“Makes all the difference,” Cam whispered.

Blair smiled. “I know.” She stroked Cam’s stomach, then worked her way down the front of Cam’s legs. As she slowly skimmed her fingers along the insides of Cam’s thighs, she felt a different kind of tension infuse her lover’s body. She leaned down and kissed Cam’s stomach, then rubbed her mouth over Cam’s navel. “Feel good?”

Cam twisted her fingers in Blair’s hair. She was so relaxed she could barely move, but every nerve was singing with arousal. “Not even close.”

“That bad, huh?” Blair stretched out along Cam’s uninjured side, resting her cheek in the center of Cam’s stomach. She drew one leg up over Cam’s and nestled her sex against Cam’s calf. “If you promise to lie still, I’ll see if I can make you feel better.”

“You’re hot,” Cam whispered, drawing strands of Blair’s hair through her fingers. “I can feel how hot you are against my leg.”

“I am,” Blair said, smoothing a fingertip up and down the cleft between Cam’s thighs. “I’m very hot. And wet. That’s what happens when I touch you.”

Cam groaned softly. “Seems the same thing happens to me.”

“Oh yeah?”

“See for yourself,” Cam whispered, her fingers trembling as she caressed Blair’s face.

“I love this,” Blair said. “I love you. Now don’t move.”

Cam closed her eyes as Blair softly, ever so softly, massaged her clitoris until she climaxed. Blair moaned quietly, her mouth against Cam’s stomach, her legs shaking as she rubbed against Cam’s leg until she came.

“I didn’t know it was possible to come without moving a muscle,” Cam murmured, the last tendrils of tension bleeding away. “Jesus, I couldn’t get up now if I had to.”

“Good,” Blair said lazily, turning on her back so she could reach the lamp to turn it off. She found the sheet and pulled it over them. “Because I’m not letting you get up. Maybe not for a couple of days.” She turned on her side again and wrapped an arm around Cam’s middle. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Cam stroked Blair’s hair and held her tightly. “I need to be here. I need you.”

“I’m here. Go to sleep now, darling.”

Morning would come soon enough, and when it did, the hunt would begin again. But for now, Cam accepted the peace that only Blair could bring her, and slept.

Chapter Fourteen

Thursday

Matheson smiled at the man who joined him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He was much younger, a stocky redhead in neatly pressed work pants and a brown leather bomber jacket with an American flag patch stitched onto the sleeve. They shook hands and moved off to one side of the rotunda as a maintenance worker began polishing the stone floor with an electric buffer. The noise made conversation difficult, but it also provided excellent cover.

“How are things at the new compound, Colonel?” Matheson asked his freshly-promoted secondin-command.

“The men have nearly finished the barracks, sir.”

“How is morale?” Matheson had lost some of his best officers during the Special Ops raid on his compound in Tennessee. Unfortunately, many of his ground troops were unseasoned volunteers who had never faced combat or even given any thought to what a real battle might be like. Now he needed to rebuild his paramilitary force and relocate his base, and some of the men—mostly truck drivers and other blue-collar workers—were beginning to realize that they weren’t just playing at being weekend soldiers. There was a war on. And war meant casualties.

“We lost about twenty percent of our original force to desertion, in addition to those who were captured,” the redhead reported. “But we’re adding new men at twice the normal rate since 9/11. The patriots are rising across the nation in response to the attack.”

As we predicted, Matheson thought. The only reason that he and his patriot brothers had been willing to aid the foreign insurgents was to further their own agenda. An attack on American soil was guaranteed to rally the loyal. Now, with more men joining them every day, he and his compatriots could consolidate their power base and expand their sphere of influence.

“The FBI will undoubtedly accelerate their attempts to infiltrate our ranks now, so be vigilant,” Matheson said.

“Yes sir. We’re screening carefully.” The redhead hesitated. “Have we resolved the problem with the security breakdown here, sir?”

Matheson shook his head. “Not yet. Take this lesson to heart, my friend. Never rely too strongly on anyone but your most trusted brothers-in-arms.” He clamped a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “But, despite the unreliability of dealing with bureaucrats and low-level informants, it’s also useful to have sources inside the system. We may be able to deal with all our problems another way.”

“Sir?”

“I was advised that the White House press secretary released an interesting tidbit last night,” Matheson said. “Blair Powell and her deviant secret service guard intend to hold a so-called wedding ceremony. I imagine the papers will have that this morning.”

The redhead grunted. “She’s an embarrassment to the entire country.”

“But the timing is good for us. If a morally outraged man—or woman—were to put a stop to them, we’d fulfill our mission to destabilize President Powell’s administration, and we’d cut off a possible return route for our missing CIA agent.”

“And we could disavow any involvement.”

“Exactly. Let’s call on our friends to activate someone, preferably a member of one of the splinter groups—someone expendable who won’t be traceable to us or our Conservative Coalition allies.”

“What should I tell them about the target, sir?”

“That we want both neutralized, but Roberts should be the priority.”

“Do we have their location, sir?”

Matheson grimaced. “No, we’ve lost them temporarily, but Powell’s official schedule of appearances is updated daily.”

“A public assault is a suicide mission,” the redhead said mildly.

“All the better, as long as he—or she—takes the targets out first.”

“Yes sir.”

The men shook hands. “Godspeed, Colonel.”

“God bless America, General.”

When Blair awoke, she was surprised to discover that Cam had gotten out of bed without waking her. Ordinarily she was a light sleeper, but she had lain awake for a long time the night before, after Cam had fallen asleep in her arms. Partly, she’d still been wound up from worrying about Cam all day, but it was more than that. Felicia and Renée were staying in the guesthouse, which had been transformed into an ad hoc office for the OHS. Her security team had relocated to the main house, and Mac was probably already setting up a command center in the dining room downstairs. Diane remained in the main house at Paula’s suggestion, which made it easier to protect her as well. The new arrangements made it impossible to deny that she was living in a high security complex. And now her lover was a deputy director in a national security organization that had not existed two months before. Blair was faced with the cold hard realization that, even when her father was no longer president, her life was not suddenly going to be normal. This was normal, and it was what she’d been fighting to avoid all her life.

Blair rolled over and opened the bedside table. Cam’s weapon wasn’t there, because she was wearing it. Because even in this, their soon-to-be new home, they weren’t entirely safe. She walked to the window to look out over the dunes to the ocean. There was no one in sight. Even the fishing trawlers were so far out to sea they were no more than dots on the horizon. She was as alone here as she had ever been, and she should have felt free, but she didn’t. With a sigh, she pushed her melancholy aside and went to look for her lover.

She found Cam in the kitchen, leaning against the counter drinking coffee. She wore her casual work attire—chinos and a button-down collar shirt—and her weapon.

“Did you eat something?” Blair asked as she placed a hand in the center of Cam’s stomach and kissed her. Then she sidled around her to pour her own cup of coffee.

“I had some toast. You want some?”

“No thanks.” Blair kept her back turned. “I’ll grab some later. How’s your shoulder and hip?”

“Fine.” Cam set her mug down and caught Blair’s wrist before she could slip away. “What’s the matter?”

Blair smiled and brushed her fingers over Cam’s chest again. “Nothing.”

Cam waited until Blair had sipped her coffee, then plucked the cup from her hand and deposited it next to hers on the counter. Then she threaded her arms around Blair’s waist and pulled her gently against her body. She kissed Blair a little bit longer than her normal morning hello, and then studied Blair’s eyes. “Something happen I should know about?”

“Just a case of the blahs,” Blair said lightly. She nipped at Cam’s chin. “Really. Go to work.”

“You’ll tell me when you’re ready, right?” Cam murmured, placing another kiss gently on Blair’s temple.

“Mmm hmm,” Blair sighed.

“Ready now?”

Laughing, Blair pressed her mouth to the hollow at the base of Cam’s throat. “I’ve forgotten how persistent you are. I was just thinking that what you do, what you all do, isn’t confined to some office in a building in DC or Langley anymore. It’s everywhere, wherever you are. Wherever we are. Even here.”

Cam caressed Blair’s back. “I wish I hadn’t had to bring this into our home. I wish it didn’t touch you, or us. As soon as I can, I’ll move the team—”

Blair shushed her with a kiss, sliding her hands into Cam’s hair and melding her body a little more tightly to Cam’s. She felt Cam’s heart beat against her breast and the muscles in Cam’s stomach and thighs tighten. She felt the connection that held her secure no matter where she was, no matter what was happening, and realized that just as the danger was part of their life, no matter where they were, so was their love. And that mattered more to her than any place on Earth. She stroked Cam’s neck as she leaned back in her arms. “That’s not necessary. I’d rather you and the others work here if it’s the most secure location.” She pressed her hand to Cam’s heart. “This is my safe place.”