“Lie down,” Cam ordered. Easing between Blair’s legs, she braced an arm by Blair’s shoulders and kissed her. While she stroked inside Blair’s mouth, she cupped her sex. Blair was wet, swollen, already opening for her. Blair’s hands came into her hair and Cam slid into her. Blair jolted and cried out.

“I never want to hurt you,” Cam said desperately, her breath tearing from her chest as she pushed deeper.

“You aren’t. You can’t. Not when you lo—oh, god.” Blair gripped Cam’s forearm as Cam thrust between her legs. She drove her pelvis up to meet Cam plunging down, the pressure building, burning, blinding. “Cam, I…”

“Blair, Blair,” Cam groaned against Blair’s mouth. “Come, baby. Oh Jesus, please let me feel you come.”

“Oh now,” Blair cried, her nails digging into Cam’s arm. Her abdomen tightened and she jerked upright, clutching Cam as her orgasm spilled from her. “Hold me. Hold me. God, please hold me.”

Cam gripped Blair tightly and as Blair’s body sagged, she eased her back onto the sofa, shifting until she could lie beside Blair and hold her in her arms. “Okay? Baby, you okay?”

Blair pressed her face to Cam’s chest, listening to her heart thunder. “God. You make me come like nobody’s business.”

Laughing, Cam stroked her hair. “Is that right.”

“Mmm.” Blair stretched and eased her thigh between Cam’s legs. “You sound hoarse again. Is your throat okay?”

“Everything feels fabulous.”

Blair nudged Cam’s crotch. “How ’bout this?”

“Fabulously horny.”

“Thought so.” Blair gripped the button on Cam’s fly.

Cam stopped her. “Uh-uh. Not now. I’ll last.”

“Since when?”

“Since Diane’s going to be here any minute.”

“Darling,” Blair said in a reasonable voice. “I can make you come in under thirty seconds.”

Cam kissed Blair lightly. “That’s true. But I want you to take a lot longer.”

Blair sighed. “If that’s what you want, I suppose I can be patient.”

“So,” Cam shifted onto her back so that Blair lay partially upon her, “you want to explain what you said back then just as my mind was melting?”

Blair skimmed her hand back and forth over Cam’s chest. “I told you the truth. I don’t want you to be in danger. I want you to be safe.” She met Cam’s questioning gaze. “But I don’t want my love to keep you from being who you are. Or doing what you have to do. So you have to promise me, on your word of honor, that you won’t let anything happen to you. Swear it.”

“I swear,” Cam whispered, stroking Blair’s cheek. “I swear I will love you with my whole heart every day for the rest of my life.”

Blair blinked back tears. “That’s not what I asked.”

“I know. I’ll be careful.”

Blair settled down again and pressed her face to Cam’s neck. “So noted, Commander.”

Chapter Five

“There!” Diane Bleeker leaned forward over the front seat of the cab and pointed to a building on the right side of the street. “That’s it—1202.”

When the cabbie swerved toward the curb, a horn blared behind them, making Diane jump. She peered out the street-side window in time to see a black sedan rocket by. The cabdriver muttered an expletive as he parked and climbed out to retrieve Diane’s luggage from the trunk.

Diane handed him a ten after he’d set her suitcases on the sidewalk outside Cam’s building. The door opened as she hauled her luggage toward it, and she smiled in recognition at the burly blond who stood just inside. Agent Wozinski made some linebackers look small.

“Hi, Greg.”

“Ms. Bleeker.”

Diane shook her head. She’d given up trying to get him to call her Diane even though she’d once spent a week with Blair and had seen him every day during that time. In the fifteen years that she’d been friends with Blair, she’d grown used to the presence of security agents. But it had never been like this. So many, keeping such a close watch. She was surprised that Blair didn’t break out more often. She would have.

“Okay to go up?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll call up and announce you.”

“It’s 501, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

The elevator was efficient, and Diane suspected that she arrived outside Cam’s door seconds after Wozinski called. When she rang the bell, Blair immediately answered.

“Hi.” Blair pulled her into a hug. “I’m so glad you came.”

Diane hugged her back, surprised at the intensity of Blair’s embrace. She leaned back, her arms clasped loosely around Blair’s waist, and studied her. Blair looked more rested than when she’d seen her ten days ago, but she could hardly look worse than she had the day after both Cam and Renée had been injured. Still, there was something in Blair’s eyes that telegraphed worry. Worry and…regret?

“Are you okay?” Diane looked past Blair into the expansive living room beyond. Cam, who stood behind a small bar tucked into the far corner of the room, nodded in greeting. As usual, Diane could tell nothing from her expression. She waved and returned her attention to Blair. “Did Lucinda give you a terrible task?”

“The usual,” Blair said, trying to inject lightness into her tone. “I don’t have all the details yet.” She grasped the larger of Diane’s suitcases. “Come on, let me show you where the guest room is.”

Diane hesitated. “Are you sure? I can stay at a hotel and give you two some privacy. I don’t need to stay here.”

Blair shook her head. “No, I want you to stay here.” She followed the direction of Diane’s gaze. “Cam is fine with it. Really.” She laughed without much humor. “And God knows, we’re used to having people around all the time. At least with you, it’s by choice.”

“You’re sure?” Diane realized that she really wanted to stay with Blair. She’d been lonely almost beyond bearing in a city still in the throes of grief.

“Positive.” Blair took Diane’s free hand and tugged her into the apartment. “So this is the living room, bathroom’s over there, and the guest room is down this hallway.” She nodded to the opposite side of the living room. “Our bedroom is over there.”

Diane glanced back over her shoulder as she followed Blair. “Well, hell, I won’t even be able to listen.”

Blair laughed. “Like you haven’t heard it all before. Well, at least me.”

“That’s true,” Diane said as they both set her luggage down in the guest room. “But we were sixteen.”

“Cam is opening some wine.” Blair took in Diane’s dark brown Tahari pantsuit and ivory silk shell. “Why don’t you change into something sloppy and comfortable and join us in the living room. We ordered pizza.”

“God, that sounds fabulous.” Diane removed her raincoat and draped it over the chair that sat in front of a narrow writing desk, kicked off her Jimmy Choos, and flopped backwards onto the bed. She patted the space beside her as she curled on her side. “Stay for a minute first.”

Blair climbed onto the bed and propped her head in the palm of her hand, facing Diane. As usual, Diane looked beautiful. Her shoulder length hair was more gold than Blair’s honeyed tones, and nearly straight, framing a dramatic oval face with ice blue eyes. Katherine Hepburn in blond. “I feel like we’re back in prep school.”

“Sometimes I wish we were.” Diane smiled wanly. She looked tired. Who didn’t? Her eyes grew distant. “No, on second thought, maybe not. Because if we went back, I’d still be trying to seduce you, and you’d still be breaking my heart.”

“As I recall,” Blair said fondly, “you did seduce me.”

“I dragged you into bed when you were stoned. Plus, you’d been coming on to me all night, so that doesn’t count.” Diane laughed at the memory. “It was good sex though, wasn’t it?”

“We were fifteen. Of course it was.” Blair sighed. “I do love you, you know.”

“I know.” Diane stroked Blair’s arm. “So what’s wrong?”

Blair shook her head. She couldn’t tell Diane about the situation with Valerie, not until she’d had time to talk to Cam some more. Not until she’d had a chance to decide what she’d do if Cam sided with Lucinda and her father. Her mind rebelled at the possibility, because she wasn’t sure what she would do if she had to fight everyone she cared about. She wasn’t sure she could stand being at odds with Cam over something like this.

“God, you look sad, honey.” Diane slid her hand to the back of Blair’s neck and massaged her gently. “Is something wrong with Cam? Is she in trouble over what happened at the compound?”

“No,” Blair said quickly. “I’m just tired. And the last thing I wanted was to be dragged back here.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Because I’m probably the only person in the world besides Cam who can tell when you’re upset and trying not to show it.”

“I will,” Blair said, realizing there was no point in denying what Diane already knew. “As soon as I can.”

Diane sat up and slipped off her jacket, then laid it on the bed beside her. “Do you think Cam can find out where Valerie is?”

Blair caught her breath, glad that Diane wasn’t looking at her. She took an extra second to be sure her voice was steady. “I don’t know. Why?”

Diane stood, unbuttoned her slacks, and slipped them off. Wearing just her blouse and panties, she opened her suitcase and lifted out a pair of soft, faded jeans. She pulled them on and zipped them, then lifted off the shell and placed it with her suit. “Because I thought I’d hear from her by now, and I haven’t. And I don’t know how to go about finding her.”

“Maybe it would be better if you didn’t find her,” Blair said carefully.

“You mean you think her disappearing act was just her way of dumping me?” Diane donned a pale blue cotton shirt and buttoned it, turning partially away from the bed so that Blair wouldn’t see her hands shaking. She knew what Blair was trying to say, and she had considered that obvious explanation every day since Valerie had vanished one morning before dawn. They’d had an affair and now it was over and she was a fool not to simply accept it. “You think I should just let her go?”