Dar stood quietly nearby, her hands tucked into her pockets, a look of polite interest on her face. Her breath showed as a gentle stream of vapor, and as Kerry kept an unobtrusive eye on her, the stream doubled, as she let out a long sigh.

”All right, folks, let’s get aboard. We want to get over to that campfire real soon, cause this weather ain’t getting any warmer,” the cheerful driver told them, as he unhooked the chain and let the back gate down, then put a set of stairs in place. ”Up you go.”

Dar and Kerry were the fourth set of people to get into the hay wagon, and they settled themselves in one of the front corners, out of the way of the giggling children who were burrowing in the hay, tossing bits of it around. Dar drew her knees up and put her arm against them, resting her chin on one forearm.

She thought about what Kerry had said, and found herself resenting the other couples there, who were free to hug and kiss each other, with no fear of any adverse reaction. In fact, the two older couples were watching one pair of lovebirds with an indulgent look on their faces.

She felt, in that moment, as though something very important had been taken away from her, and it was making her mad. So was Kerry’s assumption that she wouldn’t like public displays. So was the annoying cold, that was making her throat dry out and giving her a headache.

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back, letting herself slide into a full fledged, self-acknowledged really bad mood. Part of it was at herself, since she really should have guessed that Kerry wouldn’t Hurricane Watch

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be comfortable announcing their sexual partnership to the world, especially here in what she assumed was a bastion of conservatism.

Another part of it was because she hadn’t even realized she was doing it, which made her kick herself for being so damned self-absorbed.

The cold pressed in on her, and she dropped her head a little and let it in, remembering the last time she’d been here. Living through the hurt, and rebuilding her defenses, determined to go back out there, and never, never let anyone get close enough to make her feel that lousy ever again.

So what the hell was she doing here now?

Then the other half of her slapped her upside the head. Get a grip, Dar. She didn’t blow you off, she just asked for some time to adjust. So just chill out.

Well, at least that was easy enough. She glared morosely at her visible breath, bracing her feet as the wagon started, and the other occupants laughed in delight. The horses started to pull them down the road, their hoof beats making a regular pattern in the still, cold air. Stop behaving like a spoiled brat, already. Jesus, Dar, what would Dad say?

He’d kick your ass for acting like this. ”Pretty night out, huh?” She forced her bad mood down, and turned to Kerry, shocked at the effort it took not to reach out and gently move aside the soft blonde hair obscuring her face.

Kerry’s jaw was working, and her brow was knit. She turned her head towards her lover in almost slow motion. ”Yes, it is,”

she

responded thoughtfully. ”It’s cold, though.”

”Yeah,” Dar agreed softly, as she rubbed her arms with her hands.

Kerry studied the wagon’s occupants, noting the huddled duos with a speculative eye. Then she took in a breath, and expelled it.

”Dar?”

”Hmm?”

Kerry chewed her lower lip a minute. ”I’m over it,” she announced.

”I guess the world’ll just have to expand its horizons.”

Startled blue eyes regarded her. ”What exactly do you mean?”

The smaller woman shifted, then crawled the short distance between them and wrapped herself around Dar’s body, tucking her head into the hollow of her lover’s shoulder and exhaling. ”Is this explicit enough, or do I need to suck your tongue?”

Dar felt a surge of heat erupt, as a flush colored her skin, warming her rapidly. ”Uh, no, no, this is fine. I get the idea,” she blurted, knocked off balance by Kerry’s sudden change of heart. She put her arms around Kerry and settled back, letting their conjoined body heat chase away the chill of the air. ”What made you change your mind?”

Amazing, how fast a bad mood could vanish, whisked away on the cold wind.

Kerry thought about the question for a while, as she regarded the people around them. After a few initial, startled glances, they were 258

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being mostly ignored, which was fine with her. ”Well.” She picked up a stalk of hay and chewed it. ”I thought about how uncomfortable I felt about everyone staring at me, and then I weighed that against how comfortable I knew I’d feel if I was snuggling with you, and snuggling won.”

”Just like that?” Dar asked, in mild disbelief.

”Essentially, yeah,” Kerry replied. ”Oh, there was more to it, and I’m still wrestling with stuff, but I realized when I thought about it that you’ve been doing all that stuff ever since we, um...”

”Yeah.”

”So, just because we’re in a strange place, why should that matter?

I know I joked about them lynching people, but then I figured out if anyone’s got a problem here, you could probably kick their ass, so...”

Kerry shrugged. ”What the hell? I never rebelled as a teenager, maybe it’s time.”

”Oh.”

”Maybe I’ll get a tattoo.”

”Uh...” Dar peered at her. ”Don’t get all drastic on me, okay? How about we start with a rainbow sticker for your bumper.”

”I don’t know, Dar,” Kerry mused. ”A nice knot work design, around your name, right on my, um... ” She glanced down.

”Uh, Kerry. ” Blue eyes glanced at their neighbors, one of the older couples who were watching them with interest.

”Shoulder blade,” Kerry finished, with a twinkle in her eyes. ”I bet that guy at the desk knows where I could get one around here.”

”All right.” Dar gave her a look. ”Now you listen here, Kerrison Stuart. I am not going to stand by while you get my name tattooed on any part of your body in some hack shop in the backwoods, you hear me?”Kerry’s nose wrinkled up as she grinned. ”Would you do it?”

”Get your name tattooed on me?” Dar countered.

The blonde nodded, but said nothing.

The angular face went serious, suddenly intense as Dar met Kerry’s eyes and held them. ”I already have that,” she whispered, touching her chest above her heart with a finger. ”Written so deep there, nothing could ever remove it.”

Kerry just looked at her, forgetting their watchers, her eyes softening and carrying the sudden glitter of unshed tears. She started to speak, then shook her head, and buried her face in Dar’s shoulder.

Hmm. Dar rested her cheek against Kerry’s pale hair. Not bad, from a hard bitten, cold and ruthless bitch from hell, huh?

Up ahead she could see the brightening glow of the campfire, sending crackling sparks up towards the bright stars winking over them.


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DAR FLOATED BLISSFULLY in a pocket of warm comfort, her arms wrapped securely around Kerry’s peacefully snoozing body. The air outside the blanket felt chilly, but she had no intention of going out into it, at least until the sun took it upon itself to come up.

Funny, though. She could have sworn they’d left the heat on last night. She edged one blue eye open and surveyed the cabin. It was a dull gray from the light coming in the window, and very, very quiet.

Too quiet, Dar realized, as she missed the faint, but just perceptible mechanical sounds of the heating unit. Her eyes flicked to the clock, which showed a depressingly early time.

Great. She chewed her lip for a moment, then decided the only way they were going to get heat in the place was if she got up and turned the heat on, then started up that fire again. C’mon Dar, buck up, you made Kerry get up yesterday, it’s your turn. She told herself firmly, as she eased away from Kerry’s warmth, and scooted out the other side of the bed. Shit. The chill made her start shivering, and she quickly trotted over to her bag, flipping on the heat along the way Tugging out a warm sweatshirt, she pulled it on over her head and rubbed her arms. ”Brr,” she commented softly. ”This cold stuff is for the birds.” But there was a good stock of wood, at least, and she quietly stacked some in the fireplace, remembering how Kerry had arranged it the day before. She packed the moss into the crevices, then she grabbed some matches they’d gotten from the lodge the day before and lit a few, making sure the fire starter caught in several places.

”Hey, not bad.” She sat down in front of the fireplace on the rug and warmed her hands on the growing flames, quite pleased with herself. ”Okay, we’ve got heat going. I got a pot here I can heat up some water with, and we’ve got fresh coffee.” She counted off silently, giving a tiny nod. ”That’ll do.”

On the way to the sink to get some water, she stopped and simply stood, watching Kerry sleep for a long moment. The blonde woman was curled on her side, with one hand tucked under her head, and the other resting on the blanket, and her face was peacefully relaxed in the early hint of dawn. Her breathing was slowly moving the fabric, and Dar felt herself breathing in the same rhythm, as she leaned against the doorway in pensive silence.

Funny. She sighed, and continued on, getting the water and bringing it over to the fireplace, putting the pot on a small shelf evidently for that purpose. A soft hiss went up as the flames evaporated a few droplets on the outside, and she settled into the comfortable chair, tucking her feet up under her and gazing into the fire.