by Radclyffe
“I told them I wouldn’t do it,” Cam clarified.
Blair said on the edge of the bed, her hand resting possessively on Cam’s thigh. “Why not?”
Cam lifted Blair’s hand to her lips, and kissed each fingertip. “Because Mac is a good man, and I know he can do the job.” She turned Blair’s hand over, and pressed her lips to Blair’s palm. “And because I respect you, and I know how little privacy you have left.”
“But you came to the bar last night,” Blair observed quietly.
Cam nodded, reaching for Blair and pulling her into her arms. “That wasn’t business. That was personal.”
Blair closed her eyes, fearful of how much she wanted to hear these words. “How personal?”
Cam’s embrace tightened, and she rested her cheek against the top of Blair’s head. Her voice was husky as she answered quietly, “As personal as it gets.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
After breakfast, they showered and dressed, Blair wearing clothes she borrowed from Cam.
“What happens next?” Blair asked, surprisingly uncertain.
Cam thought of a number of replies, but decided with a sigh that only the truth would do. She met Blair’s questioning gaze squarely. “In a few days, I’ll be back in Washington. You’ll still be the daughter of the President of the United States. I’m not sure we have much to say about what happens next.”
She held up a hand as Blair began to protest. “I want to see you again. But unless I’m assigned to your security detail, any relationship between us will be obvious, and suspect.”
“I don’t want you on my detail,” Blair said with finality.
Cam leaned back against the door jam, hands in her pockets, studying Blair calmly. “Yes, you made that quite clear. But it does provide good cover.”
Blair’s eyes blazed. “Cover!? So I am supposed to put your life in danger so that no one will know I’m a lesbian?”
Cam’s brows arched in surprise. “Put my life in danger? That was a one in a million occurrence!”
“Oh sure! Has it occurred to you that he’s still out there? If not him, someone else?”
Cam shrugged. “You can’t let something like that dictate your actions. You simply need to be cautious, and have good people around you.”
“Good people—yes. But not you. I have no intention of letting you protect me at the risk of your own safety.”
“That’s what I do, Blair,” Cam insisted gently.
“Not for me,” Blair said, pushing the memory of Cam’s bloodied body lying on the sidewalk from her mind. In a softer tone, she repeated, “Not for me.”
Cam didn’t miss the pain flaring in Blair’s eyes. She now knew that Blair had spent those first tenuous hours in the hospital waiting by her side. Cam went to her quickly and encircled Blair in her arms. “Hey, it’s over. I’m fine.”
Blair kissed her firmly, a mixture of passion and relief. “And I prefer you stay that way.”
Cam leaned back, a soft smile on her lips. “Then it appears we have a problem, Ms. Powell. If I can’t guard you, what excuse do I have to be with you?”
Blair took a deep breath, and then took the biggest risk she had ever taken. “How about because you love me?”
Cam stood very still, her hands resting on Blair’s waist. She thought of her career, she thought of Blair’s reputation, she thought of the President’s public image. She kissed Blair gently on the forehead, and whispered, “Well, there is that.”
Blair released the breath she had been holding, and rested her cheek against Cam’s shoulder. “Since the feeling is mutual, I’d say we have a plan, Commander.”
Cam laughed, her heart soaring. “The fact that we agree is downright scary,” she murmured.
Blair bit her just hard enough to make her jump. “I don’t want you to get used to it.”
Cam pulled Blair back toward the bed. “Oh, I might—in a century or so.”
The End