"Yikes."
"Word got around about it, and everyone put two and two together and got six." The dark-haired woman stretched out her legs. "After that, Charlie figured Dad was fair game."
"Oh." Kerry frowned. "But... I mean, Dar, he was married and had a child. Didn"t they get a clue?"
Dar looked at her, one eyebrow lifting in wry sarcasm.
"Yes, I know that"s not necessarily an indication of heteros.e.xuality, but Jesus! Your father drips it," Kerry protested.
"True. But that"s not really what he"s p.i.s.sed off about," Dar explained. "It wasn"t that they thought he was gay. Since I am, that wasn"t something he found offensive."
348*
Kerry c.o.c.ked her head. "O...kay..." Her brows contracted.
"But..."
"He was furious that they thought he was the kind of man who would cheat on his wife," Dar said simply. "He never forgave them for that." She pushed herself out of the chair. "Want a drink?"
"Sure." Kerry quietly absorbed the information. "Wow. That makes sense." She shook her head. "It was hard for me to think Dad would have been that embarra.s.sed about someone thinking he was what we are," she admitted. "But I can understand now."
"Mm," Dar agreed. "He told me about it when he came back that time. He said he couldn"t tell Mom, but he wanted to share it with me so I knew what really happened, in case I heard anything on the base."
"Did you?" Kerry asked in a soft voice. "Hear anything?"
A half smile twitched at Dar"s lips. "Not directly," she said.
"By that time, I...um...had quite the reputation for a temper, and most of the other kids on the base knew if they ribbed me about my father, it meant a fight."
Kerry tipped her head back and regarded Dar with a slight grin. "Two of a kind." She reached up and touched the insignia now threaded through the silver chain around Dar"s neck. It nestled against Dar"s joining ring and collected just the faintest hint of reflection off its dully burnished surface.
Dar stuck her hands into her pockets and looked down at the item, unable to hide the unabashedly proud grin. "Yeah." Her eyes twinkled. "That we are." Her attention returned to Kerry"s face.
"Don"t worry, Ker. Dad would never be mad at anyone just for asking a question. Especially you." She stroked Kerry"s hair. "He loves you."
The green eyes looking up at Dar filled with unshed tears.
Kerry remained silent, just watching Dar"s expression.
"We"ve got a while before lunch," Dar said in a gentle tone.
"Let"s go inside and relax. Okay?" She held out a hand. When it was taken, she guided both of them through the cabin door and out of the sun.
Inside, Kerry tugged her to a halt. She moved close and put her arms around Dar and hugged her fiercely.
Dar returned the hug, rubbing Kerry"s back as she did so.
"Urgh," Kerry exhaled. "Can we just go out and get lost somewhere tomorrow, Dar?" she asked. "Find another of those blue holes and just leave our minds out to dry?"
"Hmm. That"s an appealing thought." Dar inclined her head and nipped Kerry on the jawbone. "As a matter of fact, I could see spending a couple days lost somewhere with you." She felt Kerry"s body press against hers. "I think I know some nice, deserted islands out there where it"ll just be you, me, and if they"re very lucky, a*349 couple of dancing lobsters."
"Dancing into my nice big pot?" Kerry burrowed into Dar"s chest, greedily breathing in her scent. "I have a bottle of champagne in here that would love to meet them."
"Oh yeah," Dar a.s.sured her. "We"ll spend the whole day just being sea b.u.ms." She squeezed her partner, feeling her shoulders shift and relax. "Hey, I"ve got an idea."
"M"sure it"s a good one," Kerry mumbled into the skin of her neck.
"I know we were going to go up to the condo for New Year"s.
How about we spend it down at the cabin?"
"Mmm."
"Kind of get a couple of days of vacation back?"
"Kerry made a low, pleased humming noise. "Even if we don"t have furniture, I think I"d really, really like that."
Dar rested her cheek against Kerry"s hair, pleased with the reaction to her plan. While she knew the interruptions had really been neither of their faults, she still felt bad about the net effect of it robbing them of their needed time off.
It was funny, but despite the fantastic nature of the events of the preceding day, she already found them fading into memory.
She"d always had a philosophy of setting things aside once they were over and done with, but she found it strange that she could look back on what she"d done the night before and not have it seem terrifying to her. It had been a bad situation; she had dealt with it as best as she"d been able to; and in the end, things had turned out all right. What more, really, could she have asked?
It was over. Most often when traumatic things happened, she examined them for lessons to hopefully avoid the problem the next time around, but usually that was in a business context. Dar sincerely hoped she would not have to put her experience in escaping wacko salvagers or pirates to use any time soon in the ILS boardroom. Her blue eyes twinkled suddenly. Well...
"What are you doing?" Kerry asked.
"Just thinking," Dar replied. "Why?"
"I can feel you smiling."
Dar chuckled. "I was just imagining Alastair dressed as Captain Blood."
Kerry"s body convulsed in abrupt laughter. "I can barely imagine Alastair dressed as Captain Kangaroo."
"Heh."
The blonde woman sighed and circled Dar"s neck with her arms, swaying against her as the boat rocked. "Well, there"s one thing to be said for all the stuff that"s happened."
"Hm?"
"Made me totally forget my family," Kerry murmured.
350*
Dar lifted her head and looked down at Kerry"s profile. "Is that a good thing?"
Kerry nodded. "Maybe it helped some to see other people with crummier relatives than me," she stated. "I was thinking about that this morning after I talked to Dad down in the hotel lobby. My parents were pedantic and clueless, Dar, but you know something?"
"Mm?"
"I think you were right. I think at some level, somewhere they both did love all of us." Kerry blinked. "Even my father. Even me.
Because as bad as he was, somewhere in all that twistedness he thought he was doing the right thing."
Dar blinked, surprised at the speech.
"I think I"ve seen enough true hatred the past few days to tell the difference."
"Ah."
"He hated what I was doing. He hated us. He hated my being gay, he hated me squealing on him," Kerry went on. "But I don"t think he ever hated me."
Dar nodded silently.
"I can live with that," the blonde woman said. "Because it gives us something in common, because I never hated him either. Even after everything he did."
And then, Dar considered, I"ve always lived by the theory that things happen for a reason. She cupped Kerry"s face in her hands and smiled at her. Their eyes met, and she could see a note of tired peace in Kerry"s expression for the first time since they"d gotten back from Michigan. She leaned forward and rubbed noses with her. Kerry pulled Dar towards her and traded a nose rub for a kiss.
Then they hugged each other again. "Okay." Kerry released a long, heartfelt sigh. "Let"s get back to the serious business of having fun."
Dar kissed the back of Kerry"s neck, moving the pale hair aside as she was rewarded with a sudden intake of breath at the action.
"I"ve had about enough..." she growled into Kerry"s ear, "of real life intruding on my hedonistic vacation. How about you?"
"You bet." Kerry felt a nudge. "Hey!"
Dar nudged her again.
"I think I"m being b.u.mped."
"You are." She followed the admission with another gentle shove.
"Looks like it"s toward the bedroom."
"Good sense of direction," Dar said.
"Heh."*351 KERRY LAY ON her back, her body half tangled in sheets and Dar"s head pillowed on her stomach. With one hand, she idly stroked the dark hair fanned across her belly, twirling a few strands of it around her fingers. After a moment, she lifted her arm and examined her palm, flexing it a little and turning it into the light.
The bruises were already fading. It felt a little stiff, both her hands did, but more like she"d had a tough workout on the bag at the gym than anything else.
With a pensive sigh, she went back to playing with Dar"s hair, her eyes tracing her lover"s face and watching the faint twitches of a dream flicker under the closed eyelids. Dar had gotten a little bruised herself, Kerry noticed, as she smoothed a fingertip over a discolored patch of tan skin across one high cheekbone. She leaned closer. More of a burn, really, than a bruise. Kerry frowned, thinking back over the fight and wondering where it could have come from. She remembered hearing Dar curse as she"d been tossed head over tail to safety, and then the sound of a gun going off and... Kerry"s eyes widened. Had it come that close? Horrified, she stared at the mark, imagining if it had been just a fraction of a hair different in its path.
It had come that close. She had come that close to losing Dar.
Kerry tipped her head back and looked up at the ceiling. Her eyes closed and she whispered a few words of heartfelt thanks to the G.o.d that surely, surely had been watching over both of them. She had no doubt now that she was blessed, that Dar was blessed, and that the love between them was as sanctified as any that had ever been. It would have been so easy to punish her, otherwise. Kerry looked back down at Dar"s face. Just a fraction of an inch and like a wisp of smoke, it all would have been gone.
She felt Dar"s breath warm the skin on her bare belly. She"d still been tired, even after their night"s rest, and lying there sleeping she looked as peaceful as a child. Kerry absorbed the sight of her, newly aware of just how fragile, how precious life was.
With a soft murmur, Dar stirred, stretching out her body and curling it up again. Her eyes drifted open and she regarded Kerry with sleepy affection. "Mm... W"time is it?"
Kerry stroked her cheek. "Nearly one," she said.
Dar sighed, a reluctant expression appearing on her face. "I guess we should go find out what our lunch date"s all about, hm?"
she drawled. "Didn"t mean to fall asleep on you."
"Literally." Kerry smiled. "You were tired."
Dar nodded. "I tossed around a while last night. Too much noise, I think."
"Too much excitement," Kerry suggested. Her index finger traced the mark on Dar"s face. "I didn"t notice this until now."
"Hm?" Dar"s brow contracted in puzzlement. "Didn"t notice what?"
352*
"The burn on your face."
"Burn?" Dar lifted a hand and touched the spot, then her expression cleared. "Oh." She nodded. "Yeah, stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.d nearly blew my d.a.m.n head off."
Kerry rubbed the spot with a trembling hand. "Yeah, so I see."
Dar"s expression gentled. "No chance I was going to let him get away with that, though." She settled back down atop Kerry. "I"m not nearly done living this life with you yet." Her fingers clasped Kerry"s and she pulled her hand close and kissed it, nibbling the skin with frank sensuality.
Kerry could only smile at that. "Dar, did you ever get the weird feeling that the place we knew each other from before we met during the buy-out wasn"t in this particular lifetime?"
Both of Dar"s dark, finely shaped brows hiked upward. She gazed at Kerry in silence for a few moments, muscles in her face moving slightly as she thought. "I never really considered the question," she finally answered, with a barely visible shrug.
"Hm." Kerry felt slightly silly for mentioning it. "Well, never mind. Just something that crossed my mind, I guess."
"Interesting idea," Dar mused. "I think I"d accept the notion of reincarnation if I knew it"d be with you." Her face creased into a pleased grin. "That"d be very cool."
Kerry grinned back. "Yes, it would, wouldn"t it?" She released her residual morbid thoughts and gave Dar a light scratch on her bare back, rubbing in little circles with her fingertips. Dar responded by purring, and arching her body at the touch. "You"re very playful today."
Dar rolled over and changed position, sliding her arms and legs over Kerry"s and blowing a gentle puff of air into her ear. "Just glad it"s today and not yesterday." She rested her chin on Kerry"s shoulder and gazed at her. "C"mon. The sooner we get all this over with, the sooner I can steal you and take you off to my deserted island."
"Ooh." Kerry found it very hard to resist the mischievous grin being directed at her. She tilted her head and kissed Dar gently.
Then they both rolled out of bed, still tangled together, giggling as they attempted to prevent themselves from crashing headlong into the bulkhead.
They separated and Kerry handed Dar her clothing, which was draped haphazardly across the dresser. She watched Dar slide into her swimsuit, then reached out and touched the soft, silken fabric.
"I like this."
"It"s like wearing tissue paper," Dar remarked dryly. "Or nothing."
"Mmhm. That"s why I like it," Kerry agreed with an impish grin. "It only leaves a tiny bit to the imagination."*353 Dar looked down at herself then up at Kerry, as a faint chuckle of surprise escaped her. She reached out and tickled Kerry"s still bare navel. "I think you"re outgrowing your upbringing."