Cam groaned and slumped forward. Lost in a glowing haze, breathing hard, she lay across Gus, her head buried beneath his jaw. Weakly stroking his hair with her fingers, she felt their hearts beating in unison together like drums. Her mind was mush. She couldn’t think, and speech was impossible. Wonderful radiating waves of warmth and light pulsing through her body held her total attention. Now she understood how sex, good sex, could be incredible, and she smiled against the curve of his sweaty neck. All the while, Gus was stroking her spent body, his strong hands moving gently down her spine and across her hips.
“You are my heart,” he whispered into her ear, her silken hair tickling his face. “And this is what love…real love…is all about, querida. I wanted to show you that a man can love his woman as an equal partner. We don’t always take and run, like you’ve experienced in the past.” He smiled when she lifted her head to look into his eyes. “Loving is giving and taking. It’s about sharing. It’s about wanting to make the person you love happy.” Reaching up, he grazed her flushed, damp cheek.
Drowning in his glittering gaze, which was filled with tenderness, Cam whispered brokenly, “I never knew, Gus…not until now….”
Satisfaction made him growl. “Well, now you know the difference, querida. This—” he stroked her shoulder and back caressingly “—is what we have to look forward to from now on. Pretty great, isn’t it?”
Cam purred beneath his ministrations. “Yes…oh, yes!”
Sliding his hand to her cheek, he guided her mouth to his, cherishing her soft lips for a long, long time. When they finally eased apart, Gus whispered, “I’m going to love you forever, Camelia Anderson. Forever…”
Chapter 20
“Hey, welcome home!” Sergeant Angel Paredes called when Cam stepped into the barracks of the Mexican Air Force base in Tijuana.
Cam grinned and threw her arms around the Peruvian paramedic, who had worked at BJS since its beginning. They called her the Angel of Death because countless times Angel had managed to save the life of someone in the worst of circumstances—patients not expected to make it. She’d cheated death of many good people.
“Hey, great to see you here!” Cam replied. Glancing over her shoulder at Gus, she quickly introduced him to the Quero Indian. Angel was small and stocky, having descended directly from the Incas, proud rulers of an empire that had covered much of South America at one time.
Cam saw Angel’s large brown eyes light up with pleasure as she pumped Gus’s hand. Then Lieutenant Dallas Klein, Maya’s X.O. back at the base in Peru, appeared at the door. Giving the tall, slim, Israeli-born pilot a huge grin, she called, “Hey, I’m relieving you now. You can go home!”
Dallas laughed and rushed to embrace Cam. “Good to see you! You look great, Cam. That two week R and R did you a lot of good.”
“Yeah, life is kinda wonderful now.” Cam looked around. “Where’s the rest of my tiny squadron? Luis and Antonio?”
“Oh,” Dallas said with a mischievous grin, “I’ve got them doing some serious work over the mountains. They’re learning some finer details of nap-of-the-earth flying, with Wild Woman and Snake in the other Apache.”
Chuckling, Cam moved into her office. It felt good to be home. Her heart was light, her feeling about the future of this mission positive.
“Take your chair,” Dallas said, walking in behind her. “Maya sent Paredes up here to give you your official FAA medical exam. It’s protocol, but it’s gotta be done before you and your X.O. can strap an Apache on your butt again.”
“Fine,” Cam murmured. “Not a problem.” She ran her fingers over her battered old green metal desk. Dallas was a neatnik compared to herself. Everything was in little organized piles, unlike Cam’s style, which was messy at best.
As she sat down in her squeaky chair, Gus and Angel entered the room, and Dallas went to the coffee dispenser and started pouring cups of the freshly made brew.
Gus closed the door and leaned against it, his gaze on Cam. She looked so happy, with her cheeks flushed, her eyes radiant. He knew why; their love was having the same effect on him.
Sergeant Paredes fetched her emergency medical pack and set it up on Cam’s desk. “Let me check you two out, and then Dallas and I can take off, okay?” She gave them a swift smile as she pulled out a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff from her red canvas bag, which said Medic in Spanish and English.
“You first, Gus?” Cam asked as Dallas handed her a cup of steaming coffee. “Thanks, Dallas.”
Gus nodded and eased away from the door. He knew the drill. Rolling up his right sleeve to above his elbow, he came over to where Angel had pulled out a chair for him.
“Right here, Chief Morales,” Angel said, pointing to it.
Gus liked the energetic Quero woman. Her skin was a coppery color, and her black eyes reminded him of a night sky with stars dancing in its depths. “Gotcha,” he murmured, and sat down. Angel was quick and professional, fitting the blood pressure cuff around his right arm.
After passing out the coffee, Dallas sauntered over to Cam’s desk and rested her hip on one corner, her own mug in hand. “Maya said she sent you two to that village. I’m jealous. Angel has gotten to go, too.”
“Well,” Cam said, sipping her coffee, “I wondered why Angel looked so happy when she came back. Now I know why.”
“Yes,” Dallas chuckled, “I keep hoping my turn will come.”
Cam gave her friend a narrowed look. “You’ve been with Maya since the beginning. You work with her day in and day out.”
“Yes,” Dallas murmured.
“And I think you know a lot about her…well, her other powers?” Cam wasn’t sure how to approach Dallas on this topic. She didn’t know how much Dallas knew about the mystery of Maya’s past or how it figured into her present. Cam searched the woman’s oval face, her shining sable hair and olive skin as the X.O.’s eyes grew thoughtful. Cam wondered if she’d made a mistake by asking at all. Still, she burned with questions.
Dallas took her time and sipped her coffee for more than a minute before answering her. “Maya has other powers. But from what she’s shared with me, I wouldn’t say they are superhuman ones. I’ve heard her say many times that anything she, or her twin sister, Inca, can do, anyone can, with proper training.” Dallas looked over at Gus as Angel flashed a penlight into his eyes to make sure his pupils dilated properly. “Like Gus’s broken arm…”
“Yes, that,” Cam said. “We all know it’s impossible for bones to knit and heal in less than six weeks, and yet in two weeks his serious break is gone. It’s as if it never happened.” She waved toward his arm. “Even the scar from the surgery is gone. I can barely see where it was.”
Shrugging, Dallas murmured, “Maya has often said that truth is stranger than fiction, and that the world we live in is but a reflection of how we want to see it, not how it really is.”
“I had a long talk with Grandmother Alaria. She’s the elder who runs the village along with her husband, Adair. I asked her about it, and she just laughed. She wasn’t laughing at me, but rather, with me. Patting my hand, she told me that miracles are possible every breathing moment of everyone’s life.” Giving Dallas a questioning look, Cam muttered, “I felt like such an ignoramus there.”
Nodding, Dallas said, “Maya refers to it as the study of metaphysics, or the unseen realms that surround us. She says they’re there all the time, even if we’re not aware of it. When we meditate, we become more in touch with the other dimensions and energies surrounding us.”
“You seem to have a handle on this,” Cam declared good-naturedly, “and you’ve never been to the village.”
“I’m Jewish. We have the cabala. It’s an ancient metaphysical and spiritual tradition that I think, at least from what Maya has shared with me over the years, parallels her beliefs very closely.”
“Oh…” Cam said, frowning.
“Did you get asked to come back?” Dallas inquired.
Nodding, she said, “Yeah, they exten
ded an invitation to Gus and me both to come back for training.”
“That’s a compliment to you, then,” Dallas said, smiling slightly. She watched as Angel finished her examination of Gus.
“That arm looks incredible,” Angel murmured, shaking her head. “Someday I’d like to go back to that place. Awesome!” She grinned up at her firends. “Okay, next poor slob?”
Loving her upbeat spirit and teasing nature, Cam raised her hand. “I’m the next victim.”
Laughter filled the room. Gus vacated the chair and rolled down his sleeve. With a flourish of his hand, he invited Cam to sit down in his place.
“Thank you, kind sir,” she murmured, giving him a warm look filled with love.
“A pleasure, Señorita,” he answered. His heart blossomed with so fierce a love that he knew he wasn’t able to hide it from either of Cam’s colleagues. Somehow he knew they approved, and it made him feel good.
Dallas slipped off the corner of the desk and ambled over. She picked up Cam’s left hand. “My…what’s this? Isn’t it gorgeous. New, hmm?”
Cam responded to her playful inquiry. “Gus gave it to me. He made it. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“I was eyeballin’ that thing, too,” Angel said in a conspiratorial tone as she pumped up the blood pressure cuff around Cam’s right arm.
Feeling heat come to her neck and cheeks, Cam looked up into Dallas’s smiling eyes. She knew. And Cam wouldn’t hide it from her best friends.
Gus came over, crossing his arms against his chest. “I made it for Cam while we were at the Village of the Clouds.”
“You were inspired,” Dallas said, holding Cam’s hand so that the fluorescent light showed off the highly detailed, intricate work.
“Very,” Gus answered, giving Cam a wink. He saw her lips pull into a grin.
“He’s inspiring,” Cam announced.
“I feel love in the air,” Angel sang in a high falsetto tone. She threw her hands up in a dramatic flourish.
“Calm down, Angel,” Dallas laughed. “Angels of Death are supposed to be serious, you know?”
Giggling, Angel shook her head. “Angels of Death have gotta have the blackest humor in the world to work with the likes of all of you. Hanging ten over the surfboard of life out there every day. Just darin’ those druggies to come try to shoot you down. Hell,” she muttered, her mouth twisting in a mirthful grin, “if it wasn’t for my humor, some of you would already have died and gone to Inca heaven.”
Chuckling, Cam sat still as Angel placed the stethoscope against her chest to listen to her heartbeat.
“Don’t laugh now,” Angel said, wriggling her black, arched brows, “or you’ll blast my eardrums.”
“I know….”
“Just don’t talk for a moment, okay? It’s tough enough trying to hear your red-blooded American heart pounding because the guy you love is nearby. You laughing and making croaking sounds with that voice of yours only makes it worse.”
Gus couldn’t help but laugh deeply. Angel was leaning near Cam, stethoscope in place, her face intent. “Is she always like this?” he asked with a grin.
“Oh,” Dallas said, “count on it. If you work at BJS, you have to have a die-hard sense of humor to carry you and your buddies over the hurdle when all hell breaks loose.”
“Which,” Angel said proudly as she straightened and took the stethoscope away from Cam’s heart, “is daily. We boogie down there, Chief Morales. I come from Inca heritage, and we call this thing we do the dance of death. Every day one of our women flies to intercept a druggie in the air, she’s layin’ her life on the line—for all of us.” Patting Cam’s shoulder, she said drolly, “You’ll live.”
“Whew. I was worried.” Cam pretended to wipe sweat from her brow.
“Yeah, sure you were.” Angel gave Gus a sly look as she tucked her medical tools back into her red canvas bag. “I prescribe doing more of whatever it was you were doing back at the village. Normally, you have low blood pressure, Cam, but now it’s normal.” She flashed Cam an evil, knowing grin. “So do it daily.”
Gus couldn’t curb his grin when Cam’s face turned a bright red. He heard Dallas choke, trying not to laugh, her hand against her throat. Unexpectedly, Angel turned to him after she’d zipped up the bag and put the strap across her sturdy shoulder.
“I assume you’re the prescription she needs, Chief Morales?”
Now he was the target. “Er…”
“Yes, well, I can see you are,” Angel said primly, giving Cam an even broader smile. “This is the best medical condition I’ve seen Cam in. So I’m gonna sign the FAA medical certificate allowing her back to flight status.”
“What about me?” he asked, suddenly alarmed. He watched as Angel walked toward the door, the huge red bag against her left hip.
Turning, she gazed at him seriously. “You’ve passed, sir. Just keep doin’ what you’re doin’.” She motioned to his left arm. “Obviously, you got well in a helluva hurry.”
Relief flowed through Gus. He wasn’t used to the raucous, intimate teasing between enlisted people and officers he was experiencing right now. Cam had warned him that the lines between them were greatly blurred and usually nonexistent down at BJS. Seeing the deviltry dancing in the Quero’s eyes again, he gave a sour grin. “Oh, I think I can manage to do that, Angel.”
“Good.” Angel gave them all a fond look. “I gotta hoof it to the commercial airport in San Diego. The major wants me back pronto. And I want to see my guy, Burke, again.” She waved her left hand, the ring flashing on it.
“You’re always missed,” Cam told her, meaning it. They had one doctor and two paramedics to take care of the huge squadron of women and a few men under Maya’s command. It was a daunting task on good days. Elizabeth, a U.S. Army doctor, considered Angel her right hand. Without her around, she was usually overwhelmed by the many small medical problems that routinely happened in the squadron. But now that Burke, a special forces paramedic, had signed on to be with Angel, the load had been considerably eased.
“I know I am. I’m absolutely indispensable.” She giggled as she opened the door.
“Better get on over to San Diego,” Dallas said. “I’ve got a car and driver waiting downstairs to take you to Lindbergh Airport. And,” she warned, arching one dark brow, “don’t forget to let Burke know how much you missed him.”
Angel grinned. “Roger that. Loud and clear.”
“No one accused you of being slow on the uptake, Sergeant Paredes. Adios, amiga. Have a safe trip back to Peru.” Dallas lifted her hand to the woman.
“Adios,” Angel call softly. She became suddenly serious. “Cam, Chief Morales? You stay safe, you hear? I don’t wanna have to come back up here to requalify you for flight duty again….”
The room grew quiet when the Angel of Death had departed. Cam turned to Gus, who stood a few feet away from her, while Dallas finished her cup of coffee.
“I really miss the women of BJS,” Cam said.
“Yeah, we’re like a bunch of wildcats in the same bag, yowling, screaming and howling,” Dallas chuckled. She put the cup near the coffee urn and looked over at Gus. “You took us in stride, Chief.”
“Black humor is my specialty.”
“It is,” Cam told her. “You should hear him quipping in the cockpit when we fly.”
“Good,” Dallas said. She went over and picked up her helmet and gloves. “Well, we’ve officially changed commands, Cam. You’re back in the hot seat again, and the chief is your X.O., again. I’m going to take some time to talk with the Air Force generals and give them a report on our actions here. I’ll be leaving for Mexico City in an hour.”
“I’ll miss you,” Cam said, going over to hug Dallas goodbye. As she released the Israeli from her embrace, she saw Dallas smile and nod.
“We miss you, but we know you’re doing good work up here. Like Maya said, we’ve spent three years honing our combat skills, and now the rest of the world has decided we got what it takes, and wants us
to teach them what we know.”
“So the BJS pilots are like seeds in the wind, being blown here and there,” Gus said.
“Bingo,” Dallas murmured. She halted at the door, helmet dangling in her left hand, her green flight gloves jammed into it. “Morgan Trayhern and Mike Houston. Those two can’t stop bragging about us, I guess, and the word is getting out at the top levels.”
“Maybe BJS women are going to be sent around the world because we’re the only ones who have the combat training needed to teach others,” Cam said.
“Maybe,” Dallas said, lifting her hand in farewell, “maybe our luck is changing. Hasta la vista, amigos….”
“Take care,” Cam called after Dallas softly. The door stood partly open and Cam smiled, knowing Dallas had left it that way out of habit. Down at BJS, Maya always instructed her officers to keep their doors open, so they could be available to their people. Cam would try the same thing here, once they were assigned a permanent H.Q., which would probably happen after Dallas talked to the head honchos down in Mexico City.
“Welcome home,” Gus murmured. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Cam’s smooth, unlined brow. How beautiful she looked, even in her genderless green flight suit. He knew what lay beneath that fabric—the heart of the woman he’d love until he died.
Sighing, Cam stretched up and kissed his mouth quickly. Hotly. But now was not the time for loving. “Sure is different from the Village of the Clouds, isn’t it?” she murmured, releasing him and moving back to her desk.
“Yeah,” Gus said as he ambled over and stood near the desk as she looked at the flight schedule Dallas had drawn up for them. “But I have you. So I don’t care where I am as long as you’re at my side.”
Touched, Cam turned the clipboard around for him to see. “Well, darling, it looks like we have the duty tonight. Together.”
He took the clipboard and looked at it. “Yeah, Luis and Antonio are due back here in about an hour. They’ll be exhausted.”
An Honorable Woman Page 23