“All right,” Andy drawled, returning the touch and sending a definite tingle down her spine. “Glad you waited.” He inclined his head and found her lips, kissing her with an almost bashful gentleness.

Ceci slid her arms around his neck and pulled herself up and closer, craving the contact as though she were thirsting after water. His hands slipped around her waist after a moment of surprise, then she was lifted up into a much more comfortable position and snugged tight in a powerful grip. “Mmm.” She explored delicately, finding an unmistakable response that started a welcome fire deep in her guts.

Ceci let her eyes drift open for a moment, finding darkened, almost periwinkle ones watching her.

They both smiled.


Chapter

Twenty-one

“WHAT…IS THAT?”

Dar peered over Kerry’s shoulder. “It’s a door.”

“Not that.” The blonde woman gave her a look. “That.” She pointed.

“It’s a mannequin.”

Kerry pulled her partner to a halt outside the small, neon decorated shop. “Thank you, Ms. I-am-literal-as-the-day-is-long. I know that pasty white thing is a mannequin. What is it wearing?”

Dar walked forward and pressed her fingertips against the window, examining the figure in question seriously. “I’m not sure what you call it, but if it was a bull, it’d be a come hither ring.”

Kerry covered her eyes. “Oh my god,” she muttered. “I’m about to become educated, aren’t I?”

“Not with that kind of apparatus,” Dar responded mildly. “You don’t have the anatomy for it.” She opened the door and gave her friend a little half bow. “After you?”

“Ew.” Kerry sighed and girded her mental loins. “They don’t make those for girls then, huh?”

“Oh, they do.” Dar put a hand on her back and nudged her forward into the neon lit space. “They just use nipple rings.”

“Ni—” Kerry shut her mouth so fast she almost bit her tongue.

“Ow.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

The store was small and very cluttered. There were three display cases against the walls, mostly lit by pink and yellow neon light, and the ceiling was covered in hanging devices of all shapes, sizes, colors, and various degrees of hide curing. At least, Kerry hoped the ones that smelled rank were badly cured and not just badly used. She stepped forward cautiously, giving the two salespeople behind the counter a faint smile, aware of Dar’s tall, confident presence at her back.

“Hey there.” The girl clerk leaned against the glass, almost disgorg-ing her considerable frontal assets out of her leather bustier. “What can I help you babes with tonight?”

Kerry sucked in a breath to answer, then realized she had no clue in the world what to say. “Uh.”

“Mmm. Just browsing for now. But we’re looking for something in leather,” Dar answered over her shoulder.


Eye of the Storm 191

The male clerk snickered. “Ain’t everyone?” He adjusted the complex arrangement of straps and buckles that covered his somewhat unim-pressive chest. “Chicks really go for this stuff.”

“Oh yeah.” Kerry dredged up a smile. “Why don’t you check it out, Dar. I’ll just…um,” she waved a hand, “browse.” She edged away from her wickedly smiling partner and put her hands firmly behind her back as she circled the room, peering curiously into the glass cases.

Okay. She wasn’t a total innocent. She recognized the vibrators and the different brands of massage oil, the entertaining variety of rubbers, and the large, latex dildos, some of which with inexplicable appendages with tiny heads that resembled woodchucks. What was up with that? she wondered briefly, before dismissing it and moving on down the case.

Edible underwear.

Hmm. That had possibilities, though ice cream was just as tasty, and much more fun to put on as well as take off. Kerry stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Glad I thought of that. We’re out of fudge.” She made a mental note to stop at the store.

Rings. Kerry blinked and cocked her head to one side. Rings? She leaned forward and read the tiny print on a box. “Oh.” She bit her lip to keep from giggling. “Right, okay,” she muttered. “It’s like that X-files epi-sode that mentioned autoasphixiation. Sort of the same idea.” She paused. “Only lower and not quite as dangerous.”

“Hey, Kerry?”

“Mmm?” Kerry turned to see her beloved bunkmate holding up something to the alleged light. “Um. What is that?”

“It’s perfect. Just what you should wear,” Dar assured her, with a grin. “Here.” She tossed it over.

Kerry caught it, surprised at the weight. “Hey. It’s leather.” She sniffed it. Okay. So it wasn’t used.

“Yes, it is.”

Kerry glanced up at the decidedly mischievous tone, then examined her outfit. “Oh no.” She started shaking her head. “Oh, no, no, no…no, Dar…no, no. I am not wearing a leather bikini.” She held up the top, which was a creamy, cappuccino colored leather, with intricate stitching all over it.

“It’s not a bikini,” Dar objected. “That’s a skirt.”

“It’s a mini skirt.”

“Skirt’s a skirt.”

Kerry peered at the item. It was a very brief, also cappuccino colored leather bit, with a beautifully tooled leather belt. “Dar, I don’t know…”

“Comes with nice boots.” Dar held them up. “And some bracelets and stuff. C’mon, Ker. You’d look gorgeous in this.” She turned towards the girl clerk. “Don’t you think?”

The girl chewed her gum reflectively. “You work out?”

Kerry gave her a doubtful look. “Yeah.”

“No sweat. It’s a hot piece.” She waved a hand at her. “Go for it.”

Erg. Kerry was caught between a mischievous impulse and her natu-192 Melissa Good ral modesty. She glanced around the store to give herself a moment’s more time, then stopped and smirked. “Okay. On one condition.”

Dar crossed her arms and lifted a dark brow. “What?”

Green eyes twinkled visibly even in the neon that tinted them almost caramel. “You wear that.” She pointed.

Uh. Dar eyed the inky black leather vest doubtfully. There seemed to be more holes than leather, with strategic patches barely providing legal modesty. A fringe of leather strips depended from the shoulders and the sides were laced with the same stuff, exposing just about everything from armpit to hip.

Well. She exhaled. Daddy had always told me, “Dardar, if’n you got it, don’t be shy about showin’ it.” “Okay.” She flashed a smile at the surprised and outfoxed Kerrison. “I’ll take both of these and throw in those wrist-lets too.”

“Hey.” Kerry recovered and reached for her wallet. “Hold on a minute.”

“Ah ah.” Dar held up a hand. “Fair’s fair. You get to rent the Harley, remember?”

Mmm. Right. Kerry gave in and handed the leather bikini over. Then she glanced around again and tilted her head up to examine a hanging contraption. Slowly she tilted her head one way, then the other, then she bent down and looked at it upside down. Finally, she turned to find Dar watching her with an amused look. “What is that?”

“It’s a harness.” Dar hefted the shopping bag and returned her credit card to her wallet. “C’mon.”

“What do you use it for?” Kerry held a hand up to stop her.

Dar put an arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the door. “Have I ever told you the story of Catherine the Great and her horse?”

“Huh?” Kerry’s brows knit together. “What does that have to do with a kinky sex store?”

“C’mon.”

“Well?”

She sighed. “She was into animals.”

“What?”

“You know, Kerry. Like all those sheep jokes?”

“What sheep jokes?”

“Or the ones about farmers and their cows?”

“Paladar Roberts, what in blazes are you talking about?”

Dar gave another sigh. “Hungry?”

“Dar.”

“I’ve got a great idea for dinner. It’s just a short walk. How about it?”

“Dar.”

“She used to screw her favorite stallion.”

Silence.

“Oh my god. That is so bullshit.”


Eye of the Storm 193

“No, really.”

“Dar, that is so not true. Didn’t you take Russian history?”

“I went to school in Dade County. They don’t require history.”

“Well, let me tell you, it’s not true. We did a course in…wait a minute.” Kerry pulled her lover to a halt. “Do you mean to tell me those hanging things were for people to use to have sex with?”

“Yes.”

“Jesus, Dar. Why didn’t you just say so?” Kerry shook her head.

“C’mon. I’m starved.”

Dar chuckled and led the way to a bayside restaurant, tucked between a marina and the abandoned shell of what had been a theatre. It was a quiet night and she had no problem obtaining a nice table by a wide window, with a great view of the water, the boats, and tiny, gray clouds chasing each other across the moon lit night sky.

They ordered from the fresh seafood menu and settled back with a bottle of light, sweet wine. Kerry twirled her glass and took a sip, then regarded her lover through the warm glow of the table’s candlelight. “I don’t think I’ve ever been here.”

The shadows across Dar’s face shifted. “No. I haven’t either. Not for a very long time.” She took a gingerly sip of the wine, hoping her still chancy stomach wouldn’t object.

“Hmm.” Kerry looked around. “It’s nice. I’d have thought you’d like a place like this.”

Dar gave a slow nod. “Yeah, yeah. I used to…I um…brought the first person I went out with here all the time.” She took a sip of wine. “The last time we came here was the night we broke up.”