return address. No stamp either. 'How did this arrive?'
'Courier.'
For one heart-stopping moment, she thought she had been catapulted back in time and she was about to read yet another threatening message from Loverboy. Raising her eyes to Blair's, she asked quietly, 'What is it?'
'Open it.'
Carefully, Cam folded back the small gold clasps that held the flap closed and withdrew an eight by ten photograph. She stared at it, anger boiling in her chest. 'Christ.'
'The date stamp on the print is last night,' Blair remarked with no inflection in her voice.
'Yes.'
'I don't know what to do, Cam. I don't even know what this mea-'
'Blair, I don't know who she is.'
Furious, Cam couldn't stop staring at the photograph of herself leaning toward a woman who appeared to be in whispering in her ear. The woman's hand was resting on hers. The shot was intimate, as if it had been taken during a private moment, an image stolen from a lover's tryst. It was the redhead from the evening before, and although only their faces were in focus, the grainy background was clearly the bar where she had gone for a drink.
'Last night after I left here, I went downtown-'
'You don't need to-'
'Yes, I goddamned welldo need to. We need to get something straight,' Cam replied heatedly. 'I haven't been with anyone else since before I was shot. I haven'twanted to be. I don't want anyone but you and I have no intention of being with anyone else. Not now, not ever.'
'I feel ridiculous putting you in a position where you need to say that,' Blair said, her tone somewhere between embarrassed and confused.
'Why?'
'Because I've never wanted anyone to say what you just said before.'
'If it makes you feel any better, I've neversaid it to anyone before,' Cam answered gently as she moved closer and slipped both arms around Blair's waist. They were facing one another, thighs touching, leaning back in the circle of one another's arms to look into each other's eyes. 'I don't know what the hell is going on. I don't know why someone is trying to drive a wedge between us-if that's even what this is about. I can't imagine that our relationship is a threat to anyone.'
At that, Blair laughed out loud. 'Uh-visited the Bible Belt recently?'
'This isn't their style-the photograph in the newspaper, maybe. But even that's a stretch. You're the President's daughter, for god's sake. Even the right wingers aren't crazy enough to sling mud at you.'
'Maybe. I'm sure this is only the beginning.'
'I'm sorry you have to deal with this.' Cam kissed her forehead, the feel of Blair's body in her arms easing the tightness in her chest that the photo had evoked.
'So-who is the bitch?' Blair asked abruptly, but there was a light dancing in her eyes that hadn't been there before.
Cam laughed. 'I have no idea. I couldn't sleep last night-that seems to be a common theme when I'm not with you.'
'I don't know why that makes me happy, either, but it does.'
'Good.'
'Hmm-I know what you do when you can't sleep, though,' Blair remarked lightly, but her eyes were troubled again. Resting her cheek against Cam's shoulder, she kissed her neck above the collar of her pristine white shirt.
'Not to worry, remember?' Cam brushed a kiss into her hair, and continued, 'At any rate, I was just sitting there, trying to get my thoughts in order, and she appeared out of nowhere. I wasn't really paying any attention and, I have to admit, I really don't know who else was in the bar with us. Obviously, someone was inside watching me and took the picture.'
'Do you think she was trying to set you up for something?'
'I don't know. She could have been an innocent bystander and someone just took advantage of the moment. Whatis clear, though, is that I was tailed from here to the bar.' She rested her chin on the top of Blair's head and sighed. 'Some Secret Service Agent I've been this week. I let someone photograph you in a compromising position and now I've managed to get myself a tail that I didn't even see. Maybe itis time for me to retire.'
'Bullshit.' Blair tilted her head while tapping a finger against Cam's chest. 'You haven't had enough rest in a week to account for one full night's sleep. On top of that, you've had a concussion, not to mention more stress than any one person should have to handle in a year, let alone a few weeks. If you've missed a few things, it's understandable. I still trust you with my life.'
'The problem is, you are, and if I'm not up to the job-'
'Oh, for God's sake, Cameron, give yourself a break. When I require you to walk on water, I'll let you know.'
For a moment, Cam simply stared at her, and then she laughed. 'Yes ma'am.'
'And whatever they were trying to do with us, it's had quite the opposite effect. All they've managed to do is piss me off,' Blair added. 'And not at you.'
'Thank god for that. I don't think I could take it.'
'On the other hand,' Blair said as she cupped Cam's cheek in her hand, 'if I see her anywhere near you, her life isn't worth a dime.'
For an instant, Cam was worried, and then she recognized the lilt of humor in Blair's voice. It was something that had been lacking for too long, and hearing it made her heart lift. 'Let's hope for her sake she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. For now, let's forget about her.'
Blair insinuated the fingers of one hand through the thick, dark hair at the base of Cam's neck and pulled her head down. Just before she melded her lips to Cam's, she whispered throatily, 'Yes. Let's do that.'
As the kiss turned hungry, Blair's thighs began to tremble, and she edged her hips up onto the stool behind her, pulling Cam with her until her lover was pressed between the vee of her legs. Lifting both hands to Cam's shoulders, Blair pressed her breasts against Cam's chest, the thin cotton of her T-shirt doing little to blunt the effect of her nipples hardening from the heat of her lover's body alone. Moaning faintly far back in her throat, she kneaded both hands down Cam's back and then underneath her jacket, finally pulling the shirt free of her trousers until her palms found skin.
As their tongues met in a rush of possession, Cam eased her hands between their bodies and rubbed her thumbs over Blair's nipples, drawing a small cry from her. Pressing her pelvis hard into the space between Blair's thighs, Cam lifted both breasts in her hands while tugging sharply on Blair's nipples. She grunted softly as Blair thrust hard into her, her clitoris swelling instantly from the pressure.
'Oh, this issuch a bad idea,' Blair gasped, even as she began working at Cam's belt buckle.
'Why?' Cam's words were short and tight with challenge, her fingers still tormenting.
'Because,' Blair replied before she bit her neck, 'I know how you hate to be distracted when you're working.'
By way of reply, Cam bunched the T-shirt in one fist and jerked it upward until Blair's breasts were exposed, the white fabric straining across the top of her chest, calling the blood to the surface and painting her breasts with the hot blush of arousal. Swiftly, she lowered her head and pulled one nipple into her mouth. Blair's neck arched as she closed her eyes and whimpered.
Moving from one breast to the other and then back again, Cam alternately sucked and bit until Blair's hands flew to her face and pushed her head away.
'You've got to stop. I'll go crazy if you keep doing that.'
'I thought you alreadywere crazyabout me.' Cam's voice was thick, her eyes heavy-lidded with need. She kept one hand on Blair's breast as she yanked the drawstring loose on the soft cotton pants with the other. 'Didn't you...' She worked her hand under the fabric. '...say that?'
'You know what I mean,' Blair replied urgently, her lips swollen with kisses and lust. 'You make me want to...Oh...' Shocked by the sudden touch of Cam's fingers on her tensely distended clitoris, she nearly came. She
