Being on my own was…” She stopped. “Oh god, I can’t describe it…to make friends with whoever I wanted, do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it…”
She reached out a hand and touched Dar’s face. “And now you. I’m so scared, Dar. Whenever I’ve really wanted something, I’ve had to watch it be taken away, and I…” An awkward pause. “I really want this,” she whispered.
“You.” Another, longer pause. “Us,” she concluded very softly.
“Do you?” Dar whispered back.
“With all my heart,” Kerry replied, resting her head against Dar’s shoulder. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Dar, but, my god, I don’t want to lose you either.”
I don’t want to lose you.
Dar felt herself calm as she processed the words and understood her greatest fear was unfounded this time. Kerry wasn’t walking away from her, and though there was trouble on the horizon, it wasn’t that kind of trouble. This kind of trouble, she could handle. Her questions had been answered, and a problem put forth. She set aside both the rage and the shy joy, and considered the problem first. “Does your father have any hold on you other than paternal?”
Kerry looked at her, puzzled. “I don’t understand the question.”
“Do you owe him money, does he have legal strings holding you?” Dar asked, her brows contracting slightly. “Anything like that?”
“No.” Kerry shook her head. “I support myself here, if that’s what you’re asking. You’ve made that more than comfortably possible, you realize.”
“I just pay people what they’re worth.” A tiny, tiny smile lit Dar’s face.
“So he couldn’t actually force you to come back.”
There was a long period of silence as a succession of emotions crossed Kerry’s expressive face, the idea something she apparently hadn’t considered before. At last, she half shrugged. “He’d find some way of getting me fired,”
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Kerry replied darkly. “Find some friend of his high enough up.”
Dar chuckled softly. “Not in this company. It’s up to your supervising manager, and that’s me. There is nobody that’s going to go head to head with me over this,” she said, with absolute confidence. “And even if he did, it wouldn’t matter.”
“Then he’ll go after you,” Kerry stated seriously. “He’ll find someone to dig and dig…until they uncover something he can use against you. And, Dar, the most obvious thing that pops to mind is us,” Kerry reminded her. “I know we said we’d keep it low-profile, but you know people talk. I’m sure at least a few of them are already.”
Dar didn’t look dismayed. On the contrary, she looked intrigued. “Then I’ll have to go after him first.” she replied.
“What do you mean?” Kerry asked hesitantly.
“You said he digs things up?” Dar asked.
She nodded. “He has investigators, that kind of thing.”
A slow nod of Dar’s head. “So do I. Only they’re not the kind that wear twelve-dollar fedoras and smell of cigar smoke, and I don’t have to pay them overtime.” She gazed at Kerry. “This is the Information Age, Kerry…and the truth is out there. You just gotta go find it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Dar said. “Trust me, Kerry. I’ve faced down a lot bigger fish than your father.”
Kerry studied her, with a troubled expression. “Are you sure you know what you’re getting into?” she asked. “If something happens to you, Dar, I’ll…” She fell silent.
Dar smiled and took her hand, running her fingers over the skin lightly.
“Just leave it to me,” she told the blonde woman. “And, Kerry?”
“Hmm?” The reddened eyes blinked. “I’m sorry I got like this. I don’t usually,” she apologized.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you said it so we could talk about it,” Dar replied quietly. “Rather than you just…” She shrugged. “…walking out or whatever.”
Kerry closed her fingers around Dar’s. “Is that what happened to you before?”
“Something like that, yeah.” Dar stared off into the darkness beyond the patio doors.
Kerry sighed. “I won’t ever do that to you, Dar, I swear.”
Dar slowly focused her attention on Kerry’s face, searching it for a long moment. “And I’ll always be there for you, Kerry. No matter what.”
It was a strange moment, Kerry thought. She could feel a faint shiver go down her back, and as she looked at Dar, some pale, almost translucent barrier between them seemed to drop. “That’s what friends do, they stand by each other, right?”
“Right.” Dar smiled. “Friend.”
Kerry slid gladly into the waiting arms and let the warmth wash over her.
We’ll find a way through it. Together.
320
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DAR LEANED BACK against the couch, content to simply sit and hang on to Kerry, who was peacefully resting in her arms. They’d been sitting like that for a while, in relative silence, only the soft hiss of the waves audible through the half open balcony door. “Hey,” Dar finally murmured. “You like strawberries?”
Kerry seemed to come back from very far away. “What human being doesn’t like strawberries, Dar?” she inquired reasonably, smoothing her fingers over the soft cotton of her friend’s shirt. She could feel the gentle motion of Dar’s breathing, which seemed almost hypnotic to her. “Why?”
Dar felt Kerry’s touch idly roaming her body, and she had to swallow before she answered, “You want some?”
“Means I have to move,” Kerry complained, finding interesting things to trace with her fingers. “And I really like where I am,” she concluded softly.
“That’s true,” Dar acknowledged with a smile. “But they’re nice, big, juicy ones, and I have melted chocolate to dip them in,” she coaxed teasingly.
“Mmm.” Kerry smiled. “Do you always make it a habit of spoiling people you like rotten?” She peeked up at Dar’s face, which had creased into a smirk.
The expression faded after a moment, though.
“I don’t know, haven’t had much practice,” Dar admitted quietly with a faint shrug. “I just do what comes naturally.”
Kerry’s brow furrowed. “Dar, do me a favor, okay?”
A nod. “Okay.”
“You haven’t heard what it is yet,” the blonde woman objected. “If we ever bump into any of these people you were involved with, let me know.”
Dar looked taken aback. “That’s not really likely, but… Why?”
“So I can kick them in the shins,” Kerry told her. “And if you’re really nice, you’ll tell me ahead of time so I can put on the pair of steel-toed cowboy boots I bought in Austin last year.” She felt Dar’s body jerk as a laugh was forced out. “I mean it.”
Dar hugged her. “Thanks. I’d actually enjoy watching that,” she muttered wryly.
Oh yes, especially…
Her lips twisted into an ironic grin.
Especially Elana,
who so enjoyed telling me the only way I’d ever find love was to purchase it.
Kerry was so different from anyone she’d been involved with before…certainly worlds different than the tall, aristocratic Elana.
Maybe I’ve
been barking up the wrong tree all these years,
she concluded with a sigh. Even in the best times with anyone else, it hadn’t felt anywhere near as wonderful as it did right this moment.
Kerry smiled, and wriggled closer, continuing her idle tracing. A button worked itself free somehow, and she traded cotton for skin, feeling Dar’s hands begin a gentle massage on her back. “Ooo. That feels great. I am going to be
soo
sore tomorrow,” she commented wryly. “After that climbing wall, I’ll be limping around all over the place. People are going to think I’m the world’s biggest klutz.”
Her fingers moved lower, and she felt a temperature change under them, the skin growing very warm. Puzzled, she probed a little further, and heard the soft sound as Dar stifled a gasp. “Hey.” Her brows creased, and she unbuttoned a few more buttons, pulling aside the taller woman’s shirt and peering at her. “Oh my god, Dar!”
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Guiltily, Dar glanced down. “It looks worse than it is. Really.” A mottled bruise covered a space the size of a soccer ball just under her ribs. “It’s just a little sore.”
“Dar, that’s bullshit!” Kerry objected. “You need to get that checked out.
Jesus! You could have ruptured something!”
Dar had to smile at Kerry’s worriedly indignant speech. “I’m sure I’d have keeled over by now if that was the case,” she reminded her friend. “It’s really nothing.”
Blonde brows knit. “Oh yeah?” Kerry eyed her. “Sit up.” She paused.
“Without using your hands.”
The taller woman hesitated and saw a triumphant smirk appear. “I said it was sore,” she grumbled. “Talk about klutzes, I should have gotten out of the way.”
Kerry exhaled. “Dar, Dar, Dar… Would a cold pack help?” she asked sympathetically. “You came over and helped me out. I guess it’s my turn.” She paused, wincing at the bruise. “You sure you don’t want to get that checked out? This time of night on a weekday, it probably won’t be busy at the hospital.”
“No! I hate hospitals,” Dar replied stubbornly. “Look, if it still hurts tomorrow, I’ll stop by Dr. Steve’s on the way in to work and have him look at it, okay?” She paused and cleared her throat a awkwardly. “But, um…an ice pack is probably a good idea.”
Kerry patted her shoulder. “You stay here, I’ll get it.” She rose up off the couch and headed towards the kitchen. “And bring back some of your strawberries, too.”
Dar settled back with a smile. “If you pull the plastic container on the bottom shelf out and put it in the microwave for about three minutes, that’ll about do it.”
As she moved towards the refrigerator, Kerry just shook her head and retrieved a good amount of ice, which she put into the blender on the counter.
Then she pulled the requested container out and put it in the microwave, slightly popping up the top to vent it before she turned the machine on. “What is that?” she wondered briefly as she turned on the blender and watched it make snow. After a minute or two, she sniffed at the air. “Mmm.”
The blender stopped, and she put the ice in a heavy plastic bag she’d dug out of the closet. Then she set that aside and peeked in the microwave as a blast of warm, rich chocolate scent hit her. “Oh my god.” She gingerly pulled the container out and opened it, revealing a warm pool of the stuff. “Ho, boy.”
She put the dish on a small tray. Then, glancing around, she poked her finger in it and tasted. “Jesus, that is wonderful.”
Being around Dar, she realized, was an extremely sensual experience, and her senses seemed to be on hyperdrive lately. She left the tray and went back to the refrigerator, opening it and kneeling down, blinking when she spotted the strawberries. “Good grief, Dar!” she yelled into the living room.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Strawberries? Where did you get these, the fields outside Turkey Point?” She heard the soft laugh as she pulled the box out, a long plastic container with approximately two dozen of the fruits—laid out like roses on long stems with the leaves still attached. The berries themselves 322
Melissa Good
were all larger than an average peach, and the scent was almost intoxicating.
With a laugh, she took them out, washing them off before adding them to the tray, then carrying the entire thing out to where Dar was peacefully waiting.
“Here.” She put the tray down and settled into the leather next to Dar, feeling the sudden impact of those blue eyes on her. She picked the ice up and gently put it in place, tucking the edges of the terrycloth towel around the ends. “How’s that?”
“Nice.” Dar regarded her quietly. “You have very gentle hands.” She captured one of Kerry’s, and studied it, turning it over and stroking the palm.
It was like getting an adrenaline shot right to the groin. Kerry had to swallow before she could make an attempt at regaining her composure.
“Thanks,” she whispered, finding herself wanting to continue the contact.
“They seem to get that way around you for some reason.”
Dar gazed at her, then lifted a hand and traced her cheekbone with a feather light touch. “Yeah,” she murmured, feeling Kerry lean into the pressure as her eyes fluttered closed, “strange.” The touch circled around the blonde’s neck, pulling her down willingly as their lips met. Kerry’s hands found a place on either side of Dar’s head, and they slid together, the ice forgotten. The berries forgotten. Even the chocolate was forgotten.
Dar leaned back and stretched her legs out as Kerry fit herself into the space next to the back of the couch, feeling the cool touch of the leather warm against her skin. She was careful not to jar the taller woman’s side as she nibbled the soft skin of her neck, inhaling the smell of cotton mixed with the chlorine that still clung to Dar’s body. A hand touched her side, and she drew a sharp breath in as she slid a return touch down Dar’s thigh, feeling the muscles move under her hand as the taller woman shifted, pressing her back against the leather into a very safe space. Lips found her earlobe, then her throat, sucking gently at her pulse point which jumped under the attention.
Then she had an idea. She reached over Dar and stuck a finger in the warm chocolate, then bringing it back and painting a line down Dar’s face. She nibbled it. “Oh, that’s nice.” She licked it off, then spread a line lower, hearing a soft chuckle sound deep in Dar’s throat.
“This is gonna get mes-sy,” the taller woman rumbled softly, reaching over and getting a blob of chocolate, applying it neatly along Kerry’s collarbone. “Glad the couch is leather.” She pulled the T-shirt down off one of Kerry’s shoulders and cleaned off her handiwork as she felt a warm stripe traveling along her breastbone, followed by a tongue and lips.
“Mmm.” Kerry painted a set of circles.
“Good chocolate, huh?” Dar managed to whisper, finding a nice well in Kerry’s belly button to hide some in.
“What chocolate?” Kerry exhaled, sliding a hand down Dar’s stomach.
“Oh, right. Yeah.” She was careful not to press against the bruise, but she wanted to touch every other square inch of her—her lips roaming over the soft skin and tasting and breathing and touching. The pressure was building again, as Dar’s hands moved, and her dark hair brushed against Kerry’s sensitized skin. She cried out softly.
“You all right?” Dar’s voice, almost inside of her, vibrating down her ears.