Radclyffe - Oath of Honor

to him.”

“Every time he steps outside that building, he’s a target. God, even

when he’s inside, he’s a target. Someone tried to fly a plane into the

White House, Cam.”

“I know. And so does everyone whose duty it is to protect him, and

believe me, they’re the best. You know that. He doesn’t go anywhere that

every contingency isn’t prepared for. And in the worst-case scenario, he

has a full medical team standing by. Hell, there’s an operating room on

Air Force One.”

“I know, I know. It’s just—to everyone else in the world he’s

POTUS, the most powerful man in the world. To me, he’s my father.”

Cam pulled Blair down into her arms and kissed her. Blair had

lost her mother when she was a child. Andrew and she had been a team

since then, Blair at his side as he’d risen from the governor’s mansion

to the White House. He was her father, her friend, and her greatest

supporter. “I know, baby. I know.”

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“I’m glad Lucinda has you on this. I know he’ll be even safer. She

needs you there.” Blair gripped Cam’s shoulders and pulled Cam over

on top of her. “But right now, so do I.”

“Ah, Blair,” Cam whispered, “you have me, anytime.

Anywhere.”

Cam kissed Blair’s eyes, her mouth, her throat. Blair was restless

beneath her, her legs clasping the backs of Cam’s thighs, pulling their

bodies tighter, fusing them. Cam slid her hand between their bodies

and caressed Blair’s breasts until her nipples tightened and her breasts

tensed.

“Oh God, Cam,” Blair whispered. “Inside me. I need you.”

“Soon,” Cam whispered, inching down, skating her mouth over

Blair’s breast, kissing her nipple, biting lightly. Blair arched, a small

cry escaping, and Cam’s head pounded. She wanted her, hungered

for her. Blair was the strongest woman she’d ever known, and she let

herself be vulnerable beneath Cam’s hands, beneath her mouth. She

opened herself, gave herself, and Cam had never felt so humbled. She

kissed the center of Blair’s abdomen, moving lower, slowly, covering

every inch of skin with her fingers and her lips.

“Oh, you feel so good,” Blair gasped. “I want you so bad when

you make me wait.”

“I need all of you. So much.”

Blair’s fingers came into her hair, caressing her, guiding her lower.

“You do. You always do.”

Cam eased Blair’s thighs apart, kissing the soft skin first on one

side, then the other, moving inward, nipping lightly, kissing the spots

her teeth had teased. Blair’s hips lifted to her, inviting her deeper. She

lost all sense of time, of place, of anything other than Blair. Blair’s

hands on her shoulders, Blair’s skin beneath her mouth, Blair closing

around her fingers. Blair was everything—air, sun, joy, eternity.

“Now,” Blair whispered. “Now.”

Carefully, gently, Cam drew Blair’s clitoris between her lips,

closing her mouth over her, slipping inside until she filled her. She

pressed inward even as she sucked her deeper. Blood pulsed, muscles

quivered, and Blair was everywhere—in her mind and blood and soul.

“There—” Blair swelled in her mouth.

She guided her higher, stroking, sucking, drawing her ever closer

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until Blair’s thighs tightened into steel bands. Blair jerked hard against

Cam’s mouth, a choked cry torn from her throat. Blair’s orgasm rushed

around her fingers, pulsed against her lips, filling her with wonder.

“Oh my God,” Blair gasped.

Cam kissed her one last time and settled her cheek against the

inside of Blair’s thigh, softly caressing her belly. “I love you.”

“You make me so happy.”

“That’s everything.”

“Almost.” Blair’s fingers twisted in Cam’s hair and tugged.

“Almost everything—but not quite. Come up here.”

v

Hooker slid into a booth in the rear of the Chicago O’Hare Chili’s

and waited for the server to take his drink order before saying anything

to the man seated across from him. Anyone watching them in the dimly

lit restaurant, and no one was, would be unlikely to remember two guys

on a layover, in rumpled clothes, faces obscured by shadows. When

they were alone, he said, “This is getting expensive.”

“Safer.”

“Right. Next time make it someplace warmer.”

“If it’s inconvenient, I’m happy to quit.”

Hooker snorted. “I’ll just bet you are. But that’s not the way it

works. You’ve already gotten your down payment.”

“Don’t worry. I’m loyal to the cause.”

Hooker shrugged. He didn’t know what motivated the guy, and he

didn’t care. All he cared about was getting his part of the job done, and

he needed this guy to do it. “Tell me what you have for me.”

“A few changes to the upcoming schedule.”

“Delays?” Hooker frowned. “We’ve already got a timetable—”

“I don’t want to know anything about what you’re planning.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t.” Hooker leaned back while the waitress

slid a beer across the tabletop. “All right. Give it to me. Anything

else?”“There’s been a change in personnel at the White House. The

medical unit has a new chief.”

“Not unexpected. What do we know about him?”

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“Her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Brought her in from outside.”

“Oh. Okay.” Hooker didn’t like surprises, especially when they

affected one of the key players. “What do we know about her?”

“Not very much yet. Seems to be a straightforward appointment—

navy captain. Nothing unusual.”

“She could be useful. See if we can get close.”

“The place is like a fishbowl. We can’t just go poking around.”

“And we can’t have a wild card in a game we’ve already

started.”

“I’ll do what I can. They’re calling my flight. Here.”

A folded ten was pushed across the tabletop, and Hooker swept it

up in his palm and shoved the bill into his pocket. He fingered the small

memory disk free and pushed it farther down so he wouldn’t accidently

dislodge it along with the money. “What’s on it?”

“The contact info. I’d rather you didn’t contact me—”

“When we need something, you’ll know.”

Alone, Hooker finished his drink, pulled the ten from his pocket,

and left it on the table. Grabbing the check the waitress had left, he

headed for the register by the door. Russo might be right—this thing

was so big they couldn’t afford to leave any witnesses.

v

“So what’s the agenda,” Wes asked as she and Evyn walked back

to the House, “for boot camp?”

Evyn smiled. “You won’t have to run an obstacle course.”

“Good to know.”

“We need to see how you’ll mesh with our team in different threat

scenarios. Everyone else in the WHMU has been on board at least

eighteen months. Not only are you the new guy, you’re the new chief.

You’ll be with POTUS around the clock most of the time he’s away.”

“I understand.” Wes paused at a corner for the light to change.

“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what the sims are first, are

you.”“No.”

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“Even though you probably practice the same simulations at

regular intervals anyhow.”

“You’re quick.” Evyn shot her a searching glance. “Piss you off?”

“What? Being treated like a squid?”

“Let me guess—that’s like the lowest of the low at Annapolis?”

Wes nodded. She’d played the game, paid her dues, and earned her

rank. She might be out of her element here, but she was no squid. Yeah,

she was annoyed, but she’d also learned not to be thrown off center by

her emotions. “Not really.”

“Good,” Evyn said, not sounding totally convinced. “We’re on the

same side, after all.”

Wes stopped walking, and Evyn turned to her, her brows drawing

together in a question. “There’s something you should know—

something all the interviews and polygraphs in the world aren’t going

to tell you.”

“Okay.”

“Run your simulations, analyze the polygraph, psychoanalyze me

if that’s what will make everyone feel better, but I would never put a

patient’s life at risk. If I’m not right for this job—one hundred percent

qualified, I won’t need anyone to tell me. I’ll know. I’ll walk away.”

“That makes you very unusual, Captain Masters,” Evyn said

softly. Passersby streamed by on either side of them. Their breath

puffed out in the cold air, mingling and misting and drifting away in

small white clouds. Evyn’s gaze held hers. “No ego investment?”

Wes shook her head. “Plenty. If I can’t do something well, I won’t

do it.”“A perfectionist.”

“I hope not—that’s an impossible goal. A realist, maybe.”

Evyn smiled. “I guess our lives don’t leave room for much else.”

“No.” A pang of unexpected sadness raced through Wes’s chest,

and for some reason, she thought of her family. She’d grown up with

love—surrounded by warmth and joy and support, even though she’d

also been on her own a lot. She still had that love and support, but there

were times, late at night or first thing in the morning, when she ached

for something she couldn’t name. Or was afraid to. “Do you regret—I

won’t say the sacrifices, because I don’t think of it that way. But you

know—the job?”

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“No,” Evyn said quickly. “You?”

“No. And I guess we should get to it.”

“Yes.” Evyn resumed walking.

Wes worked on getting grounded in what was important. She

wasn’t used to being thrown off track by people. Even her friends had

never been successful at pulling her away from her responsibilities.

Emory was always pushing her to go out to parties and clubs when

they’d been at school together, but she’d been all about the grades.

Emory’d been a serious student too, and no party girl, but she’d never

worried quite as much as Wes. She’d dated. At least casually. Wes had

never cared about that. Still didn’t.

“First stop is getting your permanent ID,” Evyn said.

They showed their IDs to the officer at the west gate, and Evyn

took her to the personnel office. The clerk handed Wes a laminated ID

card depicting her photograph, name, and rank.

“Where in the OEOB is the clinic?” Wes asked Evyn when they

left personnel.

“Down this hall.” Evyn glanced at her watch. “Almost seventeen

thirty. Probably only the night shift is here, but you can see them and

check out your office.”

“Thanks. I appreciate the walk around.” Wes mentally noted the

twists and turns as she matched Evyn’s long strides. At the end of a

deserted hall with white walls, gray tiles, and rows of closed doors

on either side, Evyn took a right into another corridor lit by glaring

overhead fluorescents. A small waiting area on one side was crammed

with black metal folding chairs. Opposite that, four rooms with the

letters A through D over their doors stood open and empty. Examination

rooms. Beyond those, she could see into a large office with a desk piled

high with charts. Probably the headquarters of the Admitting Officer of

the Day.

“Well,” Evyn said, “this is it.”

“I can take it from here—I imagine you need to get back.”

“I was done at fifteen hundred.”

“Oh,” Wes said, flashing back to their dinner of the night before.

For one second she considered asking Evyn if she had plans for the

evening and just as quickly came to her senses. She had work to do—a

lot of it. And Evyn—well, anything with Evyn was best kept simple.

Tomorrow Evyn would be evaluating her. “Have a good night, then.”

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Oath Of hOnOr

“Right.” Evyn paused, then smiled briskly. “You too. See you in

the morning.”

Wes watched her walk away until she realized what she was doing.

Abruptly, she averted her gaze and went in search of her team. Why

was simple suddenly so hard?

• 87 •

RADCLY fFE

chapter eleven

Evyn shoved her hands in the pockets of her trench coat, hunched

her shoulders against the wind, and hurried around the Ellipse

to where she’d parked her car. That morning she’d been running late

and grabbed the closest street spot she could find, but it felt like a mile

now. A light snow had begun to fall, and she brushed the loose powder

from her windshield with the sleeve of her coat. Snowflakes melted

on her face and neck. She swore she could feel icy snowmelt trickling

down her back, although she didn’t actually think it was snowing hard

enough for that to be happening. Shivering, she jumped into the front

seat, started the engine, and turned the heat on high. Cold air blasted

in her face, and she lunged to redirect the vents away from the driver’s

seat. The windows frosted over more with every exhalation, and a

cloud of steam rolled up around the outside of the windows to envelop

her, making her feel as if she might step out of the car and find herself

in another world somewhere. Not that far a stretch—seeing as how

this world certainly seemed turned upside down in the last forty-eight

hours. She’d spent more alone time with Wes Masters than she’d spent

with any woman, other than fellow agents, in the last year. She’d spent

even more time thinking about her—like right now—than any of the

women she’d slept with. Evyn flicked melting snow from her hair and

considered going back inside to look for Wes—the storm was picking

up and Wes didn’t have a car. How would she get back—damn, she was

doing it again, behaving like a player in someone else’s life.

Captain Wes Masters did not need rescuing—and she was nobody’s

savior.