Blair shook her head in frustration and sympathy, hearing the guilt still heavy in Cam's voice. Knowing and believing were two very different things. She was torn between wanting to shake her and wanting desperately to hold her. 'Do you have any idea how crazy you make me when you do things like you did yesterday?'
'Some,' Cam admitted softly, turning her palm so that their fingers met briefly.
'That's progress, I suppose,' Blair sighed.
'I don't want you to worry about me,' Cam began before Blair cut her off.
'Please! Don't push your luck, Roberts,' Blair snapped. She withdrew her hand and pointed to Cam's arm. 'What about changing the bandages?'
'I'll have Stark or Savard give me a hand,' Cam said with a shrug. 'I was just about to go shower. I still smell like smoke.'
'The hell you will,' Blair said sharply. 'I mightjust trust Stark, but I have no intention of letting Renee Savard put her hands on you for any reason, under any circumstances.'
'I can assure you, Ms. Powell, you have no need to worry,' Cam said, her voice dark and intimate.Don't you know that?
Somehow as they had talked, they had moved slowly closer, until now Blair's hand rested on Cam's hip, and Cam's fingers brushed softly up and down Blair's arm. There was space between them, but those few inches shimmered with heat.
'Thank you for coming to my room last night,' Blair said quietly, her lips inches from Cam's. 'I don't think I could have stood waiting much longer.'
'I'm sorry it took me so long,' Cam answered, her eyes unable to leave Blair's. She shuddered faintly as Blair moved near enough for their thighs to touch. 'I didn't mean to hurt you, Blair,' Cam said, her voice heavy and thick. 'I never meant that. I don't know any other way to do this.'
'You really piss me off, Commander,' Blair murmured, moving her hand upward to rest her palm against Cam's chest. 'And I'm not saying I like any of this, and I don't intend to change my mind any time soon. But still -- ' She slipped her hand under the collar and caressed the uninjured side of Cam's neck. 'You make me crazy.'
Cam answered the call in Blair's deep blue eyes and lowered her head to kiss her.
'Good morning, Commander, Ms. Powell,' Renee Savard said smoothly as she walked through the door and headed directly toward the coffee machine. She'd always thought that the best way to handle an awkward moment was to move through it. And since her presence would have been obvious in another second, retreat was not possible.
Cam straightened and stepped back from Blair. 'Agent Savard,' she said easily.
Blair watched Cam's transition, more in fascination than anger. A second before, Cam's body had been about to meld with hers. She had felt the heat and the urgency rippling under her fingers. Now, Cam stood coolly, not a hint of disturbance or discomfort on her face. Blair had no doubt that Renee Savard suspected what had been about to happen between them, but suspecting and observing were two different things. Somehow, she did not think it would matter to Savard, but she had to admit that if it had been Patrick Doyle who had walked through that doorway, it would have been difficult for both Cam and herself. It was an acknowledgment she had been forced to make many times in her life. She had been forced to be cautious, and sometimes she had been forced to hide. She hated it; she had never accepted it; but there had been more than her personal integrity at stake. She had long recognized that she would need a very good reason to fight. Watching Cam slip effortlessly into her professional persona, she thought that perhaps she might finally have found that reason.
'We'll be briefing at 0900, Agent Savard,' Cam said calmly as Savard started out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. Her voice was steady, but her autonomic nervous system was still responding to Blair's hands on her. She felt her own hands trembling and buried them in the pockets of her jeans.
'Yes, ma'am,' Savard replied, looking back from the doorway. The Commander met her gaze directly, her gray eyes completely unreadable. It wasn't that hard to read Blair Powell's expression, however. She was still looking at Cameron Roberts like she wanted to swallow her whole. Savard figured if she hadn't walked in at such an indelicate moment, Blair might have been better able to hide her feelings. She usually was.
'Anything you need from me in advance, Commander?' Savard asked, withdrawing onto safer ground. She didn't imagine privacy was something either of these women had very much of, and it wasn't her job to infringe on what little they had.
'I don't suppose you have a report from the FBI field team on when I'll have their videotapes from the park, do you?'
For a moment, Savard looked away, embarrassed. She didn't want to admit that she was out of the loop, and had been ever since she had told Doyle that she would be happy to work on the inside with Egret's security detail, but that she wouldn't pass him information outside of channels. He'd been angry, but he couldn't order her to do it. It was a messy situation, but she was still FBI, and she'd keep their dirty laundry private. She simply shook her head. 'I've had no updates since arriving here, Commander.'
Cam nodded, having expected nothing different. She knew Doyle would keep his intelligence reports from her as long as he could. 'That's all then.'
Savard left without another word, and Cam turned to Blair, a rueful smile on her face. Blair's eyes were still deep with desire and it took all of Cam's willpower not to touch her again. 'I had better get to work. We should have some food supplies within the hour, and your clothes will be coming later today. I sent Grant back to the city this morning. I thought she would know what you needed.'
'What about Stark?' Blair asked, unsuccessfully trying to ignore the lingering ache of arousal deep within her. Much more of this torture and she was going to lose her mind. 'Is she all right?'
'She was cleared for duty, but I suspect she's downplaying her symptoms,' Cam said quietly, watching Blair's fingers caress the side of her coffee mug.She has such sensitive fingers. She always manages to find just the right
