Camp Alien (21 page)

E
VEN THOUGH IT WAS A NEW,
strange place, doing our regular bedtime ritual was soothing. We tucked Charlie in, sang songs to him, and made sure that his Poof and Sugarfoot the cat were both on his bed. Duchess was already settled in her dog bed and Wilbur was in his, right next to hers. They were on one side of Charlie's crib. The two Peregrine hammocks were on the other side, already filled by a younger set of Peregrines, Mork and Mindy, who had attached to Charlie pretty early on.

Two ocellars and some random Poofs were in here, too, lounging in their Poof Condo. I knew without asking that the moment Jeff and I left the room that they'd be on the bed, but we all chose to pretend that they'd stay where they were supposed to.

Baby monitor set up, songs all sung, we kissed Charlie goodnight and headed out, our half of his baby monitor in Jeff's pocket.

“Before we get Jamie, seriously, what's going on?”

“I can't be sure, baby, but I think that Jamie's picked up Lizzie's anxiety.”

“She doesn't seem anxious to me. I mean, anymore. She was freaked earlier, which was totally understandable, but why be anxious now?”

“Because her adopted father isn't here. He's at the Embassy and that means that, to her, she's alone again.”

“But she has us. I mean, seriously, Pierre and Vance have announced her as my ward.”

“Yeah, but she isn't convinced that she's got us for the
long haul.” Jeff ran his hand through his hair. “Like you said earlier, she's been through a lot.”

“True, though Nightcrawler isn't deserting her. He was disappointed that she wasn't going to be in the family suite with him. I think he was as confused as I was by the Elves moving Lizzie in here. Jamie, on the other hand, plans for her Uncle Benjamin to move into the White House with us at some point.”

Jeff grunted. “I have no objection, but he's currently Embassy staff so that doesn't really work. Meaning that Lizzie's going to be living separately from her father, and that has to feel like desertion, or at least a loss.”

“And right after she's lost the Dingo and Surly Vic, too.” Just like I had.

“Yeah. Two of the men she knew as her new family are dead and gone, and she didn't get to say goodbye to them.”

“And her father almost died, too. And, regardless of who's sleeping where, he's off doing things that are dangerous again, and what happens to Lizzie if something happens to him? I mean, obviously, she stays with us and remains with and within our family, but she doesn't know that, does she?”

“Ah . . .” Jeff had a funny look on his face and he wasn't really looking at me.

Turned around to see Lizzie standing there. Couldn't read her expression. “I was coming to tell you . . .” She stopped, scrunched up her face, then threw herself into my arms and started sobbing.

I was shocked, but I'd been a teenaged girl before, and the right course of action wasn't that hard to come up with. Hugged her tightly and rocked her a little. “It's okay,” I said quietly when her crying slowed down. “It's hard to have your life upended once, let alone twice. And now for the third time.”

Jeff put his arms around both of us. “Like Kitty said, it's okay. Your father is part of our family, and that makes you part of it, too. Forever. I promise.”

Lizzie was still crying but she relaxed more and more. Finally her body felt normal. Kissed the top of her head. “You won't be alone again, or deserted, or anything like that. In fact, get used to not getting a lot of alone time, just
because that seems to be how A-Cs roll. They're big on the once in, never out mindset. And family is who you choose, too. Like I told you, my family is larger than it seems. Amy, Chuckie, Sheila, Brian . . . my parents consider all of them family. And you're now part of that, too. Besides, you're apparently the big sister Jamie's always dreamed of.”

She managed a laugh. “Thanks. I hope. I'm sorry. Jamie and Charlie are awesome. I was coming to tell you that Jamie had Nadine, Sol, and Angela tuck her in and . . . heard you . . . and . . .”

I was still holding her but I hugged her again. “Heard us discussing possible outcomes.”

“Yeah.”

Tried to think of what would really make her feel like everything was really alright. “It's okay. No matter what Mister Dash may be doing, Megalomaniac Girl and Superman will always need your help.”

She took her face out of my neck and smiled at me. “Quick Girl is always ready for action.”

Jeff chuckled. “Good. I hope the action Quick Girl is ready for right now, however, is bedtime.”

“She's almost fifteen.”

“And I'm the President and I make the rules, and tonight our teenager is going to bed early.”

“It's okay. Nadine and I are going to compare places in France we've been. She and her sisters are from Euro Base. They don't sound French, but they are. That's totes weird, isn't it?”

Couldn't help it, I laughed. “That, in a nutshell, is life with A-Cs.”

“I think I should be offended somehow,” Jeff said, looking a little hurt, as we broke out of our group huddle.

“Nah. You get used to it. After a while at least.”

Lizzie grinned. “That's what Mister Dash says.” She heaved a sigh. “I miss my dad.”

“He misses you, too. We'll get through the current madness and then things will settle down.” Oh, sure, I was probably telling a real whopper, but a girl could dream, right?

“I don't think things ever settle for you guys, but that's okay. Keeps things interesting, right?” Lizzie seemed almost back to normal.

“Yeah. You want to wash up in our bathroom before we go back to the others?”

She shook her head. “I'm supposed to go to bed, remember? I'll wash up in my own bathroom. You think Nadine will need to sleep with Charlie?”

The way she asked told me the right answer to give. “Nope. If he can't handle being alone we'll move him right into the nursery. We're kind of overprotective that way. I'd have all three of you in the master suite with us but, you know, people would talk.”

She giggled, and Nadine chose this time to join us in the hallway. Nadine gave me a little nod, then she put her arm around Lizzie's shoulders. “Let's get into bed and talk ourselves to sleep.”

They headed off to their now shared room and Jeff put his arm around me. “Well handled, baby.”

“You, too. I guess this is our
Sound of Music
moment.”

“I actually get that reference, and yeah, I think so. Teenagers need parents and older confidantes they can trust, too. And if that means Lizzie wants our nanny to be her roommate, I'm good with that.”

We went back to the dining room. “Ames, what in the world did we miss while you guys were here and we were downstairs?” Took Becky from Christopher and gave her a snuggle. Seeing as she was only a week old, she couldn't share that she'd really prefer to be in a room by herself now and had to put up with me giving her attention.

Amy shook her head. “I have no idea, honestly. But Jamie spent a lot of time telling Lizzie how she was going to live with you guys forever and ever. I think it might have freaked her out. It kind of freaked me out a little.”

“Well, Jamie's not wrong,” Jeff said. “Siler's got a more stable job with us now, but if today is any example, we're stretching the definition of stable.”

“Yeah, not every day is like this, let's all please remember, but I can see why the Elves wanted Lizzie here.”

“It'll keep him here, too,” Christopher said.

“What do you mean?” Jeff asked.

Christopher shrugged. “He's spent decades as a globetrotting assassin. Settling in one place can't feel natural to him.”

Considered this. “Good point. But he doesn't seem restless.”

Christopher snorted. “Kitty, he's been here, what, a week? Right after almost dying and all of us taking down Cliff. It's not like we wouldn't all kill for some downtime. But once we finally get it, then what? Is he really going to settle into our version of embassy life? Or is he going to go back to the profession he's had for longer than any of us in this room have been alive?”

“No bet, honestly. But we don't have to decide that tonight. And, as embarrassed as I am to say it, I'm as tired as the kids. I think I want to take advantage of all the help and turn in early.”

“I second that,” Jeff said.

“We can take a hint.” Amy laughed. “You two just want to have sex in the White House, don't try to lie to me.”

“You don't know me.”

Both Christopher and Amy cracked up and Jeff grinned. “Caught us. Go home. Get some rest.”

Amy sent a text to the half of her protection detail that was in the White House, and they zipped into the dining room to escort the White family home. Amy insisted on taking her child back, despite the fact that I offered to let Becky test out the nursery. Always the way.

As they left Mom and Dad came back. “Jamie's happily in bed with more animals than I cared to count,” Mom said. “And now your father and I are going to get out of your hair.”

“You want to spend the night in the Lincoln Bedroom?”

Mom shrugged. “No. We've done it before.”

“Wow. Really?”

She laughed and kissed my cheek. “Really.”

The nearest bathroom, meaning the nearest gate, was in our suite, so we all headed for the living room, since we scored those two bathrooms—private and guest. Jeff calibrated the gate, Mom and Dad hugged us both, then they stepped through, doing the Slow Fade Mambo that still made my stomach as queasy to watch as it did to experience.

Mom sent me a text to let me know they were safely home, and I finally relaxed.

Jeff rubbed the back of my neck. “What do you want to do now, baby?”

Looked up at him. “Oh, I don't know. What do
you
want to do?”

He smiled slowly, getting the Jungle Cat About To Eat Me look on his face. I loved that look. It was potentially my favorite look of his. “Well, I do have a couple of ideas.”

W
E TROTTED INTO
the ginormous dressing room–closet combo, taking Charlie's monitor with us. Got out of our clothes quickly, tossed them roughly near the hamper, and got down to the most important business of the day.

In the olden days, before children, we'd take a long time on foreplay. Tonight—in deference to how many people were on this floor alone and because we hadn't really tested the soundproofing yet—not so much.

Jeff had me in his arms, with my legs wrapped around his waist, in short order. While he busied himself with licking, biting, and kissing my neck and breasts, I did my part by grinding against him.

Charlie made sleeping baby sounds, we paused to be sure he was staying asleep and, when he did, we went for it.

Jeff slipped inside me and it was hyperspeed sex, which sounds disappointing but was totally awesome the way Jeff did it. We were thrusting together at speeds fast enough to burst into flames, but I burst into orgasm instead.

Wailed sharply and loudly, but Charlie didn't wake up and no one came running into our rooms to see if a cat in heat was dying in here. So, one definitely for the win column.

Still inside me, Jeff headed us out of the closet and into the bed.

“Nice bed,” he purred at me. “Comfy.”

“How can you tell?” I managed to gasp out. “You're on top of me.”

He grinned. “Best way to test the bed, baby.” Which he did by ratcheting me right back up to the brink while he nipped and nibbled my breasts.

Orgasm number two took longer to arrive, but I had no complaints, since I could and did grab his awesome butt—what I thought of as his perfect thrusters—and got more actively involved in the proceedings.

We were like this for a good long while, during which time Jeff flipped me on top of him so that my second orgasm could hit while he was bucking into me and squeezing my breasts at the same time.

Collapsed onto him as my body shuddered and I managed to moan against his neck. He rolled on top of me again, still inside me, basically proving he was the man for the sex job each and every time. Then we were back to a fast rhythm that, despite the prior excellent outcomes, got me right back to the edge almost immediately.

I was close, and I could tell he was, too, when he flipped my legs up to his shoulders and grabbed my hands and held them down at my sides. In this position I really couldn't move, but I could wail, and I did, as he sent me flying over the edge again.

This time Jeff came with me and it felt like my climax went on forever. But finally both of our bodies slowed down, he let my legs drop, rolled off me, and pulled me next to him.

I snuggled my face into the hair on his chest. “Nice way to break in part of the room.”

He chuckled as he nuzzled my head. “Well, we'll wait for tomorrow to break in the shower.”

“Oh, I'll hold you to that.”

“Good.” He heaved a sigh. “Want to hear my plan for the rest of the night?”

“Sure.”

“We sleep for a couple of hours, then, once we're sure everyone's really asleep around here, we go follow through on that great idea you had earlier.”

“Oooh, love this plan!”

Jeff zipped out of bed, got Charlie's monitor from the closet, we verified that he was breathing just fine, then we got into the adult version of the standard-issue night clothes and cuddled together. Couldn't speak for Jeff, but I was out like a light. Happily, a dreamless, deep-sleeping light.

True to his word and the plan, Jeff nuzzled me awake sometime later. Checked out what Mister Presidential
Clock had to say—three a.m. Perfect. The entire complex should be and should remain asleep.

We found slippers in the closet because the Elves never failed to deliver. Found some lovely bathrobes with the Presidential Seal on them, so we took the hint and put those on, too.

Did a fast check through our rooms and noted that while we had Poof Condos, Peregrine hammocks, and doggy beds, what we did not have were any animals in said beds. Which was fine for tonight, but something I hoped would be rectified in the future.

We kept the lights off—A-Cs had great night vision and, since my enhancement, so did I. Slipped Charlie's baby monitor into the pocket of my robe. Considered taking my phone or purse, and decided against it. This was literally the only time Jeff and I had had alone together in what felt like weeks, even though that wasn't reality, and I didn't want to waste it on texts or late night phone calls from crazed lunatics. The crazed loons could leave a voicemail.

Checked on Charlie and Jamie, just in case. They had tons of animals with them, and everyone was sleeping soundly, though Duchess and Wilbur both looked up when we peeked in on Charlie, and Duke and Dottie did the same when we checked on Jamie.

Listened at Lizzie's door. Sleep sounds only. Checked in on them as well. Dudley was in here, snuggled on the bed with Lizzie, and he gave us a “go away, you're disturbing us” look. Nadine was asleep, too, and any missing animals were in here.

Thusly reassured that our family was soundly and safely asleep, we hypersped through the complex and to the Oval Office. There were Secret Service agents scattered throughout, but we zipped past them. After the third one we were both trying not to giggle and snicker like little kids sneaking out behind their parents' backs and had to take a couple giggle breaks in closets so we didn't give ourselves away.

Had to do some doubling back to avoid a few A-C Field agents who Jeff knew on sight and I, of course, could only say were A-Cs because they were really great looking. Didn't see anyone, A-C or human, too close to the Oval Office—most of them had been in the living quarters area, which, at this time of night and with nothing going on, made some
sense. Unlike when I'd done similar with Serene, it was kind of fun to be “naughty” like this with Jeff, and certainly the most fun I'd had here outside of what we'd just done in the bedroom.

Once in the Oval Office, we didn't turn on the lights, because there was no point. And we didn't want to get caught. Besides, we were being illicit in our own home, so to speak, and turning on the lights would be staid and boring and undoubtedly alert someone who would come in at the wrong time.

Jeff locked the door and chuckled. “That was fun, but I think we should be worried about security.”

Couldn't help it, I still had the giggles. “I know, right? It's easier to slip past our guardians than it ever was to get past my dad, let alone my mom.”

Jeff grinned. “Well, then I'll enjoy this because I didn't know you when you were having to sneak in late.”

“Works for me. I'd suggest raiding the liquor cabinet but I like you alive.”

“I appreciate that, baby.” He took my hand and led me to the sofas in the center of the room. “So,” Jeff purred as we took off our robes and slippers, “where's your pleasure?”

“You have to ask? I'm totally disappointed in you.”

He laughed, picked me up, and put me onto the desk, with my butt right at the edge. “I just wanted to be sure.”

“I'm positive that we're doing it on the
Resolute
desk or I'm knowing the reason why and asking who's replaced my husband.”

Jeff grinned, then pulled my pajama bottoms down and off while also sliding my t-shirt up and over my breasts. First he spent some time on my breasts again, probably because he hadn't brought me to orgasm this way yet tonight and, so far, his record was unblemished.

His hands, teeth, tongue, and lips were still the Best in Show and I was howling my usual howls of happiness in short order. Then, his talents confirmed, Jeff trailed down over my stomach, spread my legs, and really went to town.

Grabbed his head and just sort of held on while he reminded me once again why it was great to be his woman. When we were like this Jeff liked to see how often he could make me climax in a concentrated amount of time. The
location and his skills ensured that the answer was “a lot.” I lost count somewhere after three and coherency shortly thereafter.

But all fantastic things come to an end. In this case, that meant a new fantastic thing, as Jeff headed his mouth for my neck, then straightened up and slid the best part of him inside of me. He had his forearms keeping my thighs spread while he held onto the desk and he started slamming into me in at ever-increasing speed.

We went on like this for a long, fantastic while, until I was on the edge of the precipice. Jeff pulled me up, our torsos now tightly together, him still deep inside me, and that did it.

Grabbed his shoulders and screamed, but his mouth covered mine and muffled my shouting as he took us over the edge again together.

His body shuddered as much as mine and he returned my shout, which, since we were still kissing, was really erotic. My hands wrapped around his back as our bodies shook in time together.

Finally, though, we were both calm and still. Jeff picked me up and sat us down in his chair. “You know, I hear that I need to hire a secretary and several interns. You interested in the jobs?”

“Oh yeah, but only if I get to sleep with the most powerful man in the world in order to get and keep the positions.”

Jeff lifted and turned me so that I was straddling him. “Mmm,” he said, right before he kissed me again, “let's just see how well you interview.”