But then, everything seemed to be connected with Cameron. Which was why she was grateful she hadn’t had to see him.
But one of those connections had to do with Erin Sullivan, and she had to see Erin.
The bedroom door was open, and Erin was packing her suitcase. “Erin?”
“Hi.” Erin looked up and smiled. “How is Cameron?”
“I wouldn’t know. He’s being protected by a trio of hulks who look like a Mafia squad. I guess I looked too dangerous to risk within the presence.”
“Really?” Erin threw back her head and laughed. “That’s funny. I guess that means I shouldn’t even try. Too bad. I wanted to say good-bye.” She shook her head. “But it doesn’t matter. It’s never really good-bye with Cameron.”
“Hu Chang says you’re heading back to Daksha.” She shivered. “I wouldn’t think you’d be able to bear the memories of what you went through there.”
“I don’t think I’m strong enough to go back to the palace yet, but the village is different. I think that it may … cleanse me.”
“I hope so.” Her gaze went to Erin’s throat. “You’re still wearing your lotus necklace.”
“I always will.”
“Does that mean that—” She stopped as Erin shook her head. “No?”
“Not yet. I’m closer. I may find my answer at Daksha.”
“Whatever you decide, I hope that answer includes me, Erin.” She crossed the room and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Because I believe that you’ll always be my friend and part of my life now. If you need me, call.”
Erin’s eyes were moist as she nodded jerkily. “I will. Thank you for everything, Catherine. You’ll always be with me.” She cleared her throat. “And I’m sorry I’m stealing Hu Chang from you. I need him.”
“And you can obviously be as ruthless as Cameron when you have a plan.” She smiled. “It’s okay. You trumped me this time. Hu Chang’s admiring your energy and growth.” She paused. “So do I.” She turned and headed quickly for the door. “Good-bye, Erin. Take care.”
She didn’t wait for a reply. She was having trouble holding back the tears. She and Erin had gone through so much together. She admired her gentleness and toughness and the idealistic dreams that Catherine would never have.
She would miss her, dammit.
* * *
Cameron was there in the darkness, she thought drowsily.
She could feel him.
She opened her eyes.
“I wish you would,” he said from the bedroom doorway. “In many interesting and carnal ways. It’s a state much to be desired.”
All drowsiness left her. She scrambled to sit up in bed. “Cameron.” She reached over and turned on the lamp on the bedside table. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I understand you paid me a call this afternoon. I felt it was only polite to return the visit.” His lips tightened. “You didn’t see fit to leave a message.”
“Why should I? I wasn’t welcomed with open arms by those gorillas.”
“They were under orders from the committee. The doctor was with me at the time, and they didn’t want anyone to interfere with him.”
“As if I would.” Her gaze went over him. He was dressed in jeans and a white shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He looked strong and tough and was emitting the same electric force as always. “I only came to see you to make sure that you were all right. After all, you did save Luke.” She met his gaze. “But I don’t have to ask that, do I? You look as if that bullet hadn’t even touched you.”
“It touched me.” His hand went to his side. “I told you, flesh wound. The doctor wanted to keep me penned up for a day or two, but that wasn’t going to happen. The committee is always overcareful.”
“Hu Chang says you’re a shining star in their firmament,” she said sarcastically. “They wouldn’t want you either dimmed or sent into outer space. Did they object to your taking down Kadmus?”
“They didn’t like it, but they got over it. I just had to present them with a fait accompli.”
“I imagine you do that quite a bit. It makes me wonder who’s running the show.”
“For God’s sake, I’ve no desire to do anything but my job as Guardian.”
“But those duties could encompass many—”
“I didn’t come here to talk about the committee or their plans for me,” he interrupted impatiently. “I won’t waste time when I know damn well we don’t have it.” He strode toward the bed. “Come on.”
She tensed. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yes, you are. I don’t like all the things that are zooming around your mind. I could stay here, but it might not be either quiet or calm. In fact, you can count on high-octane disturbance. You wouldn’t like that with Luke only a few rooms down.” He grasped her arm and pulled her from the bed. “So it’s the summerhouse.”
“No!” Memories of those erotic hours in the summerhouse were flooding back to her, the heady sexual games that had kept her captive.
“Yes.” He looked her in the eye. “Look, I’m not going to touch you if you don’t want me. But I’m going to talk to you. I stopped at Luke’s room on the way here to you and told him good-bye. You wouldn’t want him to hear anything that would make him defensive. He might feel bound to come in and confront me.”
He knew she wouldn’t permit Luke to be put in that position. She tore her wrist from his grasp. “I’ll go with you. But it’s not going to be your way, Cameron. This is only going to make me angry.”
“I know.” He bowed slightly and gestured for her to precede him. “But there’s no time for me to negotiate. I have to do what I have to do. I found out from Hu Chang that you’re on your way to Louisville.”
“Found out in your usual fashion, I suppose.”
“Yes, Hu Chang has no objection to an occasional intrusion as long as I make it a rare occurrence. Not like you, Catherine.”
“With me, your intrusions have not been all that rare,” Catherine said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “And this particular one strikes me as being particularly obnoxious.”
“Because you’re on guard, and you don’t want to be put in a position where you might be tempted to lower it.” He opened the garden French door for her. “And that’s all I’m offering here. Not force.” He smiled. “Temptation.”
“After you got your way and positioned me correctly to receive temptation.”
“As I said, I don’t have much time.”
“It’s not going to work, Cameron.”
“Then I’ll go away and try again another day.” He opened the door to the summerhouse. “There’s always tomorrow.”
“Not according to your doctrines of Shambhala. Your committee thinks we’re all on our way to destruction.”
“But tomorrow will still exist, and it will be a brighter day.” Cameron closed the door of the summerhouse behind them. “And I’ll never stop trying, Catherine.”
The darkness was overwhelmingly intimate, with only the faint moonlight pouring through the windows. She could see his shadow only a few feet away, the white of his shirt, the muscular tightness of his body.
It was happening again. The anger didn’t matter. Her body was responding. She had to get out of here.
“Say what you have to say,” she said jerkily. “I’ll listen, then I’m gone.”
“I’ve already said what was important. But I said it in the middle of our hunt for Kadmus, and I have to make sure that you know that nothing has changed.” He reached out and turned on a lamp near the armchair he was standing beside. The soft glow illuminated him, his eyes, his mouth, the broad shoulders taut beneath that white shirt.
She drew a shaky breath. Don’t let him see how the sight of him affected her. Shit, he probably knew.
“I know how you affect me.” His gaze ran over her. “I like that sleep shirt. It clings in all the right places. I’d like it more if it were lying on the floor at your feet.”
She moistened her lips. “Yes, I want to screw you. That doesn’t mean I will. I have a life. I can’t let you do this to me.”
“Do what? Pleasure?”
“It’s more than that. I have a tendency to … lose myself. That mustn’t happen.”