by Melissa Good
The blonde woman gazed at the huge thing in trepidation. ”I think we’ll get sick to our stomachs if we try,” she commented wryly, taking off her own jacket and tugging her shirt out from her jeans. ”He must have worked pretty fast. It’s not even nine o'clock.”
”Well.” Dar pulled off her sneakers and tossed them near her bag, then slipped her sweatshirt over her head, dropping it neatly on the chair before unbuttoning her flannel shirt and removing it. ”If I could get seventy T1 circuits and routers installed before dawn, I guess he could handle a basket of chocolate.”
She leaned back and stretched, wincing as both shoulders popped before she straightened and ran her fingers through her hair, rubbing the back of her neck. ”God, I’m tired,” she admitted. ”I’m glad that’s over. We can rest here until dinnertime, then drive up to the cabin. It’s about an hour from here, and it looked like the weather’s clearing a little.”
”Sounds good to me.” Kerry ambled over to her, already having shed her pants and half unbuttoned her shirt, while she worked on unfastening Dar’s jeans. Her fingers slid easily under the waistband, and she unhooked the first button, letting her thumbs trace the ripple of muscles just under the skin. She leaned forward and gently kissed the soft skin, feeling the ribs move under her lips in an uneven breath.
The room’s air was cool against her skin as Dar peeled her shirt off.
Dar’s hands slid slowly down her arms, then released them and moved across her ribcage, causing a jolt of pure sensation as the wandering fingers brushed over her breasts. ”Thought you were tired, ” Kerry burred, nuzzling her face against a soft curve.
”The smell of all that chocolate must have woken me up,” Dar replied, catching a thin fold of skin between her teeth and nibbling it gently. ”Thought you were tired?”
Kerry undid the second button and moved lower, tracing the edge of her lover’s navel, then working up to the tip of her breastbone. ”I wish I could blame it on the chocolate,” she murmured, inhaling greedily. ”But it’s not that smell that’s giving me these goose bumps.”
”Mm, yeah, lookit that.” Dar’s fingertip made a lazy trail across her shoulder, then her lips traced the same path, as her body woke fully, forgetting about the long night and the frustrations of the day. Even the Hurricane Watch
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last, haunting echoes of the past caused by Shari’s appearance faded, replaced by the solid, comforting present now wrapped around her body. She stepped out of her jeans, finding herself being tugged towards the bed, and she gladly tumbled into it, her arms full of warm, bare skin.
Kerry rolled her over, and pounced on top of her, ending up with Dar’s earlobe lightly caught between neat white teeth. ” You let me know, ” she whispered in a muffled tone, ”when I start squashing you, okay?”
Dar chuckled low in her throat, and gave her a pat on the butt. ”Not a problem. I hardly feel it.” Which wasn’t quite true, but close enough.
She stretched and wrapped her legs around Kerry’s, and surrendered herself to a pleasant wave of passion.
THE PHONE RANG, dragging Kerry out of a sound sleep. She fumbled the receiver off the hook, managing to get it somewhere near her ear. ”Yeah?” she cleared her throat. ”I’m sorry. I mean hello?”
”Hey,” Mark’s voice echoed weirdly. ”Kerry?”
She pulled her wits around her, gently moving away from Dar’s warm body. ”Eyah. I’m here. Go on,” she paused. ”Mark?” A glance at the clock told her it was close to four p.m., and she rubbed her eyes, having been startled out of a weird, but interesting dream.
”Dar there?” Mark inquired.
Kerry glanced down at the long, powerful arm circling her stomach and grinned quirkily. ”She’s here. She’s sleeping. What’s up?”
”Oh, nothing really. Um, she should probably, uh, check her email when she gets a chance, ”Mark said, innocently. ”You know, nothing urgent.”
”Actually, I was going to ship the laptops back to Miami. I was hoping for a few days without them,” Kerry admitted. ”Is it something important, Mark?”
He chuckled softly ”Nah, Sunday night’ll be fine. She just might want to check it before Monday morning, though.” A rattle of keystrokes. ”By the way, you guys are furking big time no shit heroes around here today.”
”I bet.” Kerry let herself back down onto the pillow, and snuggled back against Dar, who immediately hugged her closer. ”Mm.”
”What was that?” Mark asked.
”Uh, I was just agreeing.” Kerry mentally slapped herself. ”Well, I’m glad everyone’s happy about it. I guess there’ll be one huge meeting on Monday, though, huh?” She sighed. ”That’ll be a trip. I can just imagine the arguments.”
Mark chuckled. ”Uh, well, yeah. It’s certainly going to be quite a Monday,” he agreed. ”Listen, you guys have a great time up there, okay? Relax, take it easy, unwind a little.”
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Kerry yawned. ”Will do. I’ll bring you back some maple syrup or pecans or whatever the heck they have up here.” She listened to the laughter, then hung up, and allowed her body to sink back down into the warm pit she’d been resting in, while she sleepily regarded the quiet, peaceful room.
Dar was really out, she knew, glancing back over her shoulder. Dar had fallen asleep after they’d made love, and had hardly moved an inch in the intervening hours. Kerry debated going back to sleep herself, then realized they’d have to start moving around shortly if they wanted to get up to the cabin.
”First things first,” she decided, reaching for the phone. ”The only thing we’ve both eaten in the last twenty four hours just about is a half dozen Snowballs and a gallon of coffee. Even Dar can’t live on that.”
”Sure I can,” the soft mumble tickled her ear. ”That’s, what, two of the food groups, right?”
”Shh.” Kerry dialed the phone, after checking a card on the dresser.
”Hi, this is, oh, you know what my room number is, great,” she said, as someone answered. ”I see you’ve got pizzas? Okay, can I have two small.” She got a poke in the ribs. ”Um, sorry, two medium pizzas, one a vegetable combo, the other with...” She gave Dar a look. ”sausage, and pepperoni on it.” Another poke. Kerry sighed. ”And extra cheese.”
Dar grinned, and nuzzled the back of her neck.
”Thanks, and a pitcher of iced tea, please. Excuse me? Oh, yes, no, that’ll be fine.” Kerry finished ordering and hung up, then squirmed around in Dar’s arms and regarded her fondly. ”Mark says we’re heroes.”
”I bet,” Dar responded sleepily, her eyes still closed. ”Guess we gotta get moving, huh?”
”Mm.” Kerry idly traced a tiny scar on her lover’s chin. ”You said you wanted to get up there before dark.” She watched as Dar’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing her startlingly blue eyes, and allowing Kerry to gaze into them.
To drown in them. Slowly, she leaned forward and kissed Dar lightly on the forehead, then hugged her, unable to either define, or explain the suddenly overwhelming sense of devotion and connection she felt.
This was just so precious, she wanted to cradle it gently in her hands, and never let it go. Dar’s hand smoothed the back of her hair in a familiar gesture, and she let herself sink into the embrace, feeling a resonance chime deep inside her.
”Hey,” Dar whispered softly, a worried tone in her voice. ”You all right?”
Kerry nodded mutely, breathing in the scent of Dar’s skin. The feeling subsided, leaving her only conscious of a pervasive warmth that she could almost feel running between them, leaving her body and entering Dar’s, and coming back again. ”Yeah, yeah, I’m fine ” She took Hurricane Watch
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a deep breath and let it out, aware of the beating heart under her ear.
”Just felt like hugging you, that’s all.”
The long fingers slid down the side of her neck and lifted her chin, and she had no choice but to look up at Dar, knowing she was wide open to
her, and helpless, tears edging wetly around her eyes.
”What’s wrong?” Dar asked softly, capturing a tear with one thumb, and gazing at her anxiously. ”Did something happen?
Did...wh... ”
She felt Dar’s heartbeat pick up under the fingers she had pressed against her chest. ”N...nothing. I...I don’t know. I just, it got really intense there for a minute. I’m not really sure why, maybe I’m just overtired.” She put her head back down and stroked Dar’s side gently, needing the touch. ”Felt so weird.”
Blue eyes now alert flicked over her, as Dar took in a careful breath and released it. ”Well, I mean, it felt kinda nice,” she offered, hesitantly.
”Kinda warm,” She started stroking Kerry’s hair again, and felt the smaller woman relax against her completely, her body going totally limp. They stayed like that for almost a half an hour more, until Dar glanced at the clock and stirred, regretfully. ”Better put a shirt on, don’t want to shock the room service person when they get here.”
Kerry's eyes drifted open, pale green in the late afternoon light.
”Hmm, you’re right,” she agreed peacefully, rolling onto her back and stretching her body out lazily, humming low in her throat as Dar took the opportunity to trace a gentle path from her neck to her groin.
“Thought you said we have to get up,” she drawled softly, giving Dar a look from half closed eyes.
Dar released a half grin, and inclined her head in agreement. ”We’ll have plenty of time later,” she conceded, then she planted a hand on either side of Kerry and pressed her body over her lover’s, landing neatly on the carpeted floor, straightening with a fluid motion. ”Guess I get to open the door,” she commented, as a soft knock was heard.
Kerry was too busy getting her eyeballs around her lover’s sunset lit body to hear. ”Uh, what?” She blinked, then tugged the covers up as Dar slipped into her shirt, buttoning it up and managing to be decent by about two inches. ”Uh, Dar, don’t bend over to pick anything up, okay?”
Pale blue eyes glanced over one tanned shoulder at her, and one of them winked. ”Okay.”
”Unless you’re facing away from me, of course,” Kerry added impishly, just as Dar opened the door.
That got her an over the shoulder look, complete with an elegantly raised eyebrow.
”Hi.” Kerry smiled at the short, tow haired, frazzled looking room service waiter. ”You can just put that down next to the fifty pounds of chocolate we’re going to have for dessert, thanks.”
Muddy brown eyes went to her, then to the table, then back to her.
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The scraggly moustache drooped as he chewed it nervously. ”Uhm, ma’am, ah don’t think I can put this tray down.”
”Here.” Dar slipped up behind him and lifted the basket out of the way, coming perilously close to breaking several county ordinances.
”G’wan, put it down,” she drawled, low in her throat.
He would have been all right if he hadn’t tried to pull up his trousers and put down his tray at the same time. Dar managed to save the pizza, by hastily dropping the basket and making a grab, but the ice tea evaded her, and it smacked the hapless waiter in the chest, sending ice cubes flying across the room. The waiter juggled the carafe, sending himself off balance until Dar braced a muscular thigh up against the chair and pinned him in place with her knee.
”You all right?” the executive demanded, setting the pizza trays down.
The man’s eyes dropped slowly down her to where the long, sinewy length of her leg was braced against him, then they rolled peacefully back up into his head as he dropped like a rock.
Stunned silence fell for an instant. ”What in the hell?” Dar complained.
Kerry pulled the covers up over her head and burst into laughter.
IT WAS JUST getting dark when they pulled up a long, sloping road to the quiet retreat Dar had chosen. It was off the main streets, and up into the mountains away from city lights. Dar pulled the car up to the low roofed main building, and turned the engine off. ”Well, we made it.”
Kerry was peering out the window, studying the peaceful scene with interest. Scattered up and down the hilly ground, tucked into alcoves and shrouded with trees were small cabins, neatly cedared paths leading the way towards each one. ”Yep, we sure did, though I was wondering there for a minute, after we had to revive your liveried friend at the hotel.”
”Hey, it’s not my fault he couldn’t take the sight of a little skin,”
Dar objected, mildly.
”A little?” Kerry giggled. ”Your leg was longer than his body, Dar.
I’m glad we tipped him all right, though.” She returned her attention to the outside. ”Mm.”
In the distance, she could see larger buildings and the lodge they were parked in front of, where yellow light poured from the windows and painted gilded stripes across the lightly frosted ground. ”Wow, this is nice,” she finally said, giving her companion a smile. ”C’mon.” She opened the car door, starting a little as the cold, pine laden air hit her in the face. ”Brr.”
Dar smiled and popped the trunk, then exited the driver’s side and closed the door, walking around to the back to get their bags. A warmly Hurricane Watch
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jacketed valet appeared, and she tossed the keys to him, then shouldered the two bags and evaded Kerry’s attempt to retrieve hers.
”Ah, ah, I got it.” She waved Kerry on and chuckled as the blonde woman swept the door open, and bowed her inside. ”Why thank you, ma’am.”
They entered the lodge, which was a long building that dog legged to the right past the reception desk. Sounds from the other side of the building indicated some kind of restaurant, and Kerry could see a dimly lit bar just ahead, half filled with shadowy forms. They walked up to the desk, and Dar quietly gave her name to the clerk.
”Ah yes, Ms. Roberts. My goodness, we haven’t seen you here in a long time.” The clerk smiled and looked up, pushing a pair of half glasses up onto her nose. ”I swear, you haven’t changed a bit.”
Dar smiled politely at the compliment. ”Thanks, Millie. Hard to believe you remembered me.”
A salt and pepper eyebrow lifted at her. ”You’re pretty memorable, I’ll have you know. We reserved the far cabin for you, since you said you wanted some quiet space.” She glanced up at Kerry. ”And you’ve brought a guest this time, how wonderful. Welcome. Ms. Stuart, is it?”
”Kerry.” She extended a hand across the counter. ”Nice to meet you. This place looks fantastic.”
Millie laughed. ”Well, we like to think so. We’ve been here for over fifty years.” She folded a packet together, then handed Dar a pair of keys. ”Here you go. Do you remember the way, or do you want me to have Charles take you over?”
Dar paused, then exhaled. ”I remember the way, thanks Millie.”
She looked over towards the back of the room. ”What’s the special tonight?”
The gray haired woman laughed. ”Just your luck. It’s roast beef.”
Dar chuckled. ”Just my luck,” she repeated, then gently bumped Kerry. ”C’mon, let’s go change, then I’ll show you around. They’ve got a nice fireplace just inside.”
”Lead on,” Kerry remarked cheerfully, as she followed, her eyes watching everything with interest. This, she considered, was going to be great. Dar knew the place, and it held some good memories, Kerry decided, just from the childlike grin that kept trying to break through on her companion’s face.
They'd have time to relax, and just talk, something that had been rare since... Jesus. Kerry thought about it. They hadn’t really had time away without any distractions since that trip to Disney World. Even at home, there was always work, and the calls in the middle of the night, and complications.
But not here. They’d left their laptops locked in the trunk, and after a bit of convincing on her part, both pagers as well. ”Colleen has the number up here in an emergency,” she’d argued. And so doe
s Mark, but they both know not to use it unless the world is coming to an end.”
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Dar had thought a moment, then shrugged, and relinquished the electronic device. ”Okay.”
Now, Kerry tugged up her collar as she followed Dar out the front door and down a path which sloped a little downward, her sneakers crunching softly on the cedar chips that lined it. ”Mm.” The air was sweet and rich with the scent of cold and pine, and the wood she was walking on. ”This is great.”
In the semi darkness, the sudden glitter of Dar’s eyes was startling.
”Glad you like it,” she drawled. ”I used to spend semester breaks up here. It’s not an expensive place, but it’s family run. Millie’s husband is ex navy.”
Kerry nodded, looking around. ”It looks like it’s well cared for,”
she commented. ”They seem to know you pretty well.” She glanced up, seeing the quiet smile on Dar’s face. ”When was the last time you were here?”
The smile vanished. ”Christmas, a few years back,” came the quiet answer. ”I’d just broken up with Elana. I guess I needed some time out.”Kerry tucked a hand around her arm as the walked along. ”Well, I hope you’ll have better memories from this visit,” She commented mildly. ”We had a place out off the lake we used to go to in the summers, it was a little like this.” She took a breath, aware of Dar’s intense concentration on her words. ”It was supposed to be a family vacation, but it was usually a circus. I mean, people coming and going, deals, the press, you know.”
”Mm,” Dar agreed, leading her down a fork in the path.
”Sailing was my favorite thing to do, but as we got older, my mother made sure there really wasn’t much time for that. She had parties and whatever, kept us going from summer estate to summer estate, talking to people I didn’t have much in common with, even then.” She sighed. ”And dressing up, that was always a trial. Me and Angie paraded in front of her and usually my aunt, to make sure we looked all right.”
”Doesn’t sound like much fun, ” Dar remarked, as they came up to a small, tree shrouded cabin with a wooden porch. ”Closest I ever came to that was my mother making sure the rips in my jeans weren’t going to get me arrested in some of the more rural counties down there.” She put a hand on Kerry’s back as they mounted the three low stairs, the wood echoing lightly under their steps. ”I always liked this one.” She turned and nodded. ”Nice view.”