Hurricane Watch - DK2

by Melissa Good

  Cursing, she turned around, and leaned forward, trying to grab one of the flapping pieces of leather, which flicked annoyingly just out of her reach.

  ”Hang on, Kerry,” Dar yelled as she closed in, her horse snorting as his nose neared the mare’s flying tail.

  246

  Melissa Good

  Unfortunately, this only scared the already terrified mare, who redoubled her pace, slipping a little in the cedar chips. ”Whoa, whoa!”

  Kerry yelled, her eyes widening as she saw a bend coming up. ”Whoa, take it easy, wh—” The horse spun, and kicked, and she lost her grip, her body going the opposite direction and flying through the air.

  The mare got around the bend and took off running, as her former rider slammed unceremoniously against a tree trunk, then dropped to the ground with a leaf scattering thump.

  Oh my god. Kerry just lay there for a long moment trying to get air back into her lungs, almost not hearing the rapidly slowing hoof beats, and the thump as something large hit the ground running, scattering cedar chips all over her as the steps came skidding to a halt at her side.

  Hands touched her, and then Dar’s urgent voice reached her ears.

  ”Don’t move.”

  ”Couldn’t if I wanted to,” she murmured, counting the stars circling her head. ”Ow. Damn that hurt.”

  ”Where did you hit?” the low voice asked. ”You got any shooting pain anywhere? How about your neck?”

  Kerry had to think about it. ”My shoulder.” She flexed her hands a little. ”Fortunately it was my butt that hit the ground. I’m sure I didn’t take any damage there.” The numbness was wearing off, replaced by aching. ”Whoo.”

  ”Can you feel everything?” Dar asked nervously. ”Your hands, feet, no numbness?”

  Fingers, toes, eyelashes.” Yeah, ” Kerry sighed, moving her head a little. ”It’s all there. It just hurts. I think I just got the wind knocked out of me,” she told her companion. ”We weren’t going that fast.”

  Dar sat down heavily next to her. ”Jesus.” She gently eased Kerry back from her curled up position, examining her carefully. Her sweater and heavy jeans had protected her from the tree bark and she appeared relatively unharmed. ”You scared the hell out of me.”

  Kerry managed a grin. ”Me too. What on earth happened?” She moved her arms and legs, shifting her feet to a more comfortable position, and took a deep breath. ”Did that horse go nuts, or what?”

  ”I think she got stung,” Dar explained, slipping an arm over Kerry’s shoulders and supporting her solicitously. ”You sure you’re okay?”

  Kerry leaned her head against the convenient shoulder and sighed.

  ”I’m shaking like a leaf, but yeah.” She glanced off down the path.

  ”Looks like I’m walking home, though.” She exhaled as the throbbing receded.

  ”You most certainly are not,” Dar snapped, her adrenaline still surging, making her hands shake almost uncontrollably. She took a few deep breaths, willing her heart to calm.

  Surprised green eyes glanced at her, reading the ghosts of recent terror there. ”Hey, it’s okay,” she added gently. ”I’m all right. I’m not Hurricane Watch

  247

  the first person who ever fell off a horse.” She laid a hand on Dar’s chest in comfort, then inhaled, as she felt the racing heartbeat under her fingers. ”Take it easy there, tiger.”

  ”I’m fine,” Dar replied, a little shortly. ”You can ride my horse. I’ll lead him.”

  Kerry put a hand on her lover’s knee. ”No, you forgot to wear your brace, Dar. You’re not going to walk five miles back to the cabin. Now, just relax. I’m fine. I just got shook up a little.”

  Stubborn blue eyes glared at her. ”We’ll both ride then. He’s a big horse,” she replied. ”We’ll take it real slow.”

  Kerry considered arguing, then saw the set jaw, and the tensed muscles, and decided to let this one go. ”Okay,” she agreed. ”Poor horsie. You better get him some apples when we get back.”

  ”He’ll survive.” Dar relaxed a little. ”We’re still under the weight limit,” she added, letting a slight grin cross her lips now that the crisis was over.

  Kerry poked her. ”Not by that much,” she teased. ”You still owe him apples.” She allowed Dar to lift her up to her feet, though, and she stood gingerly, testing her body out before she nodded. ”Okay. I’m all right. Let’s go.”

  Smokey stood, watching them suspiciously as Dar collected his reins, and studied him. ”I’ll drive,” she decided, putting a foot in the stirrup and pulling herself up, then neatly sidestepping the horse over to where Kerry was standing, and extending an arm down. ”Grab on.

  I’ll pull you up.”

  Kerry felt herself smiling for no apparent reason, and as she reached up, her hand slid past Dar’s to grip the taller woman’s arm above the elbow, giving her a handle as she also reached for the back of the saddle.

  The sensation of being lifted was so familiar, she almost laughed, as she threw her leg over the horse’s hindquarters, and settled in behind Dar in the large saddle. ”I’m going to squish you,” she warned.

  ”No problem,” Dar advised her, feeling the warm pressure as Kerry’s body melded into hers. ”Just hang on.”

  A gentle laugh bubbled its way up through her lips as Kerry wrapped her arms around Dar’s body, squeezing her a little.

  ”Absolutely no problem there,” she assured her lover. ”Where you go, I go, buddy.”

  Dar stopped, and half turned, gazing back at her with one eyebrow lifted. ”Buddy?”

  Kerry grinned charmingly at her. ”Aren’t you my buddy?”

  A shake of the dark head, then Dar turned back around and nudged her mount down the trail. ”Okay, Smokey, nice and easy. I don’t want any road bumps.”

  The silence dropped around them again, and Kerry was able to put her aching shoulder aside, as she leaned against the warm body in front 248

  Melissa Good

  of her. The smell of sun warmed wool tickled her senses and she let her chin rest against Dar’s shoulder blades, feeling the bones move a little as Dar shifted.

  ”Mm.” She rubbed her cheek against the soft fabric, then blinked as it reminded her of her dream a while back. ”Hey.”

  ”What?” Dar whirled, almost unseating her, glancing back anxiously. ”Are you okay? You’re not starting to feel dizzy or anything, right? How’s your shoulder.”

  Kerry cleared her throat, and resettled her legs, finding the contact with Dar both familiar and comforting. ”Well, it’d be a lot better if you’d stop jerking around like that,” she admonished her companion.

  ”Would you relax already? I just wanted to mention that this whole thing reminded me of that dream I had.”

  Dar faced forward, feeling a little embarrassed. ”What dream?” she asked gruffly.

  ”The one with you in the armor,” Kerry placidly answered. ” You remember?”

  ”Oh yeah,” Dar grunted. ”Me in armor, silliest thing I ever heard.”

  Kerry closed her eyes, trying to remember the sensations. ”And no pants.”

  The horse stopped stock still. ”What?” Dar looked cautiously around at her.

  ”Your legs were bare,” Kerry replied, opening her eyes and patting her companion’s thigh. ”So were mine for that matter,” she giggled. ”Half naked horseback riding. I’m quite the wild thing in my dreams, huh?”

  Dar started laughing.” Doesn’t say much for me. What kind of idiot would wear armor and no pants?”

  ”Hmm, there must be something deep and Freudian in that,” Kerry mused.

  ”Kerry?” Dar hesitated.

  ”Hmm?”

  ”Don’t go there.”

  ”Mm, yeah, okay.”

  THEY GOT IN an hour later than they expected to, since Dar insisted on keeping poor Smokey to a pace somewhere between a turtle and a turtle. The stable man ran out to greet them and took Smokey’s reins, while Dar jumped down, then solicitously caught Kerry as she
tried to follow, and let her down gently to the ground. ”The mare got bee stung, threw her and took off,” she explained tersely.

  ”We figured,” the man nodded. ”Had to pull four or five stingers out of her butt. Sorry about that. You all right, ma’am?” His eyes turned anxiously to Kerry.

  ”I’m just peachy, thanks,” Kerry assured him, as she looked up at Dar. ”You can let me go now, I think.” She straightened her legs with a Hurricane Watch

  249

  wince, but they held.

  ”Oh. Sorry.” Dar gave her a little pat on the back and cleared her throat. ”Listen, let’s save the sailing for tomorrow, okay?” Her eyes flicked to the stable man’s. ”Anything going on here tonight?”

  He considered. ”We’ve got a hay ride scheduled,” he offered. ”Out to the big fire pit after dinner.”

  ”That sounds wonderful,” Kerry spoke up, with a grin. ”I love hayrides. C’mon, Dar, I bet they’ll have marshmallows.”

  ”Yes, ma’am, we do. The riders make s’mores, in fact.” The man smiled back at her. ”And we’ve got a couple folks who play guitar, and some that tell stories, too.”

  Kerry gave Dar a wishful look, and was rewarded with a tolerantly knowing grin. ”Sure,” Dar agreed. ”C’mon, let’s go change into something that smells less like horses, and relax before dinner.” She put her arm around Kerry’s shoulders and they headed off towards the cabin, pausing as they noticed a large group clustered around the tailgate of a work worn blue pickup truck.

  ”What’s up?” Dar inquired, as they neared it.

  Millie turned, and shook her head. ”Poor people, they’ve had an awful rain out in Arizona, just look at it,” she pointed.

  In the back of the truck was a portable television, running off the truck’s engine. A grainy picture showed a hapless man in a blue poncho, standing with his microphone in a complete downpour as bits of trees and small animals floated by in the background. A caption at the bottom was labeled Channel 12 News. ”Man, look at that,” one of the workers whistled softly. ”And that damn storm’s heading our way, too.”Dar and Kerry exchanged glances. ”When?” they both asked together.

  The worker blinked, surprised, and glanced at them. ”Um, Monday night, Tuesday morning. Why?”

  ”Thanks, we were just curious.” Kerry smiled at him. ”C’mon, Dar.

  I hear a Jacuzzi calling my name.”

  ”Right,” Dar agreed, shaking her head at the screen as cactus floated by past the reporter. ”I wonder if that’s causing us any problems?”

  Kerry tugged her forward. ”I’m sure they’d call if it was,” she assured her lover.

  ”Right,” Dar murmured again, as they walked away.

  THE WARM WATER felt absolutely wonderful, Kerry decided, as she squirmed around to let the jets rush against her ribs. She watched Dar approach bearing a couple of nicely chilled glasses. Not that she noticed the glasses, especially, since her eyes were mostly fully engaged by her hormones due to the fact that her lover was jaunting around the 250

  Melissa Good

  cabin buck naked.

  ”Here.” Dar sighed, handing her a glass and seating herself, stretching her long legs out and letting her head rest against the edge of the tub. ”Boy, that feels great.” She paused, expecting an answer, then glanced over when all she got was silence. ”Kerry?”

  ”Sorry.” Kerry took a sip of the chilled champagne and swallowed it. ”Just thinking.” She wiggled her toes contentedly and exhaled. ”I suppose it could have been worse. We could have gone skiing.”

  ”Probably would have been me that slammed into a tree then,” Dar remarked. ”How’s your shoulder?” She peered worriedly at the muscled body part in question, examining the bruise that covered Kerry’s arm. ”You sure nothing else hurts?”

  ”Dar, can I ask you a question?” Kerry peered at her. ”How can a person so oblivious of their own physical well being be so damned solicitous of mine?”

  Dar stopped, and drew back in silence. ”Sorry,” she muttered.

  ”Didn’t realize I was bothering you.”

  Kerry studied her, a little bewildered. ”No, it doesn’t bother me. I just didn’t expect that of you.”

  Dar gave a little nod, and took a sip of her drink. Truth be told, she hardly knew why she was so damned concerned herself. The woman was obviously all right, so she should just back off and let her be. After all, that’s exactly what she’d want in Kerry’s place, right?

  Right. She hated when people fussed over her, and here she was being the biggest fusspot this side of an old fashioned nursery nanny.

  No wonder Kerry was annoyed. With an effort, she relaxed, and closed her eyes, trying to recapture the good mood she’d been in at lunch.

  She was surprised when a warm body fit itself around hers unexpectedly, and her eyes popped open in startlement, to see two pale green ones peering back at her from a very close distance. ”Uh, hi.”

  ”Hi,” Kerry answered, with a quietly apologetic look. ”Sorry. I assumed that because you hate people pawing over you that you naturally would just expect everyone else to buck up and pretend gaping head wounds are nothing.”

  ”No,” Dar acknowledged quietly. ”I don’t expect that at all.”

  ”Good. Then could you give me a hug, please? I really feel like crap. My legs are killing me, and my entire back feels like an accordion,” Kerry sighed. ”And what kind of good drugs did you bring that might help?”

  Dar felt a curious smile crossing her face as she put her glass down and folded her arms around her lover, then lifted her, gently cradling her in the frothy water. ”Let me take some tension off your back, then,”

  she replied, as Kerry nestled her head against one of Dar’s shoulders.

  ”Just put your arms around my...yeah.” She gently stretched Kerry’s body out, working the stiffened muscles with one hand while supporting her with the other. ”I’ve got some Percogesic. It’s a pain Hurricane Watch

  251

  killer and a muscle relaxant. How does that sound.”

  ”It sounds great,” Kerry mumbled. ”But I feel much better already.

  I think you’re one kick ass drug yourself, Dar.” She snuggled closer, absorbing the clean, chlorine tinted warmth of the water, and the even warmer silkiness of the skin she was nestled against.

  Dar felt a sincere, thorough sense of relief. ”Well, I doubt it.,” she joked. ”The AMA would never approve me, that’s for sure. Let’s get you out of here and comfortable, okay?”

  ”Sure,” Kerry agreed amiably. ”Wh— Dar!” She grabbed a tighter hold as she was lifted out of the Jacuzzi. ”Stop that, you’ll hurt you knee!”

  ”Nah.” Dar stepped carefully out of the tub. ”Grab that towel,” she instructed, then carried Kerry out into the nicely warmed cabin, and set her on the bed. Taking the towel, she knelt. ”Hold still. This won’t hurt.”

  ”Bu...” Kerry spluttered, then subsided, slowly relaxing as Dar dried her gently.

  It was remarkably erotic and she had a hard time keeping her hands still, as the towel brushed against suddenly sensitized skin. She had to force herself not to react, force herself to let Dar take complete control.

  To trust completely.

  Her breathing slowed, and she let herself become aware of Dar’s close presence, to feel the warmth as her still damp skin brushed by Kerry’s hand. She could hear the soft breaths, and the whispery sounds of Dar’s hair as it slipped over her bare shoulders. She could smell her, that inimitable faintly spicy musk that clung to her lover’s skin, along with the chlorine scent of the water. Her world stilled for a perfect instant.

  And then lips touched hers, and the towel’s rough warmth was replaced by knowing fingertips that traced a path across her skin leaving a shiver of anticipation in their wake. She let her eyes slide open, to see Dar’s looking back at her, a teasing grin moving her lips.

  One long finger came up and balanced itself on her nose. ”Don’t go away,” Dar told her softly, as she
stood and went to their baggage, coming back with a bottle and a cup of water. She knelt down again and shook out two pills, handing them to Kerry. ”Here.”

  Kerry gazed at her, mesmerized. ”Do I need these?” she asked softly. ”It doesn’t hurt anymore.” She reached out and bypassed the pills, resting her hand on Dar’s cheek. ”I just need you.”

  Dar put the bottle down without breaking eye contact, and eased down on the bed, stretching her body out next to Kerry’s and laying a hand on her stomach. She felt the muscles contract under her fingers, and watched as the pale green eyes darkened at no more than that light touch. ”All right.” She leaned over and brushed her lips against the soft curve of a breast. ”I can’t guarantee it’s going to be relaxing, though.”

  252

  Melissa Good

  She moved up, feeling the sudden intake of breath as Kerry felt the teasing pressure. ”You sure you’re up to it?”

  Kerry finally let her hands loose, and they greedily reached for Dar’s close presence, tugging her closer as her body growled with desire.

  ”Guess that answered that,” Dar chuckled low in her throat, and succumbed to the insistent tug, feeling a warmth of connection between them that was pulling her closer, and closer, until she could swear...

  That they were simply two halves of a whole.

  Of course you are. Her mind whispered at her, as she let go and allowed the passion to take her, hearing a faint, knowing chuckle somewhere deep in the back of her mind.

  Chapter

  Nineteen

  “YOU’RE BEING QUIET.” Kerry commented, glancing over at Dar as they mounted the steps to the lodge. Her hands were tucked firmly in her pockets against the chill air, and her breath escaped as puffy clouds of vapor.

  Dar also had her hands hidden, and she sniffled a little against the cold. ”I’m not, generally speaking, a noisy person,” she responded mildly. ”I was just thinking, that’s all.” She reached out and pulled the heavy door open, then inclined her head for Kerry to precede her.

  ”You always do that,” Kerry commented. ”Open doors.”

  ”Well, you need to, Kerry or you crash into them and get a lot of splinters in your face,” Dar responded drolly. ”How’s your shoulder doing?”