Chapter 11

-Lidia-

"Oh?" the eyebrows going up again. "I would have sworn you have met before."

"Well," he chuckled not releasing my arm. His hand felt warm and powerful; I couldn't have broken away if I had wanted to. "We did meet, but very briefly. Although I understand she did get to see me at my best: flat on my face with junk sticking out of my back. I've been told she even started to patch me up for which I owe her more thanks than I can say. Sumalee, this is the woman who was starting to put me back together after the bomb went off, but unfortunately I don't know her name to thank her properly."

"But you saved me!" I protested. The absurdity of him thanking me caused my mind to go blank for a second.

"Of course, the other damsel in distress," the tiny woman, Sumalee, he had called her, smiled and jumped up. "Naturally she is gorgeous."

"It's in my contract," he rumbled. "All the ladies I rescue have to be gorgeous. It's worked so far."

"Oh you," she scoffed. "Sit the poor girl down, Daniel. She looks like she is about to fall. Are you all right? Did they let you of the hospital too soon? I saw what Daniel's back looked like even after the healing; I can only imagine what it was like to be in the middle of that. Do you need a drink?" She waved a hand at a server as ... Daniel ... gently lowered me into a chair.

"N—no, I'm fine," I stuttered. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to crawl right out of my chest.

"Another one for us, a large glass of water and another of vodka for our friend, straight up," Sumalee said to someone I didn't even bother to look at.

"Daniel, we girls need to go freshen up, if you do not mind," I heard her say as she grabbed my hand and pulled me upright. "Try not to rescue any more beautiful women if you can help it."

"I'll keep that in mind," he chuckled and I looked back over my shoulder at him as the little oriental doll guided me through the crowd like a little sheepdog herding a reluctant sheep. The 'fresher room was mostly empty when we entered and she didn't hesitate to pull me over to a bench in a far corner and gently but firmly pushed me onto it sitting down next to me afterwards. I glanced up from my hands and down at her. She didn't look angry or pleased; she looked like she was waiting.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I again looked down at my hands. "I didn't know he was ... with anyone."

"The dinner reservation should have given you a clue," she mused. "If not the dancing afterwards."

"I ... I wasn't thinking," I admitted. "But even if I did I would have assumed he was out with his friends."

"So you decided to strike after dinner and when he probably had a few drinks in him."

"No! It wasn't anything like that!" I protested but she continued as if she hadn't heard me.

"Might have worked," she said as she tapped one immaculately manicured finger against her cheek while looking up at me. "But with that dress I highly doubt any alcohol would have been necessary."

"You don't understand," I almost begged. "I just wanted to tell him thank you!"

"And if during this pronouncement of thanks you ended up on your back... ?"

"I wouldn't..." I started but couldn't continue. I would have been lying and she knew it.

"Why not?" she smiled. "That is exactly where I ended up and I am very glad I did."

"You?" I blurted.

"Very much like you," she nodded. "Although I doubt very much if you heard about it. He saved my life when a crazy gunman started shooting in the lounge I was working."

"I heard rumors..."

"But not the entire story," she finished. "Yes, I think I know more about it than you do but that can be corrected. You and I have a great deal in common. But that is not the reason I brought you in here. Not exactly, anyway. I wanted to see just how much we had in common. What was that look you two shared when you first approached out table?"

"I don't know what you mean..." I stammered.

"Yes you do," she smiled sympathetically. "Daniel is very much a man as I well know. Any normal man would have been staring at your very impressive charms out there. In fact I doubt most men would have even known you had a face and I doubt they would have cared. He wasn't looking at your tits, my dear, he was looking into your eyes."

"Yes," I hissed in surrender.

"Hypnotic are they not?" she said smiling as she leaned back against the wall and crossed her legs. "They draw you in, capture your very soul, drain you of your will, force you to surrender who you are to him."

"Yes! I mean, no!" I protested shaking my head vigorously. "He doesn't force you. He allows you. He opens the pathway and leaves it up to you if you want to enter. Surrender? I'm not sure it's really surrender because there was not a battle for what I want to give him. I give it willingly. Willingly!" I paused for a moment before looking straight at her. "I know it sounds strange, maybe even bizarre, but it's like we suddenly had a ... a..."

"Connection?" she completed my thought still smiling and rocking one leg on top of the other.

"Yes, exactly, a connection. How did you know?"

"Because I feel exactly the same way when I look into his eyes," she said sitting upright. "I know it is not surrender; you are right: there was no battle. He never asked for me to give myself to him; he did not have to. There was one time: he was on top of me shielding my body with his. I looked into his eyes and I knew," she snapped her fingers. "Just like that, I knew I was his. I also knew he was mine."

"Me, too," I whispered. "But how can that be? One of us has to be wrong. We can't both be his. Well, I suppose we could but how could he be both of ours? I don't think I'm making much sense."

"Maybe we are both insane," she grinned. "Because I understand you perfectly."

"This is very strange," I sighed shaking my head. "So what do we do now? Fight over him? You are too beautiful for me to compete with that way."

"Nonsense," she scoffed. "You are exquisite. Dear Buddha, woman! Just look at yourself: you are every man's dream. Long beautiful legs, wide yet graceful hips and those wonderful breasts; those should be illegal, by the way."

"You can have them," I snorted. "I always feel top-heavy, my back hurts and I've have been told may times I look like a cow."

"Who told you that?" she said almost angrily. "That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard!"

"Well, my brothers mostly," I admitted, then sighed. "But most men just see me as a life support system for a pair of tits. They couldn't care less if I had the intelligence of a rock, but you know how that feels."

"Not with these," she answered drolly glancing down at her normally-sized set. "Besides you certainly cannot expect me to take the whining seriously. A fisherwoman does not lay out that much bait unless she expects a bite. You came up here loaded with everything you have to catch that man."

"I'll go now," I said softly after closing my eyes. I knew I had to leave; I'm not one to try and steal another woman's man. Still I think a tear leaked out; I didn't know what I was going to do if I didn't see him again.

"I think not," she said slowly and my eyes popped open in surprise. She had her head cocked to one side looking up at me with that finger again tapping her cheek. "I believe you when you say there was something between you, some kind of unknown connection, I could see that. What is your name by the way?"

"Ah, Lidia, Lidia Chojnacki," I muttered. "Dining-room server."

"I am Sumalee Nakpradith, Lidia Chojnacki," she said holding out her hand. "Bartender. I am called Alee by my friends."

"Just Lidia," I whispered as I took her tiny, perfect hand in my monstrous paw.

"Look at me, Lidia, in my eyes," she commanded and I felt compelled to obey. Her eyes were like black ink wells and I felt the same sense of being drawn into them that I had with him although not as strong. I could sense she was feeling something also but I couldn't tell exactly what it was.

I have never felt any overwhelming sexual attraction to a woman before. Of course I have admired beautiful ones, appreciated their grace, their femininity; but never any real desire to bed them. I was more than a little surprised to find my body reacting to hers. I wondered what it would be like to feel her pressed up against me, to caress that perfect brown skin. I don't know how long we sat there looking at each other but finally she released my hand and I had to shake my head to clear it. I noticed she did too.

"Interesting," she said leaning back again. "Did you feel that? I certainly did. Not as strong as with Daniel but there was definitely something there."

"That was ... strange," I whispered.

"Very," she nodded. "I do not believe in magic or any other such nonsense but there was something there besides lust. There was some of that of course," she grinned. "But then I am normally attracted to woman as well as men."

"I'm not," I protested softly.

"I know. I could see that," she agreed. "So the question is what do we do about this?"

"I've already said I would go," I snapped.

"And I already said no," she said sitting upright. "For some reason the two of us are drawn to the same man for whatever reason and we feel some of that attraction to each other as well."

"I won't steal your man!" I hissed. "Even if I could."

"Oh, he is my man all right," she said evenly. "But I am not so sure he is mine alone.

"Which may not be such a bad thing," she chuckled sardonically. "It has been almost two days and I still can barely get my legs together."

"You aren't suggesting... ?" I sputtered.

"I'm not suggesting anything except we go back and find out what our man is up to," she said jumping up and grabbing my hand. As small as she was she was surprisingly strong as she pulled me behind her toward the door. "Undoubtedly he has probably found trouble to get into already.

"As for anything else," she said looking back over her shoulder. "We will see what happens."

-Daniel-

They had been gone for what seemed like a long time and I was getting just a bit nervous, I'll admit. However it did give me time to think which didn't help one little bit, I'll tell you. Of one thing I was sure: Sumalee belonged at my side. I have no idea how I knew this or why I felt like that but it was the one thing I was sure of. She was going to be with me tonight and for as many nights and days as possible if I had to cross through hell to make it happen. For whatever reason she was a part of me and I wouldn't let her go willingly.

Now the blonde Amazon ... What the hell was going on there? There was no doubt something happened when I looked into her eyes. Something damned similar to what I felt when I looked into Sumalee's. It was like a line had been drawn between us tying us together in some inexplicable way. I had no idea what was going on and it bothered me ... a lot. Sumalee belonged at my side but something told me so did my blonde serving wench and I didn't even know her damned name! The stuff of teenage fantasies no doubt, but also middle-age nightmares. Being sandwiched between two beautiful women may be a pleasant dream but human nature and reality usually conspire to ensure it's just that: a dream.

What was I going to do? I had no fucking idea.

I was thinking it was a moot point anyway. Either they had killed each other or more probably they had talked and realized the two-timing bastard wasn't worth the trouble and left. True, I was technically guiltless but as some idiot politician said many years ago: "I've committed adultery in my heart many times..." In this case it wasn't many times and it wasn't actually adultery but if a feeling of lust and longing qualifies, then I'm guilty. If it weren't for Sumalee I just knew I'd be going after my blonde server like a teenager after his first sniff of pussy. There it is: it ain't pretty, but it's the truth.

So there I sat wondering just how long I was going to be there before I'd have to admit I'd been dumped and just who and where I was going to grovel to. I had my scotch in hand but don't remember even touching it as I stared out at the dance floor. I refused to stare at the door they had left through. I had some dignity, anyway.

Suddenly I felt a pair of lips lightly touch my ear while cool fingers brushed the other side of my neck. I jumped up and whipped around. Okay, so much for dignity but right then I didn't give a shit; they were both standing there.

"Hi," I stuttered in my most suave and debonair manner. Hey at least I didn't trip over the chair; don't I get points for that? "Everything all ... ah ... freshened up? You both look gorgeous."

"We did nothing except talk, you idiot," Sumalee laughed. "We look exactly as we did when we left."

"Well!" I blustered. "You both looked gorgeous when you left so you look gorgeous now."

"Very nice," she smiled and caressed my cheek then turned back to the blonde. "I am sure he has his faults but he does know what to say when appropriate." She pulled the tall girl up in front of me.

"Daniel, this is Lidia." Lidia, a beautiful name. She blushed and looked down, her hands tightly grasped in front of her.

"Hi, Lidia. I'm glad I could finally meet you." She looked up and that connection thing kicked in again like someone throwing the switch on an electrical circuit. I tore my eyes away and looked at Sumalee. Bam, the same thing clicked in with her. What the hell was going on?

"Hi, Daniel," a sweet voice said and suddenly my eyes were tracking back to Lidia's. If this kept up I was going to break my neck or at least have whiplash.

"I wanted to thank you for saving my life," she continued.

"It was my pleasure, I assure you."

"Sit down, you two," Sumalee said pushing both of us towards the table. "You here," she pointed to a chair, "and both of us here." She indicated two chairs on the other side of the table. Uh-oh! It looked like an interrogation was going to take place.

"We seem to have a little situation here," she began after we all sat down. Double uh-oh. The last time I'd heard those words my team had been dropped into one of the biggest goat-rope, fur-ball fuckups you'd ever hoped to never see. As they say, nothing good could come of this.

"There is something going on between the three of us I do not understand and can not explain," she said evenly. "But it is there, nevertheless. Am I correct?"

"I ... I can't disagree," I said miserably. "I don't know what's happening, Sumalee. My feelings haven't changed for you one little bit but when I look at ... Lidia ... I get the same ... Hell, I don't even know what to call it. The same feelings, vibrations, desires..."

"A connection," she completed for me. I closed my eyes and nodded.

"And you, Lidia?" she demanded. My eyes popped open and I saw Lidia nod looking just as miserable as I felt.

"Yes," she answered slowly. "I felt it the first time you looked into my eyes in the dining room. But I don't want to..." she said quickly turning to Sumalee.