Dream - Dream Specter Part 7

"It's a definite step up from our last host." Was it? Rosh.e.l.le just didn't quite know. But she had no way of explaining her encounters with him toChristina. At least not without explaining a whole lot more.

"I just wish I had a clue as to where we are."

"Sh.e.l.ly, you have got to get out more often."

Turning around, Rosh.e.l.le tried to comprehend the amus.e.m.e.nt on her friend's face. There was nothing

funny about their imprisonment.

"We're right smack on Witch Mountain. How could you not know that?"

"Well, my jailer hasn't bothered to introduce himself!"

Shaking her head, Christina began to rummage around in the cabinets. "I forget you never really dated

much." She pulled spices from one and began to dump several different types into the same pot. She didn't bother to read the labels either.

"Meaning?"

"The Jacobs family shows up in the Yankee camp from time to time. That giant is their oldest boy Shane."

"Christina, that man is no boy!"

A slight grin crossed her face before she replied. "Trust me Sh.e.l.ly, if it's male, it is guaranteed to never mature. The packaging is irrelevant."

"All right, so these are actually civilized people. At least one is. What do they want us for?"

"I think the jury might still be out."

"Down on my end of this compound, I've been waiting for the execution order to come through any

second." "Yes, well the Campbell children always were an intense bunch." "As in Sheriff Campbell?" Christina simply nodded her head as she lifted the empty plate from the table. Rosh.e.l.le had known that Brice Campbell owned the land bordering her grandmother's but she never knew the man was married. "I didn't know the sheriff had a family." But she had grown up with just Abba so maybe it wasn't a secret. Abba was polite to a fault but she preferred a quiet life. Weekends at Jennings Mill were just about the most excitement she ever sought out. Other than Christina, Rosh.e.l.le herself had not encouraged much social contact. She just never felt her life lacked anything. The few boys that expressed interest she had been content to see only at the monthly historical events. Without encouragement, none of the would-be suitors had ever pressed their cases.

"I think he has three boys. But I never really met them."

That little fact wasn't much of a stumbling block for her friend. It never ceased to amaze Rosh.e.l.le the

number of girls that were willing to share secrets with the blonde beauty in an attempt to share her appeal with the male population.

The very idea that there might be another two men like her specter was not sitting on her nerves well. Rosh.e.l.le pushed the disturbing thought aside. She had enough current troubles. There was no need to go looking for possible future ones. He was the only one she needed to get past.

One step at a time. Getting off this mountain might not be all that difficult. The threat of shooting her might be nothing more than another bluff.

Rosh.e.l.le just wished that it wasn't such a big "if".

"Two pretty little heads stuck together has me rather terrified, my friend."

"She can plan 'til doomsday, she's not leaving."

Contemplating Shane's kitchen, Jared considered just how long he should leave her with her companion. Cutting Rosh.e.l.le off from any form of comfort would drive her into his embrace. Jared snorted with disgust. He really shouldn't be planning how to maneuver his little guest but his brain was clearly centered on the task of getting Rosh.e.l.le past her fear of him.

But it was more than his s.e.xual desire that made him set on keep her on his mountain.

That fire was either a very calculated move to draw him out or someone wanted her very dead. Maybe both. But he'd taken the bait completely, running to her aid without a single precaution. It would have been pathetically simple to eliminate her under those conditions. That left him with a steady resolution to keep her firmly under his eye.

It would have been much simpler to deal with her as an enemy.

Instead he found himself feeling responsible for her. That emotion raised the hair on the back of his neck. Jared liked his life just the way it was; there was absolutely no room for her.

Finding her scent drifting between the walls of his home bordered on invasion. Women had no business on his mountain. The dangers surrounding his life just didn't allow for it.

The object of his thoughts chose that moment to come into view. Rosh.e.l.le let the door fall closed behind her as she made her way down the front steps of the house. The afternoon sun lit up her hair bringing the copper out. If he had been close enough to see her eyes, Jared knew that the brown orbs would have turned gold as well. The woman reminded him of a chameleon. Camouflage was a skill she utilized to the extreme.

Rosh.e.l.le was beginning to get used to his stare. At the moment she knew there were several people watching her, and he was definitely one of them. As much as she wanted to believe she had vanquished her nightmare, he was still rooted someplace deep inside her mind. But the feeling was evolving into an ache, something that pulsed through her belly demanding her to seek him out.

The sound of a truck engine was making its way to her ears as it approached the driveway she stood in front of. The border "boys" were coming in for the night.

Pus.h.i.+ng herself forward, Rosh.e.l.le made her way back to her current home. One run-in with that bunch was enough for her. But returning to the room that had housed her just seemed too much like putting herself back into his hands. Stopping on the porch, she hesitated.

Maybe it was time to call his bluff.

The truck made its customary stop in front of Shane's house. Her eyes watched as the occupants filed into the structure. It was very possible that there were no other men on duty. Now that she was taking the time to consider it, it was very possible that these men were doing something other than patrolling a border.

After all, this was Benton County not the Pentagon.

These people had managed to keep her imprisoned in a room using her own fear to keep her there. There was no reason for her to a.s.sume that the threat about being shot was anything but smoke.

Fate seemed to be on her side tonight. As she watched the empty truck, two figures came out of the night to circle around it and enter the house. Her dream specter followed on the heels of Shane Jacobs as the two men joined their comrades.

He turned before entering the house and caught sight of her on his front porch. Their eyes locked in a battle that Rosh.e.l.le was feeling all too willing to engage in, but she had another priority at the moment.

Breaking the contact, she ducked into the house firmly shutting the door behind her. She made the distance to her room at a dead run. Moving the blinds aside, she was rewarded with the sight of her specter entering the other house. The door closed behind him leaving her very much alone for the moment.

Rosh.e.l.le spared a thought for Christina but pushed it aside. With the cover of darkness to aid her, there would be no better time to make her escape. There were a number of questions concerning these people but Rosh.e.l.le was confident that they would not harm her friend. Once she reached the sheriff's department there wouldn't be a problem.

But it was a long walk. Moving through the house she sought out the bare essentials for her trip. The hallway closet yielded a number of jackets that would keep the night's chill away.

Her lips twisted in rage as she caught sight of one jacket that wasn't black. It was forest green and it belonged to her! Now it was neatly hung next to his belongings. Rosh.e.l.le jerked it off the hanger and put it on. She grabbed another jacket and put it over her own to hide the color.

The kitchen was complete with a back door. Exiting the house from the north would face her in the wrong direction but Rosh.e.l.le would just double back later. She didn't want to risk her departure being seen.

Growing up with her grandmother may have kept her isolated but it had given her a skill that was invaluable tonight. As a child Rosh.e.l.le had learned these mountains. She felt at ease wandering the trees even as darkness enfolded the forest. The sounds that fell on her ears simply confirmed that she was home. The stars would show her the way back to Benton. Her feet picked up their pace as Rosh.e.l.le antic.i.p.ated a return to normalcy.

Her face turned up into the first true smile she had felt in days as she imagined the sheriff's department putting a final end to her nightmares.

"Will you marry me?"

"I want ten kids, I'm terrible in bed and I plan on getting fatter with each baby."

Christina fired off her retort without blinking an eye. She was so sick of men gawking at her because she had a pretty face. Men just dissolved at her feet without a care for any companions.h.i.+p she might provide beyond s.e.x.

The laughter floating about the room just made her curl her lips with exasperation. Men were such pitiful creatures. She was doomed to die a virgin.

Turning away from the sink, she found herself being a.s.sessed by a pair of hazel eyes. Shane Jacobs was not impressed with her tartness. His men were eating it up like a pack of schoolyard boys.

The empty plate sitting in front of the man made her frown. He smiled at her and patted his belly. He'd eaten the disaster of a meal just to prove he could. Jerk.

Jared watched their battle from half-closed eyes. The blonde didn't interest him. It was far too simple to block her out of his mind.

A slow smile curved up his lips as he stepped out onto the porch. A good three hundred yards separated them but he could feel her. The lightness of her mood drifted over his senses, arousing his curiosity. She had ducked for cover rather than face him.

The lack of logic between her actions and emotions aroused his suspicion. Opening his mind, Jared sought out the reason behind her current joy.

Whatever the reason for their link, Jared was enjoying the ability to tap into her emotions whenever he wanted to.

Pure pleasure poured over his senses. Jared frowned as he considered that. As far as he could see, Rosh.e.l.le didn't have any reason to be so pleased with her current situation.

His eyes lit onto the window of her room. It took exactly three seconds for Jared to confirm that she wasn't within the walls. Finding himself able to feel Rosh.e.l.le amazed him because empathy wasn't Jared's specialty.

Tracking was.

Jared had been running down targets as soon as he learned to walk. Once he formed a solid link with his prey, hunting it down was nothing more than the distance needing to be covered.

His feet were moving even as his mind brought her into focus. Jared melted into the night-covered forest with the ease of a man that was returning to his home. His body took to the hunt with a predatory edge born from years of execution of his talent. His lips turned up in deadly intent.

This time she was all his.

Amazing.

Absolutely amazing. Rosh.e.l.le shook her head for the tenth time. Caged by her own fear. Kept hostage by a nightmare that was in fact human after all.

Well...he was still not normal. No, her night specter was nothing to make light of. The man wielded a mind that was deadly in its precision.

In an odd sort of way, she was going to miss not being forced to face him again. Seeking out the man behind her nightmare was more satisfying than Rosh.e.l.le cared to admit.

But she would leave him behind. Rosh.e.l.le had chosen her life's path and spent too many years earning the right to follow it. She was a doctor. The emotional tempest she had tasted this last week would have to be left behind.

It was strange the way she could feel the man at times. Her feelings had never been so persistent. Sensation was sliding along her skin at the moment as secure as an embrace.

He was searching-seeking-hunting. Confidence radiated from his mind. Triumph slammed into her head a split second before her back was thrust into the unyielding trunk of a tree. Her feet stumbled as they were literally pushed from their stride. But she didn't collide with the tree. Instead his hand controlled the momentum of her body with a solid grip in the front of her jacket. He lifted her from her steps and placed her exactly where he wanted.

One hand was all he had used to lock her to that tree. Solid legs pressed forward blocking any escape route. Jerking her head back, Rosh.e.l.le sought a look that might remind her that she was not facing a dream-spun creature.

Moonlight washed over the hard edges of his jaw, betraying his smile.

Her anger impressed him. Jared could feel the eruption of heat as it surged through her body. Sometime in the last two days, she had conquered her fear of him. Her chest rose in rapid repet.i.tion, but terror wasn't in control of her tonight.

No, she was absolutely furious.

Jared almost laughed in response. Hiding her newfound courage was most effective. Overconfidence was a mistake he would not make with this woman again. But her willingness to engage him in battle was becoming addictive.

Jared had never found a female so very intriguing before. His brain demanded that he investigate the cause.

"I think you've gone far enough."

"Get away from me!"

Despite the fact that she demanded release, Rosh.e.l.le was surprised to have him grant her demand. Despite her release, her body felt more trapped by his presence than she had by his flesh.

"Didn't your mother teach you to keep your hands to yourself?"

"My mother taught me to hunt."

Rosh.e.l.le believed him, too. Rosh.e.l.le s.h.i.+fted nervously as she watched the way he dissipated into the shadows. He just seemed to blend with the night more completely than any human being should be able to.

That did not give him the right to hold her against her will.

"Your comrades aren't going to shoot me." Rosh.e.l.le felt her confidence grow as she spoke the words out loud. She had called his bluff and she'd won!

When this woman found her courage she applied it immediately. Jared grinned in response. She wasn't going anywhere but back to his domain.

"No, honey, my men won't shoot you. But you seem to be attracting some that would. You might live a lot longer if you turn around and head back up this mountain."

It wasn't the confidence in that voice that bothered her as much as the amus.e.m.e.nt. Rosh.e.l.le had taken her share of knockdowns in life but nothing like the ones her life was currently throwing at her. Just when was it going to be her turn to pitch?

"I'll just take my chances with the sheriff's department."

Turning her back on him, Rosh.e.l.le set herself back on the path to her life. She was going home and life would return to normal!

"Rosh.e.l.le..."