Tropical Storm - DK1 (54 page)

Dar put the bottle on a shelf and peered inside, half turning and giving Kerry a mischievous look. “You sure have a lot more in here than I have in mine,” she remarked as she closed the door and wandered closer, peering over Kerry’s shoulder. “What’s that?”

“Sauce.” Kerry added a bit of flaked red pepper. “It’s going to be Szechwan beef when I finish.”

“That sounds tasty,” Dar responded, her breath tickling Kerry’s ear.

Oh boy
. “Dar? Has anyone ever told you, you’re a really distracting person?”

“Me?” Her boss’s blue eyes widened in surprised innocence. “Um, well, no, actually. I’ve been called a lot of things, most of them nasty, but distracting has never been one of them.”

Kerry blushed and laughed a little. “Well, you are,” she said. “You make it very hard to concentrate.”

Dar looked puzzled but not displeased. “Okay. Well, I don’t want you to cut yourself. I’ll just sit quietly over there.” She ambled over to the small table in the kitchen and slid into a seat, resting her elbows on the surface. Kerry’s reaction to her was just so…different
,
Dar reflected as she watched Kerry return to her task. She’d always been used to people coming on to her, and she wasn’t shy in doing the same in return, but the combination of sweet affection and barely veiled desire she saw in Kerry’s eyes was something she’d never experienced before.

It was warm, and nice, and she found herself tumbling helplessly under its spell.
Distracting? Oh yes.
She was finding it very hard to keep her thoughts focused for any length of time, and even when she did concentrate, she found herself taking little side trips into wondering what Kerry was thinking, or 260
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what she was doing, or… Dar sighed. Like right now, for instance. She found herself perfectly happy to just be sitting here in Kerry’s presence, watching her prepare dinner. It was such a strange feeling. She watched Kerry’s shoulder blades moving under the soft cotton of her polo shirt, and she let her eyes wander down the slim form, appreciating the curves.

“Nickel for your thoughts.” Kerry spoke, not turning around.

Dar burst into helpless laughter. “Uh, let’s skip that, huh?” She felt herself slightly tongue-tied, and she realized Kerry was having the same effect on her that she was having on the younger woman. It was getting out of control. “So, where’d you learn to cook?”

Kerry heard the hesitant confusion in Dar’s voice, and smiled quietly to herself
. Glad it’s not just me.
“Well, it’s expected in my family. My mother doesn’t work, she’s always stayed home to take care of us,” she explained. “I had Home Ec and all that in school, but I kind of developed an interest in it when I was in college.” She added some chopped vegetables to her fried rice and stirred it. “We’d have get-togethers. A bunch of us would rotate who cooked.” She glanced behind her and smiled. “When you have a group of critics like that, you learn fast.”

“Ah.” Dar nodded, then rested her chin on her fist. “My mother was an all-right cook, I guess,” she mused. “I never learned, though. I was…probably overly involved with sports and things of that sort when I was growing up.

We spent a lot of time on military bases, too.” She shrugged. “I like hot dogs and French fries.”

“I never actually had a hot dog before college.” Kerry heated up her wok and poured a little oil in it. “Did you ever want to be in the military?”

After a long silence, Dar finally answered in a reflective voice.

“Unfortunately, my father raised me to believe there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do. In the military, there are qualifiers to that.” Another long pause, and then she said, “I wanted to do what he did.”

Kerry nodded. “They wouldn’t let you?”

“I’m a girl,” Dar answered, with a faintly sarcastic emphasis. “Hell.” She sighed. “I know they have a point. I know they can’t put mixed groups out in the field, at least not yet, but…” She shrugged. “Water under the bridge. At any rate, to answer your question, yes, I thought about it. I took the ASVAB

when I was a junior in high school, and I got a lot of offers.” She peered at the saltshaker on the table, lost in thought. “I just didn’t think I had the self discipline to commit to that and do what everyone told me I had to do, rather than what I thought I should do.” Her brows quirked. “And I was probably right.”

“Mmm.” Kerry expertly stirred the thinly sliced beef into the wok. “Were your parents upset?”

The blue eyes took on a far-off look. “My father was disappointed,” she stated quietly. “I think my mother was relieved.” She shook her head. “She was an artist. She never wanted me to go into the service.”

“An artist?” Kerry tossed in the sauce and stirred it. “Ah, now I know where you get that doodling style from.” She laughed. “I loved that one picture you made of that dog.”

“I don’t….” Dar stopped and thought about it. “Well, yeah, I guess I do,”

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she admitted, a little sheepishly. “I never thought about that.”

Kerry set down the bowl of fragrant fried rice and put another of the stir-fried beef next to it, then handed Dar two plates. “Here.” She turned and retrieved the plum wine and a couple of glasses and brought them back to the table with her. “Well, the only talent in my family seems to be politics.” She handed Dar a serving spoon. “And law. Neither of which really sparked my imagination when I was growing up.”

The taller woman piled two plates with steaming rice and beef and handed Kerry one. “What did spark your imagination?”

Kerry ate a few mouthfuls before she answered. “Books, mostly.” She exhaled. “I did the usual things growing up. My mother enrolled me in piano lessons, and in gymnastics—the one to give me culture, the other to give me what she called ‘grace.’ ” Kerry’s lips twisted wryly. “I don’t think either did much. I never took to the piano, and I was, at best, a mediocre gymnast.” She chewed thoughtfully. “I can play ‘Chopsticks.’ ”

Dar chuckled. “So can I if I use both hands and both feet, and you don’t listen too closely.” She smiled “This is great, by the way.” She held up a forkful, then she paused to pour them both a glass of wine. “What kind of books do you like?”

Kerry took a sip of the wine. “You’ll laugh, but mostly science fiction…and some historical novels.”

Dar gave her a puzzled look. “Why would I laugh? That’s what most geeks like to read, myself included,” she said in a mild voice. “Not that I have time anymore,” she added with a sigh. “So what led you into computers?”

“I didn’t want to end up as an English teacher,” Kerry replied wryly.

“And I…well, I always had a liking for machinery. I used to take apart things—you know, like phones and stuff.” She laughed a bit. “When I got to college, I realized there was a computer science track that was pretty close to the general English track I was already on, so I double-majored.” She paused and took another sip of wine. “What about you?” It was, she suddenly realized, the first time they’d just sat down and talked about really personal stuff, and she was surprised at how comfortable she felt.

Dar bit a piece of beef in half and chewed it. “What about me? Well, I was always interested in programming—that’s what I studied in school. But somewhere along the way, I decided all those lines of code just couldn’t hold my interest.” She reflected a moment. “Wasn’t enough of a challenge, so I went into system analysis and design and from there, into engineering and operations.”

“Luckily for us.” Kerry smiled.

“Opinions on that vary,” Dar replied dryly. She drained her glass and poured a second. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it.” She toyed with the glass. “I spend a lot of time ignoring the cuts and digs, but it gets old.”

Kerry got up and took their empty plates, setting them in the sink, then returning to put her hands on Dar’s shoulders. “I kind of got that feeling….”

She tried, but couldn’t keep herself from leaning forward, and only barely kept herself from gently kissing Dar’s sleek head. “So, if you start getting complaints that your assistant is whacking people for saying nasty things about you, don’t be surprised.”

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Dar was touched, and she eased back, pressing her body against Kerry’s and gazing up at her with a slight smile. “That’s sweet of you, Kerry, but I don’t think it’ll do much good.” She lifted a hand and covered the one on her right shoulder, squeezing it gently. “Not that I don’t appreciate the thought, though.”

Kerry drank in her closeness. “It’ll make me feel better,” she objected softly. “Really.” She looked down into the pale blue eyes and saw a softening there, making her give in to her craving and bend her head, finding Dar’s waiting lips with unerring accuracy. A touch traveled up her arm, softly stroking, and Kerry felt her body respond to it, as she closed her eyes and let the gentle probing and tasting continue.
It feels so good…
She could feel Dar’s fingers slipping up past her elbow and brushing against her side, making her breathing catch. She felt short of breath and her heart started to pound as she eased her own hands lower, touching bare skin.

Everything shifted then as Dar unexpectedly slid an arm around her waist and tugged her down. Kerry found herself in the dark-haired woman’s lap, with those strong arms wrapping around her and every inch of her body tingling in pure reaction. Her own arms slid up around Dar’s neck, then one started traveling down, moving across the slope of her neck muscles, and down her shoulder.

Dar knew she should slow down and take it easy, but her body wouldn’t relinquish its gentle contact. Her hands moved of their own accord, stroking and exploring the warm curves of the body tucked into her arms with insatiable curiosity. She could feel Kerry’s breathing deepen and go ragged and her own wasn’t doing much better.
Easy…easy. Not yet
. She lightened up on the intensity and felt Kerry do the same, until they broke off, and Kerry buried her face against Dar’s shoulder. “Whoa.” She wrapped her arms around Kerry’s body and held her, rubbing her back gently. “Easy there.”

“Whew,” Kerry muttered, feeling her heartbeat start to slow. “That was intense.” She decided being embarrassed at this point would be kind of ridiculous, so she lifted her head and just looked at Dar. “This is not going according to plan.”

Both dark eyebrows lifted teasingly. “It’s not?” Dar protested mildly. “I thought it was working out pretty well.” She still had her arms around Kerry, but now she loosened her grasp and backed off a little.

“No…um…that’s not what I…uh.” She gave up. “We were supposed to go to the movie first,” she explained wryly, reaching up and pushing back a bit of Dar’s dark hair.

“Oh. Oh, right.” Dar nodded in understanding. “But other than that?”

“Mmm.” Kerry exhaled slowly. “You know, I did a lot of reading. They didn’t mention the fireworks going off in any of it.” Her fingers trailed down Dar’s cheek. “It’s kind of scary.” Her breath caught as Dar captured her hand and nibbled her palm. “But nice.”

“Okay.” Dar considered. “Is this making you uncomfortable?”

A shy smile. “No.” Kerry shook her head. “But I bet it’s making you uncomfortable. I must be squishing you.”

Dar squeezed her, then patted her hip. “Hadn’t noticed,” she confessed.

“Don’t worry about squashing me, I’m a big girl, I can take it.” She let her
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hand move down Kerry’s thigh. “You want to go see the movie?”

It was scary. Kerry was nervous, but she appreciated the fact that Dar was willing to let her go at her pace, and wasn’t pushing, wasn’t…forcing. A grim memory filled her mind, and she had to take a moment to force it out before she could consider it any further. “Well…I, um, I have
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and some microwave popcorn here. We could improvise.”

Dar grinned, a smile that lit up her very blue eyes and made the skin next to them crinkle “Oh, I like that idea,” she agreed. “And dinner was great.

Thank you, by the way.”

“Mmm.” Kerry gazed at her. “Glad you liked it,” she responded, not taking her eyes from Dar’s. They sat quietly like that for a moment, then Kerry cleared her throat. “I guess I have to get up to get that movie, huh.” She regretfully untangled herself from Dar’s grip and stood, taking a deep breath as she moved away from the seductive warmth. Dar followed her into the living room, and she gave her a little tour, mostly to settle her own nerves.

“This is Scully and Mulder and their little friends the Lone Gunmen.” Kerry sprinkled a little food in the tank.

“Let me guess—Mulder and Scully are the gouramies.” Dar laughed.

“Kissing gouramies, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Uh huh.” Kerry grinned and watched their antics. “What can I tell you, I’m a sucker for a good romance.” The blonde woman shrugged. “Silly, I guess.”

Dar rubbed her back. “Nah, I think they’re cute. Though I thought they copped out in that movie.” She chuckled. “And I gotta tell you, the entire movie theatre I was in cracked up laughing when they said FEMA was behind the great government conspiracy.”

Kerry’s brows creased in puzzlement. “That wasn’t a funny part.”

“It was if you went through Hurricane Andrew down here and had to watch them work,” Dar informed her. “Trust me, if they were in charge of the conspiracy, those damn aliens would have gone home in disgust waiting for fresh water to be delivered.”

Kerry laughed and bumped her with an elbow. “I have that movie too, if you’re interested.” She got out the other videotape and turned on the television, then tossed Dar the remote. “I’ll go get some popcorn.”

Dar was momentarily left alone, and she took the time to study the apartment. It was bright, and very unlike hers. There were personal knick-knacks everywhere, including several stuffed animals, and a set of diplomas on the wall. One was from college and the other her certification affidavit. A small trophy attested to Kerry’s debating skill, and there was a bookshelf against the wall which held an assortment of paperback and hard-back books, a mixture of fiction and computer manuals.

It was a cheerful place; the comfortable couch was in a nice shade of light salmon, and the rug was a pale cream, lending a sense of lightness to the interior that Dar found very soothing. A door to the left obviously led to the bedroom, and there was a small bathroom on the other side of the kitchen.