Mary Wine by Dream Specter Page A

feet and left the kitchen. She didn’t like the way his green stare made her feel so…exposed.
    She had faced her nightmare. Discovering him to be human after all. Beyond that she refused to find fear out there. She was not a part of this cloak and dagger world.
    Currently that man represented every obstacle that stood between her and the life she was desperate to return to.
    Stopping short of the steps that led to Jared’s house, Roshelle turned back to the forest that surrounded her. The afternoon light was filtering down through the trees as the breeze carried the chill of autumn. Once the sun set, the temperature would decrease dramatically. Just as her friend had endured some form of restraint so had she.
    The jacket that had protected her during her escape attempt was nowhere to be found. The hall closet was emptied right down to the hangers.
    Boredom had driven her out to see her friend. Returning to her room before the temperature drove her indoors seemed rather short-sighted.
    She would find herself staring at the ceiling soon enough.
    Besides, he was still watching her. She could feel the weight of his eyes on her. That wasn’t all she could feel. Her body began its pleading once again. Three days of yearning had driven her almost mad. The physical wave of sexual desire would crest and wane but always return.
    So, she’d avoided Jared as she applied every last ounce of strength she had into blocking his mind. Her body fed off the desire that came through their mind link. When his needs poured into her, it set off a frantic reaction that her will seemed powerless to stop.
    The rough terrain of her mountaintop prison did have a certain advantage. Being able to walk out her frustrations was very satisfying.
    Jared kept pace with his prey. Her pace was neither frantic nor lazy. But the woman was wearing her boots out in an attempt to outfox him. Sometimes the most important part of battle was knowing the right time to engage your enemy.
    Roshelle had a tight little backside that he enjoyed watching as she moved. As she changed direction, Jared was treated to the sight of her breasts moving beneath the shirt she wore.
    This was his forest. He and Shane had made the move from the central compound just the season before. The north side of the mountain held the home his mother had raised her family in.
    Even in mid-life, Grace Campbell was a force to be reckoned with. Jared wasn’t looking forward to explaining the addition of two civilians to her. Colonel Jacobs was going to be less than pleased with the security breach.
    Jared tightened his face a notch. At the moment, there was no question of a breach. Roshelle wasn’t going anywhere. Not ‘til he discovered why they’d found her in the midst of a very well-armed group of mercenaries.
    Roshelle was far too innocent in the darker side of the world. It didn’t occur to her that there were enemies out there that the sheriff’s department wasn’t equipped to handle. Jared would tie her to a tree before letting her walk back into the line of fire.
    Pressing his lips together in annoyance, Jared investigated his own emotions concerning his current dilemma. Roshelle was becoming a larger problem each day she remained on his property. His growing concern for her welfare drove it home to him.
    Strong ties with his men were one thing. Forming any manner of attachment to a woman was another. Especially a civilian female that didn’t have a clue as to what he was. Jared very much doubted that Roshelle had any notion that operatives such as him even existed.
    But he was forgetting this woman’s ability to mask her true self. Roshelle already knew far more about him than half his men. She could feel it.
    The only thing that changed was to present the very real possibility that the Army might decide Roshelle could be useful as an operative. True psychics were just too rare. If Roshelle proved to be as strong as he suspected she was, the Army would never allow her to return