by Melissa Good
"Yow." Kerry grimaced. "So what do I do?"
"Nothing," Dr. Steve said. "They're already healing, see here?" He indicated a blur on one end. "We wrap you up and you go home and relax, which I gather is what you want to do anyway."
Kerry nodded vigorously.
"I will give you something to take the edge off." Dr. Steve continued. "Can I talk you into taking a few days off as well?"
"Absolutely." Dar answered for her. "We're both taking the rest of the week off."
The doctor stared at her suspiciously.
"Thanks boss." Kerry gave her a kiss on the shoulder. "Can we go out on the boat?"
"Absolutely." Dar agreed.
"Let me get you wrapped up before this pipe dream disappears." Dr. Steve waved Kerry out to the hallway. "I should take an X-ray of her head, the way she's talking."
TWILIGHT FOUND KERRY seated on the porch, a tall glass of ice tea by her side, and a Labrador at her feet. She rocked the swing chair back and forth with one foot braced against the railing, and savored the salt tinged air wafting past her face.
It was so good to finally be home. She reached down and scratched Chino's ears. "Hey Cheebles. You glad we're back?"
Chino stood up and licked her knee, laying her chin there and staring soulfully up at Kerry. "Gruff."
"I'm glad we're back too." Kerry told her pet. "I missed you." She watched Chino's tail wag, and felt like wagging her own in response."Thanks for being good for your grandma."
The sliding door opened and Dar appeared, wandering over to join her and stepping over Chino to take a seat next to her.
"Ahhh." Dar propped her feet up on the rail, and put her hands behind her head. "Damn I'm glad to be here."
"Me too." Kerry took a sip of her ice tea. "Listen to those waves."
The ocean was crashing up against the beach and the seawall, and they could hear rollers coming in. "Dad just called. He and Mom just made it back over to South Point," Dar said. "He said we should get together for dinner sometime later on this week."
"Sure." Kerry leaned a little and kissed Dar on her bare shoulder. "Whatever you want to do is cool with me."
Dar put her arm over Kerry's shoulders and let her head rest against her partner's. "I want to put you in the hot tub,"she said. "I have some cold apple cider chilling next to it and a bowl of cherries."
Kerry was more than ready for that. She was already in her swimsuit and she joined Dar on the steps to the tub, easing down into the heated water as the scent of chlorine rose around her. The warmth stole into her bones and she felt a sense of relief as she settled in place and the bubbles rumbled around her soothingly. "OOohhhh."
Dar slid into place next to her. She tipped her head back and looked up, to see a partly cloudy sky just starting to show a few stars scattered around. They usually visited the hot tub at night when the shadows and indirect lighting let them dispense with the swimsuits, but it was very nice to just float weightless in the water as the sky turned dark. "Feel better?"
Kerry let herself relax, and felt the tension drain from her as the bubbles flowed gently over her body. Her muscles relaxed, and even the ache in her ribs subsided a little as she no longer bore weight on her chest. "That feels wonderful," she admitted.
"It does. If you didn't have cracked ribs I'd suggest we go out for a night dive."
"Ooh." Kerry imagined the immersion and the rich twilight. "Stupid damn ribs."
"We have time." Dar offered her a glass of cider. "We can just be beach bums this week."
Kerry sipped the cold, fizzy drink. "You were serious? We're taking the week off?"
"This week, and next week if we want to," Dar responded. "They just got a month's worth of hours out of us in six days. We're due."
"Good." Kerry set the cup down and closed her eyes. "I want to sleep in tomorrow. I told Mayte to just tell everyone who calls I'm on sick leave."
Dar rolled onto her side and nibbled Kerry's ear. "I told Maria to say our offices are closed for the week," she whispered, "and not to save the voice mails or emails."
Kerry eased over onto her side facing her partner. She rested her hand on Dar's hip and leaned forward kissing her on the lips. "We're going to regret these suits, aren't we?" She savored the sensual rush as Dar's arms gently encircled her pulling them together.
"Just this once I wish we'd put on bikinis," Dar admitted. "Or waited until it was dark."
Kerry had to admit she agreed. "Twenty-twenty hindsight." She settled a little closer and kissed Dar again, the rush of the water over her skin now equal parts comforting and erotic. She blocked out the recent past and concentrated on the body pressed up against her, fingers already itching to slide the strap of Dar's suit down her shoulder.
There was no pressure against her ribs and though she still ached, she could breathe with some comfort in the weightlessness of the water. Even the ache faded as Dar's hand slid along the back of her thigh and their lips met again for a longer exploration.
It was so strange not to feel anxious. Kerry gave in to her inclination and slid Dar's strap down feeling a faint chuckle against her lips as she did so. So strange not to have all that tension and the ticking clock hanging over them.
The warm water suddenly swirled against her bare breasts as Dar neatly extracted her upper body from her suit before she even realized it was happening. She shoved aside her thoughts and focused on the teasing touch against her nipples, the gentle tweaks wringing a gutteral sound from deep in her throat.
It was still twilight, but she didn't care. She got Dar's other strap down and they worked their suits off in something like harmony,motions slow and easy, ending in a rush of passion as their bare bodies met and brushed against each other.
Dar's hand stroked lightly down the inside of her thigh and Kerry forgot about everything except the desire she felt and the craving of her body for that touch. She half rolled onto her back as Dar's attentions became intimate, her hands sliding down Dar's sides in response.
The sensations built so fast she barely had time to take a breath. Her body felt like it was on fire and she surrendered to the wave of intensity just holding onto Dar to keep herself from slipping under the water.
Her body tensed and convulsed, her grip tightening instinctively and then slowly loosening as her heart hammered incessantly in her ears. She let her head fall back and looked up at Dar who was gazing lazily down at her, a sexy, knowing smile on her face.
The whole world could have changed around them, but it didn't matter. Kerry cupped the back of Dar's neck and pulled her head down for a kiss, her other hand making its way down her partner's belly.
They mattered. This mattered. Being in love mattered. Let the world go crazy. She couldn't give a damn.
DAR SURVEYED HER handiwork on the tray, trying to decide if there were exactly enough grapes surrounding the crab claws and shrimp or if she needed to add another handful. Eventually she selected a few strawberries instead, and settled them in place. Then she picked up the tray and headed into the living room with it.
Kerry was sitting in one of the plush leather chairs in her pajamas,her feet up on an ottoman, and a colorful dive magazine in her hands. She looked up as Dar entered her face creasing into an easy grin. "Oh my gosh, Paladar. What do you have there?"
"Dinner." Dar set the tray down on the table between the two chairs. "You wanted decadent, you got it. We've got seafood platters with a half dozen things to dunk stuff in, hush puppies, corn fritters,conch fritters, spicy fries, corn on the cob, a token bowl of cream spinach so you don't spank me, and Baileys mocha milkshakes."
"Ahhh." Kerry surveyed the feast. "Where do I start?" She picked up the milkshake and sucked on it. "Mm." She pointed at the magazine with her pinky. "We should go on a dive boat, Dar."
"We own a dive boat, hon." Dar curled up in the chair across from her partner. She picked up a crab claw and dunked it in a few things, then sucked the flesh from it with a low gurgle. "Mm."
"Yes, I know." Kerry sel
ected a shrimp and scooped up a thick coating of cocktail sauce. "But I think it would be cool if we go somewhere the Dixie can't take us, like Australia or Papua New Guinea, and do a diving live aboard there."
"Hm." Dar nibbled on a corn fritter. "That could be fun. Is there a package advertised in there?" She pointed at the magazine. "Gimme. I'll book us."
Kerry tossed the magazine over. "Page 74. It's a nice looking boat, and they got good reviews."
Dar examined the page while she sucked on a crab claw. "You got it," she said. "They've got a ten day going out end of October. Want that for a birthday present?"
"Yep."
"Done."
Kerry grunted in contentment, carefully lifting her plate over and resting it on the arm of the chair as she dug into its contents. "That's going to be so cool."
They hadn't talked about work since they'd gotten home. Dar had no intention of changing that trend. "How's your side feeling?"
Kerry chewed her shrimp and swallowed before she answered. "It hurts," she admitted. "If I breathe the wrong way, it's painful, and if I move my arm around a lot. It's not that bad though." She went back for a crab claw. "It feels a lot better just being here in our home."
Dar nodded in agreement. She stretched her legs out and propped her feet on the ottoman, reaching with her other hand for the remote control"What are you in the mood for?"
"Crocodile man," Kerry said. "Anything except news and sports."
"Gotcha." Dar found the channel and set the remote down. "After we wake up tomorrow I'm going to go down and spool the boat up. Maybe we can do sunset on the water tomorrow night. I'll have the club cater the galley."
"Sounds great to me." Kerry took a sip of her milkshake. "You think the seas are still up from that storm?"
"Hurricane Gabrielle?" Dar chuckled. "I'll check the marine forecast, but it should be all right if we head south."
"Head south." Kerry mused. "Want to go to the cabin? Chino'd love that, wouldn't you, Chi?"
The Labrador's head popped up, ears perked. Her tail started sweeping the tile floor.
"Yeah, I do," Dar said, after a brief pause. "I want to get lost for a few days. Hard to do that here."
Kerry looked up and studied her partner's profile for a moment. Dar didn't seem upset, just somewhat thoughtful and quiet, and she wondered what was going through her head. She almost asked, and then decided to be patient and see if Dar would start talking about it instead.
They ate in silence for a little while watching the antics on the screen. Kerry took a few forkfuls of the spinach and munched them, enjoying the fresh, green taste that cut the richness of the fritters and the tangy taste of the cocktail sauce.
The items were familiar to her. She and Dar often shared fresh seafood, which they both liked, and she'd gained a taste for the sweet spiciness of the fritters and the rough texture of the corn. She dipped a fritter in the spinach and chewed it, washing the whole thing down with a mouthful of milkshake that tasted almost as bad for her as she figured it probably was.
Who cared? She picked up another crab claw and dunked it in the butter sauce. "Did I dream it, or did I actually show my mother my tattoo?" she asked, glancing at Dar. "I sort of halfway remember something like that."
"You did." Dar agreed. "You pulled your shirt off in the conference room and your mom was right there. I was counting your ribs."
"Jesus." Kerry laughed softly. "Oh well. Worse ways for her to see it I guess. All in all, she really wasn't that bad for all this, even before it happened. I think I was more of a jerk to her than the other way around."
"She's had her moments." Dar demurred.
"No, I know." Kerry worked on cleaning her plate. "Nothing's going to change what happened between us, it happened. I know that, and I think she knows that. But I really was a bastard those first few days, Dar. I'm kind of ashamed of that."
"But you're such a cute bastard, Ker." Dar didn't seem fazed. "Anyway, it all ended up pretty much okay, didn't it? I thought she reacted pretty well to the tattoo. She didn't freak out. Dad said she told him she was happy she'd been invited down here."
Kerry munched a fry. "Yeah," she said, after a moment's thought."She came through for us at the Exchange. She had no idea what was going on, but she just went with what I was asking." Kerry remembered the moment. "Maybe there's hope for us."
"I'm thinking we'll find out at your sister's wedding." Dar said, dryly. "I hope you get to pick your own dress, and you don't have to wear one of those creepy bow front things."
"I'll pick my own dress. They know better." Kerry smiled. "I'm glad for Angie."
"Me too," Dar said. "I was hoping they'd get together. I know your mother had them move in, but two kids to take care of can be tough. I know my mother had a rough time with just me."
"Just you?" Kerry looked affectionately at her partner. "Honey you're equal to triplets in anyone's book." She finished the last of her fries and sat back. "Whoof. I'm stuffed." She rested her chin on her fist, her elbow propped on the chair arm.
"Too stuffed for key lime pie?" Dar eyed her.
"Hm."
"That's what I thought."
KERRY IDLY WATCHED a seagull wheel over the dock, peering hopefully down at the tall figure wandering back up the beach. She was ensconced comfortably in the big hammock on the porch of their cabin, her bare feet dusted with sand and her skin slightly tight with sun and salt air.
It was Friday. She was several shades bronzer, a few pounds heavier, and her ribs had subsided to an ache she could manage with Advil. They had spent most of the week just lazing around the cabin, swimming in the surf and taking walks down the beach together since the weight of their dive gear was too much for Kerry's injured side to handle.
They had spent time shell hunting instead. Kerry now had quite a collection of them, and she was pondering what to do with them as she swung in the languid air. Maybe some jewelry? She'd found several tiny olives she imagined would make pretty earrings, at any rate.
She wondered if Dar would like them. She knew some of her work colleagues would. Maybe she'd make a few for Mayte and Maria before they went back. There was a place down the road that she knew would have the settings for them, and a goldsmith's shop she could get chains at a little further south.
"Hey." Dar arrived on the porch, tweaking one of Kerry's toes as she dropped into a chair nearby. Chino trotted up after her shaking herself free of salt and sand, before she went over to a large bowl near the door and lapped thirstily.
"Hey." Kerry amiably replied.
"You decided yet?" Dar leaned back and laced her fingers behind her head.
Kerry studied her partner. Dressed in a tattered pair of shorts and a tank top, her dark hair windblown all to hell, it was very hard to imagine her willingly going back to their maroon offices in Miami encased in a business suit.
Or, was that just rationalization for what she wanted to do anyway? Eh. Kerry smiled. Who cared? "I want to stay here. We can do a little work from our offices back there."
"Great decision." Dar complimented her. "Especially since we're getting a couple of visitors next week. Alastair's dropping by for his scuba lesson."
"Really?" Kerry rested her hands on her stomach and twiddled her thumbs."That should be fun. Is he bringing his wife?"
"Yes. They're going to stay in one of the resorts down the road," Dar said. "We're going to have a board meeting while he's here. Get some stuff resolved. Talk about the market. The whole world is in a tailspin."
"Okay." Kerry wriggled into a slightly more comfortable position."Sounds good to me. I still don't have to look at email until Monday, right?"
Dar gazed at her, a faint grin on her face. "Nope."
Kerry closed her eyes. "Good." She wiggled her toes. "I've almost got my brain to the fully flushed point, where I maybe could start thinking of dealing with all the crap again by Monday."
Dar got up and circled the hammock taking hold of the edge and lowering herself into it next to Kerry. She
snuggled up next to her partner and sighed happily. "I vote we move the company down here. What do you think?"
"Mm." Kerry pondered that. "We'd have a hell of a time in hurricane season, honey." She mused. "But yeah, I would love to leave the traffic and the chaos behind for a while."
"Well." Dar rested her head against Kerry's. "It'll depend which way the company wants to go. If we pull out of the government contracts like Alastair was talking about, that's one thing. But I got an email from Gerry. "
"Uh oh."
"Apparently," Dar cleared her throat, "that little bit of weenie waggling Alastair did had the reverse effect than he was looking for. He got some major mojo points for telling those bastards to kiss his ass."
"Oh for Pete's sake." Kerry rolled her eyes. "Why in the hell would we want to get involved with them after what they did, Dar? They tried to screw us to the wall!"
"Huge amounts of money," Dar replied. "Unlimited budget. Unlimited resources. Gerry's happy as a clam. He apparently thinks I should be too."
"Are you?" Kerry turned her head to study Dar's profile.
Dar looked up at the porch overhang for a little while as they swung together. "I'm a moderately patriotic person," she said, finally."My father's a retired career military officer. I grew up on a military base. I came very, very close to joining the service."
"I remember when you got that medal," Kerry said. "You couldn't have stood up any straighter if you'd been a soldier. "
Dar nodded. "I've always been very proud of the fact that our company handled--no, protected so many resources of our country. I felt it was--it was always sort of a way I could be a part of that world even though I decided against it way back when."
"And?" Kerry asked, after a period of silence.
"And now, after what we just went through with the people representing our government I feel ashamed to admit to anyone we have anything to do with them." Dar's voice was gentle, and reflective. "I feel betrayed."
