And if it wasn’t? Well... Dar put her chin down on her forearm and thought about that. She’d never wanted children. She knew herself to lack the patience she thought a parent needed, and that complication was something she had never considered adding to her life.
She still didn’t. Her eyes traveled over Kerry’s peaceful face. What did Kerry want, though? Did she want kids? Dar reached out and fingered a bit of her lover’s pale hair, trying to remember if they’d ever talked about it.
She didn’t think so, but what if she did? Dar bit the inside of her lip and wondered if she could adjust to the thought of a family if it turned out Kerry really wanted one. Could she?
She closed her eyes and remembered the look of utter love that had been in the eyes looking up at her, and she knew the answer. For that, she would accept anything. Everything. The sense of panic receded and she relaxed, speculating that her own subconscious had maybe just prodded her into a moment of self-awareness, one that brought a wry, wistful smile to her face.
The outline of the window was becoming clearer and, reluctantly, Dar eased out from under the covers, settling them back around Kerry’s sleeping body before she moved silently back to her own bed.
The mattress was simply laid on a metal base without any telltale springs and she managed to settle down on its marginally comfortable surface without waking anyone up.
It was cold. She rolled onto her stomach and wrapped her arms around the almost flat pillow, resting her chin on the surface and glowering at the rest of the cabin. She wondered what would happen if she went back to where she’d been and let them wake up and find them together.
If Eleanor hadn’t been there she would have. Mariana knew about them and she figured out that Mary Lou wouldn’t give a damn. She 62
Melissa Good
thought about doing it anyway. The constant need to deny their relationship grated on her.
Dar argued with herself for about five minutes, then sighed and decided she’d better get up and go do something before she caused havoc for both of them.
And Kerry had been worried about spilling the beans herself. Dar gave the growing dawn an evil look, then she sat up and grabbed her bag, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and trudging off to the bathroom.
It was a relatively nice morning, she decided. She exited the cabin and stood on the porch, breathing in air thick with the scent of trees around her and with a faint hint of hickory smoke. Fog was rolling across the grounds, rising from the lake and she could barely see the outline of the main hall or of the scattered cabins that peeked out from between the trees.
Dar stepped off the porch, her sneakers crunching gently over the fallen pine needles, and the tiny pine cones. She headed down towards the lake, taking deep breaths to wake her body up and spotted a small path that was well tended that apparently went around the water’s edge. She broke into a light jog as she reached it, then headed on down the path, enjoying the brisk morning air.
The sun was rising over the water and its rays filtered through the trees throwing pale salmon stripes across the path and her as she ran in silence.
She was about three quarters of the way around before she heard steps behind her and she cocked an ear, frowning as she didn’t recognize the sound of them. A glance back made her curse roundly and she took a breath, composing her temper before Steven Fabricini caught up to her. ”Morning.”
He fell into step next to her, running easily in his black and silver running suit. ”I’m surprised, Dar, didn’t think you kept this up.” He peered around in mock cheerfulness. ”I do marathons, so it’s part of every morning for me.”
Dar debated not answering, then she twitched her lips. ”Great way to start a morning,” she commented.
”Oh yeah,” He agreed. ”I do between five and eight miles a day, twice that on weekends. I placed top ten my last three races.”
Dar glanced at him. ”Congratulations.”
”Not your speed, huh?” Steven laughed. ”No, I can see you’ve lost that edge.”
A subtle, dangerous glint appeared in ice blue eyes. ”Bunch of guys running around New York in their underwear is not my idea of fun,”
she commented mildly.
”Oh, you’re wrong.” Steven shook his head in amusement. ”It’s the competition that I like, pitting yourself against a hundred or a thousand other people who all want what you want, and you beat them.” He eyed Hurricane Watch
63
Dar. ”I like that,” he purred. ”I like leaving people in my dust, just like I’m going to leave you in my dust, Dar.”
”Think so?”
”I know so. You’ve made too many enemies,” Steven told her confidently. ”Even this trip. I thought this was a mistake, but now...”
He laughed. ”I’m going to enjoy watching your decline, Dar. I really am.” He surged ahead, lengthening his stride and pulling ahead of her.
”Time to think about retiring.” He yelled back, heading around a bend in the path and disappearing from view.
Dar continued on at a steady pace, smiling a little when she heard a muted scream. ”Watch out, Steven,” she commented to the empty air.
”Lake bends in there—must be a big mud wash.” A loud, outraged yell shook the air. ”The sticky, stinking kind.” She trotted around the bend and slowed to a halt, putting her hands on her hips and observing the black, odorous, thrashing form. ”Last step’s a bitch, Steven,” she remarked cheerfully, hopping up on a long, sturdy log which went over the muddy pit, balancing neatly as she crossed over his head and landed on the other side. ”Guess I don’t have to worry about your dust right now, huh?” She waved and broke into a jog again, contentedly increasing her pace and heading back towards the camp.
SHE WAS ON the back of a horse, the easy, rocking rhythm familiar to her from childhood. So comforting was the motion that she was half asleep, her head nodding against the tall back of the person in front of her. Her arms circled a lean waist, loosely clasped against a surface that had the feel of sun warmed leather, and she could feel the cool hardness of metal under her cheek.
She was too sleepy to open her eyes, too sleepy to look around her.
All she wanted was for the hot sun to finally fall behind the mountains she knew were at their back, and give her some relief from its relentless force.
A warm pressure surrounded her fingers, and she cast a lazy half of an eye up, to gaze at the long, dark hair that gently covered the dark leather surface and the dully gleaming bronze of the metal she was leaning against.
”Almost there.” The low, vibrant voice was as familiar to her as her own and she gave the tall figure a gentle squeeze to let her know she’d heard. She was aware of being hot, and tired, and hungry, but there was a distinct sense of contentment, which warred against that and made her wish the ride would never end.
Strange.
Kerry was chiefly aware of being cold. She opened one eye grumpily and confirmed that she was where she was afraid she was, stuck in this damned backwater camp full of snakes and spiders and 64
Melissa Good
who knew what else. She rolled over, then smiled a bit as she detected Dar’s scent on the sheets and pillow next to her.
Her dream drifted back into her consciousness and she reflected on its weird quality. She was sure that the person she’d been seated against had been Dar, but Dar in armor and leather?
Kerry's brow wrinkled and she smiled a little. Was that how her subconscious saw her tall lover? As some warrior?