Terrors of the High Seas - DK6

by Melissa Good

  “Huh.” Dar flexed her hand absently, a faint smile crossing her Terrors of the High Seas 83

  lips. “I never thought of it like that, but yeah. I remember the morning after you got carjacked, when I couldn’t even close my fist.” She gazed at her fingers.

  Kerry obligingly captured Dar’s hand and pulled it closer, kissing it. “You were amazing.”

  “Ahem.” Dar cleared her throat. She put down her magazine and pulled the tray closer, dumped cream and sugar into a cup, then topped it with a little coffee. “I’ll be glad to get to St. Johns.”

  She took a sip. “The place we’re going to has great food, and better views.”

  “Ooh.” Kerry accepted the subject change gracefully, giving Dar a fondly knowing look.

  “And I really want to get a line on those bastards.”

  Kerry grinned. “Thought there was an ulterior motive there.”

  She neatly took the cup from Dar’s fingers, took a sip, and then put it back. “But that’s okay, because I want to know more about them too.” She rested her chin on Dar’s hip, grinning happily.

  “You’re in a good mood,” Dar observed.

  “Yeah, I guess I am,” Kerry agreed. “Storm and terror-filled nights do that to me, I guess.” She paused, her brow creasing.

  “Once they’re behind me.”

  “Uh huh.” Dar regarded her drolly. “I’ll have to remember that.”

  “Of course,” Kerry drew a fingertip slowly down Dar’s thigh,

  “hedonistic nights full of love and snuggling put me in an even better mood.” She batted her blonde lashes at her partner. “Make sure you put that down, too.”

  Dar chuckled. “I knew that already,” she drawled, running her fingers through Kerry’s hair and watching green eyes close in pleasure. “Shall we get this tub ready to go?”

  Kerry wriggled closer, squeezing in behind Dar until they were wrapped around each other. She rested her chin on Dar’s shoulder and blew lightly into her ear. “How about we just take it easy for a while?” she whispered, watching the pale blue eyes inches from her blink and close slightly. “You in a rush?”

  Dar eased over onto her back, then turned toward Kerry and slid her body up against her partner’s. She pulled Kerry closer and kissed her gently, letting one hand slide down to rest at her waist.

  “No rush,” she answered, rubbing noses with Kerry playfully. “But I just want to remind you that all the windows are open, and the gangway’s down.”

  “Eerrwwooough.” Kerry growled deep in her throat. “What a dilemma.” She gave an exaggerated sigh. “Indulge my libido, or retain my upright Midwestern reputation.” Outside, the deck creaked and Kerry’s eyes widened as she started.

  Dar snickered. “You can take the girl out of the corn…”

  84 Melissa Good

  “I’ll corn you.” Kerry leaned forward and kissed her passionately, feeling Dar’s body react as she pulled Kerry into a tight hug. Her ribs protested gently but she ignored them, preferring to concentrate on the jolt of sensual reaction that rapidly warmed her. Her hands eagerly explored Dar’s body, her fingers sliding up under Dar’s tank top to trace her breasts. The soft surface pressed up against her as Dar inhaled, and she found herself short of breath, as well, as she felt Dar’s touch high up on the inside of her thigh.

  Oh, to hell with my reputation. Kerry felt her swimsuit straps slide off her shoulders as she pulled Dar’s shirt up, feeling the heat as their skin met and her weight pressed down against Dar’s body.

  “Hey!” A voice outside erupted suddenly. “Anyone home?”

  Kerry found herself nose to nose with a lethally frustrated Dar, whose darkened blue eyes and definite snarl perfectly captured how Kerry herself was feeling. “Arggghh.” She released the groan softly as she let her head drop to rest against Dar’s collarbone.

  “That about covers it,” Dar sighed. “Oh boy.” She cleared her throat and swallowed, attempting to collect her composure. She raised her voice. “Be right there.” Then she added in a quiet but heartfelt tone, “You godforsaken son of a bitch.”

  Kerry started laughing. “Bookmark this,” she advised her partner. “For later.” With another groan, she reluctantly untangled herself from Dar’s body and stood up, eased her straps back into place, and rubbed her face to clear the flush she knew was coloring it. “Jesus.”

  Dar stretched out on the couch and yawned, then curled up like a large, half- naked cat. She picked up her forgotten coffee cup and sipped at it, watching Kerry over the rim with a seductive look.

  “You’re not helping.” Kerry ran her hands through her hair. “I take it you want me to go greet our guest.”

  “You invited him,” Dar drawled.

  “Yeah, what was that all about?” Kerry slapped herself on the side of the head, and continued to do so as she walked towards the cabin door. “Curse my parents for raising me with manners.”

  With a chuckle, Dar leaned back against the pillow on the couch and enjoyed Kerry’s sexy little swagger as she ducked through the entrance and went out onto the stern deck. She heard Kerry greet their rescued mariner and she sighed as she rested her head on the soft fabric. “Curse you, Stuart.”

  ”MORNING.” KERRY LIFTED a hand to wave at the man standing on the dock. Bob was dressed in khaki shorts a little too big for him, and the polo shirt he’d been wearing the night before.

  In the daylight, his slightly round, cheerful face and curly hair Terrors of the High Seas 85

  presented a picture of a reasonably good-looking man about Kerry’s age. “C’mon aboard.”

  Bob took her up on her invitation and crossed the gangplank.

  “Thanks. Good morning to you,” he replied, as his eyes took in her swim-suited body. Politely, he glanced away. “Weather cleared up at least, huh?”

  Kerry turned and surveyed the clear horizon. “Sure did.” She smiled. “We’re not really ready to get underway yet. Want to come in and grab some coffee?”

  “That’d be great. Thanks.” He returned her smile warmly.

  “Listen…I…um…” He glanced around, then back at her. “I really want to thank you again, for what you did last night.”

  Kerry felt a curious mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. “I was glad to help,” she said. “I’m really happy everything turned out all right.”

  “Me, too,” Bob replied easily. “But it wouldn’t have, if it hadn’t been for you.” He courteously held the door for her. “I won’t forget that.”

  “Well, you’re very welcome.” Kerry entered the cabin, her eyes automatically tracking until she found Dar’s tall figure behind the galley. “Got some extra coffee there, Dar?”

  Dar’s eyes flicked past her and a wry grin appeared. “Sure.”

  “Morning,” Bob greeted Dar.

  “Hi,” Dar replied. “I’m going to get us ready to take off,” she told Kerry. “I want to run up and talk to Charlie for a minute before we go.”

  “Okay.” Kerry traded places with her, reaching for the coffee.

  “Tell them I said hi, okay?” She really didn’t have any desire to face the troublesome Bud.

  “Uh huh.” Dar patted her back, then slipped past her and headed for the door.

  Kerry smiled to herself and shook her head as she got down another cup from the cupboard. “How do you take it?” She looked up, a little surprised to find Bob leaning against the counter.

  “Black,” he replied, accepting the cup she offered. “Thanks.”

  He took a cautious sip. “So, Kerry, we didn’t get to talk much last night. Where are you from?”

  Kerry poured herself a cup and added cream and sugar to it, then eased out of the galley and took a seat at the small table. Bob settled next to her, patiently waiting for her to answer.

  “Michigan,” Kerry said. “What about you?”

  “Thought I recognized the accent. I’m from Detroit,” he said with a grin. “My family owns some property just outside the city.”

&
nbsp; He paused, sipping his coffee. “You go to Michigan University?”

  Kerry nodded. “Matter of fact, I did.”

  “I went out of state to college,” he related. “Boston.” A 86 Melissa Good thoughtful look crossed his face. “My father’s family is from there.

  Old seafaring men, you know.”

  “Mm.”

  “That’s where I learned to sail,” he added. “When I was a kid, and then again when I got older. It sounded as if you’d sailed a lot.”

  He neatly turned the subject back to her. “That one of your hobbies?”

  Kerry looked up and found him watching her face with a faint, shy, half smile. “No, not now.” She propped her head on one hand.

  “Underwater photography, and keeping up with work.” She came to the vague realization that Bob was showing some definite interest in her, and couldn’t decide if she was amused or embarrassed. “How about helping me get the boat ready? Dar should be back soon.”

  “Sure,” he agreed amiably. “You name it, I’m yours.”

  Yikes. Kerry slid out from behind the table. She hoped the trip to St. Johns was a short one.

  “You know, I think we’ve really got a lot in common,” Bob added.

  Not nearly as much as you think. Kerry gave him a brief smile and held the door open. ‘Well, we’ve got some of the same interests,”

  she allowed. “But I like brunettes.”

  “Huh?”

  DAR STUCK HER hands in her pockets as she walked up the sandy path. Bob’s arrival had definitely put a knot in her shorts, and she’d considered violating the common rules of hospitality when she’d almost succumbed to the urge to toss his preppy butt right off the boat.

  Ah, Dar, she chuckled wryly at herself. Your background’s showing. He’s not a bad kid. She kicked a pinecone ahead of her and glanced up the empty path. You’ll drop him off in St. Johns, and that’ll be that.

  She climbed up the steps to Bud and Charlie’s restaurant, and paused with her hand on the door when she heard loud voices inside.

  “Thought you could duck out on me last night, huh?” A snarl preceded, “Where’s the money?”

  “Look, I told you we don’t have the cash.” Charlie’s tone sounded uncharacteristically tense. “You can’t get blood from a damn rock.”

  “Yeah?” the strange voice answered. “Well, either you cough up that ten grand, or there’ll be plenty of blood on the floor of this dump, got me?”

  “We can work somethin’ out,” Bud interjected. “You gotta give Terrors of the High Seas 87

  us time. You know we’re good for it.”

  “I don’t know shit.” The stranger laughed. “’Cept I know I’ll be back here day after t’morra, and either you give me what you owe, or I’ll take what I can get out of your skin.”

  Heavy footsteps headed toward her, and Dar only just stepped back in time to avoid being smashed in the face as the door slammed open. A tall, burly man in a tank top and jeans that were far too tight shoved past her, giving her a cursory glance as he went by.

  Dar stared at his back before she turned and entered the restaurant. Her appearance startled Bud and Charlie, and they broke apart a little, before they recognized her and relaxed. “What’s going on?” she asked without preamble.

  “Morning, Dar.” Charlie couldn’t quite summon his usual friendly smile. “Get a good night’s sleep?”

  Bud studied the floor.

  “Fine,” Dar replied briefly. “What’s going on?” she asked again.

  “Not your business,” Bud answered gruffly.

  “Bud.” Charlie frowned at his partner’s intentional rudeness.

  “Just a little business stuff, Dar. Nothing major.”

  Dar put her hands on her hips and gave them both the kind of look she usually reserved for newly hatched sales managers questioning her decisions. “I deal with business ‘stuff’ all the time, and I never get threatened with bodily harm, though most of the people I deal with probably consider it,” she remarked. “Can the crap. What’s Cheapside Guido’s problem?”

  “It’s none of your business!” Bud snapped before he turned and thrust his way into the kitchen. The hinged door flapped wildly behind him, then stopped with a sodden thunk.

  Charlie sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Damn it.”

  Dar waited with moderate patience. “C’mon, Charlie. You really want me to just forget it and leave, I will,” she offered. “But if you need help, I’m listening.”

  Charlie glanced toward the kitchen door, then shrugged. “We can handle it,” he finally said. “It’s just the loan we took out to start up this place.” He plucked at the pocket on his shorts. “Taking a little longer to pay back than we’d planned, but we’ll work it out.”

  Dar studied her father’s friend. “He wasn’t from Bank of America.”

  Charlie snorted softly. “Hell no. Two beat-up Navy scrubs—

  you think they’d give us a loan?” he asked. “We just went to the co-op. But anyway…” He determinedly regained his good humor.

  “Everything settle down from last night? We chit chatted with Bob for a while. He’s quite a talker.”

  “Charlie.” Dar leaned against the wall. She plucked a pencil 88 Melissa Good from Charlie’s pocket and picked up a piece of torn envelope that was sitting on the counter next to them. “Here.” She wrote down a phone number, then handed the envelope and the pencil back to him. “If that shark starts biting your ass, call me.”

  Reluctantly, he took the paper. “Dar, I appreciate it, but we can handle this. Bud’d sooner cut off his arm than ask for help.” He hesitated. “’Specially yours.” His face was apologetic.

  “Too bad,” Dar told him bluntly. “Tell him to grow up and get over it.”

  Charlie winced.

  “I have to ask people I can’t stand for things every day.”

  “It’s not that he doesn’t like you, Dar,” Charlie protested hastily. “He does. We both do. He just can’t forget stuff in the past with your dad, and…”

  “I am not my dad,” Dar broke in, leaning forward. “In case you hadn’t noticed.”

  “No, I know that.” Charlie sighed. “I know that, Dar.” He ventured a smile. “Though you did grow up to look a whole lot like him, y’know,” he insisted stubbornly.

  Dar sighed inwardly, then gave up the effort, deciding on a different tack. “Yeah, that’s what people tell me,” she admitted.

  “Listen, we’re heading out. Anything you guys need out there we can drop off on the way back?”

  Now that the conversational topic had changed, Charlie relaxed. “WD40,” he joked, tapping his artificial knee. “Always running out of the damn stuff.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, Dar, you guys were asking about pirates last night.”

  “Hm?” Dar crossed her arms.

  The big ex-serviceman glanced around. “They ain’t always what they seem,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” Dar asked.

  “Chuck!” Bud’s voice interrupted. “Fish man’s here!”

  Charlie glanced at the kitchen. “Them jerks last night, they ain’t the kinda pirates we know about,” he said quickly. “That’s all I’m saying. Good luck, good trip.” He put a hand on the door, then took a last look at Dar. “Tell your dad I said hey.”

  Dar watched him disappear, then released a sigh, letting her glance travel around the inside of the tattered and somewhat threadbare restaurant. With a silent shake of her head, she turned and left the room, emerging back into the sunlight. The island’s emptiness surrounded her, and as she walked back toward the dock, her mind turned over the puzzle pieces that, though scattered, were beginning to nudge at her with their curious nature.

  She spotted the loan shark as she walked onto the dock. He was standing next to a small, racy looking runabout with another man, half his size. They were both looking at the Dixieland Yankee, and Terrors of the High Seas 89

  they turned to watch Dar as she approached the boat.

/>   “Hey, baby,” the bigger man yelled over. “That your boat?”

  Dar paused and looked at him over the top of her sunglasses.

  “Yeah,” she replied briefly, as she paused to unloop the bow line.

  “Want a good man to drive her?”

  Dar tossed the line onboard then walked to the stern, released the boat, and leaped onto the back deck. “No thanks.” She dropped the line and dusted off her hands, turned her back on the two of them, and ignored their ribald laughter.

  Kerry emerged from the cabin, an almost fierce grin crossing her face as she spotted Dar. “Thought I heard you,” she greeted her lover. “We outta here?”

  “Oh yeah.” Dar made her way up to the flying bridge. “Let’s go find some better scenery.” She took her seat and started up the engines, adjusted the throttles, and eased the boat out of the dock.

  At low tide, maneuvering in the cramped space was even more difficult, and she had to really concentrate to avoid taking out part of the dock on her way out.

  She cleared the last pylon and turned into the channel, feeling the wind pick up as she increased speed and headed out across the green-blue water.

  KERRY CAREFULLY PLACED her deck chair on the stern, half turned so she could look up and watch Dar at the controls of the boat. She settled into it as Bob took the seat next to her, and she resigned herself to a trip full of small talk. “So, Bob—you never did get around to saying last night. Were you on vacation?”

  Bob leaned on the chair arm. “Vacation? I wish.” He sighed.

  “No, it’s…” he glanced around, “kinda stupid, really.”

  If he tells me he came out here looking for his one true love, I’ll chuck up on him, Kerry thought, all the while keeping a pleasant expression on her face. “How stupid could it be?” she asked.

  He edged a little closer. “Remember what I said about my grandparents?”

  “From Boston,” Kerry promptly replied, lest he repeat his tale.

  “Yeah.” Bob nodded. “My grandfather was lost at sea.”

  Kerry straightened a little. “Oh. I’m really sorry to hear that,”

  she said sincerely. “How did it happen?”