spot, and then she strokes it so --. Cam swallowed, pulled her eyes away, and added, 'Since we won't be traveling for a few days, she may be okay.'
Blair tore her gaze from Cam's mouth, which she had just been imagining on her skin, and asked sharply, 'You expect this to be an extended stay then?'
Cam moved, leaning against the opposite counter, needing the distance from Blair in the narrow space so that she could concentrate. She was having trouble thinking about anything at the moment except the way Blair touched her when she was hungry. 'I don't know yet. At the very least, another day. I'm hoping to have preliminary reports from the ATF bomb center in a few hours. I expect that the FBI profiler and the ATF Commander will be here sometime later today for a briefing. All the videotapes from our cameras and the FBI teams, if they cooperate, will be arriving here along with our computer equipment this afternoon.'
'Why can't I go home?' Blair asked softly, thinking that there she would at least be able to touch her, justtouch her, without someone walking in on them.
Cam heard her unhappiness and wanted to hold her. Just long enough to comfort. 'Your apartment building is being checked this morning, just to be certain we don't have any breach in security there.'
Blair listened, trying to absorb the magnitude of the investigation, realizing that this was not something that was going to disappear overnight. It was like a huge machine, already set in place and running, and there would be no stopping it. She was at the center of the hurricane, and all she could hope was that the eye of the storm would be large enough to allow her to breathe - and to steal a few moments with Cam.
'Tonight then?' Blair asked hopefully.
Cam shook her head. 'We don't know enough yet. We assume that the car bomb was some kind of message from Loverboy, but it could just as easily be a terrorist attempt on your life or a warning to the government from some extremist group that wants recognition. It could be the first of a series of bombings that don't involve you personally at all. You're safe here, and until we gather intelligence from the CIA and the anti-terrorist divisions of the NSA and FBI, and get an analysis of the bomb and a few hundred other bits of information, you can't go home. For the next few days, I'm using this as our command center. I'd like you to remain here for at least that long.'
Cam waited, knowing that what she was saying was probably more threatening to Blair than the physical attack on her life. This kind of focus would mean an even greater assault on her privacy and a more pervasive objectification of her life. There would be very little time, and almost no place, for her to live normally in the midst of such scrutiny.
'Do I have a choice?' Blair asked angrily, imagining being surrounded by strangers twenty-four hours a day. Not just in the background anymore, but literally in the same room with her.
'We could have a helicopter take you back to the White House where the White House guard would be responsible for your security.'
Cam held her breath, knowing that in theory Blair should be perfectly safe inside the White House. Except that she knew damn well that Blair wouldn'tstay inside the White House, and there was no one there that she trusted to guard her. And she'd go crazy if she thought that Blair was likely to slip away from her security detail and inadvertently place herself in danger. And she didn't think she could stand being separated from her now.
'Why can't you come back with me to DC?' Blair asked, risking disappointment, but needing so desperately just tobe with her.
'I need to stay here, Blair,' Cam added quietly, hating to say the words that she knew would hurt her. 'At least until I'm sure that I'm getting all the information that I need. It's going to make a difference in the future. Sooner or later you'll be visible again.' She didn't add that Blair would be vulnerable again then, too.
'Well,' Blair commented dully, struggling to hide the ache of rejection, 'better the enemy you know. I'll stay.'
'Thank you,' Cam said softly. 'A few days, and I'll try to get you home again.'
Blair looked at Cam, anger warring with desire. 'I hope so, because I'm not sure how long I can stand this.'
Cam couldn't bear seeing the pain in her eyes. She couldn't bear being the cause of it one more time. 'Blair,' she whispered, her voice husky with the need to soothe her, 'I'd give anything in my power to make this different for you. I can't.'
Blair stared at her, uncertain whether she wanted to scream or cry. 'God, Cameron. You don't get it at all, do you?' She took one step closer, clenching her fists to keep her hands off her. She wanted her so much! 'I don'twant you to fix it. I want you to touch me.'
Cam didn't have the strength to look into Blair's eyes and lie to her. She couldn't say no to her, because she couldn't tell her she didn't want her. Not again. She wavered slightly on her feet as she lost the battle with sense and reason.
'Come with me,' Cam said hoarsely.
Blair hesitated for half a second, staring after Cam as she turned abruptly and walked away. Then she hastened to follow, catching up to her at the beginning of the hallway that led to the rear of the house where most of the bedrooms were situated.
'Fielding is down there,' Blair said in an urgent whisper.
'I know that,' Cam said curtly. 'I posted him there last night.'
She reached Blair's bedroom door and opened it, stepping to one side so Blair could enter, then followed her through and closed the door. When Blair turned, confusion in her eyes and a question on her lips, Cam reached out with her left hand and gathered the fabric of Blair's oversized T-shirt in her fist, pulling Blair roughly to her. She lowered her head and captured Blair's mouth, swallowing Blair's gasp of surprise with a kiss. She kept her hand twisted in the material, forcing Blair against her as she slowly walked them across the bedroom toward the open bathroom door.
