'Yeah, me, too.'
Blair settled down on the bed and rested her head on Cam's shoulder, her hand lying on the arch of Cam's hip, her fingers slowly moving back and forth. As calmly as she could, she asked, 'So why was she here last night.'
'It's not something you should know about. For security reasons.'
'Fuck security. Just tell me.'
'Someone is investigating the organization she works for,' Cam disclosed reluctantly. 'My name has come up. She wanted to warn me.'
'Jesus.' Blair pushed away and sat up in bed, brushing her hair back from her face with both hands, suddenly intense and focused. 'Who?'
'I don't know. My guess is it's probably an FBI sting operation. I suppose it could be a RICO investigation out of Justice, but I've never heard that this organization has any mob connections. It's hard to know, but everything I was able to find out about them suggested they didn't.'
'Can they hurt you with this?'
Cam was silent.
'Damnit, Cameron. Tell me.'
'In all likelihood, I would lose my security clearance. If that happens, I'll never do this kind of work again.'
'Under any other circumstances, the thought of that would make me happy,' Blair said sharply. 'But not like this. No one is going to do this to you. What else?'
'I don't know for sure. Apparently there've been questions about your father, too. I have to think that was just a fishing expedition, and even if it were fact, I'm not sure what they could do with the knowledge.'
'What are you going to do?'
'I don't know yet. If I could find out who was behind it, especially if it were unsanctioned by any official division, I might be able to turn it around on them.'
'I know someone I might be able to get information from,' Blair said absently, thinking about AJ. AJ had given her Cam's home address after much coercion, but just the same, shehad gotten the information.
Cam shot straight up in bed 'No. Youcannot come anywhere near this. I've jeopardized you just by telling you what I have. Don't you realize that under oath you'd have to reveal what I told youand that by knowing, youre complicit in the crime? You have to let this go, Blair. I never would have told you any of this if we weren't lovers.'
'You can't expect me to stand by and watch someone try to ruin you.'
'This may not even be about me. I may just be a sideline to whoever is behind this. Until they make their next move, we don't know what this means.'
'Oh, come on,' Blair said deprecatingly. 'They're sendingme pictures of you in bars with women. Who else are they going to send the pictures to, my father's Security Director?'
'Just promise me youll stay out of it, and I promise I'll tell you whatever I discover. Please.'
'I'm not going to promise anything right now, because I don't want to lie to you.'
'Goddamn it, Blair-'
'You'd do the same in my position.'
For a moment, they stared at one another in tense silence until finally Cam nodded once, still muttering under her breath.
'Is there anythingelse you haven't told me?' Blair asked, her expression resolute.
'One thing,' Cam finally admitted.
Blair's heart skipped a beat. 'What?'
Cam sighed. 'There's going to be a formal inquiry into the operation in New York City.'
'An inquiry?'
'My actions are being reviewed.' She hesitated, then added reluctantly, 'They may ask for my suspension until it's finished.'
'When did you learn this?' Blair's voice was steel again.
'I met with Stewart Carlisle last night and he confirmed it.'
'Confirmed it? So you knew there was a possibility of this before?'
'It was just a possibility,' Cam said uneasily.
'It came up during the debriefings last week, didn't it?' Blair said, her anger escalating. 'That's why you left here so suddenly in the middle of the night, and why you haven't been sleeping, and why you look like hell half the time. And you didn't tell me.'
'There wasn't anything to tell,' Cam insisted. 'It hadn't been decided then.'
'And while I was relaxing in San Francisco-reading, shopping, talking with your mother- you knew that this could happen. Butyou didn't think it was important enough to tell me. Goddamn it, how are we going to have a relationship if this is the way you behave with me.'
Cam stared at her, speechless. 'I thought we alreadyhad a relationship.'
'That's not what I mean, and you know it. I love you. It's not just about sex and it's not just about attraction. It's about needing to be with you. It's about needing to be in your life. What's so hard to understand about that?' She threw back the sheets and started to get out of bed. Cam stopped her with a hand on her forearm.
'I'm sorry. I've never done this with anyone. It's a habit-it's what I'm used to. That can change.'
'I'm sorry for asking,' Blair said, her voice pitched low, her eyes averted.
'No,' Cam said forcefully. 'Don't apologize for asking me for what you need, especially when it's the right thing for both of us. That's part of this love deal, too, right?'
Blair glanced at her, but said nothing. Cam slid her arm around Blair's waist, pulling her back down on the bed. 'From the beginning I've needed you to help me see what I needed. You never let upyou never gave up. I hope you never do.'
Blair smiled at that and curled against the welcoming warmth and strength of her body, murmuring, 'Youre going to drive me crazy.'
'Yeah, but I love you like crazy.'
'I suppose there is that.'
'Before you fall asleep, you need to make a call,' Cam said drowsily.
'To who?' Blair mumbled.
'The White House detail commander. When you're not there in the morning, they're going to start a manhunt.'
Blair sighed and rolled over, reaching for her cell phone on the bedside table. 'I'll call one of my friends on the inside. That should take care of it.'
'Good,' Cam replied. 'Because I have plans for you in the morning.'
Chapter Twenty-Five
Just after 8:00 a.m., they stepped into the shower together and kissed while the water cascaded over them. Then, they began taking turns soaping each other's body until Cam wordlessly placed the bar on the small shelf behind her, took Blair's shoulders in both hands, and pressed her against the tiled back wall of the shower. With her mouth covering Blair's, she slid her fingers, wet with water and Blair's arousal between Blair's thighs, moving slowly, pushing ever deeper, until she felt the walls of Blair's soul fall before her touch. She held her lover upright with the sheer strength of her arm pinioning her to the wall and the pressure of her hips against Blair's. As she moved within her, drawing her ever closer to a precipice from which there was no return, she felt Blair begin to orgasm against her body, around her hand, and she smiled.
'What was that all about?' Blair gasped a moment later, her eyes still dazed.
'Just this thing I have about what's mine,' Cam murmured.
'You made your point quite effectively,' Blair commented, slipping her palm to the back of Cam's neck and drawing her close.
'Problem with that?' Cam asked from a breath away.
'Not a one.' And then she kissed her.
