Oath of Honor

“Now that she’s in town, I’ll brief her formally. Is she still at the

condo?”

“No, she and Paula went to the range. They’re meeting me here

a little later and we’re going out to breakfast. I thought I’d try to catch

my father. Is he up yet?”

“I imagine he’s in the gym.”

“Thanks. I’ll go hunt him up.”

“Congratulations again, by the way. The wedding was lovely.”

“Thanks. It was everything I wanted, only I never knew it.”

“That’s the wonderful thing about love,” Lucinda murmured.

“So how much time do we have before we travel?”

“He starts his first campaign sweep the first of the year.”

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Oath Of hOnOr

“Oh good—I’ll be able to spend my birthday on a train.”

“Things have changed in the last few years,” Lucinda said dryly.

“We’ll fly.”

v

Wes woke, twisting in the unfamiliar, too-small bed—senses alert

to danger. As the remnants of sleep fled, she became aware of the body

pressed close to hers. Evyn. Evyn’s back was curved against her chest,

her ass tucked neatly into the curve of Wes’s hips. Wes’s cheek rested

on the pillow an inch from the back of Evyn’s neck. When she breathed

in she could smell the faint hint of lemon in her hair. She’d never

awakened next to a woman before, and she lay very still, cataloging

every sensation. The front of her thighs rested gently against the back

of Evyn’s, the delicate melding of skin to skin a fragile connection

she didn’t dare sever. Her breasts grazed the arch of Evyn’s shoulder

blades, her nipples electrified by the whisper of contact. The moments

they’d spent making love kaleidoscoped through her mind, one after

the other, in vivid breathless images. Carefully, so as not to awaken her,

she slipped her arm around Evyn’s waist and gently spread her fingers

over her abdomen. Evyn pushed back against her, setting their bodies

more firmly together.

Wes held her breath, but Evyn only murmured, “Stay,” as she

grasped Wes’s hand and pressed it to her flesh. Wes’s heart hammered

harder, a wave of tenderness and unanticipated heat strobing through

her. She wanted Evyn again. Her body vibrated with the urge to stroke,

taste, savor. The only thing keeping her from waking Evyn was the

exquisite pleasure of holding her just exactly the way they were. She

nuzzled her face in the curve of Evyn’s shoulder.

Evyn drew Wes’s hand higher until her nipple nestled in Wes’s

palm. “You fit.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake—”

“No.” Evyn turned in Wes’s arms and kissed her. She stroked

Wes’s back, cradled her ass. “I want you too.”

Excitement blossomed in Wes’s depths and she groaned.

“Oh yeah,” Evyn whispered, tugging on Wes’s lower lip. “You

tired?”

• 181 •

RADCLYfFE

“No,” Wes gasped. “God, Evyn.”

Evyn slipped her hand between them, brushed her palm down

Wes’s abdomen. “Shoulder hurt?”

“What shoulder?” Wes ached, blood thundering in her clit, her

body awakening to desire.

Laughing, Evyn murmured, “All right then,” and moved her hand

lower. “Here?”

“Yes.” Wes held on, breathless.

“Here?”

“Yes, please. Right there.” Spinning, tumbling, drowning in

need.“More?”

“Yes. Almost. Almost.” Wes arched, pressure building, lungs

bursting, exploding—lost in pleasure, eyes wide open and unafraid.

The next time Wes opened her eyes she was alone. She skated her

hand over the place beside her where Evyn had been not long before.

The sheets were cool. The air in the room was equally cool and smelled

faintly of industrial cleanser. Soupy gray light trickled through the slats

in the blinds. Evyn might have been gone five minutes, or an hour. Wes

pushed herself up on her elbows and looked around the room.

Relief surged through her at the sight of Evyn’s go bag sitting next

to hers on the floor. Evyn hadn’t left. But then Evyn wouldn’t disappear

in the night—no matter how she felt about what had happened between

them, she would never walk away. She was far too responsible for that.

Maybe she’d gone out because she hadn’t wanted a repeat of the night

before. Maybe she’d gone out to let the distance say what she didn’t

want to—that what they’d shared was only one night and nothing

more.The idea that the night was over, never to be repeated, sliced

through Wes with unexpected pain. She didn’t know what she wanted

to happen next, and she had no point of reference, other than the scent

of Evyn in the dark and the silky glide of Evyn’s skin beneath her hands.

Those memories and the clear and certain knowledge that she wanted

both again were all she had. Pushing the covers aside, she climbed out

of bed and grabbed her sweatpants and a heavy gray cotton pullover

out of her bag. The hot-water radiator in the corner rattled but didn’t

seem to be throwing off much heat. Dressing quickly in the cold room,

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Oath Of hOnOr

she sat on the end of the bed to put on her socks. The door banged

open and Evyn hurried in, bringing a gust of frigid wind and scattered

snowflakes. Her face was flushed. She wore the jeans and T-shirt from