Dream - Dream Specter Part 15

Jared wanted her to see these. There was no other explanation for her being here. The hard certainty of his eyes before they left his house crossed her memory. He had known just how much she wanted to return to Benton. Instead he brought her here.

"Now I know too much."

"Yes."

Jared securely wrapped his jacket about her shoulders. The fabric was still warm from his body. He

stood with his hands firmly anch.o.r.ed to her shoulders while their minds mingled. Instead of anger, she

only sensed purpose. Clear, direct intent.

In a brutal maneuver, Jared was protecting her. Not having the means to neutralize her kidnapper, he moved on to the option of ensuring she could not leave the protection of his life.

It was harsh and permanent, but her emotions surged forward as the last of her walls were swept aside.

Admitting to loving him was one thing, feeling it flood her entire soul was breathtaking.

There was no one she would rather have protecting her right now.

"I think I understand."

The relief that flooded his body caught Jared by surprise. He had made his decision. Finding himself vulnerable to Rosh.e.l.le's opinion of that judgment was surprising. The way she managed to blend into his life truly baffled him.

Turning her away from the evidence of reality, Jared pulled her into his body and the sanctuary he could offer her. Surrounded by the night he picked up the sweet scent of his female. Bending his head down, he took the taste that scent promised him.

Nothing was right in the world, except for this. Rosh.e.l.le pushed her body into contact with his, seeking the heat that would ignite her own. Everything she counted on was slipping from her fingers but she wasn't alone. Jared moved into her soul as their bodies meshed together in mutual longing.

Tomorrow she would continue her battle, tonight Jared was hers.

G.o.d, she just smelled s.e.xy.

Pus.h.i.+ng his fingers through her hair, Jared slowly began to wake his companion. Rosh.e.l.le was draped

across his body and he wanted her again. Jared grinned, Rosh.e.l.le had labeled him a Neanderthal and he

intended to live up to her expectations. She could sleep tomorrow. Rolling her over, his mouth pulled a small nipple into a peak. Her head moved as her lips expressed her pleasure. She had the most sensitive b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Moving to the other soft mound Jared gave it the same attention.

"You're an animal."

"Just the way you like it."

She should have blushed. Instead Rosh.e.l.le raised her hips as Jared slid into her. She scratched at his

skin and he quickened his pace. Yes, he was an animal. Primal and hard, beneath him her body craved

more of that primitive edge.

Rosh.e.l.le settled her head on his chest once again as Jared sought to recover from their pa.s.sion. Her hands slowly traced circles among the hairs there, as her eyes grew heavy.

Jared enjoyed the peace she felt as she drifted back into sleep. Rosh.e.l.le was completely at ease in his embrace. Her lax body told him that but her mind did as well. The unguarded reception was almost humbling. Jared reached further into that emotion as he sought to fill his own mind with it.

His hand twisted her hair, causing her to jerk with pain. Jared swiftly released her hair before Rosh.e.l.le woke. Diving back into her mind, he sought out the disturbance. Something was there. Very faint but a definite image formed as he pressed forward. He could feel that second ent.i.ty. Feel the heartbeat that drove its lifeforce. It slept as blissfully content as Rosh.e.l.le did.

Safe in its mother's womb.

A baby. His son. Rosh.e.l.le was pregnant. Jared didn't need a blood test to prove it to him. He could feel the tiny life as it grew inside her. Rolling over, he propped his body on an elbow next to her sleeping form as his hand covered her abdomen.

Her tummy was flatter than before he left. Jared frowned as his hand picked up the small pulse of life beneath her flesh. Rosh.e.l.le had dropped weight that her body needed to support their child.

Maybe she'd been sick. His frown deepened. Jared knew next to nothing about pregnancy. But rapid weight loss wasn't healthy under normal conditions.

Did she know? Suspicion crept forward as Jared recalled how determined she'd been to find a way out of his life tonight. Could she really believe she could keep his child a secret? His mind sought out that question as his hand smoothed over his son's resting place. Not even a hint of resistance met his probe.

Curving his body into place beside her, Jared pulled the blankets about them. Rosh.e.l.le didn't know yet. With the uncertainty of the last few weeks it was understandable. Jared doubted she had noted the absence of her menstrual cycle.

Well, they weren't a normal couple so maybe it wasn't so odd that the father would be informing the mother that they were having a child.

A wide grin plastered itself across his face. Rosh.e.l.le would be staying right here. And that pleased the h.e.l.l out of him.

"Just why do I know that girl's face?"

Grace wasn't startled by Jacobs' appearance. The man moved silently, but she was expecting him. Moving her head about, she took in her partner as he leaned into a tree while he waited for her reply.

"She favors her father in so many ways."

"And would that man be anyone I might know?"

Jason Jacobs was fis.h.i.+ng for confirmation. Grace tilted her head and sighed. In a way it was sad but she just couldn't shake the idea that Rosh.e.l.le was a perfect match for her son. "Devon Ross is her father." And her fellow operative wasn't going to be very pleased to find his daughter anywhere near an Army unit. But it looked like fate held other ideas.

"Devon was never as strong as you."

"No, but he held the advantage of more than one ability. Rosh.e.l.le seems to have inherited a great deal of that empathic sense. But I can still wish that my son had not brought her abilities to light."

The note of pity in Grace's voice caused Jacobs to hesitate. Grace had never resented her psychic abilities as far as he knew.

"I knew about the child's existence."

"You what?"

Grace slowly smiled. Jacobs really hated it when he didn't know the very last detail of her life.

"Devon told me that Heather was pregnant. I'm grateful I never had to make a similar choice. Besides, she grew up right under my nose."

"What kind of choice, Grace?"

Moving her eyes over him, Grace noted the sharpness Jacobs still held even in middle life. Their children were grown, and they still went into combat. It was a harsh life, but one this man had been born for. She was caught in it. Far too effective in her tracking abilities, the Army wasn't open to any other suggestion.

"Males are more suited to this life. Devon knew that. Bringing a son into this can be accepted. A daughter is another story. A parent could hope that a daughter might not need to live her life under such conditions. Besides, your memory is as good as mine. Female operatives weren't fairing so well back then. Heather did even worse."

Grace shared a moment of recollection with her partner. There had been a time when life hadn't been very important to her. Brice Campbell had shoved his face into her way and refused to budge.

But her husband was a warrior, too. He mixed with the harsh edge of reality that her life balanced on. His love made it worth surviving but Heather hadn't been able to leave her civilian world behind. The military bluntness imprisoned the girl until she struggled against Devon as panic drove her beyond any understanding of the man's love.

Evading his protection had set her up as a target. In the end, she'd fled into the arms of her murderers. But she'd hidden her daughter almost completely. Psychic abilities didn't awaken 'til the child grew out of their tender years. Devon hadn't found his offspring until it was too late to tear her away from her adoptive family without thrusting the girl into the same desolation that had cut into Grace so many years in the past. When you tasted a life without death stalking you, a civilian woman often didn't transplant very well.

"So, she hid her here?"

Grace nodded her head. Unknowingly Jared had found a very old secret. But fate had a way of ensuring that soul mates found each other. Rosh.e.l.le was the most perfect mate for her son. "Heather had no way of knowing that I lived right up the hill. If Devon had told me about her escape, I would have found her before she ended up dead." Grace hissed with frustration that time had not erased. Heather had not been able to stand the sight of her. To the civilian woman's eyes, Grace had represented a military-created monster, her gender distorted beyond nature's intentions. "The least I could do was let the woman have her last wish that her daughter not end up like me." Jacobs snorted and Grace smiled at his male opinion. "Every mother has the right to wish for a good life for her children. It wasn't my place to interfere, Jacobs. I had my own sons to practice my desires on. Somehow, I doubt you'd have taken kindly to someone telling you how to raise your own kids."

"All right, I guess that makes sense."

Jacobs never caved in with much grace. Casting her eyes over her partner, Grace let her smile widen.

Jacobs frowned as he watched the expression.

"I haven't seen Devon in some time. His visit should be interesting."

"You contacted him?"

Grace jumped from her perch and hit the forest floor with practiced feet.

"No I haven't, but you will."

"I'll do what?"

Grace half turned to look at the giant in the dark. "You will do what you'd expect him to do, if he found

your daughter running for her life."

Jacobs curse hit the night as Grace walked back towards her home. A small laugh rose out of her chest

as she considered her son coming face to face with Rosh.e.l.le's father.

"Rosh.e.l.le?"

"Go away."

Her opinion stated, Jared watched as Rosh.e.l.le pulled her head completely beneath the bedding until not

even a single strand of her copper-brown hair remained in sight.

"Come out, it's getting late."

Pus.h.i.+ng her head back out, she squinted at the bedside clock. Five thirty-eight was late? Maybe in the

Army it was.

"I'm a civilian."

Her head disappeared again as Jared stifled a laugh. She looked like a turtle at the moment. Reaching for the bedding she hid under, Jared hooked his hands into the middle of it and tore it away.

"All right!" Forcing her body to sit up, Rosh.e.l.le glared at her tormentor. There must be a law against

morning people! Jared stood completely clothed as he surveyed her rumpled appearance. The man kept her up most of the night yet only the slightest of darkened circles marked his eyes.

"Good morning."

"It's morning. Unless there's coffee in my hand, it's not good."