Radclyffe - Honor Reclaimed

"I'm not—" She broke off as the umbrella turned itself inside out and nearly set sail. She grabbed it from Diane's hand. "Give me that, before it gets away and kills one of them back there."

"You must be horny."

Blair forced the umbrella closed and shoved it under her arm. "Diane. You're my best friend. But if you don't shut up, I'm going to drown you."

Diane pushed water off her face with both hands. "Then you'd better hurry."

"In case you haven't noticed, Cam has been holed up in the guesthouse for almost three days straight." Blair stomped down to the water's edge, her sneakers filling with ice-cold water. The sky was a solid inky black, storm clouds obscuring the stars. She hugged herself, and when she felt Diane's arms close around her waist from behind, she welcomed her warmth. "When she works like this, she doesn't sleep, and she doesn't eat, and she subsists on coffee. She gets headaches that she thinks I don't know about. She's pissing me off."

"Now I get it. You act the same whether you're worried or homy, and the solution is the same too. You just need Cam in bed."

Blair laughed. "That would be a good place to start." She turned her back to the water and the punishing wind and threaded an arm around Diane's waist. "How about you? Are you suffering from lack of company as well? I don't see you spending much time in your own bed at night."

"Valerie usually calls me when they're wrapping up and I... visit."

"Then you're doing better than me. By the time Cam gets home, she usually falls facedown into bed and gets up again three hours later."

"Well, I haven't had a chance to get used to Valerie yet, so I'm not letting her get a lot of sleep."

"I have a feeling that action's probably mutual." Blair steered a path across the darkened beach, noting the shadowy outlines of her two security agents backlit by the lights of the house. She raised her voice to be heard over the sounds of surf and rain. "Go back inside. We're on our way up."

"I'm going to leave you here," Diane said as she reached the point where the path branched to the guesthouse. "I think tonight, I'll surprise her."

"See if you can send mine home before dawn," Blair grumbled as she continued toward the main house.

*

"I hope you don't mind," Diane said quietly as Valerie slipped into the darkened room. "I let myself in through the back."

Valerie crossed to the bed, her eyes gradually adjusting to the absence of light. She leaned over, tracing the ghostly shape beneath the white sheets with her hand, moving from soft cotton to even softer skin. She combed her fingers through silken strands, her thumb brushing Diane's cheek. She found her mouth effortlessly, as if drawn to her by an invisible force. Soft lips, impossibly warm, enticingly yielding. Her fingers trembled as Diane kissed them. "Oh no. I don't mind at all."

Diane sat up in bed, smoothing her palms over Valerie's shoulders, down her chest, softly outlining her breasts before settling onto the buttons of her blouse. "Let me help you."

Valerie unzipped her slacks and pushed them off as Diane freed her from the rest of her clothing. She slid under the sheets and stretched out facing Diane, supporting her head in her open hand. Lightly, she traced the faint ridge of Diane's collarbone to the hollow at the base of her throat. She placed a soft kiss there. "I'm so glad you're here."

"You've been working terribly hard. All of you."

"There's so much to do, and every day that passes feels like just so much opportunity lost." She sighed as Diane slipped one leg between hers, drawing their bodies closer together. She kissed her, smoothing her palm down the center of Diane's back to cup her buttocks. "Mmm, I love the way you feel. Your skin is so soft." She parted her lips and gently nipped at Diane's nipple, teasing it with tongue and teeth. "And I love that little mole you have on your breast. So sexy."

Diana arched her back, enjoying the pull of Valerie's mouth on her flesh. She laughed as Valerie traced her tongue around the small birthmark. "I hated that when I was young, I can remember trying to talk Blair and Tanner into getting matching tattoos, so I could cover it up."

"That would have been a shame," Valerie murmured, edging down on the bed. She sucked lightly on the now-turgid thimble of tissue before continuing lower, rubbing her cheek over Diane's stomach.

"I love your mouth. God, what you do to me." Diane gathered Valerie's hair in her hand, tugging gently as Valerie teased at her navel. Dreamily, she recounted, "The two of them were always the daring ones.. .mmm, that's so nice..." She shifted her legs restlessly as Valerie worked lower. "But they...chickened out."

"I'm glad." Valerie danced her fingers over Diane's thighs and flicked her tongue through the silky curls that lay between them. "I can't quite see you with a heart.. .or a butterfly.. .tattooed on your breast."

"Oh, we weren't going to do anything as...mundane as that. We were...thinking of the school mascot...a mountain li—" Diane was brought back from her sensuous haze as Valerie abruptly sat up. "Darling? What is it? What's wrong?"

"What? Oh.. .nothing." Valerie found Diane's hand and brought it to her lips. She kissed her knuckles. "I'm sorry. Forgive me. I need to get up."

Diane pushed herself up in bed, leaning on her elbows. "Now?"

"Something I have to check." Even as she spoke, Valerie was slipping into her slacks. "I'm sorry. God. I'm sorry."

"Tell me that you're at least suffering a little bit. Because if I'm the only one that's wet and—"

"No. God, no." Valerie sat on the edge of the bed again and curved a hand behind Diane's head, pulling the other woman roughly against her. She covered her mouth with hers, her tongue seeking entrance, and when welcomed, swirling demandingly inside. "Believe me, I'm dying. I've been wanting you all night."

"Good. Then go, and do whatever it is that you need to do. Because when you make love to me, I'm not sharing you with anything." Diane gently pushed her away. "Do you mind if I stay here?"

"I might be a while." Valerie kissed her again. "But I'd like it if you waited. It might be nothing."

"Then I'll be waiting."

"I'll come back as soon as I can." Valerie framed her face and kissed her forehead.

"Careful, I just might hold you to that."

"You do that."

Then Valerie was gone, and Diane curled into the warm space her body had just occupied. She closed her eyes, contenting herself with the scent of her hair on the pillow.

*

Blair awakened to the insistent ringing of the cell phone. She sat up in bed and leaned across her sleeping lover, fumbling on the bedside table amidst the beeper, the gun, and the radio for the phone.

"God damn it," she cursed, finally finding the small object at the same time as Cam roused.

"I'm awake," Cam muttered groggily, extending her hand.

"No, you're not. And whatever it is," Blair said irritably as she flipped open the phone, "it can wait until morning. They can just call back then." She snapped it closed and dropped it onto the floor on her side of the bed.

"Blair, who was that?" Cam asked quietly, alert now.

Blair circled Cam's shoulders and pulled her down against her body. "No one. Go back to sleep."

"You do realize that was my phone."

"Be quiet, Cameron, and go to sleep."

"It might've been Lucinda, or the president."

"I don't care if it was the pope. You need some sleep."

Cam kissed Blair's cheek, then heaved herself up and over her body. She stretched an arm down and felt around on the floor until she found her phone, then rolled back into bed. She opened it and pushed recall.

"You just won't quit, will you," Blair said.