Dream Shard by Mary Wine Page A

never been so warm or noticeable before. It was more than release, it was bliss, and she floated into semi-consciousness contently.
    Devon pulled her close. She opened her eyes, trying to decide if she should let him cuddle her.
    He pushed her head onto his shoulder, gently but insistently.
    “Shhh.”
    It wasn’t even a word but she felt a tiny hint of insecurity coming from him. For all his strength, he still felt the sting of rejection like she did. She stroked his chest, threading her fingers through his chest hair before drifting off into sleep. She felt wonderful.
    Why argue when the sun would rise soon enough to shatter the illusion of perfection?
    Devon began to drift into sleep. Memories waited there, in that place where his subconscious mind wasn’t focused. He felt an aversion to letting down his guard, but with satisfaction coursing through his veins, there was no way to fend it off. His focus and control crumbled, allowing memories to rise.
    Heather’s face blossomed in full color. This time she was laughing, sunlight in her hair, but when she turned around, the face was Kalin’s. He smiled, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. He stroked her hip and the person in his dreams changed to a slim, petite form that looked at him with emerald eyes.
    Grace stared at him and he felt the connection. She reached for him, trying to connect firmly with his thoughts. Time froze as he strained to communicate, but it felt like he was stretching and still falling short by just a few inches. He could almost sense the connection. All he needed was to get a tiny bit closer.
    Grace sat up and went all the way to her feet, stopping in a low crouch on the edge of her bed.
    Her unexpected motion caused a reaction that was swift and razor sharp. Her husband jumped to his feet beside the bed and had his gun drawn before asking her what had awakened her.
    “Grace?”
    She didn’t look at him, but he’d seen her connect with a link before. He reached over and checked the security system. Everything was green. Brice pressed a button on a wall-mounted control panel to let her commanding officer know she was active.
    Grace was a proven psychic tracker. Even in her third trimester of pregnancy, she could take off like a doe. She sat poised on the edge of their bed, her coal-black hair streaming down her back as the open window allowed the night breeze to ruffle the edge of her sleeveless chemise. She knew he liked the vintage garment and often wore it to bed. At the moment, she was locked into a link with something, completely unaware of anything else. He began to step into his jeans and boots in case she tried to follow the link.
    There was a soft step on the hallway floor and Major Jason Jacobs peered into the room over his drawn weapon. Once he was satisfied there wasn’t an immediate threat, he holstered the gun and considered his Operative.
    A few moments later, she slumped, landing on her bottom and blinking as she lost her link. It took a moment for her to recognize where she was. She drew in a deep breath and stood but her legs shook. Brice reached for her arm and lowered her to the bed.
    “That was a solid connection,” Jacobs observed. “Why? You didn’t have anything to pull a tracking link from.”
    “This was empathic,” she answered, still distracted and peering into the night like she could see something neither of them could. “Someone else initiated it.”
    “Someone was trying to contact you?” Brice asked, his tone defensive. He’d almost lost her once when someone had tried to sell her on the black market. He’d agreed to let her entire Ranger unit move onto his property just to make sure she never faced that sort of threat again.
    “I’m not sure,” she muttered before drawing in a deep breath and trying to withdraw from the world of her sixth sense. “I have never been as good with empathy as Devon was.”
    She crawled back up the bed and lay down. Jacobs left but Brice watched his wife for a long