Dream Shadow (36 page)

The baby amazed Grace. How was it possible to love something so much? This small creature that she felt she already knew was a living, breathing expression of her love for Brice. It was almost as if their love had broken off a small piece and now she held it in her arms. This child would carry on the love that his parents had shared long after they were gone.

Starting up the hill, Grace carried her son to meet his father. Standing next to the house, Grace looked up at the two men who were still working on the roof. It would have been simple to have the home built by contractors, but Jacobs was enjoying doing the work himself. Brice seemed to enjoy it as well.

Beth came around the corner and smiled at her. As she came closer, her face reflected slight shock as she noticed the child. She came closer to stare at the newborn infant.

“You give the rest of us women a bad name,” Beth informed her.

“What did you say?” That had come from Jacobs. He hung his head over the edge of the roof in search of his wife. He grinned as he caught sight of the two women together. Grace calmly waited for him to notice the baby. Jacobs had keen eyesight, and it didn’t take very long. He pulled his head up out of sight and Grace listened to the whistle that he let out to get Brice’s attention.

Grace watched as her husband descended the ladder at breakneck speed. He had discarded his shirt at some point and she ran her eyes over his chest. He had already started on a tan from working on the roof. Grace knew that he would turn brown as the season progressed.

Brice looked at her with a mixture of wonder and frustration. His wife simply returned his look with that steady confidence of hers. Brice shook his head. He decided that he should be grateful that she hadn’t taken off into the forest to have their baby. She was just as much a wild creature today as she had been when he had met her.

Brice slowly looked at his son. The baby lifted its eyelids to display its emerald eyes. Brice took the child and held him. A son. Brice looked up at Grace and smiled. She had given him so much, and now she had given him a son. Despite the fact that it seemed inadequate, Brice said it anyway.

“I love you.”

Grace knew that. The bond between them never stopped strengthening. It was her greatest source of security now. They were bound together by the bonds of family.

It was complete.

It was whole.

It was
love
.

About the Author

You can find me at
www.MaryWine.com
. Dream Shadow was the first book I wrote and Grace is very special to me. Drop by my website to find out when you can read more about the Campbells and psychics.

Look for these titles by Mary Wine

Now Available:

Evolution's Embers

Full Disclosure

Let Me Love You

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When love presents itself, take your shot.

Model Soldier

© 2012 Cat Johnson

Red, Hot, & Blue, Book 8

When Emily Price is assigned to an ad campaign featuring one of Uncle Sam’s finest soldiers, she’s thrilled. Who better to break up the monotonous parade of smooth, perfect models than a rough, war-hardened alpha male?

Maybe she’ll even get lucky like one of her colleagues and find romance. Unfortunately, when she meets her model, he’s more caveman than Prince Charming. Now her dreams of love—and her career—are dangling precariously from his callused fingertips.

Staff Sergeant David
Hawk
Hawkins never imagined refusing a command…until he loses a bet and is ordered off the battlefield and into a new role: Poster boy for the Army’s recruiting campaign.

From the start, their relationship is more fire-and-ice than fairytale. Yet beneath their sparring simmers an attraction that finally explodes into a night of lovemaking that haunts them to opposite sides of the globe after they part.

But love isn’t through with them—and neither is the public. The campaign is a hit and Hawk becomes a star. Soon he and Emily are thrown together again, but this time it’s on Hawk’s turf, where flying bullets could settle their battle before it begins.

This book has been previously published and has been revised and expanded from its original release.

Warning: Contains sex hot enough to travel halfway around the world, and a love strong enough to bring them back home again.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Model Soldier:

This had not turned out at all the way she’d pictured in her dreams. In fact, it was becoming more and more like a nightmare.

Jai looked as if he was nearly ready, so Emily figured she’d better be brave and broach the next subject. “So we’d like to um…” how to say this without getting shot down again, “
…
make your, uh, physical form stand out in the photos.”

There was that brow again, but this time accompanied by a smirk.

He remained silent, so she continued. “So maybe you could roll up the sleeves of your camouflage uniform shirt so we can see your arms a bit?”

Even though she’d remembered to call it a uniform and not an outfit—as if she would ever forget that again—she still got the disapproving look and head shake.

“No can do. And it’s called a jacket, not a shirt.”

Why couldn’t he just do one little thing without being difficult as well as correcting her terminology? Humph. As if she should know what military clothes are called.

“Why can’t you?” Emily widened her stance, ready for battle. He wanted to argue, she could argue.

“Because it’s against the rules, that’s why.”

“But I swear I’ve seen guys with their sleeves—” The steady sway of his head still shaking at her finally stopped her in her tracks. “What?”

“You may have seen it, but it is against our regulations and I can’t do it.”

He meant won’t do it. Emily couldn’t imagine that his captain really gave a darn what his sleeves looked like.

“Maybe we can ask someone if it would be okay—”

He actually laughed at that. “No.”

With a huff, she gave in.

“Fine. Are you allowed to take off your jacket?” Emily emphasized the word that he’d insisted on correcting her on. “Can you wear just your T-shirt or is that against the rules too?”

“Yes, I’m allowed.”

Finally, a yes, but still he didn’t move.

“Could you please take off your jacket?”

Hawk smirked boldly but thankfully complied. With a chuckle, he took it off.

Now he was laughing at her? Emily planted her hands on her hips. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s been a long time since a woman ordered me to take my clothes off. Maybe this gig won’t be so bad after all.” Hawk hung what still looked more like a shirt than a jacket on the back of a chair and turned back to her. He paused with a hand on his nylon belt. “Pants too, doll?”

Doll?

She narrowed her eyes at Hawk. “No, thanks. Maybe later.”

Pig. Worst of all, a pig with bulging biceps and beautiful pecs beneath a very tight T-shirt. His dog tag chain nestled right between those delectable pecs. Emily suddenly imagined him standing before her without the shirt. All big and burly.

What was she doing? He was such a…a… There simply were no words to describe him.

The chuckle from Jai’s direction didn’t help Emily’s mood. She shot him a nasty look as well.

Emily turned back to Hawk and sighed. She had to get into a professional mindset. No more pouting that he wasn’t Prince Charming. No more bickering because he was acting like the typical difficult model. She was used to that at least.

Thinking like Katie would, Emily imagined the finished print advertising. Hawk, standing in his T-shirt and camo pants. Arms crossed…make that hairy arms crossed.

Darn. BB was practically hairless but Hawk, no such luck. What were the chances of Emily being able to get him to wax the hair off his forearms? And if they chose to do a few topless shots, would he wax his chest? Probably his back would require de-hairing, also. Stifling a laugh at the ridiculous notion, she figured the odds of him agreeing were slim to none.

Could they airbrush out that much hair? And exactly how many tattoos were the tan T-shirt and camouflage pants hiding? Now that she was getting to know him better, he seemed the type to have ink, and lots of it. Probably a really crude naked lady or obscenities. Or maybe some morbid, bloody skull tattoo. Emily could only guess. She and Katie hadn’t discussed the possibility of tatts. Perhaps they could airbrush any of those out too.

Then a small detail she’d missed before hit her.

She frowned. “Your shirt. It’s tan.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, shouldn’t it be green? You know, Army green. No?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s the rules.”

“Oh, come on. I know I’ve seen military men in olive-green shirts.”

He nodded. “I’m sure you have. Marines wear green shirts. The Army wears tan T-shirts with the universal-camouflage pattern for our combat uniform.”

She sighed again, deeper. Fighting the rules seemed useless, but she couldn’t resist one last word. “Well, that tan does nothing to bring out the color of your eyes.”

Hawk smiled broadly at that, looking genuinely amused, an emotion Emily had begun to doubt was in his repertoire.

“I’ll make sure to point that out to my superiors. Maybe they’ll consider changing the regulation uniform in deference to the color of my eyes.”

Well, that was the highest amount of syllables she’d heard come out of him all at once the entire day.

Emily had a strong urge to stick her tongue out at him. He’d probably laugh at her for that too, so she didn’t give him the satisfaction.

She heard Jai’s shutter and looked up to see him snapping candid photos of Hawk, who went from a laughing smile at her expense, to a frown, to looking stern and kind of scary in a matter of seconds.

“That’s great, Sergeant.” Jai wore a grin. “Perfect. I want your whole range of expressions over the next few days.”

That led to an even more comical expression of horror clearly written across Hawk’s face. Had he just realized that whether he was happy about it or not, this photo shoot and this ad campaign starring him was going to happen? Difficult or not, he was stuck with them for the next few days and there was nothing he could do about it.

Now it was Emily’s turn to smile.

The heat is on...

Into the Fire

© 2012 Donna Alward

First Responders, Book 3

The last person firefighter Chris Jackson expects to rescue from a burning animal shelter is Ally Gallant—his ex-fiancé. Even though three years have passed since she gave him back his ring, one look at her frightened face in the haze of a smoky building is all it takes for him to realize he’ll still do anything to protect her.

Ally’s put her heart and soul into the shelter, and she’s devastated when it’s destroyed. What's more, Chris is suddenly there for her in ways she doesn’t expect—ways she’s sure she doesn’t deserve—as she makes decisions about her future. Then there’s the not-so-small matter of the blazing passion between them that refuses to be extinguished.

But when Chris is injured while on a call, Ally’s reminded of all the reasons she walked away. Now she must look deep within herself to find the courage to put fear on the back burner and step into the fire—into love.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Into the Fire:

Chris put down his glass and reached over to put his hand on her knee. “It’ll all work out, you’ll see.”

“I hope so.” She toyed with her glass. “It was a big job getting it going in the first place. Now it’s like starting all over.”

“What about insurance?”

She shrugged. “Insurance will cover some of the contents, I suppose. But the building wasn’t ours. We rented it. In fact, we were looking at relocating because the landlord wanted to raise the rent. As a charity, that’s a tough pill to swallow, you know?” She sighed. “We don’t have a choice now. But we’ve also lost all our equipment, cages, food…”

“Don’t think about it.” Chris could tell she was feeling overwhelmed again. “You can figure that out later. One thing at a time, and right now it’s looking after you. Making sure you’re okay.”

She looked at him so sweetly he nearly forgot the edge of bitterness he still felt when he thought about their breakup. It still hurt, knowing they’d been so close but that she’d been able to walk away so easily.

“I’m okay thanks to you. A lot of animals are okay thanks to you. You saved us today, Chris.”

He’d left his hand on her knee, and now she put her hand on top of his. It was warm and soft, and without thinking he turned his over so his fingers were twined with hers. For all the hurt, he’d never hated her. It was impossible to stay angry with Ally. She was too kind of a person.