Price Of Honor

Chapter Twenty-two

Off! Off, off, off,” Viv said.

Dusty sat up so quickly the room swirled. “What? What happened?”

“Nothing. Everything.” Viv grabbed the bottom of Dusty’s shirt and tugged on it. “I want you naked. Now. Off.”

Laughing, relief bursting like sunshine in a cloudy sky, Dusty yanked the shirt over her head and sent the top button careening across the floor. “I thought I’d done something wrong.”

“Wrong? God. If you’d done anything more right I’d be comatose.” Viv trailed a finger down Dusty’s midsection. “Mm. Stay just like that. I want to look at you.”

Dusty knelt astride her, her stomach in knots. She wanted her hands on Viv again, wanted Viv’s hands in her. The press of her jeans between her thighs was torture. “Viv, I’m on the edge here.”

“Perfect. My turn.” Viv gripped her own sweater, arched her back, and lifted it over her head. Her breasts rose, firm and full.

Dusty groaned, her fingers aching.

“You like?” Viv asked softly.

“You’re so beautiful,” Dusty gasped. She cradled Viv’s breasts and rubbed her thumbs over the taut nipples. Her head threatened to explode, and she groaned again.

“Don’t…distract…me.” Viv drew an unsteady breath, covered Dusty’s hands, and gently pulled them away. Hurriedly, she unzipped her trousers, pushed them down, and kicked them away with one bare foot. Rearing up, she wrapped her arms around Dusty’s hips, gripped her butt, and pressed her mouth to Dusty’s stomach. “I knew you’d look like this. All hard and sleek and sexy.”

Dusty closed her eyes. Viv’s mouth was so hot she couldn’t breathe. Her thighs trembled, and she fought to keep herself upright.

“Your pants.” Viv licked the center of Dusty’s stomach. “Off. Off, off, off.”

“You have to…let me go, then.” Dusty looked down. The sight of Viv’s mouth against her sent a jolt of pleasure down her thighs. A warning. A promise. “Viv. I’m going to die here.”

“Mm. Not yet you aren’t.” Viv pressed her open mouth to Dusty’s belly again, this time with her teeth grazing skin.

Dusty jerked. A heavy pounding started in her loins. Another few seconds and she’d explode. “Viv. Come on. I can’t stand it.”

Viv laughed, a wild triumphant sound, and Dusty shivered. She felt conquered. Owned. She liked it. Way more than liked.

“Please,” Dusty whispered.

“Soon, I promise.”

Viv’s fingers curled around the waistband of Dusty’s jeans and yanked them down. Dusty half tumbled off the bunk and caught herself before she fell on the floor. She danced from one leg to the other and finally got her pants off. She stood, suddenly naked and uncertain. Viv made a little cooing sound in her throat and sat up with her legs on the floor, her knees between Dusty’s. Her face was level with Dusty’s belly again and she looked up, a strange fierce light burning in her eyes.

“Am I the first?”

Dusty nodded.

Viv’s face, her skin flushed and damp, glowed like she’d just won a battle on some unsettled plain a few centuries before. Her hair lay in an untamed tangle on her throat. She smiled greedily. “Good. All mine, then.”

“Yes.” Dusty slipped her hand around the back of Viv’s neck by instinct. Viv’s mouth closed over her. Wet, hot, piercing pleasure. Her back arched. Her stomach convulsed. Blinded, she gripped Viv’s head in both hands. “Wait, fuck, no.”

“Oh yes.” Viv licked her.

“I can’t. I can’t…Viv, I can’t…”

Viv traced her tongue through the valley between Dusty’s thighs and sealed her lips around her clitoris. Dusty twitched, clenched her fist in Viv’s hair, and came in a shudder of wild, white light and sweet surrender.

Viv held on until Dusty softened between her lips and her breathing steadied. She leaned back. “Good?”

Dusty gripped Viv’s shoulders so she didn’t collapse and make a fool of herself. “Incredible.”

“It was. You are.” Viv smiled and rubbed her cheek against Dusty’s thigh. “Lie down with me. I want you all over me.”

“Hell, yeah.” Dusty stumbled when she took her first step, but finally caught her balance and stretched out on the bunk. Viv rested her head on her shoulder and their legs entwined.

“You’re amazing.” Viv kissed Dusty’s throat, straddling Dusty’s thigh, sensuous and thrilling. “You drive me crazy. I can’t believe I want to come again already.”

Dusty kissed her, caressed her breasts, the soft curve of her belly, between her legs.

Viv tensed, her hips lifting, and moaned.

Dusty stroked in smaller and smaller circles. “I love the way you sound when I touch you.”

“Keep doing that and I’ll come,” Viv murmured into Dusty’s neck. “So, so good.”

Dusty caressed her until Viv tensed and thrust against her fingers, her wordless cries stopping Dusty’s heart in her chest.

“I’m shameless,” Viv gasped, collapsing against Dusty. “I’ve never been this responsive in my life.”

Dusty rested her chin against the top of Viv’s head. “I think you’re amazing. I can’t stop touching you.”

“You do amazing things to me.” Viv rubbed her cheek against Dusty’s chest. “I just have to look at you and I get hot.”

Dusty chuckled. “I have no idea why, but I’m really glad.”

Viv tilted her head, studying Dusty through heavy lids. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“What?”

“How damn sexy you are. How beautiful.” Viv stroked Dusty’s face. “How special.”

“I’m pretty simple,” Dusty said.

“No, anything but.” Viv smiled and kissed her. “What you are is real. And I like it.”

Dusty rested her forehead against Viv’s. “I’m really, really glad. I can’t stop thinking about you, and now I’m never going to stop wanting you.”

“I’ll hold you to that if you’re not careful. Last chance to tell me you’re not serious.”

“I’m very serious.” Dusty clasped Viv’s hand and entwined their fingers. “I want you to hold me to it.”

Viv settled on top of her and kissed her. “Easiest assignment I ever had.”

*

Cam gritted her teeth. Arguing with the president of the United States was just not done, especially when he also happened to be her father-in-law. Never mind that she’d awakened him and his chief of staff after midnight to inform them she recommended terminating their much-publicized and so far very successful reelection expedition. “Sir, I’ve conferred with Tom Turner and Evyn Daniels and we’re in complete agreement. The threat level is unacceptable, given what we know now.”

“I can’t see how this changes anything,” Andrew said. “You’ve made good progress, Cam, better than anyone could hope at this stage, and I predict you’ll get to the bottom of this mess by the time we reach the end of the trip. But we can’t cut this excursion short, especially when we can’t supply a reasonable explanation.”

“I appreciate your faith in me, sir, but ID’ing an UNSUB who’s been part of a sleeper cell for decades is a long and often fruitless process.” Cam glanced at Lucinda, looking for an ally. This was when she hated politics the most, when reason fell before appearances. Her job was to keep the country, and especially the president, safe. That was the charge she’d been tasked with, presumably because they believed she was the best person for the job, but no one seemed to like her doing it.

“Andrew,” Lucinda said evenly, “in this case, I have to agree with Cam. The facts support our suspicions that at least one other person was involved in the aborted attempt on your life, and given the possibility of a deeply buried operative, you’re much too exposed here.”

Andrew, despite his casual khakis and hunter-green pullover sweater, looked as presidential as ever, his expression one Cam had seen many times before in all kinds of crisis situations: determined, decided, unswayable. She knew his answer before he spoke.

“I’m even more protected here than in DC,” Andrew said. “Physical access to my location is limited, we have excellent security in and around the train, and everyone aboard has sound security clearance.” He smiled at Lucinda, a smile that held a hint of apology that Cam had never seen in public, but one she recognized. She probably looked a lot like that herself when she disagreed with Blair and knew it would make her unhappy.

“It’s not as if I can stop making public appearances,” Andrew said, still facing Lucinda. “The risk factors are no worse here than anywhere.” He turned to Cam. “No. The trip continues.”

Lucinda sighed. “I can’t disagree with his logic, at least about the degree of security here. Is there any more we can do until this trip is over?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Cam said. “Tom will move all the security teams into high-alert status. We’ll rerun probabilities and make sure everyone is ready to deal with the unexpected.”

“Well, then,” Andrew said. “That’s settled.”

Cam waited for the president to rise and then stood. “Good night, sir.”

“Cam,” Andrew said. “Be sure Blair doesn’t take any chances. She’s as much a target as I am. And you too. Everyone I love is a target.”

“Blair will be fine, sir. I’ll see to that.”

Andrew nodded. “I’m sure of it. Good night.”

Cam joined Tom in the adjoining lounge, shaking her head as he looked up. “What we expected. The show goes on. We need another briefing update. Thirty minutes.”

“I’ll gather the crew chiefs.”

“Good. I’ll meet you in the command car.” Cam made her way back to her cabin and let herself in.

Blair sat propped up on the bunk in a T-shirt and panties, a blanket over her bare thighs. She put her reader aside. “Are we going to get off this blasted train?”

“How did you know that’s what I’d recommend?” Cam shrugged out of her blazer but kept her weapon harness on. She opened a bottle of water and drained half of it. The cool liquid did nothing to quench the rage burning in the back of her throat.

“Even if you don’t think the third sibling is on this train, the smallest possibility would be enough for you to want my father off it. I take it he didn’t agree.”

Cam blew out a breath and scrubbed a hand over her face. “Of course he didn’t. When have any of the Powells ever been reasonable when it comes to security?”

Blair smiled, pushed the blanket aside, and stood. She threaded her arms behind Cam’s neck and rubbed the tense muscles in her shoulders. “I know we’re a terrible chore.”

Cam groaned and pulled her close. “The worst.”

Blair pressed her cheek to Cam’s chest and worked her fingers into the knots along Cam’s spine. “How serious do you think it is?”

“I don’t know, and that really bothers me. It’s just a feeling that something’s off. I’ve had it the whole time. Stark and Tom too.”

“Your feelings have always been deadly accurate. Trust them. I always have.”

Cam sifted the soft strands of Blair’s golden hair through her fingers. Just holding her close steadied her, and most of her frustration drained away. “We’ll have every possibility covered, I promise you that.”

“Then no one could do more.” Blair tugged Cam’s head down and kissed her. “Don’t stay up all night. We’ve still got a long trip ahead, and you need to be sharp.”

“I’ll be back as soon as the briefing is done.”

“I’ll be awake.”

“Blair, make sure you don’t go anywhere without your security detail.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be careful. I want you focused on taking care of my father.”

“I will be, I swear.” Cam brushed her fingers through Blair’s hair and kissed her again. “I need you to be safe.”

“Ditto for me. So we’ll be careful for each other, all right?”

Cam held her tightly. “That’s a deal, baby.”