Honor Bound

by Radclyffe

  “You bled like hell though, and they gave you transfusions for that. You’ve been out of it for a while because of the megadose of anesthesia and the shock. But you’re going to be fine.”

  Savard closed her eyes for a few seconds, and when she opened them, her smile was stronger. “That doesn’t sound too bad. A little rehab and I should be back in the field, right?”

  “Don’t see why not,” Stark said positively, although at the moment she didn’t want to think about that. She still couldn’t shake the feeling of terror she’d had when she’d found her on the ground, lying so still, covered in blood.

  “Did I get him?” Savard asked uncertainly.

  This time, Stark’s smile was brilliant, and her eyes flickered with something hard and edgy. “Oh yeah, you got him. You got him in about a million pieces. He took a little unexpected ride on his own rocket fuel. Straight to hell, I hope.”

  Stark forced back the rage. Later. There would be time to let it out later. “You’re a hero, Renee. You deserve all the credit you get.”

  Savard shook her head. “I don’t think so, Paula. Roberts was all over it out there. If it hadn’t been for her...” She broke off abruptly and her eyes widened, more fear-filled than when she had first awakened and realized that she was in a hospital bed. “Oh God! Is she all right? Ellen Grant? What about Grant? There was an explosion—”

  “They’re both okay,” Stark said quickly. “Grant will be in here a while, but the commander has already been released.”

  “Thank God.” Savard closed her eyes for a few seconds. She was beginning to remember—running through the dark, the flash of the explosion, the tearing pain in her shoulder. God, is it finally over, then?

  Stark frowned when she realized that Savard was trembling. “I should go. You need to rest.”

  Savard opened her eyes again. Softly, she said, “You look like you could use some, too.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Stark said with a sheepish grin. She was actually about to fall down she was so tired. But she couldn’t leave just yet. “So...uh...Savard...just in case you have any memory problems, you know...from this little...uh, episode...”

  Damn. It was easier when I rehearsed this.

  “I...uh...wanted to remind you that we...you know...have a date. Right?”

  Renee Savard smiled, and this time her eyes sparkled with their old vitality. “You don’t need to worry, Agent Stark. It would take more than a bullet to make me forget that.”

  When Cam awoke, she was naked in bed and Blair was beside her. For a few moments, she lay quietly, simply luxuriating in the feel of Blair’s arm possessively draped across her body. She liked the weight of it, the quiet reminder that she belonged here—with her.

  “He’s really dead, isn’t he?” Blair said into the still room, part statement, part question.

  “Yes.” Cam reached for Blair’s hand, interlacing her fingers with Blair’s and squeezing gently. “We don’t have a positive ID, but I expect that we will when the forensics people are finished.”

  “Who was he?”

  Cam hesitated for a second and then said kindly, “He was a state trooper assigned to your security detail about ten years ago—when your father was still governor.”

  Blair rolled onto her side and pressed tightly against Cam’s body, nestling her face against her uninjured shoulder. After a moment, she said, “I don’t remember him. I don’t remember any of them.”

  “There’s no reason that you should.” Cam’s tone was gentle and her touch soothing as she brushed her fingers lightly over the curve of Blair’s breast. Blair shivered in her arms. “We’re not supposed to be memorable. We’re supposed to do our job and keep out of your life.”

  There was an edge of bitterness in her voice that she couldn’t quite hide. Harker had tarnished so many things she valued. Dishonoring his oath was the least of his sins. It enraged her every time she thought of him watching Blair with his fevered distorted longings all the time that he had been entrusted with her care.

  “I seem to have quite a few pleasant memories of you though, Commander,” Blair whispered softly, rubbing her palm lightly over Cam’s chest, chasing away the demons.

  Cam’s swift intake of breath followed fast on the surge of excitement that rippled through her. She shifted so they were face-to-face, and she kissed her way along the edge of Blair’s jaw to the corner of her mouth. “Let’s make a few more.”

  Blair pushed Cam down and moved on top of her, straddling her hips. “Yes, let’s.”

  “I love the way you look when you’re on top of me,” Cam murmured, reaching for the full breasts just inches away.

  Blair leaned forward, catching her lower lip between her teeth as Cam’s knowing fingers closed on her nipples, sending showers of excitement streaking low between her thighs. She rocked, slow easy strokes, teasing herself as well as her lover as her wetness coated Cam’s stomach.

  When the pressure began to peak and the tingling started on the insides of her thighs, she dropped her head and closed her eyes, bracing herself with her hands against the mattress on either side of Cam’s shoulders. Her breath came in uneven sobs as she gave herself to the escalating urgency between her legs, pressing harder, faster. Soon, it would be impossible to stop.

  She forced her eyes open and struggled to focus on Cam’s face. “Should I wait?” she gasped.

  “No,” Cam rasped, barely able to force the words out her chest felt so tight. “You’re so beautiful when you come.”

  She brought one hand down between them and slipped her fingers between Blair’s legs, cupping her as she thrust.

  “Oh, Cam,” Blair moaned, riding hard on Cam’s hand. She jerked once and then she was gone. As the spasms continued to bombard her, she collapsed against Cam’s chest, groaning softly. “Sorry,” she finally murmured. “I seem to be afflicted with terminal lust.”

  “Nice,” Cam remarked, running her hands up and down her back. “Have I mentioned lately that I find you terminally sexy?”

  Blair laughed, leaning up on one elbow and shaking the hair back from her face. “You think we’re safe together?”

  Cam stroked her face, then raised her head and kissed gently. “Oh yes. Quite safe.”

  “Are we free now?” Blair asked, suddenly serious.

  “Yes.”

  But they both knew that wasn’t quite true.

  “I’d prefer that you not scare the hell out of me again for a while.” Blair pressed her lips to Cam’s bare shoulder, tasting the light tang of salt and feeling her desire rise again.

  Cam brushed a kiss into silky blond hair. “I have no intention of scaring you again at any time. I know it’s hard to believe at the moment, but these situations are extremely rare. I hope you’ll be able to believe that someday.”

  “You’re not resigning, are you?”

  “I don’t want to.” Cam tightened her grip and held Blair closer when she felt her stiffen. “It’s what I do, Blair, and it feels right to me. It lets me be with you more than I would be able to under any other circumstances. I don’t want to see you for a night every couple of months. Not for the next seven years.”

  Blair tried hard to put her fear aside and listen to what Cam was telling her. She couldn’t deny the reality of the situation, because if Cam were not part of her security detail, it would be very hard for them to be together. And with her as the security chief, it would still be hard for them to have a personal life, but that was not a new challenge for her. She had been working outside the system, in that regard, all her life. She sighed.

  “I don’t know if it will work, but I’m willing to try.”

  “If it doesn’t work,” Cam assured, “I’ll do whatever I have to do. Blair, I love you.”

  Blair moved on top of Cam and looked intently into her face. “We’ll both do whatever we need to do. Because I love you, too.”

  “Is that so?” Cam caught Blair’s fingers and pressed a kiss to her palm. Then, she moved Blair’s hand down her body.
“Perhaps you could repeat that.”

  Blair laughed, watching Cam’s eyes as she touched her. “As you wish, Commander.”

  About the Author

  Radclyffe is a retired surgeon and full-time award-winning author-publisher with over thirty lesbian and anthologies in print. Seven of her works have been Lambda Literary finalists, including the Lambda Literary winners Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments edited with Stacia Seaman; In Deep Waters 2; Distant Shores, Silent Thunder. She is the editor of Best Lesbian Romance 2009 and 2010 (Cleis Press), Erotic Interludes 2 through 5 and Romantic Interludes 1 and 2 with Stacia Seaman (BSB), and has selections in multiple anthologies including Best Lesbian Erotica 2006-2010; After Midnight; Caught Looking: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists; First-Timers; Ultimate Undies: Erotic Stories About Lingerie and Underwear; Hide and Seek; A is for Amour; H is for Hardcore; L is for Leather; Rubber Sex, Tasting Him, and Cowboy Erotica. She is the recipient of the 2003 and 2004 Alice B. Readers’ awards for her body of work and is also the president of Bold Strokes Books, one of the world’s largest independent LGBTQ publishing companies.

  Her latest release is an all-Radclyffe erotica anthology, Radical Encounters (Feb 2009) and the romantic intrigue novel Justice for All (April 2009), and the romance Secrets in the Stone (July 2009). Her forthcoming works include The Midnight Hunt (writing as L.L. Raand, March 2010) and the first in the First Responder Series, Trauma Alert (July 2010).

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

  Power Play by Julie Cannon. Businesswomen Tate Monroe and Victoria Sosa are at odds in the boardroom, but not in the bedroom. (978-1-60282-125-5)

  The Remarkable Journey of Miss Tranby Quirke by Elizabeth Ridley. When love enters Tranby’s life in the form of a beautiful nineteen-year-old student, Lysette McDonald, she embarks on the most remarkable journey of all. (978-1-60282-126-2)

  Returning Tides by Radclyffe. Insurance investigator Ashley Walker faces more than a dangerous opponent when she returns to the town, and the woman, she left behind. (978-1-60282-123-1)

  Veritas by Anne Laughlin. When the hallowed halls of academia become the stage for murder, newly appointed Dean Beth Ellis’s search for the truth leads her to unexpected discoveries about her own heart. (978-1-60282-124-8)

  The Pleasure Planner by Larkin Rose. Pleasure purveyor Bree Hendricks treats love like a commodity until Logan Delaney makes Bree the client in her own game. (978-1-60282-121-7)

  everafter by Nell Stark and Trinity Tam. Valentine Darrow is bitten by a vampire on her way to propose to her lover Alexa Newland, and their lives and love are placed in mortal jeopardy. (978-1-60282-119-4)

  Summer Winds by Andrews & Austin. When Maggie Turner hires a ranch hand to help work her thousand acres, she never expects to be attracted to the very young, very female Cash Tate. (978-1-60282- 120-0)

  Beggar of Love by Lee Lynch. Jefferson is the lover every woman wants to be—or to have. A revealing saga of lesbian sexuality. (978-1- 60282-122-4)

  The Seduction of Moxie by Colette Moody. When 1930s Broadway actress Violet London meets speakeasy singer Moxie Valette, she is instantly attracted and her Hollywood trip takes an unexpected turn.(978-1-60282-114-9)

  Goldenseal by Gill McKnight. When Amy Fortune returns to her childhood home, she discovers something sinister in the air—but is former lover Leone Garoul stalking her or protecting her? (978-1-60282-115-6)

  Romantic Interludes 2: Secrets edited by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman. An anthology of sensual lesbian love stories: passion, surprises, and secret desires. (978-1-60282-116-3)

  Femme Noir by Clara Nipper. Nora Delaney meets her match in Max Abbott, a sex-crazed dame who may or may not have the information Nora needs to solve a murder—but can she contain her lust for Max long enough to find out? (978-1-60282-117-0)

  The Reluctant Daughter by Lesléa Newman. Heartwarming, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant—the story every daughter recognizes of the lifelong struggle for our mothers to really see us. (978-1-60282-118-7)

  Erosistible by Gill McKnight. When Win Martin arrives at a luxurious Greek hotel for a much-anticipated week of sun and sex with her new girlfriend, she is stunned to find her ex-girlfriend, Benny, is the proprietor. Aeros Ebook. (978-1-60282-134-7)

  Looking Glass Lives by Felice Picano. Cousins Roger and Alistair become lifelong friends and discover their sexuality amidst the backdrop of twentieth-century gay culture. (978-1-60282-089-0)

  Breaking the Ice by Kim Baldwin. Nothing is easy about life above the Arctic Circle—except, perhaps, falling in love. At least that’s what pilot Bryson Faulkner hopes when she meets Karla Edwards. (978-1-60282-087-6)

  It Should Be a Crime by Carsen Taite. Two women fulfill their mutual desire with a night of passion, neither expecting more until law professor Morgan Bradley and student Parker Casey meet again…in the classroom. (978-1-60282-086-9)

  Rough Trade edited by Todd Gregory. Top male erotica writers pen their own hot, sexy versions of the term “rough trade,” producing some of the hottest, nastiest, and most dangerous fiction ever published. (978-1-60282-092-0)

  The High Priest and the Idol by Jane Fletcher. Jemeryl and Tevi’s relationship is put to the test when the Guardian sends Jemeryl on a mission that puts her not only in harm’s way, but back into the sights of a previous lover. (978-1-60282-085-2)

  Point of Ignition by Erin Dutton. Amid a blaze that threatens to consume them both, firefighter Kate Chambers and property owner Alexi Clark redefine love and trust. (978-1-60282-084-5)

  Secrets in the Stone by Radclyffe. Reclusive sculptor Rooke Tyler suddenly finds herself the object of two very different women’s affections, and choosing between them will change her life forever. (978-1-60282-083-8)