"Lift your arms, my beautiful one," Diane said, her voice husky and deep. Delicately, she slid Valerie's blouse and bra off in one motion, leaving her bare from the waist up. She pressed her thighs and lower body against Valerie's, her loins full and pulsing with arousal. She was determined to go slowly, but her body cried out for contact. She rolled her pelvis into the vee between Valerie's legs, tormenting them both. "Oh God, you feel so good."

With trembling hands, Diane caught the bottom of her own blouse and stripped it from her skin, dropping it mindlessly somewhere behind her. As her teeth closed on Valerie's lower lip, she tightened her arms around the slender body and rubbed her breasts over Valerie's. Their tight nipples chafed, and the beating between her thighs quickened, her clitoris tensing until she moaned.

Valerie edged a hand between them and spread her fingers over Diane's breast, squeezing gently. "I want you so much.. .so much."

Diane arched into the pleasure even as she pushed away. "Don't. I'm already far too excited."

"Then let me." Valerie covered Diane's other breast and worked her thumbs over her nipples, flicking as she massaged the tense engorged tissue. "Let me give you what you need. I want to."

"No. No." Diane pressed her hands over Valerie's, crushing her breasts beneath their joined fingers, stilling the torturous touch. She drew a breath and then another until her head began to clear. Then she pulled Valerie's hands from her body and jerked her toward the bed, turning them in motion so that Valerie ended up on her back with Diane above her, straddling her body. Her lips curved in a victorious smile, and she stretched full-length upon her, pressing one thigh firmly between Valerie's as she delved into her mouth. Between moans and kisses she worked her fingers between their bodies and finished unzipping Valerie's slacks and then her own. She rolled away only enough to push her clothing down and then to help Valerie shed the rest of hers. As they shifted and struggled and clung to one another, their mouths still joined, desperate not to lose contact, their bruising kisses grew more frantic and their hands more demanding.

"Please," Valerie begged, pressing her hips up to meet each of Diane's ever-more-rapid downward thrusts, "let me touch you. Let me make you come."

"No. You first." Diane's lids were nearly closed, her pupils wide and dark, her breath a rasping groan. She felt Valerie's passion slick her skin, but it was her own control that threatened to break. She braced her body on trembling arms and rocked herself to the brink of orgasm against Valerie's thigh, and still Valerie held back. She could feel her body shuddering beneath her, sense her hands trembling over her back like the frantic wings of a wounded bird, and still she held back. "Let go, darling. Let go."

"I can't," Valerie gasped. "Oh God, I can't"

"Oh yes," Diane said fiercely, "you can." And then she pushed herself down on the bed until she was between Valerie's thighs, and in the same motion took her into her mouth with one long slide of lips and tongue and gently grazing teeth. Valerie stiffened, her body rising off the bed as she choked back a scream.

Instantly, Diane gentled her caresses into swift butterfly kisses and short light strokes with the tip of her tongue until Valerie caught her breath and relaxed into the pleasure. Diane stretched both arms upward, finding Valerie's nipples and squeezing to the rhythm of her mouth, drawing the tense clitoris ever closer to the brink.

Valerie covered Diane's hands with hers, joining Diane's fingers on her nipples, guiding her in the twisting, tugging motion that would ignite the orgasm that lingered still in the shadows of her mind. "I'm so close so close.. .suck me harder."

With tender precision, Diane bit down on the base of Valerie's clitoris, and Valerie came instantly. Her shoulders wrenched off the bed as she cried out at the shock, then fell back shivering and twisting as the pleasure ripped through her. She was still coming when Diane pulled herself up and crushed her lips to Valerie's neck, moaning and shuddering, her body on fire.

"Oh, I'm going to come," Diane moaned, her fingers gripping, convulsing on Valerie's shoulders.

"Come in my mouth," Valerie gasped, reaching blindly for Diane 's hips, urging her upward.

"Next.. .time, oh God I'm coming." Diane buried her face in Valerie's neck and soared.

Valerie tightened her arms around the trembling woman, incapable of recalling a single instance when she had ever felt so satisfied. When Diane quieted and lay breathing softly, her muscles loose and her skin misted with a fine sheen of perspiration, Valerie stroked her hair, the angle of her jaw, her neck, her back, unable to fill her hands with enough of her and desperate to know all of her.

"Mmm, you're wonderful," Diane murmured contentedly.

Valerie laughed shakily. "Oh, my dear, I think that should be my line."

Diane raised her head, her eyes still heavy with desire, and kissed Valerie softly. "I've never wanted to make a woman come quite as much as I did with you just now. I'm feeling positively pleased with myself."

"As well you should be." Valerie stroked Diane's face. "I don't usually.. .I'm not usually like that with anyone."

Diane was silent for a long time. Then she turned her head and kissed Valerie's palm. "Good."

"Diane, what I do.. .It's not something I can change easily."

"Do you want to?"

"I want...I want this again, with you. And more. Other things. With you."

"Good. So do I. That's where we'll start." Diane rested her head on Valerie's shoulder and closed her eyes. "We'll work on figuring out the rest of it later."

Diane must have dozed, because she opened her eyes to find herself on her back and the most exquisite sensation she could ever recall building between her thighs. Murmuring her pleasure, she raised her head and smiled down at Valerie. "Whatever you're doing, it's wonderful."

"Remember what I said earlier?" Valerie asked.

Come in my mouth,

"Mmm." Diane shifted restlessly, full and aching. She looked into Valerie's eyes, her want answering Valerie's desire. Oh please yes.

"It's next time now,"

"Oh yes," Diane sighed as she leaned back and closed her eyes. "It is."

Chapter Twenty-one

D iane knocked on the bathroom door, opened it, and handed Valerie a burnished gold silk blouse, white silk panties, and a new pair of stockings. "I think these should fit you."

"Thanks." Valerie, fresh from the shower, stood in front of the vanity wrapped in a towel. Her shoulder-length blond hair was damp, her ivory skin flushed and moist with steam.

There was a great deal more of her uncovered than not, and Diane was struck with an instant rush of arousal. And there was no time. Even knowing that, it took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to tug the towel to the floor and fill her hands with Valerie's breasts. She was already addicted to the way Valerie sounded when she was excited and hungered feverishly to hear her climax again. To touch her that deeply, to claim her so completely. She'd never wanted to possess a woman the way she wanted her. "I'm afraid my bra won't fit you," she said in as light a tone as she could manage through a throat tight with desire.

"I'll manage for a few hours." Valerie smiled gently as she set the borrowed clothing on the vanity. The suit she had worn the day before hung from a nearby towel bar. She rested her hip against the counter and sipped the coffee Diane had left for her while she was in the shower. "I appreciate you getting my things from the hotel. I've barely got time to grab a cab to the airport and make the flight."

"Do they do this all the time? Call you and tell you to be somewhere yesterday?"

"I don't usually move around this much. The last few months have been hectic, and then after what happened this week..." Valerie shrugged ruefully. Her identity had very nearly been exposed when the escort service she'd employed as a cover in DC had been the object of a clandestine investigation. She'd expected to remain on the West Coast until a new identity could be established, but she'd been ordered to Manhattan almost immediately for the gallery opening. "Most of the time, we aren't given explanations. I'm given a job to do, and that's what I do."

"I know you can't tell me those things, and I'm not going to ask." Diane grasped the free edge of the towel and pulled slowly until it fell away, watching Valerie's pupils flicker and dance. Surprise and desire. Warning and welcome.

"Diane," Valerie murmured, setting the coffee cup down blindly.

Diane pressed into her quickly, jerking open the tie on her own robe so that their bodies collided, skin to skin. "Just tell me that you're coming back." She worked her fingers into the tangled curls at Valerie's neck and bruised her lips over Valerie's mouth. "Tell me it wasn't just one night."

"One night? Oh no." Valerie angled her hips and spun Diane to the counter, caressing her breasts as she rocked against her. "No. So much more than that."

"God, I want you." Diane arched into Valerie's hands as she circled her tongue over Valerie's lips, tasting her heat. "I want to believe you."

"Believe me." Valerie lowered her head to pull a swollen nipple into her mouth. She licked and bit, then pressed her cheek over Diane's thundering heart. "Oh God, I have to go. I can't do this. I'm so sorry."

Gasping, Diane dragged Valerie's mouth away from her flesh. "I want you to go." At the devastation that flashed across Valerie's face, she shook her head vehemently. "No, darling. Just for now." She laughed weakly. "I can't imagine what they might do to you if you don't show up wherever it is you're going."

Valerie traced the curve of Diane's lower lip with her fingertips. "It's not quite as bad as you think. But I do have to go."

"All right." Diane kissed her softly and pushed her carefully away. "I'll be expecting you."

*

Wednesday, September 19

Stark shifted her shoulders and eased Savard's head onto her chest.

"Sorry," Savard mumbled. "Fell asleep."

When Savard started to move away, Stark tightened her arm around her. "No. Go back to sleep." Even though it seemed that her lover's sleep was far from restful, if the small twitches and moans that accompanied it were any indication, Stark figured if the commander had ordered them both to take time off, it was because she thought it was necessary. And she had to agree that the haunted expression in Renee's eyes and the dark circles beneath them warranted attention.

"Where are we?" Savard asked, closing her eyes and tucking her head beneath Stark's chin. She curled an arm around her waist as well, wanting her as close as possible. The nightmare separation in the hospital had nearly snapped the last strands of her control.

"About an hour from the Jacksonville airport." Stark tilted her cheek against the top of Savard's head.

"You have all your medicine, right?"

"Yep. All three vials," Stark assured her yet again. Savard had fretted about her ever since she'd left the hospital early that morning. Even though Stark was beyond the mandatory observation period, Savard remained agitated and hypervigilant, as if she was afraid Stark would suddenly fall ill—or worse—if she let her guard down for a moment. "I'm not going to get sick, honey."

"I know that," Savard said quickly. "I know."

"You really think it's okay to spring me on your family?"

Eyes closed, comforted by Stark's steady heartbeat, Savard smiled and nodded drowsily. "They're going to love you, because they're going to be able to tell that I do."

"Is it okay if they can tell that I love you too?" Stark kissed the top of Savard's head, "Cause I sorta can't look at you without it showing."

Savard squeezed her eyes shut around sudden tears. Don't leave me. Please, I need you so much.

"Honey?" Stark rubbed her hand up and down Savard's back. When she got no response, she whispered, "It's okay. You just sleep."

Savard feigned sleep as she immersed herself in the scent and sense of her lover's body. Deep inside, a small corner of the void that had threatened to consume her from the inside out slowly filled with the certainty of love. Long moments later, as the pain and terror of her waking dreams relinquished a fraction of its paralyzing hold on her, she finally slept.

*