"Why?" Blair asked, trying not to snarl.


Not too bad,Diane thought.She didn't throw anything.


"Because I got the distinct impression that while I was in Europe you made good use of my apartment, and I presumed you were with her," Diane answered. She'd seen the way the two of them had looked at one another for weeks before the shooting - as if they were struggling not to jump on each other and start tearing off clothes. And she'd seen Blair frantic with worry those first few days after Cam was wounded, until it was clear that she would survive. Even while the Secret Service agent was recovering and they'd had no contact, Diane had seen the change in Blair. Her notoriously restless friend hadn't been out hunting for a one-night stand in months. Blair must have wanted to be with someone very badly if she'd arranged for them to spend more than a night together somewhere. Since she couldn't bring a woman to her own apartment, at Diane's they would have at least some privacy. "Itwas her you brought up here, wasn't it?"


Blair just nodded, seeming to have forgotten that she still held the coffee cup raised in front of her. Her mind balked at returning to those brief days and her wild hope of happiness. She wasn't sure she wanted to remember, not until she stopped aching every time she thought of her.


"Then we crossed in the air and by the time I got back from Europe, you were off to China. I never heard the juicy details." Diane spoke carefully. Blair's expression was haunted. "The next thing I know we're sitting in a cafe, Roberts is across the room watching you on full spooky status again, and you're a mess."


Blair's hands trembled slightly as she set the cup down. In the past three days she'd begun to wonder if she hadn't dreamed those five nights in June. Five nights, and then Cam had returned to Washington for her new posting as a regional director in the investigative division. They both expected it to be weeks before they saw one another again. Blair had the China trip with her father, and Cam would be in the field soon. She might have believed it a dream, she supposed, if her skin didn't still tingle with the memory of their last morning together.


When she awoke, she was alone. The shower was running in the adjoining bathroom. She turned on her side, toward the empty space beside her, imagining she could still feel the heat of her, still smell her - rich and dark and powerfully enticing. Her stomach tightened, and she lingered for a moment, eyes closed, remembering.


She was drifting, pleasantly aroused, replaying the feel of Cam's fingertips along her thigh when warm lips brushed over her ear.


"Are you awake?"


She smiled, stretching under the light sheet that was still twisted from their passion the night before. "Only in some places."


"I was going to get breakfast," Cam said, leaning closer to kiss the sensitive spot at the base of her neck. "There's a service elevator in the building, isn't there? No need to announce my presence to whoever's on shift now."


She turned over on her back -- struck as she always was when she saw her -- by a surge of pure physical longing. Her body was already tingling. She rose and grasped Cam's hair in one hand, tugging her down for a kiss. She had only meant to say hello, but she wasn't used to the feel of her lips yet, didn't think she'd ever get used to them. Firm and hot and wonderfully responsive. The first meeting of smooth warm flesh became a light bite and then a serious exploration as she sucked and licked and tasted her, afraid she might die if she couldn't have more.


"God," she gasped when she finally dropped back to the pillow, her fingers still wrapped in Cam's thick hair. "I'm hungry."


Cam was breathing hard and her charcoal eyes burned as she looked down at her, her fine mouth curling into a smile at one corner. She ran a finger between Blair's breasts and murmured, "Why don't I think it's bagels you're talking about?"


Blair arched under her touch, the muscles in her stomach twitching as Cam stroked slowly lower. "I can have bagels any day," she managed, her hips lifting of their own accord as heat burst between her legs like a bonfire that had smoldered for hours, then roared to life on a whisper of wind. She hadn't wanted anyone to touch her in so long, and now she couldn't stop wanting it. She couldn't think, was afraid to think. God she was losing her mind.


"You have far too many clothes on," she whispered, reaching for the buttons on Cam's shirt. She needed to distract her, because if Cam moved any lower and touched her just once, she would lose it. Her nerve endings were already screaming for satisfaction, and it would be over far too quickly. That was something else she was afraid to think about. She had absolutely no control over her body with her. She'd made love to countless strangers, but it had never touched her inside. She'd walked away barely aroused, but with Cam, one slow smile, one brief caress, and she was wet and ready.


"You're not helping," Blair half-moaned as Cam's hands slid upward from her belly, cupping her breasts, her gifted fingers rubbing over her nipples.


"Oh yes," Cam murmured, her voice heavy and smooth, "I am."


Blair lost patience and pulled the last button off Cam's shirt, then pushed it roughly down her arms. "Get your clothes off," she ordered, having trouble catching her breath. Her blood was boiling, and a terrible pressure pounded along her spine. She'd come without Cam touching her if she weren't careful. "Cam, please," she pleaded before she could stop herself.


Something in her voice must have penetrated Cam's awareness, because suddenly she stood and threw off the shirt, her hands fumbling with the buttons on her jeans. "Hold on to it," Cam urged, her breathing ragged, as she stepped out of her pants and reached over to fling the sheet off Blair's body in one motion. She moved over her, naked now, and slipped one long, lean thigh between Blair's legs, sighing as their flesh met. They were both so wet, and the moisture flowed along their skin, fusing them.


"You are so beautiful," Cam whispered, both hands framing Blair's face. Holding Blair's gaze, she began a steady rhythm with her hips, pressing into her, then away, then down again, harder, faster, each thrust working them both a little higher.


Blair bit her lip, struggled to ignore those first spasms deep inside. "You're making me crazy," she cried brokenly.


"I want to make you come," Cam groaned, her voice hoarse, her eyes dimming with desire. She shivered, made a choking sound, and her lids flickered closed for an instant. "Ah, god. If - I- can last."


Blair, arms tight around her, back arched, trembling on the brink of dissolving, stared up into those dark, wild eyes, so close now, and wanted to believe. "I lo-," she stopped, too many years of guarding her secrets and hiding her fears standing in the way of the words. She ran her hands along Cam's back, found her hips, pulled her closer. "Take me away," she whispered into Cam's neck.


And Cam did. Even as she lost the battle with her own raging senses, she brought one hand between them and grasped Blair's nipple, squeezing hard, timing it to the rhythm of her hips. Blair cried out as Cam jerked violently with the first rush of her own orgasm, and then they were shuddering in each other's arms, lost and, finally, found.


Blair stared at Diane as if she'd never seen her before, drained by the memories.


"Wherever you just went," Diane commented dryly, "I'd give a lot to visit."


Blair laughed, but there was pain in her eyes. She shook her head ruefully. "So would I."


"So what happened?" Diane asked. She tried to remember the last time she had seen Blair so hurt, and couldn't.


Blair pushed back in her chair, running both hands through her hair, sighing. "She needed to go back to DC, and I had to leave the country. We talked on the phone, planned to meet as soon as we could."


She stood, walked to the small window that looked down upon the street. The nondescript black sedan bristling with antennae on the rear trunk that screamed 'undercover car' was still parked opposite the entrance to Diane's building. She could make out a shadowy figure in the front seat. Probably Stark by now. She wondered where Cam was, if she had slept.


"We knew it would be hard, but I thought --," her voice trailed off as she recalled their last conversation before parting.I thought we agreed she couldn't be on my detail. I thought we were going to work out a way to see each other. I thought she cared.


"So, what happened?" Diane asked from behind her, persisting gently.


Blair didn't turn, just kept looking off into the perfect spring morning, not seeing a thing. "The next time I saw her, she was at my door - and back on the job."


"Just like that?" Diane sounded incredulous. It didn't seem like Cam's style. She'd always impressed Diane with her regard for Blair's feelings, even when she was pissing Blair off by insisting that she follow orders. She must have known how devastated Blair would be to be left out of that kind of decision, something that affected her so personally. Blair's trust was so fragile, and Cameron Roberts simply didn't seem that cruel.


Blair finally left the window, stalked to the counter, grimaced when she found the coffee pot empty. "Yes. Just exactly like that."


Diane wanted to ask more, but the moment had passed. Blair's fury had returned, and in a way, Diane much preferred it to the pain. At least Blair had learned to survive with her rage. She wondered if Cameron Roberts had any idea how impossible Blair would be to control when she was not only angry, but wounded.