Kerry nibbled a bit of stuffing. “Dar, this is fantastic.”

A very satisfied Dar settled back in her chair. “Thanks.”

They ate in silence for a moment. Unable to keep her curiosity under wraps, Kerry finally asked, “When did you learn to cook?”

Dar looked up, and bit the end of her fork in thought. “Four—no, four-thirty today.” She reached over and poured chilled white wine into their glasses, then lifted one and toasted her lover. “Incredible what you can find out on the Internet, isn’t it?”

With a helpless laugh, Kerry lifted her glass and clinked it, then took a sip of the sweet wine. “So, what’s for dessert?”

For an answer, Dar looked her up and down and raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching into a rakish grin.

“Ah.” Kerry wrinkled her nose into an appreciative grin. “Got any fudge with that?”

Dar merely chuckled.

“MM.” KERRY STRETCHED her legs out in the Jacuzzi and leaned her head back, regarding the stars happily. “What a great night.”

Dar stepped into the tub and sat down, setting two glasses down on the rim and stretching an arm out to encircle Kerry’s shoulders. “Glad you liked it.” She wiggled her toes in contentment. “I sure did, except that fudge got damn messy.”

One green eye rotated in her direction. “Which is why we’re here in the hot tub,” Kerry reminded her wryly. “Or we would have ended up stuck together, which could have made work a little interesting tomorrow.” She reached over and scratched the back of Dar’s neck.

“How’d it go down by the base today?”

Dar handed her a glass of cold sweet peach tea. “Relatively pointless. I got the circuit hooked up and got the download started, then...” Dar paused. “There was one weird thing. They’ve got a private T3 dropped in there that’s on an isolated segment.”


158 Melissa Good Kerry tipped her head to one side. “Really?” she mused. “That is weird.”

“Yeah.” Dar nibbled her inner lip. “I’ve got Mark tracking down the private line, but...I don’t know, Ker. It’s really odd.” She leaned back and sighed. “I wish I knew what was going on.”

Kerry caught the mood change, and she slid closer. “Maybe it’s nothing.”

Dar regarded the stars. “Maybe.” She set her glass down and slid her arms around Kerry instead, kissing her lips and removing a trace of fudge from them. “But right now, I don’t think I want to care one way or the other.”

“Mm.” Kerry slid around to face her, going belly to belly with Dar as she leaned forward.

Dar pulled her closer, circling her arms around the small of Kerry’s back. As she looked up, the stars overhead formed an almost halo around her partner’s form, and their twinkle was echoed in the mist-green eyes gazing back at her. “Know what I think?”

“No, what?” Kerry murmured, gently exploring the curve of Dar’s neck with her lips.

“I think I like cooking.”

Kerry stopped and went nose to nose with her, her eyes almost crossing as she tried to keep Dar’s face in focus. “I think you got into some bad MREs down on that base, Ms. Paladar.”

Dar chuckled. “Well, okay. I don’t like cooking, but I like surprising you.” She tilted Kerry’s chin upward and kissed her on the lips. “I thought about what I was going to do all the way home on that damn boring road.”

Kerry responded, letting her hand submerge to stroke Dar’s side, rubbing her thumb along the curve of her breast. “Well, it was a trip to come home to, that’s for sure. I don’t think I ever had anyone do that for me before,” she admitted. “And boy, was it nice after being at work all day. I think I get a clue as to why guys wanted to keep their wives home in the kitchen all those years.”

Dar snickered, nuzzling her neck and giving her a nip.

“Antifeminism explained. There’s a master’s thesis in there if you want it, Ker.”

“No thanks.” Kerry rubbed her body against Dar’s, reveling in the feel of their skin-on-skin contact. “Four years was more than enough for me. I’m no scholar.”

“Me either.” Dar ran her hands up Kerry’s thighs, leaning back a little as her partner pressed against her. The frothy water tickled her now sensitized skin, and they spent a leisurely few minutes exchanging kisses.

Kerry unexpectedly giggled. “Um...Dar?”

“Yeees?”

“Look over your right shoulder.”


Red Sky At Morning 159

Dar reluctantly left off from a very interesting exploration of Kerry’s chest and turned her head, coming face to face, or rather nose to nose, with a curious Labrador Retriever. “Yah!”

“Gruff!” Chino gave her a lick.

Kerry burst into laughter, collapsing against Dar in a delightful swirl of bubbles and warm skin. “We forgot to close the sliding door all the way.”

“So I see.” Dar splashed the dog with a handful of water. “Least it’s her, and not my folks.” She caught her breath, her temporarily thwarted libido kicking her in the butt but not having anywhere to go past those cute Labrador ears now cocking her way. “C’mon. It’s getting a little chilly out here anyway.”

Kerry flexed her shoulders, which had been fully exposed to the wind. “Mm.” She got out and wrapped one of their fluffy blue towels around her, reaching over and handing Dar the other as her partner climbed out of the tub. Even after all this time, Kerry glanced around as the moonlight outlined Dar’s muscular body, half expecting to see interested spectators on decks nearby.

There weren’t. At least none that she saw. She chuckled at herself and followed Dar inside, finding her hand taken and clasped as they closed the sliding door and traded the balmy air for the crisp chill of the condo. They walked together in silence across the living room, jostling each other as they entered the large blue-tinted bedroom.

“Now,” Dar turned and faced her, removing her towel and tossing it into the corner. “Where were we?”

Kerry stepped forward into her embrace, ducking her head slightly to give Dar’s nipple a playful lick. “Here?”

“Hmm...” Dar half chuckled deep in her throat. She wrapped her arms around Kerry and picked her up, turning and taking both of them to the waterbed. She rolled over onto her back as Kerry stretched and spread her body out. The heat of their combined skin was shiver inducing, an exquisite counterpoint to the conditioned air.

Kerry slid her thigh between Dar’s and traced a teasing path from her groin to her breasts, leaning forward to coax a soft groan from her partner with a pair of skillful lips. Learning what worked with Dar was a never-ending fascination of hers, and she took an unsteady breath as she felt Dar’s touch high up on the inside of her leg.

Her body growled sensually, and she craved more as they traded nips, Dar’s teeth closing gently over her breast as the warmth of her breath warmed the skin around her nipple. Kerry felt her heart rate pick up and she started to work her way down Dar’s body, nibbling the subtle ripples under her skin as she tasted the skin around her navel.

The muscles under her lips tensed, and she moved lower, feeling Dar shift under her as she curled her upper body around and took a taste of Kerry’s hip.

“Mm.” Kerry breathed in, sucking in a lungful of Dar’s distinctive 160 Melissa Good scent, just lightly touched with chlorine from the tub. “I want you.”

“Heh.” Dar chuckled. “Think you got me, cute stuff.”

Kerry could feel the pressure building in her guts as Dar’s light touch moved intimately over her in tweaks and gentle strokes, a rhythm she matched with her own attentions to her partner’s tanned body. As the tension wound up, she gasped for air, arching her back as Dar’s attentions brought her to the breaking point and over it.

Her body contracted, shivers moving up and down her spine as she felt Dar grip her fiercely. Their limbs coiled together as Dar let out a heartfelt groan and slid belly to belly again. They rocked together, stroking each other gently as the contractions eased, exchanging the light coating of sweat they’d worked up.

Kerry closed her eyes, enjoying the comfortable lassitude. For all the stress of the day, ending it like this made her look back on her problems and just laugh at them.

Made it all worth it, really—this being in love thing.

Dar slid her arms around Kerry and pulled her closer, fitting their bodies together like a living puzzle. They fell asleep like that as the moonlight painted stripes across their bodies, making them seem more one creature than two.


Chapter

Ten

DAR LEANED BACK in the leather seat and rested her knee against the wheel as the Lexus made its way down the long stretch of road. She had a soothing New Age CD playing, a new one Kerry had bought her on a recent trip to the mall. Dar pulled out the cover and glanced at it.

“Huh.” It was an all-instrumental healing CD, with natural background noises worked into it, and she liked it very much.

It was soothing, and Dar felt very calm. She took a sip of the milk she’d put in her travel mug and felt its cool thickness slide down her throat. Funny. Her eyes dropped briefly to the cup, then lifted. She’d been staying away from coffee lately, and she was starting to notice a real difference. Instead of her usual five or six cups, she’d been having maybe two, and even her breathing seemed to have slowed down a little.

On the seat next to her rested the laptop, full of data and reports she’d downloaded from Mark’s mainframe just before she’d left. Time enough when she got there, Dar reasoned, to take a quick look at them, before she headed off to see the new recruits.