Неизвестный - 06. Honor Under Siege

“Maybe Cam could just get a message to her from me. Just so she knows—” Diane struggled with tears. “Just so she knows I haven’t given up.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Blair whispered.

Diane leaned back in Blair’s arms and rested her cheek against Blair’s. “Thanks.”

Blair held her tightly, wondering what she’d just promised. And how she could keep her word to one woman she loved without betraying another.

The elevator jerked to a stop and Paula opened her eyes. For a few dizzying seconds, she wasn’t sure where she was. Two women and a man, all in business suits, stood talking to her left, ignoring her as she leaned against the wall in the corner. She blinked at the number panel. 10th floor. A glossy picture of a restaurant on the far wall advertised the Veranda at the Wyndham Washington, DC. She was at the hotel where the team stayed when on temporary assignment in the Capitol. She remembered Hara dropping her off out front before he took the Suburban around to a special reserved parking slot. Then what?

Jesus, was it possible she’d fallen asleep standing up?

“Excuse me.” Flushing with embarrassment, she pushed away from the wall and jumped between the elevator doors as they started to close. Some Secret Service agent. She’d completely lost track of her surroundings. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t on duty. It was her job to be observant.

She slid the plastic card key from her pocket as she strode quickly down the hallway, hoping to leave her discomfiture behind. She let herself into room 1020. It was dark and still inside, and for an instant, she thought she was in the wrong place.

“Renée?” Unconsciously, she swept her blazer back and rested her hand on the grip of the Sig Sauer holstered on her right hip. “Babe?”

“I’m here,” Renée Savard replied.

Paula felt on the wall for the switch, then hesitated. “Can I turn on the light?”

“Just a second.”

Paula heard the squeak of springs, then the bedside lamp came on. Renée, still in the clothes she had traveled in, lay on top of the covers on the queen sized bed. Renée’s holstered service weapon rested on the bedside table next to a prescription medicine bottle. Paula’s stomach tightened, but she forced a smile as she crossed the room and leaned down to kiss her lover. She brushed her hand over Renée’s cheek.

“Taking a nap?”

“Trying to.”

Paula settled gingerly on the side of the bed and tapped the immobilizer encircling Renée’s leg. “Is your knee bothering you?”

“It’s fine,” Renée said sharply, then just as quickly caught Paula’s hand as Paula started to get up. “I’m sorry. Yeah, it’s a little bit sore.” She gestured toward the medicine bottle on the table. “I’m trying not to take those things, but my whole body aches from not being able to move around much. This fucking immobilizer—” She trailed off, looking disgusted. “Christ, you’ve been on your feet working since dawn, and I’m complaining.”

Renée closed her eyes and turned her head away.

“Since I’m here now and can wait on you,” Paula said lightly as she released the Velcro straps on the stiff wraparound brace, “why don’t we take this off. The doctor didn’t say you couldn’t bend your knee, just that you couldn’t weight-bear. No wonder it hurts, being squeezed in this thing for hours. You want me to lock up your weapon, too?”

“You should. I was going to wait until you got here to set the combination on the safe.”

“I’ll take care of it in a minute,” Paula said, enormously relieved. She should know better than to think Renée would even consider…she couldn’t even complete the thought. Unexpectedly, she felt tears prick at her eyes and she blinked hard, her jaws clamped tight.

“What?” Renée studied her through narrowed eyes.

“Nothing,” Paula said hoarsely. “Just tired.”

Renée glanced from Paula to the bedside table, and she breathed in sharply. “You didn’t think? Oh, sweetie, never.”

“I know,” Paula said, cradling Renée’s hand in both of hers. “I know. Just for a minute there, when I walked in, it all felt so strange. Then I saw—” she shook her head. “Everything is changing so fast, sometimes I just feel confused.”

“Where’s Blair?”

“At the commander’s,” Paula said, unconcerned by the apparent switch in topic. Nothing happened in her life, or for the last few months, in Renée’s, until what really mattered was squared away. And that was Blair Powell’s security. “She should be in for the night. Greg is there now, and Hara will take the overnight watch. I’ll pick her up in the morning, unless she calls to tell me she’s going out.”

“Good. Secure our weapons and change into something comfortable. Then, come lie down with me.”

“Should I order us something to eat?”

Renée carefully drew her legs up and pulled the covers aside. She opened her jeans and started to push them down over her hips. “In a little while.”

“Okay.” Paula picked up Renée’s weapon and unholstered her own. She crossed to the closet and, after setting the combination on the in-room safe, stored them away. Then she closed the drapes, stripped down, and folded her clothes over the arm of the reading chair in front of the windows. “I could probably use a shower.”

“Let’s talk for a second. Then we can order dinner and shower while we wait for it to get here.”

Paula lifted the covers and slid into bed. She turned on her side and kissed Renée softly. “I missed you today.” Carefully, she slid her arm around Renée’s shoulders and eased onto her back with Renée in her arms.

“What’s going on with Blair needing to come back here, do you know?” Renée rested her cheek against Paula’s breasts with a sigh.

Paula hesitated. It was an innocent enough question, but she felt protective of Blair in a way she hadn’t before, even though she had been prepared to protect her at the cost of her own life for more than a year.

“Never mind,” Renée said flatly into the silence. “That was out of line.”

“No,” Paula said. “It wasn’t. You’ve been part of the team in one way or another for months.”

“But?”

Paula sighed. “I’m not sure.”

Renée kissed the soft, smooth skin of Paula’s breast. “It’s different, being her security chief, isn’t it?”

“You know, I owe you an apology,” Paula whispered.

“What?” Renée raised her head, her expression concerned. “What are you talking about?”

“I never asked you how you felt about me accepting this assignment. I’m sorry.”

Renée inched away and leaned on her elbow, trailing the fingers of her other hand absently up and down Paula’s stomach. “Sweetie, you got a promotion that you deserved. I’m really proud of you. Don’t you know that? Because if I didn’t let you know that—”

“No,” Paula said quickly. “I mean, I never gave you a chance to say you didn’t want me to do it.”

Renée’s eyes darkened. “Is that how I make you feel? That I don’t want you to be Blair’s security chief?”

“No,” Paula said, frustrated. “But it means I’ll be traveling more, and working more, and probably…I don’t know, distracted. And that affects us.” She cupped Renée’s jaw and traced her thumb over Renée’s cheek. “I don’t want anything to come between us.”

“You’re a secret service agent, Paula,” Renée said matter-of-factly. “Just like I’m an FBI agent. At least, I was.”

“Hey. You still are.”

“Yeah, maybe. First my shoulder, now my leg. If I don’t rehab a hundred percent they’re going to pull me out of the field.” Renée looked away. “We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you.” She glanced back to Paula, her eyes intent. “I understand what your job requires. I’m okay with it. I’m proud of you. I’m just…things are tough right now, but it’s not you.” She leaned down and kissed Paula hard. “Sweetie, it’s not you.”

Paula drew Renée into her arms again and returned her kiss. “I hate for you to be unhappy.”

“I just need to figure out what I’m going to do if they transfer me to a desk job somewhere.” Renée closed her eyes. “I don’t think I can take that.”

Paula tightened her hold, frightened more by the despondency in Renée’s voice than the thought that her lover might be transferred across the country. “It’ll be okay. Your leg will be fine and you’ll be back to duty before you know it.”

“I’m not going to accept a post somewhere if it means I’m never going to be able to see you.” Renée caressed Paula’s chest, then circled lower, unconsciously tracing the line of muscles down to the base of her belly. “Not after everything that’s happened.”

Paula tried to focus on being supportive, but Renée’s persistent caresses were starting to sap her concentration. Casually, she covered Renée’s questing hand and drew it away from the trigger zone that was dangerously close to igniting. “I know. I feel the same.”

“We haven’t made love since I got shot,” Renée observed softly, extracting her hand from Paula’s grip. She cupped Paula very lightly between the legs. “Miss it?”

“Oh, geez,” Paula choked, her legs starting to quiver. “Yeah.”

Renée squeezed gently. “Have you been taking many solo flights?”

“Not many.” Paula flushed as she felt a flood of wetness between her thighs. “Oh.”

“Mmm. You did miss me, didn’t you?” Renée gripped a little harder and jiggled her hand.

“Stop.” Paula slammed her hand down over Renée’s, effectively preventing her from moving her fingers. “Honest. Don’t. I’ll get really excited, and we can’t until your leg’s better.”

Renée laughed. “My leg might keep me from working, sweetie, but it doesn’t keep me from taking care of the important business.” She lowered her head and licked Paula’s nipple into rapid attention. When Paula shivered and moaned softly, she worried the small, hard knot tenderly with her teeth. “So I think you should hold very still.” She sucked until Paula moaned again. “While I make you come.”

“Renée,” Paula said hoarsely. “We should wait.”

Renée shifted and guided Paula’s face to her breast. “No. Waiting is the last thing we should do.” She hissed in a breath as Paula’s mouth closed over her nipple. Delicately, she traced the hard prominence of Paula’s clitoris with her fingertip. When Paula jerked and started to pull back, she gripped her between thumb and forefinger and squeezed. “We’re here together right now, Paula. Feel me now, sweetie. Feel me.”

Unable to resist the persistent caresses, Paula closed her eyes as Renée fondled her in just the right spot with just the right pressure to make her come. Spinning toward orgasm, she whispered the one thing of which she was totally certain in a suddenly uncertain world. “I love you.”

Chapter Six

“Diane was quiet tonight,” Cam said as she sat on the side of the bed and pulled off her shoes. She unbuckled her belt, lifted her hips, and shed her trousers. Across the room, Blair undressed, tossing her blue jeans and T-shirt into the laundry basket in the bedroom closet. The circles that had surfaced beneath her eyes earlier in the day had deepened, giving her a haunted look.

“Things are still pretty awful in Manhattan,” Blair said. “She closed the gallery for a while.”

“It’s going to take some time before people and businesses recover.” Cam gave a mirthless laugh as she removed her shirt. “I guess recover is an optimistic word.”