Red Sky At Morning - DK4 (24 page)

“Ooh...” Her old friend laughed. “I think you hang out with us just so you can feel petite, in that case.” He bumped Dar’s shoulder with his own. “Hey,” his voice dropped a little, “you going with someone right now, Dar?”

The approach came around a blind corner and surprised her.

“Yeah,” she managed to answer, on an uneven breath. “Yeah, I am.

Why?”

He shrugged. “Just asking,” Chuckie said. “I’m between ships, if you catch my drift, and I thought if you were too, maybe we could hook up, for old time’s sake.”

Dar realized she had about ten seconds before they caught up with the four others waiting. She lifted a hand and unlocked her doors. “Not a chance.” She softened the words with a smile. “I’m very taken...and very happy about it.”

“Ah well.” Chuckie returned the smile. “Just the way my luck’s been running. What’ve we got here?” He turned his attention to the car.

“Good Lord, do you mean to tell me you drive a damn Lexus?”

“Yep.” Dar opened the driver’s side door and watched them pile in.

“Hey, one of you guys has to get in the far back. You can’t all fit in there.”

“Heh,” Mike chuckled. “Wanna bet? You forget what service we’re in, Dardar.” The back seat was filled to the brim with squished sailors.

“More room in here than in a Polaris. Get driving.”

Dar rolled her eyes, but slid behind the wheel and started the
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engine. “Why do I get the feeling I’m gonna regret this?” She felt the car rock as the men in back started singing and moving back and forth.

“C’mon, Dar, sing with us. I know you can,” Duds chortled. “What do you do with some drunken sailors...”

Dar sighed as she pulled out of the parking slot, but joined in anyway, filled with a very mixed set of emotions. It had been a day far too full of conflict, and she found herself sure of only one single thing.

Five sailors and fifteen beers equaled the tonal quality of six dozen sets of dogs’ toenails on a chalkboard.

Jesus
. Dar hoped she survived the short drive to the steakhouse.

KERRY YAWNED AS she collected her steaming mug of hot chocolate and wandered back into the living room. Chino butted the back of her knees and almost made her trip, the animal very glad to see at least one half of her family after the long day. “Hey, cut that out,”

Kerry chided the dog. “You aren’t the one who’s going to have to clean this tile if I spill chocolate all over it.”

“Gruff.” Chino pounced on her hippo and brought it over, crouching down and shaking it, begging for some play time.

“Okay, let me put this down,” Kerry laughed, setting aside her cup and grabbing the toy. “Go get it...g’wan.” She tossed the stuffed animal to the other side of the apartment and watched Chino scramble after it, her toenails sliding on the hard surface.

“Bring it here.” Kerry sat down on the couch and tugged the toy free of Chino’s very white teeth, throwing it over past the dining room table as the retriever acted true to her breed and fetched it. “Good girl.”

She played with the dog for a while, taking a moment in between tosses to turn on the television and stretch her body out along the couch with a sense of relief.

It had been a very long day, with a surprisingly nice ending. Kerry smiled, remembering the hour spent patiently coaxing Andrew into sharing her sushi in the little sushi dive on the beach she and Dar loved to go to.

Mental note, Kerry, she reminded herself. Don’t take SEALs to sushi bars unless you want to know things about the fish you’re eating that would make the plots for excellent sci-fi movies. He’d finally settled on the cooked variety of sashimi and some stir-fry chicken, leaving Kerry to her more adventurous raw tidbits. They’d shared some sake, though, and she’d enjoyed the evening very much, listening to stories of Dar’s harum-scarum youth and hearing the note of unconscious pride in Andrew’s voice even when recounting the goriest details.

Kerry leaned back against the leather surface, tensing and relaxing her muscles as she idly watched Steve Irwin cavort across the screen, hugging a crocodile to him and enthusing over its toothy good looks.

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“What a whack job,” she commented. “Did you know he has his own toy set now, Chino? Should I get you one? You want to chew Steve’s head off?”

“Gruff.” Chino tossed the slightly soggy hippo up to land on Kerry’s side.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Kerry tossed the toy again, then slid down and put her head on the couch arm, allowing her eyes to close briefly as she considered the tasks she had left to do that evening. A wash was due, and she had those reports to go over, and there was that project Dar had left her.

Kerry let one eye open and regard the room, then she closed it again. Or she could just take a nap here on the couch, which was nice and warm and comfortable. Maybe she could compromise, she reasoned, snoozing until Dar called, which would definitely wake her up.

Yeah
. That was a good idea. She reached over and picked up her cell phone, which was on the coffee table, and brought it closer, resting her hand on it as she allowed the sleepy feeling to take over and relax her, easing away the last of the lingering headache that had aggravated her all day long.

IT WAS VERY quiet as Dar pulled into her parking spot, sliding in next to a shiny new smaller version of the car she was driving. She got out and closed the door gently, then ran a hand over the dark blue paint of Kerry’s new car. “Nice,” she approved, peering inside before making her way up the small flight of stairs to the door.

It had been a nice dinner, if loud, and they’d made it back to the base just after midnight. She’d let her friends out, then sat there for over ten minutes, wondering why she didn’t just get out herself and go to the bunk they’d assigned her.

Finally, she’d gotten out of the Lexus, and instead of going toward the building, she’d walked back over to the guardhouse and asked them if the roads had opened.

They had.

Dar had walked back to the car, gotten inside, and left, choosing the drive back to Miami in the early hours over staying on the base, hardly knowing why she’d take the long trek when the Navy bed could not be that uncomfortable.

The feeling of relief as she keyed in the lock convinced her it had been a good decision, though; not that she’d really doubted it. She opened the door and slid inside, stopping in surprise as she spotted the lights still on and heard the television’s low mutter.

Chino jumped off the couch and ran over, shaking her head sleepily, clearly startled to see Dar, but glad. Dar rubbed the dog’s ears, but kept her eyes on the dozing form curled up in the corner of the couch.

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Quietly, Dar walked over and knelt beside where Kerry was sleeping, allowing herself a long moment to just study her lover.
Okay
.

She smiled silently.
So this is why you came home
. Asleep, Kerry’s face held a relaxed innocence that always touched Dar’s heart, and she found herself looking forward to the surprised delight she knew would be there when she woke Kerry up.

“Ker.” Dar stroked Kerry’s cheek gently, and after a second, the pale lashes stirred and lifted, revealing slightly dazed green eyes that fastened on her face, then brightened in welcome as a smile appeared at the same time. “Sorry I didn’t call.”

“No problem,” Kerry replied, her voice slightly husky from sleep.

“I like this mode of contact much better anyway.” Her smile widened. “I guess the road opened, huh?”

Dar nodded. “Yeah. I had dinner with the guys, and when I got back, they said it had; so I decided to come on home instead of staying down there.”

“Good.” Kerry caught Dar’s hand and pressed it against her cheek, then kissed it. “Crudpuppies. I had so much I wanted to do tonight. I fell asleep figuring your call would wake me up.” Her fingers felt something odd, and she turned Dar’s hand over. “Holy crap. What did you do to your hands?”

Dar cleared her throat gently. “Ah...well...” She laughed with a touch of embarrassment. “You’re not going to believe this, but I um...”

Kerry hitched herself up on an elbow and examined Dar’s palm.

The surface was scuffed and bruised, and several long cuts were visible.

“Is that a splinter? What happened?”

“Probably.” Dar sighed. “It involved a bet, some obstacles, and a lot of ego.”

“With your ego coming out on top, right?” Kerry guessed, giving her a tolerant grin, seeing the half-hidden look of smirking triumph cross Dar’s face. “I thought so. Let me go get the tweezers.” She planted a kiss on the base of Dar’s thumb, then stretched out, pulling her T-shirt tight against her body and squeaking a little as Dar took that opportunity to lean over and nibble her in a very sensitive spot.

“Ooh...hold that thought.”

She squirmed up off of the couch and stood, facing Dar as she straightened. “Dar, you do realize you’re covered in mud, right?” Kerry inquired, plucking at her lover’s shirt. “Did you spend the whole night like this?”

Dar looked down. “Uh.” She blinked at the gray stains, which covered her liberally. “Well, we all did. It was raining...and I was wet...I don’t think I—”

“Noticed.” Kerry nodded. “No, I guess you wouldn’t, if the fabric was wet. C’mon.” She inserted her fingers into Dar’s waistband and tugged. “Into the shower with you, my little mudpuppy.”

“You just want me to get naked and wet with you,” Dar observed as 130
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she obediently allowed herself to be hauled along. Now that Kerry mentioned it, though, the jeans she was wearing were getting kind of itchy.

“And you have an issue with this?” Kerry stopped and faced her, lifting a brow.

“No.” Dar stepped closer. “It sounds better and better every second.”

Kerry smiled and resumed her tugging.

They left their clothes in one corner of the bathroom and went under the warm water, with Kerry making little tsking noises as she took their scrub sponge and attempted to clean the mud off Dar’s skin.

“Do I dare ask what you were doing?”

Dar had been standing with her eyes closed, thoroughly enjoying the attention. The slightly rough texture of the sponge was leaving a nice tingle behind it, and now she lifted one eyelid to see Kerry looking up at her through wisps of steam and water. “Huh? Oh. We had a bet on between me and Chuck: which one of us could make it through the torture pit first.”

“Ah.” Kerry scrubbed a stubborn spot, keeping her head down and swallowing a jolt of irrational jealousy. “You won, I take it?” she asked.

“It’s going to be interesting meeting him on Friday...unless you’ve changed your mind and would rather I didn’t go.” She forced herself to look up. “I know these are old friends of yours, Dar, and they probably don’t know you’re gay, do they?”

Dar’s eyes widened a little in visible surprise. “No, they don’t,” she answered honestly. “In fact, Chuckie asked if I was available tonight.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “I told him I was very taken.” She thought a moment, feeling the water beat down on her back. “It’s a hard question, Kerry. I’m not going to say I haven’t been thinking about it.”

Kerry kept still, watching Dar’s face, seeing only intent thought behind her expression. “I know. It’s hard,” she agreed softly. “Telling my family was hard. I’ve never felt embarrassed by it, but I knew they’d be.”

“Mm.”

“I think it will make them uncomfortable.”

Dar nodded. “I think you’re right.”

Kerry inhaled, surprised at how difficult it was to get the words out. “So, I think it’s better if you go without me, this time.”

“It’d make them more comfortable if that’s what I did,” Dar agreed softly. “They’re a very traditional family.”

A breath. “So that’s what you’ll do, right?”

“No.” Dar’s voice was quite calm, and almost amused. “If I was in the business of making people comfortable, I’d be an airline flight attendant. I’m not. I’m an individualistic nonconformist with a lot more attitude than sense, so if they can’t accept the fact that I’m gay and I’m married to you, they can just kiss my ass.” She leaned over and brushed
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Kerry’s lips with her own, feeling the small gust of surprise as her lover reacted and exhaled. “But thanks for offering. And by the way, I think you missed a spot.”

Hmm.
Kerry resumed scrubbing, a dumb grin on her face. “Did I?”

She worked her way up Dar’s belly to her breasts, making very sure there were no lurking patches of mud. “I’ll just have to go over everything twice.” Her hands slid over Dar’s collarbone and across her shoulders as she licked the warm droplets of water off the skin in front of her nose. “Mm.”

A light touch behind her neck moved her hair back, then Dar’s teeth were taking tiny nibbles out of her throat as their bodies slid together and she felt Dar’s thigh between her own. She forgot the sponge, letting it drop.

Dar felt like her body was on fire, not from the water coursing over both of them but from Kerry’s touch, dancing over her skin in gentle motions that teased her senses, running down her sides.

She had a feeling that getting up in the morning was going to be a problem.

Of course, they could just solve that by not going to sleep.

KERRY LET OUT a sigh and burrowed into her fluffy robe as they watched dawn start to color the sky across the water. “We’re going to be so toasted by tonight, you do realize that, right?”

Dar sipped slowly on a cup of fresh coffee, closing her eyes as a gust of cool salt air brushed across her face. “Oh yeah. I’m glad I decided to go into the office today. I’d have probably driven off Card Sound road into the Florida straits on the way back from the base, otherwise.” She offered the cup to Kerry, who took it. “Besides, I’ve got a pile of stuff to take care of here.”

“Me, too.”

They swung quietly in the rope chair for a few minutes. “Guess we’d better get started, huh?” Kerry finally sighed. “I know I need a run to wake me up.” She turned her head to look up at Dar. “Unless you want to maybe go over to the gym this morning. I could do circuit, too.”