Honor Guards Part 18

Renee ran her fingers through Stark's hair, laughing shakily. "Take ten."

Smoothly, Stark pushed down on the bed until she rested between Renee's legs. Gently curling her arms beneath Renee's thighs, she lowered her head and eased her lover into her mouth.

Then she took her time, because some things were too precious to hurry.

At 0700, Cam walked into the command center one floor below Blair's penthouse apartment. After her run, she'd showered in her own apartment diagonally across the square from Blair's building and dressed in her customary tailored dark suit and slightly paler shirt.

Like Blair's loft, the area housing the command center was a single open s.p.a.ce. Workstations enclosed by aluminum-rramed gray part.i.tions occupied the central area, a monitoring station crammed with computers, monitors, and communication links to all of New York City's emergency service offices filled the near end of the room, and a gla.s.s-enclosed conference area was located at the opposite end. Per routine, Cam strode to the head of the table in the conference room and remained standing while she addressed the agents gathered for the morning briefing.

"There will be new shift a.s.signments beginning today." She waited while the agents shuffled through their papers to find the week's itinerary. "The following agents will be a.s.signed to the first team until further notice-Stark, Davis, and Parker. Stark is lead. Second team will be Fielding, Foster, and Reynolds. The rest of you will be a.s.signed to shifts as the schedule demands. Mac will coordinate as usual."

Cam had had only a few minutes to glance through the daily reports, including the routine intelligence reports. She looked to Mac. "Anything pertinent in the dailies?"

"No, ma'am," Mac replied. He was too experienced to ask her anything about the a.s.signment changes during the main briefing. She would tell him privately what he needed to know. He also knew better than to ask her what had put the shadows in her eyes or the subtle tremor in her hands.

"Good," Cam said abruptly. "Mac, we need to be in DC by 1100 today. I'll be in the Aerie. Make arrangements for the team at the usual hotel and call me when you have the flight details. Leave the return date open."

"Yes ma'am."

"Thank you. That's all." Cam turned around and walked swiftly through the command center to the outer hallway and keyed the private elevator that led to Blair's apartment.

When she knocked, Blair answered immediately. She wore the royal blue robe that Cam had first seen her in, and, like that first day, her hair was down and wilding around her face. Despite the stress of the last three days, Blair's eyes were clear and her full lips their usual sensuous deep rose. She was the most inspiring woman Cam had ever seen. Love, wonder, need, fear-every emotion that Blair invoked boiled within her.

As the door swung closed behind her, Cam framed Blair's face in her hands, her fingers drifting into the thick golden curls. She lowered her head and smoothed her tongue over the surface of Blair's lower lip before gently sliding inside. As the kiss deepened from greeting to urgency, Cam felt Blair's arms wind around her waist beneath her jacket and Blair's body press tightly to her own. She groaned faintly and swayed against the onslaught of sudden desire.

Blair gripped Cam's back fiercely, her hips rocking from side to side between Cam's spread legs. She pulled her mouth away, gasping. "You make me feel so much. So alive."

Without realizing it, Cam tightened her grip in Blair's hair, tilting her head back as she dragged her teeth down the side of Blair's neck. She hungered for her, not just physically, but in the far reaches of her being, with a need as critical as breathing. She dipped her tongue into the hollow at the base of Blair's throat and murmured, "You're everything."

"Don't stop," Blair whispered, her plea almost a prayer. She pulled Cam's shirt from her waistband and smoothed her hand over Cam's spine, then around her side and onto her abdomen. The muscles beneath her fingers rippled and tightened and her own body quickened. Head thrown back, eyes closed, she moaned as Cam's mouth moved down the center of her chest. She felt the air cool on her hot b.r.e.a.s.t.s, as her robe fell away. "Yes."

"I love you," Cam choked as she lifted Blair's breast in the palm of her hand and pressed her mouth to the tight nipple. Without thinking, nearly beyond thinking already, she bit gently. Through the fog of arousal, she heard Blair whimper.

Everything stopped.

Ice filled her veins as Cam's head snapped up. "Oh my G.o.d. Blair. Did I hur-"

"No."

Before Cam could speak again, Blair put both palms against her chest and pushed her back against the door, following close with her body. She found Cam's hand and put it back to her breast, squeezing Cam's fingers closed around it. "Touch me. Here." Her stomach clenched at the piercing pleasure. Blindly, she found Cam's other hand and drew it between her thighs, her vision dimming at the rush of heat and pressure against her swollen flesh. Voice breaking, she gasped, "And here." G.o.d. Don't go away. I need you now.

Always, even when they had feared to put words to their emotions, their bodies had spoken...of pa.s.sion, of need, of love. Cam felt her lover's cry-through her skin, beneath her fingertips, against her lips-and she answered without hesitation or restraint. She took Blair's breast into the warm haven of her mouth as she entered her body, claiming her, deep and full, carrying her on the tide of their pa.s.sion beyond fear and uncertainty and loss.

As the climax crashed through her, Blair felt as if she might fall, but she knew absolutely that Cam would not let her. Crying out, back arched and trembling uncontrollably, she came around Cam's fingers, clutching her shoulders to stay upright. When her muscles turned to jelly, she sagged in Cam's arms, her head on Cam's shoulder.

"Oh G.o.d. I...don't know where...that came from."

"Us. It came from us." With an arm around Blair's waist, holding her tightly to her chest, Cam brushed her cheek over Blair's hair. She ached with loving her and had trouble catching her breath. She felt the start of tears and, horrified, blinked them away. Kissing the top of Blair's head, she whispered, "Everything is going to be all right."

"Yes," Blair murmured wearily, her eyes closing as she listened to Cam's heart rate slow into the steady, strong cadence that personified everything about her lover. Everything she had come to rely upon. No matter what comes, it will be all right-as long as I have you.

Renee picked up the phone on the first ring. "FBI, Special Agent Savard. How may I help you?"

"You busy?"

"Hey." Unable to hide her smile of pleasure, Renee swiveled her chair away from the man who sat at the desk opposite her in the office that she shared with six other FBI agents. The New York City division of'the FBI, on floors 22 through 24 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, was one of the agency's largest divisions outside of DC. A posting there was a much-sought-after a.s.signment, as was the counterintelligence unit where Renee had worked for the last two days. Currently, she was doing little more than reading case files and report summaries to acquaint herself with the scope of the investigations undertaken by her new division. For many reasons, professionally and personally, she wanted this posting to become permanent. "Trying to look busy, anyhow. How about you?"

"We're headed back to DC."

"Oh?" Renee kept the surge of disappointment from her voice. "For how long?"

Stark sighed. "Don't know. I don't have any details."

"Will you call me, when you know?"

"Yes. Sorry about this."

"No need to be. I understand." Renee glanced quickly over her shoulder, but no one was paying any attention to her. Lowering her voice even further, she murmured, "I'll miss you."

"Me too. I really liked coming home last night and having you be there."

"None of that during working hours," Renee chided with another smile.

"What?" Stark asked in an innocent tone.

"You know what."

"Okay, maybe I do...a little."

"I should go," Renee said softly. "By the way... I really like waking up with you."

Stark made a sound halfway between a groan and a laugh. "Now look who's not playing fair."

"Call me soon. Be safe."

"Roger that." Stark hung up the phone gently, wondering when she would see her new lover again. Be safe.

You have one voice mail message. Please enter your pa.s.sword now.

The iron gray-haired man, flat stomached and tight jawed, followed the electronic commands and thumbed in the numbers on his cell phone as he navigated the Beltway. He had business meetings scheduled the entire day and another kind of meeting that evening. That meeting was with a group of men he swore he would never a.s.sociate with five years ago. The old adage was true--war made for strange bedfellows.

He kept his eyes on the five lanes of traffic as he listened to the message.

Target relocating unexpectedly to Zone One, precise destination undetermined. Duration unknown. Will advise.

A souped-up Mustang cut in front of him, forcing him to brake sharply. His violent curse, however, was not directed at the driver ahead of him but at the possible disruption of his carefully orchestrated plans. There had been far too many false starts brought about by inexcusable mistakes and occasionally by pure and simple bad luck-foreign operatives denied visas because of lost paperwork or key domestic militiamen arrested for domestic violence or a.s.sault and battery. Now that the operation was officially underway and the great machinery of war had been set in motion, he could no longer influence the timing of events. If his forces could not strike their primary target in concert with the attacks of their allies, they might not get another chance.

The decadent regime that held the reins of power in Washington was weak now due to years of ignorance and hubris. But he was not fool enough to think it would remain so after the first attack was launched. The advantage was his now, and he could not lose it.

He punched the number to leave a return message.

"Target location change immaterial. Plan and timetable unchanged."

CHAPTER TWENTY.

C am stood in profile at the window, shafts of sunlight streaming around her body and highlighting the sculpted planes of her face. From her position in the doorway of Cam's bedroom, Blair thought her lover looked like a warrior G.o.ddess carved from gold. There was an utter stillness in her body and a distant expression on her face that Blair had come to recognize as Cam preparing herself for battle. This time, Blair knew, Cam was readying herself for whatever foe Blair might need to fight.

I love you for that look. I love you for being willing to face what comes next. I wish you didn 't have to, but I don't have the strength to sendyou away.

"Darling?" Blair murmured softly as she crossed the room.

Immediately, Cam turned from the vista she had not actually been surveying and greeted her lover with a smile. "Hey. All settled?" She held out her arm and drew Blair close, stroking Blair's back.

"I only unpacked a few things," Blair replied, curving into Cam's side. She slid a hand beneath Cam's jacket and rested it on the crest of her hip. "Just in case we're not staying."

"Are you ready?" It was 1150 and Blair's appointment with the breast specialist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was scheduled for 1300. Cam had reviewed the itinerary with Mac on the short plane ride earlier that morning. The first team was waiting in front of her apartment building now.

"In just a minute." Blair shifted away and caught Cam's hand, drawing her to the sofa where they had made love only days before. Those few hours of peace and pa.s.sion seemed very far away. Blair brushed the anger aside and focused on the present. "There's something I want to talk to you about before we leave."

Cam regarded Blair intently, searching the familiar cobalt blue eyes for signs of fear or withdrawal. Gratefully, she found neither. Since the previous afternoon when Blair had told her what was wrong, she had been half expecting Blair to try to push her away. That's what the woman she had met less than a year before would have done. Her relief at discovering that Blair trusted her to stay-trusted in the strength of their love-was profound. She took her lover's hand and cradled it between her own. "What is it?"

"I have some idea of what's going to happen this afternoon." Blair traced her thumb over the top of Cam's hand. Her voice was steady and calm. She was ready. The initial shock had finally dissipated and her strength of will had returned. She, too, was prepared for battle. "If the surgeon has the slightest doubt about what this might be, I want it out of my body."

"Yes. So do I." As far as Cam was concerned, the upcoming examination couldn't be done soon enough. It was as if she could see a bullet streaking toward Blair's body, and she couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't get in front of it, and she couldn't push Blair out of the way. Her helplessness was eating holes in her gut. If there was the slightest chance of an enemy within Blair's body, she wanted it killed. Dead. Destroyed. Immediately.

"There's something else I want you to know," Blair said quietly.

Cam brushed her fingertips over Blair's cheek. "Tell me."

"If this is cancer, there might be several treatment options." Blair watched Cam's eyes as she spoke. "But even if there are alternatives to surgery, I want a mastectomy."

"All right." Cam's expression never changed and her voice never wavered. "Whatever you want, as long as it's the best chance of cure."

"Apparently sometimes radiation therapy is as good as surgery, but there is always a small chance that another tumor could develop later on down the road. I don't want to face that, not after what happened to my mother."

Cam's throat tightened as she saw the pain swim in Blair's eyes. Voice husky, she said, "I understand."

"Cam...! saw what my father went through. I don't want you-"

"Don't," Cam said gently, brushing her thumb over Blair's lips. "We're not there yet-nowhere near thinking about that. And no matter what happens, I need you. And I need to be with you."

Closing her eyes, Blair pressed her cheek to Cam's hand. "G.o.d, I wish this wasn't happening."

"So do I, baby." Cam leaned forward and kissed Blair gently. "But let's find out what we're facing first. This may very well turn out to be nothing at all."

Blair nodded. "I know. But the numbers are not on my side-- if not now, five years from now, or ten, or twenty." She sighed and met Cam's eyes. "I've always known it. I just don't think about it."

"None of us can predict the future. The best we can do is make the most of the life we have." Cam kissed her again. "I love you so much, Blair."

With a small cry, Blair took Cam's face between her palms and found her mouth, taking the kiss deeper with almost desperate force. When she drew away, tears danced on her lashes. "I count on it. I count on you. I never imagined having anyone like you in my life."

Cam kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her mouth, tenderly but with trembling intensity. "I feel like I was born to love you. Just let me, and I'll be happy."

With a shaky laugh, Blair threaded her arms around Cam's waist and pressed into her. "As if I could help it."

A trim redhead in a United States Army uniform bearing the insignia of a lieutenant colonel stepped into the spare, functional office and crossed the gray carpet to where Blair sat in one of the two chairs facing a plain, dark wood desk. Cam sat beside her. Extending a hand to Blair, the woman said, "Ms. Powell, I'm Dr. Leah Saunders."

"How you do, Dr. Saunders," Blair replied, shaking the doctor's hand. She indicated Cam, "My partner, Agent Cameron Roberts."

"Doctor," Cam said as she shook Dr. Saunders's hand as well.

After the introductions, the surgeon walked around behind her desk and sat down. She slid a plain manila folder to the center of the dark green leather blotter and picked up a nearby pen. As she opened the folder, she met Blair's eyes. "I need to get some medical history before we proceed to the examination. I have your basic data here, so we can concentrate on the present problem."

"Of course." Blair's throat felt dry but her voice was steady.

"You're concerned about a lump in your left breast?"

"Yes."

"When did you first notice this?"

"Three days ago."

"Any tenderness or history of trauma to the area?"

"No. I just happened to feel it while I was showering."

The doctor scribbled a note. "Have you ever had any problems with your b.r.e.a.s.t.s previously-lumps, drainage from the nipple, rashes on the skin?"

"No, never."

"Have you ever had a mammogram?"

"No."

Again, Dr. Saunders paused to enter the information. Then she looked up, her eyes intently focused but her expression kind. "Ordinarily, I wouldn't order a mammogram on someone your age. However, given the family history, if it turns out you do have a palpable lesion, I'd like to image both b.r.e.a.s.t.s just for completion's sake."

"Yes," Blair replied quietly. "That would be fine."

"Are you having any other health issues I should be aware of?" At Blair's negative head shake, Dr. Saunders added, "Any medications or drugs of any kind?"

"No."