”Well.” Dar poked into the basket’s contents. ”Considering we just saved his gray flannel butt, it’s not unprecedented.” She glanced at Kerry. ”There were twelve major accounts on the line if we hadn’t gotten that stuff working this morning.”

Kerry stopped dead, and stared at her. ”Why didn’t you tell me that?” she asked, stung.

Dar glanced at the table top, and fiddled with the card. ”No sense in both of us being worried sick, I guess. I don’t know. I should have.”

She gave Kerry a contrite look. ”Not that you could have done more 212

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than you were doing.” She paused awkwardly. ”I’m sorry.”

Kerry gave her a vexed look. ”No, but it would explain why you were so damned tense.” She started to go on, then saw the almost imperceptible flinch in Dar’s face. Not now, Kerry. Her mind warned her. Not now. She’s tired, you’re tired, and she apologized for not saying anything. Just drop it. ”Jesus, Dar, tell me next time, huh? So I can chew my nails along with you?” She gave her boss a lopsided grin.

Dar relaxed a little. ”I will,” she promised, stripping off her jacket and hanging it up in the small closet. ”Wonder how long it’ll take us to get through that basket.” She turned a grin of her own on Kerry.

The blonde woman gazed at the huge thing in trepidation. ”I think we’ll get sick to our stomachs if we try,” she commented wryly, taking off her own jacket and tugging her shirt out from her jeans. ”He must have worked pretty fast. It’s not even nine o'clock.”

”Well.” Dar pulled off her sneakers and tossed them near her bag, then slipped her sweatshirt over her head, dropping it neatly on the chair before unbuttoning her flannel shirt and removing it. ”If I could get seventy T1 circuits and routers installed before dawn, I guess he could handle a basket of chocolate.”

She leaned back and stretched, wincing as both shoulders popped before she straightened and ran her fingers through her hair, rubbing the back of her neck. ”God, I’m tired,” she admitted. ”I’m glad that’s over. We can rest here until dinnertime, then drive up to the cabin. It’s about an hour from here, and it looked like the weather’s clearing a little.”

”Sounds good to me.” Kerry ambled over to her, already having shed her pants and half unbuttoned her shirt, while she worked on unfastening Dar’s jeans. Her fingers slid easily under the waistband, and she unhooked the first button, letting her thumbs trace the ripple of muscles just under the skin. She leaned forward and gently kissed the soft skin, feeling the ribs move under her lips in an uneven breath.

The room’s air was cool against her skin as Dar peeled her shirt off.

Dar’s hands slid slowly down her arms, then released them and moved across her ribcage, causing a jolt of pure sensation as the wandering fingers brushed over her breasts. ”Thought you were tired, ” Kerry burred, nuzzling her face against a soft curve.

”The smell of all that chocolate must have woken me up,” Dar replied, catching a thin fold of skin between her teeth and nibbling it gently. ”Thought you were tired?”

Kerry undid the second button and moved lower, tracing the edge of her lover’s navel, then working up to the tip of her breastbone. ”I wish I could blame it on the chocolate,” she murmured, inhaling greedily. ”But it’s not that smell that’s giving me these goose bumps.”

”Mm, yeah, lookit that.” Dar’s fingertip made a lazy trail across her shoulder, then her lips traced the same path, as her body woke fully, forgetting about the long night and the frustrations of the day. Even the Hurricane Watch

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last, haunting echoes of the past caused by Shari’s appearance faded, replaced by the solid, comforting present now wrapped around her body. She stepped out of her jeans, finding herself being tugged towards the bed, and she gladly tumbled into it, her arms full of warm, bare skin.

Kerry rolled her over, and pounced on top of her, ending up with Dar’s earlobe lightly caught between neat white teeth. ” You let me know, ” she whispered in a muffled tone, ”when I start squashing you, okay?”

Dar chuckled low in her throat, and gave her a pat on the butt. ”Not a problem. I hardly feel it.” Which wasn’t quite true, but close enough.

She stretched and wrapped her legs around Kerry’s, and surrendered herself to a pleasant wave of passion.

THE PHONE RANG, dragging Kerry out of a sound sleep. She fumbled the receiver off the hook, managing to get it somewhere near her ear. ”Yeah?” she cleared her throat. ”I’m sorry. I mean hello?”

”Hey,” Mark’s voice echoed weirdly. ”Kerry?”

She pulled her wits around her, gently moving away from Dar’s warm body. ”Eyah. I’m here. Go on,” she paused. ”Mark?” A glance at the clock told her it was close to four p.m., and she rubbed her eyes, having been startled out of a weird, but interesting dream.

”Dar there?” Mark inquired.

Kerry glanced down at the long, powerful arm circling her stomach and grinned quirkily. ”She’s here. She’s sleeping. What’s up?”

”Oh, nothing really. Um, she should probably, uh, check her email when she gets a chance, ”Mark said, innocently. ”You know, nothing urgent.”

”Actually, I was going to ship the laptops back to Miami. I was hoping for a few days without them,” Kerry admitted. ”Is it something important, Mark?”

He chuckled softly ”Nah, Sunday night’ll be fine. She just might want to check it before Monday morning, though.” A rattle of keystrokes. ”By the way, you guys are furking big time no shit heroes around here today.”

”I bet.” Kerry let herself back down onto the pillow, and snuggled back against Dar, who immediately hugged her closer. ”Mm.”

”What was that?” Mark asked.

”Uh, I was just agreeing.” Kerry mentally slapped herself. ”Well, I’m glad everyone’s happy about it. I guess there’ll be one huge meeting on Monday, though, huh?” She sighed. ”That’ll be a trip. I can just imagine the arguments.”

Mark chuckled. ”Uh, well, yeah. It’s certainly going to be quite a Monday,” he agreed. ”Listen, you guys have a great time up there, okay? Relax, take it easy, unwind a little.”


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Kerry yawned. ”Will do. I’ll bring you back some maple syrup or pecans or whatever the heck they have up here.” She listened to the laughter, then hung up, and allowed her body to sink back down into the warm pit she’d been resting in, while she sleepily regarded the quiet, peaceful room.

Dar was really out, she knew, glancing back over her shoulder. Dar had fallen asleep after they’d made love, and had hardly moved an inch in the intervening hours. Kerry debated going back to sleep herself, then realized they’d have to start moving around shortly if they wanted to get up to the cabin.

”First things first,” she decided, reaching for the phone. ”The only thing we’ve both eaten in the last twenty four hours just about is a half dozen Snowballs and a gallon of coffee. Even Dar can’t live on that.”

”Sure I can,” the soft mumble tickled her ear. ”That’s, what, two of the food groups, right?”

”Shh.” Kerry dialed the phone, after checking a card on the dresser.

”Hi, this is, oh, you know what my room number is, great,” she said, as someone answered. ”I see you’ve got pizzas? Okay, can I have two small.” She got a poke in the ribs. ”Um, sorry, two medium pizzas, one a vegetable combo, the other with...” She gave Dar a look. ”sausage, and pepperoni on it.” Another poke. Kerry sighed. ”And extra cheese.”

Dar grinned, and nuzzled the back of her neck.

”Thanks, and a pitcher of iced tea, please. Excuse me? Oh, yes, no, that’ll be fine.” Kerry finished ordering and hung up, then squirmed around in Dar’s arms and regarded her fondly. ”Mark says we’re heroes.”

”I bet,” Dar responded sleepily, her eyes still closed. ”Guess we gotta get moving, huh?”

”Mm.” Kerry idly traced a tiny scar on her lover’s chin. ”You said you wanted to get up there before dark.” She watched as Dar’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing her startlingly blue eyes, and allowing Kerry to gaze into them.

To drown in them. Slowly, she leaned forward and kissed Dar lightly on the forehead, then hugged her, unable to either define, or explain the suddenly overwhelming sense of devotion and connection she felt.

This was just so precious, she wanted to cradle it gently in her hands, and never let it go. Dar’s hand smoothed the back of her hair in a familiar gesture, and she let herself sink into the embrace, feeling a resonance chime deep inside her.

”Hey,” Dar whispered softly, a worried tone in her voice. ”You all right?”

Kerry nodded mutely, breathing in the scent of Dar’s skin. The feeling subsided, leaving her only conscious of a pervasive warmth that she could almost feel running between them, leaving her body and entering Dar’s, and coming back again. ”Yeah, yeah, I’m fine ” She took Hurricane Watch

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a deep breath and let it out, aware of the beating heart under her ear.

”Just felt like hugging you, that’s all.”

The long fingers slid down the side of her neck and lifted her chin, and she had no choice but to look up at Dar, knowing she was wide open to her, and helpless, tears edging wetly around her eyes.

”What’s wrong?” Dar asked softly, capturing a tear with one thumb, and gazing at her anxiously. ”Did something happen?

Did...wh... ”

She felt Dar’s heartbeat pick up under the fingers she had pressed against her chest. ”N...nothing. I...I don’t know. I just, it got really intense there for a minute. I’m not really sure why, maybe I’m just overtired.” She put her head back down and stroked Dar’s side gently, needing the touch. ”Felt so weird.”

Blue eyes now alert flicked over her, as Dar took in a careful breath and released it. ”Well, I mean, it felt kinda nice,” she offered, hesitantly.

”Kinda warm,” She started stroking Kerry’s hair again, and felt the smaller woman relax against her completely, her body going totally limp. They stayed like that for almost a half an hour more, until Dar glanced at the clock and stirred, regretfully. ”Better put a shirt on, don’t want to shock the room service person when they get here.”

Kerry's eyes drifted open, pale green in the late afternoon light.

”Hmm, you’re right,” she agreed peacefully, rolling onto her back and stretching her body out lazily, humming low in her throat as Dar took the opportunity to trace a gentle path from her neck to her groin.

“Thought you said we have to get up,” she drawled softly, giving Dar a look from half closed eyes.

Dar released a half grin, and inclined her head in agreement. ”We’ll have plenty of time later,” she conceded, then she planted a hand on either side of Kerry and pressed her body over her lover’s, landing neatly on the carpeted floor, straightening with a fluid motion. ”Guess I get to open the door,” she commented, as a soft knock was heard.

Kerry was too busy getting her eyeballs around her lover’s sunset lit body to hear. ”Uh, what?” She blinked, then tugged the covers up as Dar slipped into her shirt, buttoning it up and managing to be decent by about two inches. ”Uh, Dar, don’t bend over to pick anything up, okay?”

Pale blue eyes glanced over one tanned shoulder at her, and one of them winked. ”Okay.”

”Unless you’re facing away from me, of course,” Kerry added impishly, just as Dar opened the door.

That got her an over the shoulder look, complete with an elegantly raised eyebrow.

”Hi.” Kerry smiled at the short, tow haired, frazzled looking room service waiter. ”You can just put that down next to the fifty pounds of chocolate we’re going to have for dessert, thanks.”

Muddy brown eyes went to her, then to the table, then back to her.


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The scraggly moustache drooped as he chewed it nervously. ”Uhm, ma’am, ah don’t think I can put this tray down.”

”Here.” Dar slipped up behind him and lifted the basket out of the way, coming perilously close to breaking several county ordinances.

”G’wan, put it down,” she drawled, low in her throat.

He would have been all right if he hadn’t tried to pull up his trousers and put down his tray at the same time. Dar managed to save the pizza, by hastily dropping the basket and making a grab, but the ice tea evaded her, and it smacked the hapless waiter in the chest, sending ice cubes flying across the room. The waiter juggled the carafe, sending himself off balance until Dar braced a muscular thigh up against the chair and pinned him in place with her knee.