Chapter 26

Something happened at lunch that rarely happened. Antonio acted without thinking about what he planned to do before he did it. So, when he reached and covered my hand with his, I was ill prepared for the rushing warmth that suddenly flowed from my body to his. I turned to observe his expressions at he experienced my past, but he looked serene and his eyes were closed.

Soren smiled, and I sensed pride in him for his friend. He said nothing. Liz prattled on about art in the decorating process, but the four of us weren't alone in the booth at 21. Josh and Nicole were very involved. They'd wanted front-row seats, so to speak, when Antonio viewed my past.

It's like fast forwarding a film, except it's running backwards, slowing briefly at major events, Josh commented.

Antonio jerked his hand off mine, and his eyes snapped open. They looked feral, without fear but still wild, and so many emotions were ratcheting through him they were difficult to capture and experience.

He found our TRES, Nicole said.

Which didn't' disturb him, just the opposite. A plural marriage intrigued him, Josh said. What sent his emotions into overdrive was the discovery of our secrets, which made him realize that you... we were aware of his secrets before the luncheon started. He also learned that you believe you remember your past lives, but he broke his connection with you before sliding back to your life as Sir Edward in England.

Antonio's eyes lost their wild look. He fixed them on mine. "We need to talk."

I nodded. "After lunch."

"Now, not later." He slid from the booth and moved to his feet. "Soren, please entertain Liz. Sandy and I need to talk privately. I'll call you later. Enjoy your lunch."

Soren looked confused, but his confusion didn't approach Liz's dismay. I stonewalled her. "I'll call you later, Liz."

Antonio helped me out of the booth and we walked away.

"My hotel room is nearby," he said as we left the restaurant.

My apartment was closer, but if our discussion stretched out, Liz would interrupt us at my apartment. I nodded.

Are we having fun yet? Nicole quipped.

"Have a seat. Would you like a drink? I'm having one," Antonio said as we entered his hotel suite.

"White wine, if you have it, but don't go to any trouble," I said.

He dialed room service, placed his order, and then sat across from me.

"Are we alone?" he asked.

I smiled. "I'm never alone."

"So I gathered. Are you in my mind right now?"

"Yes, all three of us, but because you think in Italian, Nicole and Josh must translate your surface thoughts into attitudes, which lose some clarity in translation. I speak Italian, so I can read your thoughts. Because we're empaths as well as telepaths, we're also experiencing your emotions and sensations. How far back in time did you go when you touched me?"

"Not far. When I discovered you knew my secret, I backed off. Knowing I could look into your past, why did you ask me to lunch?"

"For a number of reasons? I'm attracted to you as a man, and because you had a secret you don't want broadcasted, I felt comfortable allowing you to discover my secrets."

"In other words, if I honor your confidence, you'll do the same."

"Yes."

I watched him visibly relax, which mirrored his emotions.

"You have a deal," he said.

Is he telling the truth, Josh? I asked. Before the luncheon started, Josh told me that he'd established a baseline for truthfulness for Antonio and would know if he lied.

Yes, Josh said. He brought you here to make the same deal you offered.

"You do more than read my thoughts and sense my emotions," Antonio said. "To know what you know about me, you had to dig into my memories."

"Memories involve thoughts and emotions."

Tell him the deal includes Soren Thorsen, Josh said. Soren knows about his paranormal ability. That's fine, but we don't want Thorsen to know about ours.

I relayed Josh's comments, and Antonio agreed to the additional condition.

"He just spoke with you?" Antonio asked, referring to Josh, I assumed.

"Yes, and because you translate Italian into English before you speak to me, he hears what you say. Nicole, too."

"He is your brother?"

"Yes."

"And your husband?"

"Yes, and Nicole is my wife."

I listened to his next thought. "Yes, we know about you and your sister. Someday, I'd like to meet her. Your memories about that weekend are both heartrending and heartwarming."

He sighed and tears welled in his eyes. "I still love her."

"I know. As Nicole would say, 'Love is.' Does she love Soren?"

"Yes. Deeply, I believe."

"Which upsets you. Why? Love isn't limited."

He frowned.

"I love my husband deeply, but I love my wife just as much. Regina can love Soren and still love you."

Room service interrupted us. I soon sipped chilled chardonnay; Antonio gulped at some scotch.

"You misinterpreted me earlier," he said when we were alone again. "I'm not upset because Regina loves Soren. I'm happy for her."

He's happy for her, Josh said, but the first part of his declaration was a lie.

I passed on Josh's comment, and added, "Besides being an empath and telepath, Josh turned his ability into a lie detector. It's impossible to lie to him. He's also a psychic healer."

"You love your husband, your wife, but you said you were attracted to me as a man. I don't understand."

He's ashamed of his jealousy, so he changed the subject, Nicole said.

Use his jealousy to explain our TRES, Josh said.

Our TRES isn't explainable, I said. It just is.

Hah! If anyone can explain our TRES, it's you, Sandy, Nicole said.

I smiled knowingly, and said to Antonio, "It sounds to me like you're equating love and sex."

"What? Are you talking about free love? An open marriage? Are you swingers?" His tone of voice reflected his agitation.

"None of the above, but possibly all of the above, depending on your mindset."

"That's double-talk."

I laughed. "True. You're ashamed of the jealousy you feel for Soren and Regina's love for each other. You are happy for her, but you want her to love you, not Soren." I paused. "Talk about double-talk. Your memories include many incidents that demonstrate how much Regina loves you. That you doubt her love for you is shameful. You've fallen into the classic trap that stipulates if Regina loves Soren that she can't love you, which is hogwash. Love isn't limited, Antonio, and you know this fact of life. Why are you ignoring it?"

Because she makes love with him, not me, he thought.

"What about Maria and a dozen other women? You made love with them while Regina stood on the sidelines. Was she jealous?" I asked.

"No." He snorted a laugh. "Sometimes she'd get angry with me when I'd choose a women who was inappropriate."

"Why? I'll tell you why. Because she loves you and worries about your happiness."

He nodded.

"Have you told Regina how you feel?"

"No!" His shoulders slumped. "She'd be angry with me. She'd say I was being childish."

"You're intrigued with my plural marriage because you see it as a possible solution to your dilemma. Correct?"

He nodded. "But Soren and Regina would never go for it."

I believe he's wrong on this point, Nicole said. The hard part - the love - is in place. The three of them love each other. The love between Soren and Antonio isn't romantic love, but it's deep and real.

I agree, I said to Nicole. And because I agree with you, I believe Antonio is not the man of the world I seek.

Perhaps, if he clears up... , Nicole started to say.

Sandy's right, Josh said, interrupting Nicole's thought. Sandy's man of the world must love her as deeply as she'll love him. Sandy carries baggage to the love affair - you and me, Nicole. If the man of the world also carries baggage like Antonio's love for his sister, a possible love match with Sandy is highly unlikely.

You and Nicole are not baggage! I shouted mentally. Any man of the world I meet who considers the two of you baggage will be shown the door, past haste. I believe Antonio is not the man of the world I seek because he must resolve his love triangle before he can deal with ours. If his resolution is positive, he'll have no incentive to deal with ours. If the resolution is negative, I won't want to deal with the emotional free-for-all he'll surely slide into that can and will fly off in every direction for a while. The question I have for y'all is whether we should help him realize his dream or leave him to his own devices?

That's your call, Josh and Nicole said simultaneously.

Uh-uh, I want your advice.

Help him, they said at the same time, which made me laugh.

"What?" Antonio said.

I grinned. "We've decided to help you. Let's start with our TRES, our plural marriage."

Antonio and I talked about love and sex and marriage for an hour or so... no, make that Antonio, Josh, Nicole and I. Then we spent another hour applying the principles to a possible plural marriage between Antonio, Soren and Regina. Antonio's dilemma wasn't unsolvable. The key elements of a plural marriage were present. Soren, Regina and Antonio loved each other. Soren knew about Regina and Antonio, how they felt about each other, how their love for each other went beyond a brother's love for a sister. Soren, however, didn't know about the heartwarming weekend so many years ago.

Josh and Nicole connected with Soren and probed his attitudes, but he thought in Danish, sometimes in Italian, but never in English, so they enlisted my help. We searched for attitudes that would reveal his likely response if he were told about the weekend. Incest wasn't a huge negative, but the results or our search weren't conclusive.

Finally, I said, "You need to speak with Regina about Soren's probable response."

"Maybe," Antonio said.

I pushed this issue because I believed he needed to discuss the subject with Regina before moving forward. "Now, Antonio. Call her."

"No!"

I laughed. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Call her."

"You're serious."

"Yes. Her attitude is key. If she's interested in a plural marriage, you can move forward. If for a host of possible reasons, she's adamantly opposed to the concept, you'll need to back off and get on with the rest of your life."

He nodded. "You're right. My feelings and Soren's don't truly matter very much. In the end, Regina will decide."

I grinned and said, "But she can't decide if she isn't aware an alternative exists. Call her."

He reached for the telephone and pulled it to the coffee table in front of him. He started tentative, but before he finished dialing, he'd resolved himself to follow Regina's lead.

They spoke Italian. I listened to Antonio's end of the conversation. Josh and Nicole were digging deep inside Antonio's mind to translate his attitudes.

After a warm greeting, Antonio told his sister about meeting me and what he'd seen when he touched me. Her speech impairment hampered the conversation, but they were used to each other, and although halting, the conversational atmosphere seemed relaxed.

"Yes, she's here with me now," Antonio said. "We've been talking for the last two hours about her plural marriage, and the principles that govern their union." He went on to describe the myths we'd exploded and the new morality we'd created that allowed the three of us to love each other.

His pauses became lengthier - because she's responding, I guessed, and her impairment required the extra time. He remained patient and didn't try to put words in her mouth. After one pause, he said to me, "Regina says you are a lucky woman."

I smiled and said, "That's for sure. Tell her how you feel about everything and what you want."

He frowned.

"It's time, Antonio," I said softly.

What followed brought tears to my eyes. He handed her his heart with an outpouring of love that equaled how I felt about Josh and Nicole, and he included the gentle giant. He made sure she understood that she didn't need to make a choice. He wasn't asking her to choose between Soren and him. The pauses were short.

They're short because I think she's ahead of him, Nicole said.

Josh laughed. Yeah, she's saying, 'Go on, ' or words to that effect.

After one long pause, Antonio said, "I love him. He's like a brother to me, but more... It's romantic love without the romance, Regina. I love Soren like I love you... Yes, that's precisely what I'm proposing. Before you marry Soren, I want the three of us to have a private ceremony and form a plural marriage similar to Sandy's. If you are adamantly opposed, I'll back off now, but..."

I watched his eyes light up. He listened for about a minute without speaking. Then he said, "We'll meet you at the airport. I love you... Goodbye."

He hung up the phone and smiled at me. He radiated with happiness. "She's coming to New York on the first available flight. She wants to sit down with Soren and me and talk about everything face to face. She also wants to meet you."

Josh, Nicole, I said, can you break away, join me in New York for a couple of days? I think it would be helpful to demonstrate in person how we are with each other.

Of course. We'll let you know our schedule, Nicole said.

"If she wants, Antonio, she can meet all three of us. Josh and Nicole are flying to New York, probably from Las Vegas tomorrow morning."

"I can't decide," I said. "I've missed you both so much."

"Then do us both, for heaven's sake," Nicole said and started taking off her clothes.

We were in a limo en route to my Manhattan apartment from the airport.

In seconds, we were naked. I rolled atop Nicole and felt her mouth cover my excited vulva as mine covered hers. Then I felt Josh enter me.

So good! I gushed silently.

We'll key on you, Sandy, Josh said. I love how you feel when I first enter you.

Yeah, me too, Nicole said as her tongue and lips moved around my pussy finding all the places that sent my arousal soaring. I love how Josh feels when he first enters you, too.

Antonio, Regina and Soren won't have this, I said.

Hey, two men loving one woman can't be all bad, Nicole quipped, which made me laugh.

If Antonio and Soren love each other, I said, it's possible that they'll succumb to a bisexual relationship.

Is that what you expect if you find your man of the world and he joins our plural marriage? Josh asked. His thrusts were coming quicker, matching my needs, my arousal.

No, not with four of us, but with a two-man/one-woman combination it's likely that over time the two men will throw off their conditioning against homosexual activity and enjoy each other. Soren will lead the charge. He adores Antonio. I can see him licking Regina's pussy while Antonio is fucking her, and he's licking Antonio's cock as much as Regina's pussy. If Antonio's cock slips out, Soren would take it into his mouth and suck on it.

Ooh, that's hot, Nicole said.

Josh laughed. No, it isn't. If I weren't inside Sandy's wonderful cunt, I would've lost my erection.

He's homophobic, Nicole said.

Yup, I agreed, but I love him anyway.

The scenario you described, Sandy, Josh said. You experienced it in a past life when you were a man. Correct?

Oh yeah, more than once. Whether I'm a man or a woman, I prefer a man.

If I'm reborn a man, I'll be bisexual, Nicole said. I love the feel of a man's cock in my mouth.

When I was a man, I loved being fucked in the ass while the man jacked me off, I said.

Yuck, Josh said.

Nasty but sexy, Nicole offered.

As a woman, do you prefer two men for a threesome or a man and a woman? Josh asked.

It was a tossup until the three of us found each other, I said. With how we are now, the question is silly, Josh, and you know it.

Is she telling the truth, Josh? Nicole asked.

Yes, as our TRES stands.

I admit it. I want another man in our TRES, I said as fantasies of a foursome including two men and two women wandered through my mind. The fantasies, I was gratified to discover, didn't put Josh off, just the opposite. Of course, the fantasies didn't involve the two men getting it on.

That I can handle, Josh said.

Nicole giggled. Me, too. Hoo boy, Josh, that sounds like fun!

Josh agrees, I said. He's happy with whatever makes us happy, Nicole. I'm getting very close.

Tell me about it, Josh said. Picture this, Sandy. You're riding your man of the world, and Nicole and I walk into the room.

Yeah, Nicole said. I strip and, facing you, lower my pussy onto his mouth. We kiss and play with each other's breasts.

And Josh moves behind me and pushes his long one into my ass. You lean back, Nicole, so I can help the man with your pussy. He stabs your hole with his tongue while I lick your clit.

And you have a couple of cocks plunging in and out of you at the same time, Nicole added.

And we'll all key on you, Sandy, just like Nicole and I are keying on you right now, and we'll all come together like... ah!