by Radclyffe
He favored her with a brilliant smile. "Im in."
"Good - then find me replacements for the two who are leaving. I dont even want to see the files until youve been through them. And Mac - we both know what the problem has been. If theres even a hint of homophobia, I dont want them on this assignment. Blair Powells lifestyle is not our concern, and shouldnt affect the way we do the job. I want that clear."
"Yes maam. I understand."
"Good. Well brief for the trip to Washington at 0700."
As soon as her second in command closed the door, Cam leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She didnt want to think about her response to Blairs blatant sexual overture at the gym, but she had to. She could not afford to be distracted, and there was no denying the effect Blair had on her. Fortunately, it was purely physical, and they would be in Washington in two days. She could satisfy the insistent demands of her body then.
**********
Cam was the last one on the plane. The cabin space was small, and Blair sat alone near the rear. Three other agents had boarded earlier and occupied the area just behind the cockpit. Cam nodded to them as she moved toward the rear, finally settling in the seat across the aisle from Blair. She stretched her legs into the aisle and pulled a stack of memos from her briefcase.
"Do you have plans for tonight, Agent Roberts?" Blair asked. She liked the semi-casual look of Cams pressed khaki chinos and matching blazer over a cotton broadcloth shirt. The only way she liked her better was in the tight faded jeans she wore when she was off-duty. Blair remembered very well how good Cam looked in those. In fact, every time she thought about that night in the bar she wanted nothing more than to get her hands inside those jeans. For the moment at least, that seemed unlikely.
Cam smiled, shaking her head slightly. "No plans. Happy Birthday, by the way."
Blair flushed slightly, then reminded herself the agent was only being polite, like most of the people in her life. She leaned forward, lowering her voice as she spoke. "Why thank you. I dont suppose a birthday kiss is in the offing?"
Cam glanced at her, aware of how attractive she was, then back at the papers before her. "No."
They did not speak for the rest of the flight.
Cam accompanied Blair across the drive to the private entrance to the White House. She stopped at the door as a guard opened it for Blair.
"Ill see you in the morning, Ms. Powell," she said. The door swung shut with no response from the Presidents daughter. The White House Security staff would be responsible for her welfare from this point until she was ready to leave the next day. Cam was looking forward to a day off, and a relaxing evening.
Chapter Eight
Cam stretched out on the couch with a drink and watched the traffic below on Pennsylvania Avenue. From her highrise apartment she could see the White House in the distance. She wondered fleetingly how Blair was faring, then put the thought from her mind. Tonight she did not have to worry about her. She reached for the phone and dialed a number from memory.
"This is number 38913," she said as a female voice answered. "Id like to confirm my arrangement for tonight." She waited for a moment as her client ID number was verified. "Yes - eleven o-clock at" She hesitated as her beeper went off. "Just a second," she added, checking the number. It was the White House. "Ill have to call back. It may be later. Yes, keep it open - Ill take care of the time. Thank you."
She pushed the other line, keeping the scrambler engaged. "Roberts," she said tersely when the phone was picked up.
"Commander? Its Mac - Im sorry to bother you, but I thought youd want a call."
"Mac?" she said in surprise. "What are you doing there? Whats going on?"
"Im not supposed to be here. Shes gone, Commander. They lost her an hour ago. The commander here didnt want anyone to know, so when it started getting late a buddy of mine called me on the sly."
"Goddamn it," she cursed. "Who else knows?"
"Just the inside team here. They havent a clue where to look."
She understood his message. "Right - we cant very well call out our own people. Were not even supposed to know about this. There are a few places I can check. Listen Mac, theres a floating club - it travels around from one venue to another all over the city. Very trendy, only people in the know have the address. Find it for me. Ill call you in an hour."
She interrupted his protests. "I dont know how youll find it, but Im sure you will."
Two hours later he called her with the address. Cam arrived at the warehouse close to midnight. She had been to every gay bar she knew of, and several Mac had come up with. It was New Years Eve. The bars were packed with exuberant men and women in various stages of intoxication and undress. She hadnt found her. For all she knew, Blair was tucked away in bed somewhere with a girlfriend they didnt know about. Cam hoped so.
It was worse than she expected. Wall to wall people, jostling bodies, smoke hanging in clouds below the dim spotlights, the air heavy with sex and booze. Cam pushed her way into the shadowy depths of the long room, hoping that each blonde she saw would be Blair.
Blair watched her drawing closer. She stood leaning against the wall in the narrow passageway leading to semi-private alcoves and niches which women were using for quick assignations and frantic couplings. She had been watching a young tough in tight black leather pants swagger about at the bar, trying to impress her friends with her bravado. Blair thought she might be fun to toy with. It was always so satisfying to humble the butches, and she made a bet with herself that she could make this one beg. She was about to go over when she caught sight of Cam. Taller by a head than most of the women, she cut a swath through the crowd like a sleek cutter through the sea. In a light windbreaker, dark polo shirt, the signature faded jeans and boots, she should have looked ordinary, but she was easily the sexiest woman in view. She moved with certainty and grace, lithe and powerful, a hunter searching its prey. It was only the darkness in the hall that gave Blair the advantage. As Cam moved closer, Blairs pulse quickened. This time the hunted would have the hunter.
Cam stepped through the archway into the hall just as the countdown to midnight began. People were crushing in around her, searching for that elusive partner to claim at the dawn of a new year. Blair caught her by the arm and spun her against the wall, pressing into her, her hands around Cam's waist. Cam was momentarily stunned. Blairs breasts were soft against her chest, her breath hot on Cam's neck, Blair's thigh tight into her crotch. Cam hadnt been close to a woman this way in a year and her body surged with reawakened sensation. She caught her breath as a stab of desire pierced her. Her clit swelled, hard and ready in an instant.
"Happy New Year, Commander," Blair breathed into her ear, grasping Cams head and pulling her down into a kiss. Cam gasped in surprise as Blair pushed into her, fusing their bodies in the press of the milling crowd.
Can groaned as Blair's searching tongue invaded her mouth, adding heat to the fire that raged through her. Cam kissed Blair back, she couldnt help it. For an instant she forgot who she was, or where she was. All she knew was the pounding in her head, and the ache in her belly, the throbbing in her clit driving her quickly toward climax. Blair pushed her hand between Cams legs.
"Oh Jesus!" Cam gasped, pulling her mouth away so abruptly her head banged against the wall. Her legs were trembling. She grasped Blairs hand, dragging it away from her body. "No, goddamn it! Thats enough!"
"Are you crazy?" Blair exclaimed, her voice thick with her own urgent need. "Youre so hot I can feel you through your jeans! Youre almost there - let me do what I know you want!"
That moment was all Cam needed to find her control. She pushed Blair back a step, breaking their contact.
"I want to get you out of here."
Blairs eyes blazed dangerously. She had come close to humiliating herself. The fire in Cams body had ignited her own, and she had been very close to coming herself. She throbbed still. "Go fuck yourself, Agent Roberts!"
As she tried to walk away, Cam grasped her arm
. "Ms. Powell - please!"
"Leave me alone. No one knows Im here."
"Iknow."
"Then pretend you dont," Blair snapped, trying to escape into the crowd. She couldnt move very quickly through the mass of revelers, and Cam stayed right beside her.
"I cant," Cam stated with finality.
Blair turned to face her, her body rigid with fury. "Then do your job, but stay out of my way!"
Cam nodded, accepting the slight concession. She let Blair move ahead of her, wishing she could reach Mac for backup. The best she could do was stay close to Blair until she settled for the night, and then call for another team.
Which is how she came to find herself on the phone in the lobby of the Franklin Hotel at two am. "Mac?"
"Yeah, Commander. Tell me you got her - please."
"Send two of our people, not the White House detail- to the Franklin Hotel on the parkway. Ill wait 'til they get here. Shes in Room 1302, and I think shell be here for the night. I need someone in the room across from hers - Ive booked it- and a car downstairs. And Mac, keep this quiet for Gods sake. If the White House press corps catches on to her little foray, theyll be all over us."
"Any info on who shes with?" Mac asked hesitantly.
"No," Cam said curtly. Except that she was young, recklessly beautiful in an androgynous way, and had followed Blair without hesitation when Blair walked up to her, kissed her by way of introduction, and said, "Im leaving. You coming?"
Cam had followed them the few blocks to the hotel at a discrete distance, hanging back in the shadows every time Blair stopped to grope and fondle her leather clad conquest. Blair never looked in Cams direction, but she had to know Cam was there, watching the display. If the seduction was meant to anger Cam, it did, but probably not for the reasons Blair intended. Cam was infuriated at the risk Blair was taking by picking up a stranger and checking into a hotel a few blocks from the White House. It was dangerous on more levels than she could count. Blair Powell was beautiful, bright, and talented. She didnt need to waste herself on one-night stands. It was physically hazardous, politically suicidal, and willfully self-destructive. Cam came close to breaking up their little tryst at one point, but she reminded herself that Blair Powell had every right to do what she was doing, and any effort to intervene would only make her more reckless. The last thing she had seen was Blair backing her girlfriend up against the door to their room as she fumbled to fit her card in the lock behind them, kissing her with an intensity that echoed in Cams body. The door finally swung open and they disappeared breathlessly inside.
"Boss -you still there?" Macs voice interrupted her reminiscences.
"Yes," she retorted, her voice thick with the memory.
"Ill have someone there in five minutes."
"Good."
**********
Cam was still seething when she stepped off the elevator into the foyer in front of her apartment. She stopped in surprise when she saw the stately blond put a book aside and smile in her direction.
"My god!" Cam exclaimed. "I didnt mean for you to wait out here in the hallway!"
Her visitor stood, sliding the book into a stylish leather bag. "I know, but my evening was already planned, and its safe enough. I know Im presuming, and I can leave if you like. But you did book the whole night."
"No," Cam said as she unlocked her door. "Come in." She hit the dimmer switch inside the door, giving them just enough light to maneuver by. She turned to the woman who stepped inside after her. "Im sorry-"
"Dont be," the blonde said, touching Cams cheek lightly. She felt the tremor, and the heat. She knew the signs.
"You need some attention," she whispered throatily. Without waiting for an answer, she pushed Cam gently back against the door as she worked loose the buttons on Cam's fly. She heard the swift intake of breath, a wordless assent. She leaned one arm along the wall beside Cams still form and reached into her jeans.
Cam grasped the handle for support, closing her eyes. She was aching, had been since the bar, and her body had never quieted. The first touch was excruciating.
"Oh god," she groaned, praying she could stay standing. The strokes were certain, commanding, relentless, and she heard herself moaning. She pushed back against the wall, rigid with the effort to control the mounting pressure as her hips bucked forward into the waiting hand.
"Im losing it," she gasped, clenching her jaw until it ached. She cried out as the explosion spread through her, her head rocking from side to side with the pulsations. When it subsided she was amazed she was still upright.
"Oh, Christ," she gasped breathlessly. "I didnt mean for that to happen so fast."
"I dont think it was up to you," her companion laughed softly, moving away discreetly so Cam could regain her composure. The arousal certainly had nothing to do with her, which she suspected was most often the case.
"Will you have that drink now?" Cam asked dryly as she fumbled with the buttons on her jeans. Her hands were trembling.
"I would definitely like that," the blond said with a smile.
Cam moved over to the bar and poured them both a drink, then settled on the sofa in front of the floor to ceiling windows. They sat in silence in the near darkness for a few moments, each privy to her own thoughts.
"Does it bother you?" Cam said at length. "The lack of reciprocation?" When her guest failed to answer, she added quietly, "Im sorry. That was inappropriate, and none of my business."
"No, its all right," came the soft reply. "I dont expect any reciprocation, and most of the time I wouldnt want it."
It was Cams turn to be quiet. As many times as they had met, they had never talked of anything personal. She had never wanted to know. She had no idea why she was asking now.
"You should know this is by my choice, and there is absolutely no abuse involved," the woman added.
Cam nodded - she knew all the details of the operation, right down to how often all the employees had health exams. What she didnt know was who they were, or what they felt. Both of them kept their identities, and their secrets, hidden. It was a business arrangement, with a veneer of civility, and so far it had worked for both of them.
"So sometimes you would like it to go both ways?" Cam asked.
"I certainly wouldnt throw you out of bed," her companion replied gently, her laughter making light of her statement.
"Im not asking for that - I cant, I havent-" Cam struggled with the words. How to explain that she didn't feel any desire for women, that the thought of wanting someone terrified her. It was too much, too close - and then to lose it. She swallowed the ache, battling the old pain.
The blonde stopped her with a hand on her thigh. "I dont need you to make love to me. If it makes you feel any better, I enjoy what we do. Rather a lot. Exactly as it is."
Cam nodded in acceptance, placing her drink beside her on the table. She stood, reaching out her hand.
"Lets move to the bedroom," she said, hoping eventually to sleep.
Chapter Nine
Mac looked up as his boss and the First Daughter boarded the plane. The air seemed decidedly chilly. Blair stalked down the aisle and threw herself across the seats at the rear. Cam took the first seat inside the cabin, leaned back, and closed her eyes. Mac figured she hadnt gotten much sleep. None of them had. Between tracking Blair down, then shadowing the hotel the rest of the night, half the team had worked on the one night they all expected to have off. Blair hadnt emerged to return to the White House until eight a.m., and that made it all the harder to get her past the press corps without announcing she had been out all night. She looked exactly like she had been out all night, and up all night screwing.
Cam had been called as soon as Blair stepped out of her hotel room, and she had been waiting for Blair at the side entrance of the White House. She didnt look all that much better than Blair, although her attire was impeccable as usual. Neither of them acknowledged the other as Cam ushered Blair in through the service entrance and down the labyrinth of service halls to
the family living quarters. The limo ride to the airport an hour later had been just as frosty.
When the plane landed in New York forty minutes later, Cam escorted Blair to the waiting car and climbed into the back with her. In an hour Blair was due to meet with the Mayor and emcee the New Years Day Parade.
"Where to, Ms. Powell?" Cam asked perfunctorily. Since Blairs disappearance the night before and her late arrival this morning, their entire schedule had been changed. Cam had no idea of Blairs plans, and being at such a disadvantage infuriated her.
For once Blair appeared subdued. "I need to go home and change."
Cam nodded, passed the message along to the driver and the car following them, and settled back against the seat. She clamped down on her anger. She wouldnt give Blair the satisfaction of knowing how unsettling the interlude in the bar had been for her. The hours she had spent with Claire satisfying her body had not erased the memory of Blairs mouth on hers, nor the demanding promise of Blairs hands claiming her. It was not a sensation she welcomed, and the faint bruises around Blairs lips only served to remind her that Blair had been up all night satisfyingher needs with a stranger.Dont be a fool , she thought in disgust.Anyone will do, as long as shes in charge. You just happened to be handy!