was the closest thing to friendship she’d ever been offered from a C.O. Which was why she didn’t lie to him, even when it was going to cause trouble. Like today.
    “Reality is gray.”
    “The inside of a body bag is pitch black,” he countered.
    “I’m still here.” And she was tired of talking. “So discharge me if you don’t like my actions.”
    Jacobs sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe you don’t have a career, but I’d appreciate if you didn’t put a black mark on mine by getting yourself shot.”
    “I didn’t get shot. The target was retrieved. On paper it will look great.”
    She snapped her head around and looked back at the forest. Conversations were needlessly complicated. Life was better when she avoided them.
    “We’re having dinner with Brice tonight out at his place.”
    Grace hissed in response. The sound was past her lips before she realized she was reacting. Jacobs raised an eyebrow, a tiny hint of victory in his eyes.
    “That’s a waste of resources.”
    The light of victory died and left behind something that looked too much like pity.
    “Time. You’re not a resource.”
    “That’s your personal opinion, Jacobs.”
    And his C.O. would never let it interfere with a mission. Somewhere