Radclyffe - Love & Honor

"Sorry, not tonight."

"You just here to tease?"

Again Blair shook her head, still smiling. "No." She shrugged. "I'm just here to pass the time."

"Suit yourself, but you don't know what you're missing."

As the woman turned to walk away, Blair flashed on Cam's face.Oh yes, I do.

Over the next hour as she finished her beer and had another, she refused several more invitations to dance and, in one case, a less subtle offer to share a few moments of bodily contact in the alley behind the bar. She was watching a particularly handsome male couple dancing when she felt a hand close over her shoulder from behind. She didnt stiffen or react in any way, but she shifted her balance until she was centered and slowly set her bottle down on the ledge near her elbow. Turning her head only slightly, she said, "You need to move your hand or lose it. Right now."

A body pressed close against her in the crowd, a crotch moved against her ass, and fingers stroked down along her bare arm. Lips brushed her ear.

Just as she was preparing to grasp the intruding wrist and twist away, a voice murmured in her ear.

"I'd give anything I have to be-"

Blair spun around, her arms coming up and around Cam's shoulders as she pushed her lover against the wall and kissed her, all in one swift motion.

It didnt matter to her a bit that shed been vacillating between worry and anger all night, wondering where Cam was, wondering why she hadnt called, wondering how she was ever going to be able to control the terrible ache she felt when they were apart. What mattered was that at the sound of Cams voice and the touch of her hand, every single thing in her life made sense. Every cell came alive, every breath felt sharper, every thought clearer. Urgently, hungrily, she molded her body to Cams, her blood running hot and fast just from the feel of her skin.

Finally, breathing heavily, Blair leaned back, her thighs and pelvis still glued to Cam's. The hard press of the agents inside-pants holster registered against her leg and suddenly she was reminded of where they were and what she had just done. Breathlessly, she whispered, "Jesus, Cam-Stark is in here somewhere."

"No, she isn't. I sent her out when I came in. I assured her I'd be able to provide close protection."

Even in the hazy light, Blair saw Cam's electric grin. She saw something else as well. Cam looked gaunt, circles under her eyes marred her handsome face and the tightness in her jaw belied the strain that she couldn't hide.

"Cam, you look beat. Did you get any sleep at all?"

"I slept on the plane."

"How do you feel?"

"Rough", Can admitted, because she knew she wouldnt be able to hide it for long. Shehad slept on the flight, and that had helped. The headache persisted. The neurologist whod seen her in the Emergency Room, the one whod wanted to admit her after the explosion four nights before, had warned her that it might be with her for a while. It seemed a little better, though, and her stomach was more settled. "Nothing a few days away from DC wont cure".

"Why didn't you call metell me you were coming?"

"Sorry. I drove right to the airport from Treasury. I always have an emergency bag in my trunk, and I just grabbed that and caught the first plane out."

Blair knew that kind of behavior was unusual for Cam. "Was it that bad back there?"

"About like I expected."

Blair nodded, knowing there was more, but for the moment, all she really wanted to do was hold her. "Look, let's get out of here. We can..."

Suddenly she remembered the car somewhere outside filled with Secret Service agents. In the past if shed wanted to be alone with a woman she'd met in a bar, she'd use the back door and disappear for a few hours. But this was different; this wasn't just any woman-this was the superior of the agents waiting outside. "Fuck, whatcan we do? I need to be alone with you. Just for a little while."

"Let's go to the beach."

"What?"

Cam took her hand. "Trust me."

Chapter Eight

They caught a cab on the corner of Castro and Market, and while Blair directed the driver, Cam radioed instructions for the agents in the surveillance vehicle to follow them. When the cab pulled to the curb at the end of Polk across from the bay, they paid and climbed out.

"I'll just be a second," Cam said as she and Blair walked back toward the Suburban that sat idling behind their cab. When she leaned down to the open driver's side window of the Suburban, Hernandez looked up. "Two of you stay with the carwhoever's on swing shift is relieved."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Keep your eye on foot traffic on the beach."

"Roger."

As she turned away, the rear door opened and John Fielding climbed out. She nodded to him. "Fielding."

"Commander," he rejoined before heading off to find his way back to the hotel.

Guided by starlight, she and Blair crossed the sidewalk and climbed down to the beach, then walked a hundred yards over the sandy soil toward the bay. As they drew close to the water's edge, Cam pointed toward a projecting outcropping of stone.

"This looks good."

Taking Blair's hand, she led her around the far side of the rocks and settled onto the hard-packed earth, pulling Blair down beside her. The surf was only a few yards away, tossing ghostly fingers of froth up onto the moonlit sand. The salt spray rapidly misted their skin, and in the middle of the night, the air was chilly, even in August.

"You cold?" Cam asked, her back against the stone. Their location was isolated from view of the car, and no one could approach them without being seen by the agents stationed on the road above. It was at once private and secure.

"No, not with you here." Blair settled against Cam's right side, her arm circling Cam's waist, her head nestled on Cam's shoulder. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you had practice at this kind of thing."

"Oh? What kind of thing would that be?"

"Eluding the Secret Service."

"Ah. Ihave been giving it some thought," Cam murmured, pressing her lips to Blair's temple. "I didn't sleepall the way herethe rest of the time I thought about you."

"They've got to be wondering," Blair said quietly, tugging Cam's shirttail free from the waistband of her trousers and slipping her hand beneath, resting her palm on the warm skin of her abdomen.

"I'm sure they arebut you needn't worry about it." As she followed wisps of clouds streaking across the face of the moon, she thought how much better it was to be watching the sky with Blair beside her. DC seemed a world away. Slowly, she stroked the length of Blair's bare arm, fingertips lightly tracing the firm muscles. "Blair, you're the President's daughter. That works for us as much as it works against us. The Secret Service has a long legacy of silence when it comes to protecting the privacy of the President and that extends to his family. My agents will not betray you."

"It's not me I care about." She traced a rib, smoothing her fingertips over the scar.It's you. It's my father .

"I know that. ButI care about you." Cam tightened her hold on her, shifting on the sand until her chest and thighs were pressed to Blair's. "If and when you want to share your personal life with the world, it should be your choice. And it shouldn't be the fodder for anyone else's political agenda."

"Mypersonal life has a lot to do with you," Blair whispered, just before her lips found Cam's and she lost her words in the warm welcome of Cam's mouth.

"Yeah," Cam agreed a lifetime later when she finally thought to breathe again. "But no one will care about me"

"People in DCat Treasury-could make it difficult for you."

People like Doyle, maybe. Cam shrugged and drew her finger along the edge of Blair's jaw. "I'm not worried about that."

"Then what are you worried about?" Blair asked suddenly, leaning back enough to study Cam's face. In the slanting shadows cast by starlight off the water, the sharp angles and planes were even more strikingly handsome. Her voice suddenly thick, she asked softly, "What happened in DC the last two days?"