Sophie Oak - Lost in Bliss

“That isn’t the way things work here in Bliss,” Wolf pointed out.

He started to lead Holly to the door. “We’ll grab some coffee from Stella’s. That crap Nate drinks is like motor oil. You coming?” Rafe stood there, his eyes on the table in front of him. His face was stony, but Cam could feel the anger practically vibrating off of him.

He wanted to believe Rafe, but it had been one little deception after another with him. How much was he supposed to take? When would Rafe decide to fully cut him loose?

“Yeah, I’m coming.” He followed Wolf out the door. He had enough problems to deal with without sorting through all the things that were wrong between him and Rafe at the moment.

He’d woken up cuddled around the dude. That was just wrong.

“Shit, I take it that’s the reporter?” Wolf asked.

And there was another problem Cam didn’t need. Sometimes he thought his life had been a fuckload easier when it was just him and his computers. He’d had a promising career as a potential hacker. He could have had all the Hot Pockets he could eat and all the comics he could read, but no, when the FBI had recruited him, he’d just had to go. Now he had to deal with waking up with his dick on his best friend’s thigh and catching serial killers and dealing with eighty pounds of pure evil in designer clothes. Yep, he should have gone the geek route.

“Well, if it isn’t the FBI’s least wanted,” Jana said with a wrinkle of her cosmetically perfect nose. She’d once told him she had Reese Witherspoon’s nose, Angelina Jolie’s lips, and Halle Berry’s chin.

She might have paid for all of that, but she hadn’t had to pay for Hitler’s soul. That, she’d been born with.

“You’re going to get your ass thrown in jail for obstructing a federal investigation.”

Jana smiled, but it was more like a snake baring its fangs. How had Laura ever considered this woman her friend? She waved her hand, and her cameraman appeared. He was a lanky guy with stringy hair poking out of his baseball cap. He didn’t say anything, merely shoved the camera on his shoulder and looked through the viewfinder.

“You should know I’m always rolling tape of one kind or another.” Yeah, he knew that all too well. “Even when your best friend is pouring her heart out to you? Tell me something, Jana, how do you sleep at night? How do you rest knowing that your little story almost got Laura killed?”

She shook her head, but her hair didn’t move. It was like the rest of Jana, utterly and perfectly under control and potentially very fake.

“I didn’t kidnap her. I was trying to help the public. That monster had been killing for years, and you guys couldn’t get your thumbs out of each other’s asses long enough to find him. The public had the right to know that there was important information the BAU was overlooking because the profiler was female.”

“That had nothing to do with it, and you know it.” At least Cam hoped it didn’t. Laura had always been treated like a valued member of the team, yet Joe and Edward Lock, the senior analyst on the case, had utterly discounted everything in her profile.

Jana looked down at her nails as though the whole conversation was boring her on a fundamental level. “Seemed like a cover-up to me. It’s my responsibility to keep the public informed. The FBI sat on Laura’s information because she’s a woman, or they hid it because they were trying to protect their own. Either way, it was wrong. I got her information out to the public. I did her a favor.” Cam had to clench his fists to stop from winding them around her neck. He wouldn’t need both hands. He could crush her throat with one. “Yeah, I bet she felt like you had really helped her out when she was fired and humiliated and then nearly killed because your fucking news report gave out her address.”

Wolf was in his truck, revving the engine. Holly had been perfectly still beside Cam, but now she took his hand.

“Come on, Cameron. I think you’ve said enough. Let Rafe handle her.” Holly’s hand was shaking as she started to pull him away.

“Yes, Cam, run away. I don’t need you. I want to talk to a real FBI agent,” Jana said. “You’re useless now, but then you’ve always been useless unless someone needs their computer fixed or backup in a bar fight, you hick.”

He followed Holly because she wouldn’t let go of his hand. There was a rigid set to her jaw as she climbed into the backseat, leaving him sitting next to Wolf. Wolf stared holes through the reporter, and he hadn’t even heard everything she’d said.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that, Holly,” Cam said. Humiliation flowed over him. “Uhm, I should have walked away. You’re right.

Rafe is the agent. He should handle her.” She slapped at his shoulder. “Dummy, I wasn’t saying that. I think Rafe deserves to have to handle her. She’s a horrible human being. I needed to get out of there or I was going to stuff my banana bread down her throat. And it’s good bread. It shouldn’t be wasted on revenge.”

Cam felt a deep surge of gratitude for his woman’s best friend. It looked like Laura had been much more fortunate in her choices of friends in this place. Even that kooky Nell seemed sweet and loyal.

Just a little insane.

His stomach was utterly in knots. How was he going to convince Laura he hadn’t tricked her? He couldn’t lose her again, but how could he keep her after this?

And Rafe. That son of a bitch. The betrayal burned in his gut. Had Rafe really used him? It would be easy to get rid of Cam once the feds swooped down. Cam wasn’t on the team, and he wasn’t local law enforcement. He had not one lick of clearance or standing when it came to the case, and after this morning, he doubted Laura would even consider him a friend. He could get frozen out entirely.

Cam looked out the side mirror back at the cabin where he’d almost found heaven. Rafe was getting into their rented SUV. He shouted something at Jana before slamming the door.

Cam forced his eyes forward.

He couldn’t think about Rafe now. Laura. Laura was all that mattered.

And keeping her alive had just become Cam’s full-time job.

Rafe got into the SUV and put it in reverse. “Is there a reason you can’t take your own vehicle back? Won’t you miss it? Where did you park, by the way?”

Brad frowned as he snapped his seatbelt closed. “Down the way a little. I didn’t know what I was getting into, and you hadn’t been in touch. I can get it later. Why the hell is News 9 out here?” Rafe shot Jana Evans the finger as he drove by. The very sight of her made Rafe want to put his fist through something. This had to be one of Laura’s worst nightmares, and he’d brought it down on her head. Now everyone was pissed at him. “That’s a really good question, one of many I have to ask Joe.”

“Well, I have a couple of questions for you. You want to explain to me why you were in the same bedroom with Cam Briggs?

Seriously? Give me another explanation, man. I knew you two were close, but…”

“I don’t owe you any kind of explanation,” Rafe stated flatly.

He didn’t want to go into it. A couple of people knew he was involved with Laura, mostly coworkers who had been around when Laura was a member of the team, but he’d never talked about her with Brad. Brad was his partner, but Rafe had kept his distance. He’d kept his distance from everyone for the last several years.

Until last night.

Brad kept droning on about some shit, but Rafe’s brain had gone back to the night before.

It had been perfect. He’d taken her, his cock sliding in and out until he couldn’t tell where he began and she ended. He’d pumped into her, giving up his cum while his tongue slid against hers. He’d tasted her at one point. Cam had held her, her back to his front. Cam’s legs had held hers apart, her pussy on full display and available to his lips and tongue. Her pussy was sweetly pink and swollen from use.

Rafe had tenderly washed her with a warm cloth before he’d settled between her legs and licked every inch of her. When he’d looked up her body, Cam’s hands had been there, holding her down when she tried to wiggle, keeping her still so Rafe could have his way.

Cam was his partner.

Brad was just a fellow employee.

“What’s this new information?” Rafe asked, cutting off whatever diatribe Brad had gone on.

Brad stopped and turned to him. His eyebrows rose over his angular face. “You like this girl, don’t you? Were you involved with her before she left?”

Rafe tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he turned out of the small cluster of cabins in the valley toward the center of town.

He’d been here less than twenty-four hours, but he was learning his way around. “It doesn’t matter.”

Brad’s eyes narrowed. “It matters, Rafe. If you’re involved with this woman, it affects this case. She’s the only person we know of who’s survived this guy. She’s a victim. You don’t fuck victims.” Rafe stopped the SUV in the middle of the highway. “She’s Laura Rosen. She has a fucking name, and you’re going to treat her with some goddamn respect.”

Brad’s whole face fell. “Shit, you’re in love with her.” Rafe cursed himself. Brad was very by the book. Joe knew about him and Laura, but Joe understood. He’d agreed to keep it quiet and not take Rafe off the case. Brad could make a stink. Rafe didn’t want to find himself on the sidelines. This was just one of the reasons he hadn’t gotten close to his “partner.” He would never have been able to keep something like that from Cam when they had worked together.

There was a long sigh. “I’m not going to say anything. I don’t know why you think I’m such a dick.”