“A particularly foul frat house room,” Sierra finished.
Kashena nodded again in agreement.
Sierra narrowed her eyes at Kashena. “So if you remembered me, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Why didn’t you?” Kashena asked with a smile.
Sierra pressed her lips together. “Good point,” she said, laughing softly.
Kashena smiled again.
“I was sure you didn’t remember me,” Sierra said, grimacing.
“Of course I remember,” Kashena said. “You almost cost me my military career.”
“What?” Sierra asked with alarm. “How?”
“That whole scene in the frat house.”
“Rescuing someone isn’t acceptable to the Marines?” Sierra asked, aghast.
“Punching a civilian in the face isn’t acceptable to the Marines,” Kashena clarified.
“Oh,” Sierra said. “What would they have expected you to do?”
“Subdue him through non-violent means.”
Sierra canted her head. “And you could have done that?”
“Of course,” Kashena said.
“So why didn’t you?”
Kashena grinned. “Because he pissed me off.”
“You broke his jaw, you know.”
“I know,” Kashena replied. “I felt it crack.”
Sierra’s mouth dropped open, her eyes widening. “I’ll make a note to myself not to piss you off,” she said, smiling.
Kashena laughed at that. “I’m in better control of myself these days.”
“Good to know,” Sierra said lightly, her smile wide. “So what happened to you after that?” she asked. “I never saw you around school after that semester—after that night, even.”
“I shipped out right after that,” Kashena said, seeing Sierra’s relief and raising an eyebrow at her. “Did you think it was because of you?”
Sierra hesitated, then shrugged. “I didn’t know for sure.”
Kashena nodded slowly. “Well, now you do.”
Sierra dropped her head, smiling. “I just figured I was a really bad kisser or something,” she said, surprising herself by bringing that up.
Kashena surprised her further by laughing. “Not that bad, no.”
Sierra bit her lip, not daring to look at Kashena, afraid her face would reflect what she was thinking.
They were both silent for a few minutes. Then Sierra looked over at Kashena.
“So did you end up finishing your degree?” she asked.
“Yep, bachelor’s in American History with a minor in American Indian Studies. And apparently you not only finished your degree, but went to law school too,” Kashena said, smiling.
Sierra nodded.
“And you got married…” Kashena said, her eyes dropping to the wedding ring Sierra wore.
“Yes,” Sierra said. “To a Marine, in fact.”
“My condolences,” Kashena said, shaking her head.
Sierra laughed. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I’ve lived with male Marines 24/7. I wouldn’t wish one on my worst enemy.”
“It does have its challenges,” Sierra said with a grin.
“I’d imagine,” Kashena said, rolling her eyes.
“So what about you?” Sierra asked. “Did you get married or anything?”
“Uh, no,” Kashena said. “I’m still gay.”
Sierra laughed, looking embarrassed. “I didn’t mean that,” she said. “I just meant, well, you know, women are having commitment ceremonies all the time now.”
“Not this woman,” Kashena said.
“No?” Sierra queried. “Against gay marriage, or just haven’t found anyone you want to marry?”
“Well, commitments are a thing, but I’ve never felt the need to be committed,” Kashena said with a wink.
Sierra laughed out loud at that. “Well, I’m sure you have any number of women who’d happily work on changing your opinion.”
Kashena glanced over at her, tilting her head. “Now what makes you think that?”
“Uh…” Sierra said, realizing she’d just revealed a little more than she’d meant to. Kashena waited in silence for an answer.
The silence stretched as Sierra debated with herself over how much to tell Kashena. Finally she sighed.
“Well, you’re, um… you,” Sierra stammered.
“Me?” Kashena repeated.
Sierra blushed furiously, squeezing her eyes shut. No matter what she said, she just backed herself into another corner.
“Sierra?” Kashena queried, saying her name for the first time.
“I meant, well… damn, look at you! And the way you kissed…” Sierra said, mentally wincing at how dumb she sounded.
Kashena grinned. “I only kissed you that one time.”
“And I still remember it like it was yesterday,” Sierra said matter-of-factly.
“And I wasn’t even that good a kisser then,” Kashena added.
“So you kiss even better now?” Sierra asked, her tone challenging.
“Gods, I hope so!”
Sierra couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed that no matter what she said to Kashena, nothing seemed to really faze her. It was comforting to know.
As the car slid to a smooth stop, Sierra realized they were in front of the hotel. She was surprised. She hadn’t even noticed when they got off the freeway; she’d been too involved in the discussion with Kashena. The woman was far too distracting.
They walked inside and located the room where the conference was taking place. People were already milling around. Kashena got Sierra through the crowd and up to the table to sign in for the conference. After walking Sierra into the conference room, Kashena found Sierra’s assigned seat.
“Okay,” Kashena said, turning to Sierra. “I’m going to go get us checked into the hotel and take the bags up to our room. Unless I miss my guess, they arranged a room with two beds, assuming that as I’m your bodyguard and female too, for security purposes it would be better if we’re in the same room. Is that going to be okay?”
“Of course,” Sierra said. “As long as you don’t mind.”
“I sleep with women all the time,” Kashena said, grinning. Then she grimaced, realizing that her off-color joke may not be appreciated by the Chief Deputy Attorney General.
Sierra laughed, however, nodding her head. “True. So will you come back here?”
“Yes,” Kashena said, glancing at her watch—it was 9:30 a.m. “I’ll be back here in two hours for the lunch break.” Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out a card and handed it to Sierra. “If you need to leave before that for any reason, just page me and I’ll be right here.”
“Okay,” Sierra said, holding on to the card.
Kashena left then.
True to her word, she was back at eleven thirty, waiting outside when the conference let out for lunch.
Sierra hadn’t even seen her when suddenly Kashena appeared at her elbow.
“What would you like to do for lunch?” Kashena asked. “I’ve checked out the area—we’re looking at Chinese, chicken, burgers, pizza, or something here at the hotel.”
Sierra was impressed at how organized Kashena was. She never missed a beat.
“What would you like?” Sierra asked.
“I’m easy, I can eat anywhere.”
“Any places with a decent salad?” Sierra asked.
“As a matter of fact, I saw a salad place too,” Kashena said, smiling as she escorted Sierra out to the car.
They ate lunch companionably, then Kashena took Sierra back to the conference. Like clockwork she was there when the conference ended for the day at 4:30 p.m.
“What’s next on your agenda?” Kashena asked as she fell into step beside Sierra.
“Honestly,” Sierra said, “I’d like a cool bath and to relax for a little bit.”
It was quite warm in Los Angeles. Even though it was early spring, the humidity was high, making it seem even warmer than eighty
-five degrees.
“Alright,” Kashena said amiably. “Let’s go.”
She led Sierra up to their room, opening the door and gesturing for Sierra to precede her inside. Sierra noted that Kashena’s clothes hung on one side of the small closet, leaving more than half of the closet for Sierra. Kashena had set Sierra’s suitcase on one of the beds and hung her garment bag in the closet. Sierra went about unpacking. When she went into the bathroom, she found that Kashena’s personal items were set neatly to one side. Shaking her head, Sierra smiled. Kashena was meticulous, that was for sure.
Walking back out into the room, Sierra saw that Kashena was standing at the window looking out. When she heard Sierra, Kashena turned around, smiling.
“While you take your bath and relax, I’m going to go down to the fitness room.”
“Okay,” Sierra said.
“When I get back, we can figure out what you want to do for dinner.” Kashena walked over to the dresser and opened the drawer she had put her clothes in, pulling out some items.
She went into the bathroom and emerged five minutes later, her hair in a ponytail, and wearing a black jog bra and black pants. Sierra did her best not to stare open-mouthed, but there was no way she couldn’t look. As she suspected, Kashena’s body was in perfect shape. Not one ounce of fat showed on her body—everything was lean muscle, no bulk whatsoever.
Kashena caught Sierra’s look and smiled.
“What?” she asked, sitting down to put on her shoes.
“I just want to know where I have to go to buy a body like yours.”
Kashena laughed. “I work my ass off to have this body, I’ll have you know.”
Sierra sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of,” she said. “I can’t just buy one?”
“Not that I know of,” Kashena replied, grinning.
“Damn…” Sierra said, shaking her head remorsefully.
Kashena left the room a little while later. Sierra went about taking her bath, her mind continually wandering back to the visceral pleasure of seeing Kashena’s long, lean form. She sighed and did her best not to think about it. She was quickly becoming obsessed.
In the end, Kashena was gone for an hour and a half. She came back with a sheen of sweat on her skin. Sitting down, she unlaced her shoes and kicked them off, then got up and set them next to the boots she’d worn that day. Sierra was lying on her bed lazily flipping through TV channels. She’d put jeans and a blue blouse on. She looked comfortable. Her long black hair was back in a braid.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Kashena said. “Any thoughts on dinner?”
“Pasta,” Sierra said.
“That’s the only thought?” Kashena asked with a grin.
“Wine,” Sierra added, making Kashena laugh softly.
“You got it, Deputy,” she said, smiling.
A half hour later, Kashena emerged from the shower, dressed and her hair back up in a clip. Sierra watched as she took her folded gym clothes and put them in her suitcase, then sat down to put on her boots. Sierra went into the bathroom to touch up her makeup. A few moments later, Kashena walked into the bathroom, reaching around Sierra to pick up the silver chain and pendant that hung on the side of the hair dryer. Watching in the mirror’s reflection as Kashena put on the necklace, Sierra remembered it.
“Do you always wear that?” she asked.
Kashena nodded. “I’ve worn it since I was a kid. My grandmother gave it to me.”
Sierra turned around and looked at the pendant, lifting it so she could get a better look. It was the size of a dime. Colored enamel pieces separated it into four areas, white, yellow, red, and black, with a green emerald in the middle. It took Sierra a few moments to recognize the symbol.
“The Council of Three Fires,” she said, glancing up at Kashena to see if she was right. She touched the center stone. “Balance,” she said, remembering a little about the symbol.
The Council of Three Fires was made up of Ojibwa—otherwise known as Chippewa—Ottawa, and Potawatomi Indians. It was an alliance formed by the three tribes that had been documented as far back as 796 AD.
Kashena smiled. “My grandmother was an elder in our tribe.”
“Ojibwa, right?” Sierra said.
“Good memory, Chief.”
“But do you remember—” Sierra started to say.
“Kumeyaay,” Kashena answered, naming the tribe Sierra was from.
“Very good,” Sierra said, winking.
They left for dinner a little while later, finding that the hotel restaurant actually had a good menu, including pasta like Sierra wanted. They decided to stay at the hotel and eat. True to her request, Sierra had pasta as well as two and a half glasses of wine. Kashena drank decaffeinated coffee and had a salad.
“Not hungry?” Sierra asked when Kashena ordered.
“I never eat much at night,” Kashena replied.
“That’s another reason you look so good,” she said, smiling.
Kashena grinned, her eyes sparkling humorously.
“What?” Sierra asked self-consciously.
“Good wine, huh?” Kashena asked, her grin widening.
“I am not drunk,” Sierra said, attempting to look offended, but her smile spoiled the effect.
“Yeah,” Kashena said, nodding. “That’s right up there with ‘But ociffer, I’m not as think as you drunk I am.’”
Sierra laughed, shaking her head. “I’ve never said that.”
“Right,” Kashena said.
Dinner proceeded, and Sierra found that Kashena was a great dinner companion. Their conversation was interesting without being too heavy. Kashena had a way of expressing herself without denigrating other people’s opinions. She also talked using her hands, and her facial expressions were often very animated. More and more, Sierra found herself simply watching Kashena as she talked.
When they were finished with dinner, they lingered over coffee. Kashena had suggested that Sierra have some to help counter the wine. Sierra agreed to drink the coffee as long as Kashena would tell her about Marine basic training.
Kashena talked; Sierra listened and watched.
“Needless to say,” Kashena said, wrapping up her story, “once I was out of boot camp my parting shot was to write him a note letting him know that his wife did indeed prefer women.”
Sierra laughed. “Shame on you!”
“Hey,” Kashena said, as the check came and she reached for it, “he deserved it.”
“What are you doing?” Sierra asked as she watched Kashena pull out her credit card and put it in the leather holder with the check.
Kashena shrugged. “It’s commonly called paying the check.”
“Kashena…” Sierra began, her tone chastising.
“I’m paying for dinner, deal with it,” Kashena replied with a smile.
“But that bill is way over per diem rate,” Sierra said, reaching for her purse.
“Don’t even think about it,” Kashena said, putting her hand on Sierra’s.
Sierra looked back at Kashena, her emotions warring. For one thing, Kashena’s hand was still on hers, and Sierra felt like her nerves were holding their breath, waiting for more. Sierra was sure she made at least twice what Kashena made a month, and it wasn’t right for her to have to pay for dinner. Then again, she didn’t want to offend Kashena by either pointing that out or insisting on paying at least her share.
Kashena watched the emotions play across Sierra’s face, knowing that Sierra was thinking about the fact that as a chief deputy she made much more money, and should therefore pay. The per diem rate for dinner was only eighteen dollars. The bill was easily four times that. Kashena didn’t care—she wanted to pay, and she did. Simple as that. She also realized that this was difficult for Sierra, so she gave in a little bit.
“I’ll let you pay next time,” she said.
Sierra smiled, relieved that she didn’t have to feel as concerned now. Little did she know that Kashena had no intention of eating in such an expen
sive restaurant when Sierra was paying. It was her way. She knew it was antiquated, what would be considered chivalrous, but she didn’t give a damn. The waiter, who’d been eyeing both women all night, took the check and came back a few minutes later with the credit card receipt. Kashena added the tip and signed the receipt, pocketing her credit card. Standing up, she waited for Sierra to get her purse and stand, then gestured for Sierra to precede her out of the restaurant. The waiter watched them go, sighing to himself. Two beautiful women, and a good tipper, the blond one.
Back up in the room, Sierra decided to take a shower to “clear” her head. Kashena grinned knowingly. By the time Sierra emerged from the shower, Kashena had changed into her comfortable clothes. She wore plaid flannel pants and a dark gray jog bra. She was sitting on the bed with her knees up to her chest, one arm draped casually over one knee. In her other hand she held her cell phone. The most amazing thing of all to Sierra was that Kashena’s hair was down. It flowed around and two inches past her shoulders in a silken dark-gold curtain.
Sierra stood staring at Kashena while she talked on the phone. Her eyes were fixed on Kashena’s face, framed so beautifully by her hair.
Kashena smiled, noting the dumbfounded look, but assuming it had to do with the alcohol in Sierra’s veins rather than anything she was actually seeing.
“My charge is out of the shower, Baz,” she said, winking at Sierra. “I need to go sober her up. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She laughed at something the other person said, then said goodbye. Sierra sat down right by where Kashena’s feet were planted on the bed. Kashena put her phone down and draped her arms over her knees, her eyes surveying Sierra’s face.
“That shower didn’t help much, did it?” Kashena asked.
“It helped,” Sierra insisted. “I feel really, really good right now.”
Kashena pursed her lips as she attempted not to grin.
“I’m not drunk!” Sierra insisted.
“Right…” Kashena nodded, sounding unconvinced.
Sierra narrowed her dark eyes. “You know…” she said in a warning tone.
“No, what?” Kashena asked with an indulgent smile.
Sierra made an impatient noise in the back of her throat, causing Kashena’s grin to widen.
“Stop it,” Sierra said, her voice a whine now.
Darkness Past Page 9
