“Ah, I see,” Richard murmured. “It’s your crusader side coming out, eh?”

“Why does everyone keep calling it that?” Dar whined. “It’s not crusading. This stupid asshole just won’t leave me alone!”

“Uh huh,” her lawyer replied. “Lemme take a look, Dar. It sounds like some typical sordid, family in-fighting over money, but I’ll give you my best opinion on it.”

“Thanks, Richard.” Dar smiled. “I owe you one.”

“How about letting me handle your investments?” Richard shot back with cheerful mercenary humor. “You know, I hate to admit Terrors of the High Seas 211

this, but you made me a bundle investing in ILS last quarter.”

Dar chuckled. “We’ll talk.”

“How are your mom and dad doing?” Richard asked. “I heard some scandal that they were living out on a boat?”

“A sixty-foot Bertram, yes,” Dar replied dryly. “Having the time of their lives.”

Richard laughed heartily. “Good for them! I love it!” he chortled. “I’ll have to come down and see it sometime. Listen, let me get to this and I’ll be back to you, okay?”

“Thanks, Rich.” Dar hung up the phone and turned to Kerry.

“Are we set?”

“Hook, line, sinker, and a tin can off the bottom.” Kerry nodded. “He’ll be on his way over in a little while. He’s just finishing dinner.” She scratched her nose. “He sounded really happy to hear my voice for some reason.”

Dar gave her a very wry look. “With the Southern Comfort, or without?”

Kerry stuck out her tongue. Dar obligingly leaned over and caught it between her teeth. She slowly released it, then fastened her attention on Kerry’s lips instead. “Mm,” she drawled softly as they parted. “Much as I want to get this nailed, I’d be lying if I said I wanted it to be tonight.” She tilted her head and kissed Kerry again, then moved her nibbles down Kerry’s throat to feel her pulse thrumming against her lips as she suckled the soft skin.

“Guess you see my point then,” Kerry murmured, her hand slowly gliding beneath Dar’s shirt to explore the warm surface underneath. “About feeling selfish.”

Dar set her laptop on the floor and then rolled over, shoving the island guide and phone aside and wrapping her arms and legs around Kerry’s body. “Oh, yeah,” Dar growled, continuing her assault. “Call me selfish. I want you all to myself.”

“Ooh.” Kerry felt her heart rate speed up and a warm flush tingle her skin. There was a faint pressure at her waistband, then Dar’s touch slid beneath her shirt and traced up her ribcage. She laced her fingers through Dar’s hair and nuzzled her ear, nibbling lightly on her earlobe. She could feel Dar’s breath against her neck, then the soft, insistent tug as Dar’s teeth undid the top button to her shirt. Kerry cupped her hand along Dar’s cheek, stroking it as her thumb traced Dar’s lip.

Dar unbuttoned her shirt slowly, and Kerry felt the cool air from the room brush against her, raising goose bumps along her belly. Dar’s lips intensified the sensation, and Kerry rapidly lost any thought of their problems. All that mattered now were the teasing touches on her breasts, the warm, sun-filled scent of Dar’s skin, and the need for Dar’s body that made her hands push aside the soft cotton separating them with bold impatience.


212 Melissa Good

“Grrrrrowlll…” The low rumble tickled her skin. Kerry felt Dar’s teeth close gently, teasingly, on the skin around her belly button. “Mine.”

Definitely. Kerry’s back arched and she wrapped her arms around Dar, feeling the powerful muscles along her spine bunch and move. They pressed together briefly, a jolt of heat before Dar shifted lower and her hand dropped to stroke Kerry’s thigh. Oh, definitely.

“THANKS.” KERRY SIGNED the check and shooed the room service waiter out of the room before his eyeballs could skitter out of his head and ramble across the floor. She shut the door behind him and turned, regarding the bed with a wry grin.

Dar was sprawled across it, the sheet just barely covering what was very obviously a naked body. She had the laptop propped on one thigh, but the other was outside the linen, extending its long, tanned length across the white surface.

Shaking her head, Kerry went over to the table and investigated the tray, peeking under one cover and grinning at what she saw. “Hungry, sweetie?”

“Not anymore,” Dar drawled.

“Heh.” Kerry hitched up the edge of Dar’s red muscle T-shirt, which she’d stolen and donned after they’d finished their lovemaking. She perched on the edge of the table, arranging a few of the plates on it. “Well, okay—we’ll start with this, then.” Taking one of the plates, she walked over to the bed and knelt down.

“Happy birthday to you…happy birthday to you…”

Dar looked up in alarm to see a beautifully made chocolate-something with more chocolate inside and chocolate topping, with berries surrounding it on the plate. In the center was a single candle. “Awww.”

“Happy birthday dear Dar…happy birthday to you,” Kerry warbled.

Dar sniffed at the plate, licking her lips appreciatively. She blew out the candle with a single puff of air. “Share?”

Kerry sat down on the bed and picked up the fork, cutting off a gooey piece and feeding it to Dar.

“Ooo.. I like that,” Dar mumbled. “I just got a data dump from Mark,” she informed Kerry. “DeSalliers’ stats—financial and otherwise. I figured out why he’s so desperate.”

“Why?” Kerry fed her another forkful of cake as she peered at the screen.

“He’s broke.” Dar munched. “He invested in two capital ventures that went belly up, and the banks called in some of his loans when they figured out he had paper that wasn’t worth the Terrors of the High Seas 213

paper it was printed on in his accounts.”

“Ahhh.” Kerry nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. So old Uncle offers him a windfall to…to what, Dar?” she asked. “Not bring up something. That’s the last thing he’d want to do.”

Dar gazed at the screen. “No. He’d want him to scuttle the wreck,” she realized. “Jesus…that’s what it is. He’s gonna cannibalize it.”

Kerry had the fork in her mouth. She drew it out and swallowed the rich mouthful. “Are you saying he’s going to wreck something that’s already wrecked, to keep anyone from getting anything out of it?”

Dar nodded. “Yeah, but…” she flipped to another screen, “he’s got a problem. It’s in AVI territorial waters, and he can’t just go in there and set off dynamite.”

Kerry portioned off another forkful and handed it over. “How do you light dynamite underwater, Dar?”

Dar chewed and typed in silence, then swallowed. “Did you get any—”

“Milk? Yeah.” Kerry set the plate down and went to retrieve it.

“I don’t know.” Dar answered the previous question. “You’d have to ask my father. His specialty used to be called UDX, underwater demolition.”

As if by some supernatural invocation, Dar’s cell phone rang, and when she checked the caller ID, it was familiar. With a tiny, surprised grunt, Dar flipped open the phone. “Hi, Dad.”

Kerry, on her way back with the milk, goggled. “Wow,” she murmured. “Spooky.”

“Hey there, Dardar.” Andrew Robert’s cheerful voice came through the phone. “How’s the vacation going?”

Truth? Dar had microseconds to decide. “Great,” she finally said. “We ran into pirates, we’re involved in a possible murder case, and Kerry got stung by a jellyfish, but other than that, it’s been very cool.”

It wasn’t often that Andy Roberts was rendered speechless.

“Son of a biscuit,” he finally spluttered. “Damn, Dar, what the hell you two getting into out there?”

Dar sighed. It was such a long story at this point.

Kerry took the phone from her and put it to her ear. “Hey, Dad?”

“Howdy, kumquat.”

“I’ve got sort of a running diary of it. Want me to email it to you on Dar’s computer?” Kerry offered. “I think that’ll be easier than us trying to explain it. I’ll set it to print out on the printer.”

“Ah would appreciate that, kumquat. Mah wife is rattling her eyebrows at me wondering what the hell’s going on.”

Dar took the phone back. “It’s not that bad, Dad,” she 214 Melissa Good explained. “Just…complicated.” She lifted her hands off the keyboard as Kerry crawled into bed next to her and pecked out a few commands.

“Uh huh,” Andrew grunted. “Well, anyhow, you having a happy birthday?”

Dar examined the blonde sprawled in her lap. “Yeah, it’s great,” she replied. “Kerry and I have been shopping and…um…relaxing all day.”

“Relaxing?” Kerry murmured. “I certainly wasn’t relaxed…

Yipe!” She squirmed as Dar pinched her. “Stop that.” She ran a finger along the inside of Dar’s very bare thigh, snickering when she heard Dar’s voice break.

“N…no, Dad, honest. We’re fine.” Dar cleared her throat. “I’ve got everything under control.” She bit the inside of her lip as Kerry tickled her thigh again. “Almost everything.”

“Wall, you be careful,” Andrew warned. “Hang on.”

The phone rustled, then a lighter voice came on. “Dar?”

“Hi, Mom,” Dar said.

“I’m not going to pretend I have a clue about what’s going on, so I’m just going to wish you a happy birthday.”

Dar chuckled. “Thanks.”

“And I hope you’re having a good, annual, hyper-commercialized, forced exchange of personal resources, too.”

“Merry Christmas to you, too, Mom.”

“Merry Christmas, Mom!” Kerry leaned back and called out.

“Good Solstice.”

“Tell Kerry I said thanks, and thank her for the card,” Ceci said. “You kids be careful, hear?”

Kerry finished her transmission, then scooted out of bed and ambled back over to the table, before Dar’s close, bare proximity spurred her to further amorous adventures.