06. Honor Under Siege - Неизвестный

“Sorry.” Blair started to close the door.

“That’s all right,” Emory called. “We’re done.”

Blair stepped inside as Emory drew a sheet up to the shoulders of the wiry, short haired redhead. “I’m going to leave my cell number right here on the bedside table.” Emory crossed to a small desk and scribbled something on a piece of paper that she then placed next to the redhead’s holstered weapon. “Six hours of bed rest, minimum. If your chest pain gets worse, you develop a cough, or you feel lightheaded, call me immediately. Otherwise, I’ll see you first thing in the morning.”

“Look, thanks.” Steph was already pushing herself up, clearly intent on returning to duty. “I really appreciate everything, but—”

“You know, Steph,” Blair said conversationally. “I bet Tanner would put you right on the inactive list if she thought you weren’t a hundred percent. Not that anyone would tell her…”

Steph groaned and flopped back down. “Okay. Okay, I got it. Roger on the six hours bed rest.”

“Thank you.” Emory followed Blair into the hall. “Is there someone who can give me a ride to a hotel?”

“We have plenty of room right here,” Blair said as they returned to the living room. “You can stay here until Cam is sure that it’s safe for you to go home.”

“I don’t know precisely what went on in that hallway, but I heard some of the conversation among the agents on the way here. That man…that man might have been trying to kill me. I certainly can’t endanger you or—”

“No one is going to let you leave, Emory, and no one wants you to.” Blair found a half-empty bottle of wine, refilled her glass, and poured another for Emory. “I’d be very grateful if you’d look at Cam later. She’s been through a lot this past week and…” She realized her hand was trembling and put the glass down abruptly.

“Of course I’ll look at her,” Emory said.

“Thank you. Is there anyone you need to call? The White House will take care of devising some story for the press, but if there’s someone who’s going to be worried about where you are tonight—”

“No, there isn’t.” Emory reached for her wine. “Since my divorce last year, I’ve been living in the family home with my mother. She travels a lot, as do I, so it works out very well for both of us. Right now she’s in Milan.”

Blair curled up on the sofa and regarded Emory thoughtfully. “Well then, consider yourself our guest.”

“All right. Of course.” Emory gestured to her evening dress. “Do you have clothes I can borrow? One of the security guards gave me his jacket in the car, but I gave that back to him when we got here.”

“Between Diane and me, I’m sure we can outfit you.”

“In that case, I gratefully accept. I can e-mail my chief technician with instructions for the lab in the morning. This will give me a chance to check on Steph again, too.”

“Is she badly hurt?”

Emory shook her head. “I don’t think so, but blunt trauma to the chest can be tricky. I’d feel better if I could x-ray her and get a cardiogram, but that’s out of the question.”

“If you think it’s necessary, Tanner is very good at making arrangements for that sort of thing without a lot of fuss.”

“You mean no records?”

“Pretty much.”

“Somehow I get the feeling none of this is new to you.”

Blair sighed, kicked off her shoes, and propped her feet on a leather hassock. Sometime in the last year she’d gotten used to living with danger. Not just the vague and barely countenanced possibility of harassment or kidnapping that she’d grown up with, but the life and death reality of bombs and bullets. Her lover had almost died, her friends had been shot, and she had been exposed to a potentially lethal bioweapon. “No, it’s not new.” She smiled wearily at Emory. “And I don’t think it’s going to go away—ever.”

“What the hell went wrong?” Matheson barked into the cell phone as he paced in his motel room. The need to change locations frequently and the inability to easily access his funds were wearing on him.

“He wasn’t a professional, sir, and the targets were very well covered,” the colonel said. “We knew using a civilian might be a problem.”

Matheson sighed. “It was still a good plan to use someone who would be seen as targeting Constantine, but relying on amateurs is too risky. We’re going to have to handle this ourselves.”

“It won’t be easy without inside help, sir.”

“According to my friend in the Company, they’re most likely back on the island, and it’s not impregnable. If Lawrence doesn’t surface soon, we’ll have to force her out.”

“Sir?”

“We’ll start eliminating her contacts.” Matheson relaxed his grip on the phone. “One by one.”

Chapter Nineteen

“If we’re going to shower together,” Blair whispered in Cam’s ear, “we have to get up now.”

“Did you wake up with an urge?” Cam murmured.

“Mmm. A big one.” Blair teased the rim of Cam’s ear with the tip of her tongue and pressed her pelvis against the crest of Cam’s hip. “I went to bed with one, and it just kept growing.” She reached around Cam’s body and caressed her breasts and abdomen. “Of course, if you’re really tired, I could probably manage on my own for a while.”

Cam rolled over onto her back and pulled Blair on top of her. “Who needs a shower.”

Grinning, Blair sat up and straddled Cam’s waist. Keeping her weight off Cam’s bruised hip, she grasped the hem of her T-shirt and stripped it off over her head. She let it fall onto the floor beside the bed and skimmed her hands slowly over her chest and down her abdomen, watching Cam follow the movement of her hands on her own body. “How do you feel this morning?”

“Surprisingly okay.”

Blair trailed her fingers along the inside of her thighs, her fingertips brushing Cam’s abdomen as well as her own legs. When Cam’s muscles tightened, she felt an answering tension between her legs. “Shoulder stiff?”

Cam raised both arms and cupped Blair’s breasts. “Not at all.”

Blair closed her eyes as her nipples hardened and her breasts swelled against Cam’s palms. “Still, let’s be sure you don’t overdo it.” She rocked her pelvis in a slow steady glide on Cam’s stomach, pressing a little harder with each stroke as the delicious pressure built. She covered one of Cam’s hands on her breast with her own, and with her other opened herself so she could rub more of her rapidly swelling sex over Cam’s belly. Soon the steady pump and glide of her hips gave way to short, erratic thrusts and she moaned softly. “Oh God, you feel so good.”

“Blair,” Cam whispered. “Open your eyes, baby.”

Smiling crookedly, Blair blinked and struggled to focus. “Sorry. I’m so close, I almost…” She took a shuddering breath. “I need to back off a minute.”

When she started to lift herself away, Cam shook her head.

“No, don’t move.” Cam kept one hand closed around Blair’s breast, the nipple vised between two fingers, and slid the other between Blair’s legs, palm up. Her fingers slipped down the hot, wet valley until her fingertips dipped just inside. “Now make yourself come in my hand.”

Blair caught her lip between her teeth and bent forward to wrap both hands around Cam’s arm, just above her wrist. “Tell me…if I hurt you.”

“You won’t. I want to feel everything.” Cam started a steady tug and squeeze on Blair’s nipple. “Fill my hand. Come on, baby.”

With a groan, Blair pushed hard against Cam’s hand, circling herself over the smooth firm muscles at the base of the palm. Soon she was balanced on a razor’s edge. Panting, she frantically sought Cam’s gaze. “I’m going to come.”

“Don’t hold back,” Cam urged hoarsely. “I need all of you. Everything.”

“Push inside me,” Blair gasped, her back arching. She jerked Cam’s arm hard between her legs, trying to force Cam’s fingers into her.

Cam buried her hand, her palm riding hard over Blair’s clitoris again and again.

“Oh God, Cam,” Blair cried, “there. Oh right there.” The muscles in her stomach and thighs shook violently as she tightened inside, over and over. When she couldn’t hold herself upright any longer, she tried to brace herself on one arm, but managed only to collapse on her side next to Cam, Cam’s hand still inside her.

“All right, baby?” Cam kissed Blair’s closed eyelids, then her mouth. “Blair?”

“Mmm, oh God, wonderful.”

“Ready for that shower?”

Blair snuggled a little closer and smoothed her hand down Cam’s stomach, smiling against Cam’s throat as she felt her twitch at the touch. “In a minute,” she murmured, caressing lightly. “Or maybe two, if you can behave that long.”

“I’ll do my best,” Cam groaned.

“That should do nicely.”

Renée Savard stifled a groan and eased to the far side of the bed, trying desperately not to shake the mattress. Her knee was so stiff and swollen, she feared she might have to crawl to the other side of the room where she’d left her cane propped against a chair two days earlier. Only two days ago, when she’d actually been walking fairly comfortably unaided. Of course, that was before she’d thrown herself down on top of Diane Bleeker and then sprinted fifty feet down a hallway and hurled herself into the back seat of a limousine.

“Can you walk?” Paula whispered.

“I’m just taking it slow,” Renée replied. “Go back to sleep, sweetie.”

Paula pushed the covers aside and started to sit up. “I’ll get your cane.”

“Don’t, Paula,” Renée said more sharply than she had intended. Knowing she must sound angry, she turned onto her side and stroked her lover’s arm. “Hey, I’m sorry. But you should stay in bed for a little while longer.”

“Where are you going?” Paula caught Renée’s hand and intertwined their fingers.

“It’s already 0600. The commander will be briefing soon.”

“And I need to brief the security team,” Paula countered.

“The commander didn’t take a bullet in the chest last night. You know you should take it easy today.”

“I was wearing a vest. The commander took a bullet in the chest for real and that didn’t keep her down for long.”

“You’re every bit as strong and dedicated as the commander.” Renée pushed a pillow behind her back, drew Paula against her side, and kissed the top of her head. “The commander is amazing—I’d follow her anywhere, do anything she asked. But you’re my lover, and I know what you did last night. I know what might have happened if he’d been using different ammo or you took that shot in the neck. Those few minutes in the limo last night… when I wasn’t sure how badly you were hurt… that was the worst kind of hell. God, sweetie, I was scared.”

“Hey, hey. I know.” Paula rubbed her cheek against the side of Renée’s breast. “I know what it was like thinking you were in one of the towers when they came down. I know, baby.”

“So,” Renée said shakily, “you get that I need you to take care of yourself for a little while.”

“I’m sore,” Paula admitted. “Every time I breathe it feels like someone’s poking a sharp stick into my chest and out through my shoulder blades. But I’m not going to do anything except sit at a table and talk. I won’t take a shift.”

“And after the briefing you’ll lie down again for three or four hours?”

“Two. Two hours and I won’t mention to the commander that you’re having trouble even standing.”

Laughing, Renée tilted Paula’s face up and kissed her. “I never realized you were so devious.”

“I can’t take you being hurt, either,” Paula whispered, closing her eyes and pillowing her face between Renée’s breasts. “Maybe you could just stay here for a few more minutes.”

“Anything,” Renée murmured. “Anything for you.”

Just before seven, Blair walked with Cam as far as the guesthouse. A light rain fell beneath a gray sky and in the distance the ocean was rough with angry chop.

“Winter’s coming,” Blair said, and for some reason, that made her feel melancholy.

Cam took her hand. “Let’s get married at the Lodge in Colorado. We can call Doris today and make arrangements.”

“What?” Blair gaped, then her eyes brightened with pleasure. “What brought that on?”

Cam brushed her thumb along the crest of Blair’s cheek. “We haven’t stopped moving for the last two months. I want a few days with you when all that matters is being with you.”

“You do?” Blair glanced down the path to the guesthouse where the current office of the Deputy Director of Homeland Security was located, knowing that Cam’s agents waited for her inside and that the work her lover was doing was critical to the nation’s well-being. She also knew that the work was essential to Cam’s well-being. The last thing she expected was for Cam to be thinking of anything except work.

“I’m sorry,” Cam murmured as if reading her mind. “I’m sorry that I haven’t made it clear to you how much I need you.”

“Cameron.” Blair skimmed her fingers through Cam’s hair. “You made that perfectly clear not more than an hour ago.”

Cam grinned briefly. “That too, but more than anything I need you…” Her eyes darkened and she touched her palm to her chest. “…in here.”

Blair caught her breath. “Oh my God. You have to go right this minute or I’m going to have to drag you back to bed. You can’t say things like that to me when we’re standing out here and I can’t have you.”

“Is that a yes about Colorado?”

“I’ll call Doris today. I know Tanner and Adrienne will love to see her again.”

“Good.” Cam kissed her. “I might be a while.”

“I know. Do what you have to do. I love you.”

“Be careful today.”

“I will be.” Blair asked the question lurking in the back of her mind. “Have you learned anything?”

“On the surface it looks like the shooter was targeting Emory.”

“On the surface?”

“He’s on her watch list, but some of these groups have multiple agendas. It’s not a stretch for an anti-fetal research zealot to also be anti-gay.”

“So it might’ve been us he was after.”

“Possibly.”

“But?”

Cam sighed. “We can’t discount the remote possibility that this might be related to the previous assault on you.”

“And you.”

“So our safest course of action,” Cam said, “is to assume all three are probable and investigate accordingly. The local FBI is putting together a file on the anti-stem cell research groups, and we’ll continue to focus on connections to Matheson.”

Blair caressed Cam’s ribs lightly, wishing fervently that she could heal them. “What about Valerie?”

“If she doesn’t contact either Diane or myself, our chances of finding her are remote. Given enough time, we might, but time is something we don’t have much of.” Cam ran her fingers through Blair’s hair. “I’m working on something that might draw her in.”

“Is it classified?”