Too funny. “So, I do love you.” She slid Dar's shirt up and then nipped her on her navel. “Not only do I love you, but I love being in love with you. It's like Christmas every single day.”
Dar folded herself around Kerry and hugged her. “My birthday everyday.” She exhaled in contentment. “Do you know how nice it is to know that I don't have to worry about half the IT planet going down? I never realized what a drag that was until now.”
“Were you reading my mind?” Kerry rested her cheek against the soft skin on her partner's stomach. “I was just thinking that before.”
“Want to dance?” Dar asked incongruously, as the music got louder outside.
“Not really.” Kerry traced a light line down Dar's skin. “I'm just having fun laying here and messing with you.”
“Okay.”
“You could sing for me.”
“I could. But I don't' know the words to whatever that is they're playing and I can't compete with the volume.” Dar responded, in a practical tone. “Want to go find a pool and swim in it?”
“Hm.”
“Just want to lay here and mess with me?”
“Yup.”
That was okay with Dar. They'd gotten up early, after a long night, and spent the day running around. There were some concerts on tap for the next afternoon and a carriage ride planned and it felt good to just chill out and enjoy the rich, sexy sound of the music and let her mind drift.
Kerry felt Dar's breathing even out and slow after about ten minutes of their just quietly laying there. She watched the tension in her body go slack, and she hesitated, not wanting to wake Dar out of sleep when she'd just slipped into it.
Moving would. So she let the tension run out her, and settled down to wait until she was sure her pillow was deeply asleep before shifting.
It was very peaceful to lay still, watching the easy rise and fall of Dar's chest as the sounds outside started to fade off a little. She could hear people laughing, and the clink of glass and she shifted her gaze to look out the window at their balcony.
It was empty, just the backs of the chairs visible. Beyond that, she could see the splash of light from the street, and the outline of leaves from the trees in front of the hotel, moving in the breeze as she watched.
It was windy outside. She could see the outside shutters moving too, and then, as she lay there, she saw the rocking chair outside moving gently as well.
Was that the breeze? Kerry watched the chair, feeling her heart rate pick up a trifle. The motion was regular and casual, just as if someone was sitting in the seat and enjoying the view.
So maybe it was the wind. She slowly let a long held breath out, watching that motion, which remained steady, despite the variable breeze she could see outside in the movement of the trees.
“Hey.” Dar's voice broke the silence, making Kerry jump. “What's up?”
“Urf.” Kerry put her head back down. “I was trying not to wake you up.” She muttered. “But I saw that chair out there moving and it was giving me the creeps.”
Dar lifted her head slightly. “The rocking chair?” She asked.
“Yeah.”
Dar studied it. Then she hiked herself up on her elbows, waiting for Kerry to lift up off her before she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. “I'll check it out.” She rubbed her eyes. “Bleah.. I was just heading into a dream.”
“I know. Sorry about that.” Kerry patted her hip. “I saw you twitching a little.” She got out of bed and followed her partner across the floor over to the balcony, putting her hand on Dar's back as she opened one half of the French doors and looked out.
The chair stopped rocking.
Kerry eased her head around Dar's shoulder and looked at her.
Dar regarded the piece of furniture pensively. She walked out and circled the chair, putting her hand on the back of it and giving it a tentative push. It rocked back and forth twice or three times, and then settled down to a mild creaking. Dar paused, and then she half shrugged and sat down in it, putting her hands on the chair arms.
Kerry sat down in the regular chair next to her. “I was really expecting that chair to squeal when you sat on it.”
“So was I.” Dar admitted frankly. “But this is our porch, for the time being and I'm not going to surrender it to a moving chair. “ She leaned back, hiking one knee up and folding her hands around it. “So now that I'm wide awake again, how about some ice cream?”
“Absolutely.” Kerry leaned over and kissed her shoulder. Then she got up and went back inside, picking up the room service menu and studying it's possibilities.
**
The next evening, after a long day of parade and concert watching and a distinct lack of any weird stuff or creepies, Dar and Kerry were seated at a table on the outside deck of a Mississippi river paddle wheel steamer cruising slowly past the dockside festivities as they waited for dinner.
“This is nice.” Kerry leaned back and regarded the scene with a smile. “Beautiful way to end up our Valentines day celebration.”
“It is.” Dar was sipping at a glass cautiously. “Holy crap.” She put the drink down. “You could take the paint off the hood of my new truck with that.”
Kerry chuckled. It was a bit chilly on the water, but she had a pair of heavy jeans on, and a thick woven pullover on, and she was comfortable out on the deck. Dar had a newly bought hoodie encasing her tall form, and neither of them really fit into the more formally dressed couples around them.
Her mother would have been completely scandalized, and she actually could not have cared less. The seating hostess hadn't batted an eye either, and she was glad they'd opted for the cruise rather than one or the other of the balls the concierge had tried to entice the with again.
Tomorrow morning they would fly home, and probably go into the office in the afternoon. She took a sip of her own drink, and luxuriated in the sense of freedom. She hadn't scheduled anything for Monday, and if they were in the mood when they landed, they could just go home and stay there if they wanted.
“Too bad Hamilton's up in Boston.” Dar said. “Since it's snowing there. But I'm glad he suggested this.” She indicated the cruise. “I could picture him on this, in his tux, with a mint julep.”
“I'm kind of surprised they fired him, but kinda not.” Kerry responded, giving their waitress a smile as she put down two bowls of golden colored gumbo down in front of them. “Those guys are in a place where they don't want to be told what to do.”
Dar was munching thoughtfully on a spoonful of the gumbo. She swallowed, and took a sip of her drink. “Hope so. Then they'll tell Alastair to get lost when he suggests I talk to them and he can finally get loose of the place.”
“Oo.” Kerry wiped her lips. “I've got to figure out how to make this. It's awesome.” She poked around in the bowl. “Are those shrimp?”
“Crawdads.” Dar supplied knowledgeably. “Also known as mud bugs.” She watched Kerry's eyes lift and pin her. “Or crayfish.” Here eyes twinkled.
“Ah.” Kerry then recognized the animals. “Same as we had at the Zydeco festival last year?”
“Right, but just the tails.”
They were cruising along the river, right now passing a wooded section that came right down into the water giving the impression that the trees were marching right down the bank and under the surface. They were outlined in the moonlight and as Kerry looked at them, she suddenly thought she saw something moving.
Then she was sure she did, a human shaped figure appearing at the water's edge between the trees, going into the river up to their knees. “Dar...”
“I see him.”