Wrong Place, Right Time

by Allyson Scott

Daryn Carmichael walked down the gangplank with a rolling gait. For the past six days she had been cruising around the Pacific with her brother Dennis on his new Yacht the Liberty Bell. Why he named it something that silly she still couldn't understand but it was a nice little ship and helped to further cement their relationship via a mutual love of the sea. Of course it didn't hurt that they were twins.

As her feet hit the dock, Daryn looked back at the vessel she had just left. "Captain Carl!" The young woman called out to the graying man standing on deck.

"Yes, madam?" The elder man called out with his crisp British accent.

"Would you please tell my dopey brother that I am going to look around for a bit."

"Yes, madam," the man nodded as she turned away and continued down the pier on her early afternoon trek into the town of Cabo San Lucas.

Daryn quickly found herself wandering around the center of the main shopping district. She smiled as she looked into the windows of the various boutiques lining the street. They all sold things that displayed the gentle charm of Mexico even if they did seem to be overrun with obnoxious American tourists most of the time.

She was rounding the curve of Boulevard Marina, her nose sniffing the enticing scents of spicy meat wafting through the air, when a loud "AH CHOO" sounded off to her right. Daryn halted finding herself suddenly covered in a spray of wetness.

"Oh God! I am so sorry..." a female voice rang out.

She recoiled as a soft hand brushed against her arm, "What do you think you're..." her words trailed off as she looked down into the greenest eyes she had ever seen.

"I'm sorry Miss. I didn't mean to do that, it's just spicy smells make me a little sneezy sometimes... I didn't mean for you to get caught in the crossfire."

Daryn's eyes roamed over the woman. She was short her head barely reaching Daryn's shoulders. Eying her appreciatively, Daryn marked the young woman's shoulder length blonde hair, tanned skin and toned muscles before coming back to stare into the twin emerald pools looking back at her. She smiled at the short woman. "It's okay... I was just in the wrong place at the right time."

"That's a curious statement," the young woman remarked.

"Just something my grandfather used to say." Sticking her hand out, she turned the wattage up on her smile a few notches, "Daryn Carmichael."

"Carolyn Stanton...well most of my friends call me Lyn," the smaller woman grasped Daryn's hand in a firm grip as she introduced herself.

"Nice ta meet ya, Lyn," her blue eyes twinkled as she and the other woman continued to stare at each other, neither one of them noticing that their hands were still attached. A pedestrian bumped into the smaller woman breaking them from the moment, leaving both women confused as to what had happened. "Not to sound terribly forward or anything but would you like to go get some lunch with me?"

The young woman beamed up at her, "I'd like that very much, Daryn, but I don't know too much about the area. Did you have someplace in mind?"

Flashing a brilliant smile she answered, "Yep, I know just the place...follow me." The tall woman turned heading north in a straight line up Ave. Cabo San Lucas. They continued along the left side of Town Square Plaza where Daryn eventually came to a stop in front of a bright blue building. "Well...here we are," the taller woman pointed at the building.

Lyn looked up along the side of the structure spotting the sign on the wall. "Mi Casa?" Her eyebrow popped up in question as Daryn continued grinning at her.

"Trust me you are going to love this place," the woman said before she started forward walking through the beautiful arch of the gothic windowed entranceway. "Do you want to stop at the bar for a drink or just get a seat?"

"Seat please...I'm not much of a drinker."

Daryn left Lyn taking in her surroundings by the doorway to the bar as she talked to a man about their table. The restaurant was a lively place and apparently very popular if the amount of people inside was any indication. The walls of the bar were a colorful pink, the side wall covered in an immense shelving system loaded with all different kinds of bottles.

"They've got a table ready for us on the patio."

The blonde turned away from the bar slowly moving in Daryn's direction, "Oh yeah, sorry...I was just looking around. The colors are so vibrant."

"It's even better further in. They've got murals and all sorts of other things about, and the food's even better than the d?cor."

The two women smiled at each other momentarily before the host cleared his throat to get their attention. "This way please Misses," he said in heavily accented English. They followed as he led them to a small table on the patio.

"Thank you," Lyn smiled as Daryn pulled her seat out for her.

"Not a problem. I'm just glad you accepted...I hate eating alone," she flashed a crooked grin at the woman seated across from her. Daryn watched as Lyn opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the waiter came to take their drink orders. The two women settled back comfortably perusing their menus with Daryn occasionally offering a suggestion or two.

After placing their order, the two women sat back in their multicolored spindle chairs admiring the atmosphere of the eatery. Daryn watched in amusement as the other woman's jade eyes roamed all over the walls of the courtyard taking in each depiction of life painted there.

"This truly is a wonderful place, Daryn. I mean look at that scene over there with the man and the cow...such detail," her eyes shot upward as her grin stretched even further. "Of course the hanging lamps and vines add to the ambience as well."

"As I said before, it's a great place and all of the travelogues will tell you so." Daryn paused as the waiter came back setting a pitcher on the table, before taking their orders. After he had gone, the brunette looked over at her guest curiously. "Lyn Stanton...tell me all about yourself. What do you do? Where are you from? What brings you to Mexico in December?"

The blonde let out a light laugh. "Do you always ask so many questions at the same time?"

"Ah...yeah, it's an occupational hazard," she ruefully grinned, "I hope you don't mind; I can be a bit of a Curious George at times."

"Not a problem... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in knowing more about you as well." Lyn's entire face lit up as she smiled over at Daryn, her green eyes twinkling.

Daryn sat back breathless at the happy expression on the beautiful woman's face. I think I'm in love, she thought, feeling as if Cupid had struck her with one of his arrows as she looked at the small blonde facing her. She continued in her reverie as the woman talked her hands flying all around as she related some tale the tall brunette seemed to be missing. "I'm sorry what?"

"I was just telling you the reason why I'm here."

"Which is?"

"My fianc? needed to be here on business and invited me to come with him."

Daryn's heart dropped. Looking down at Lyn's hand she noticed for the first time the delicate gold band capped with a monstrous sized yellow diamond. How in the hell did I miss that?! Besides...I just met her why am I feeling this way? She thought as she began cursing gods left and right for allowing herself to become so easily infatuated with a taken woman. "Oh..." She carefully schooled her face trying to wipe away the disappointment she felt deep in her heart. "What does he do?"

"He's in the shipping business. Usually it's all very boring stuff, but the local police recently discovered a theft ring being operated by some of Al's fellow employees at the Donner Shipping Co. The big bosses told him to hustle on down here and fix it."

"That doesn't sound like it'd leave much time for him to be with you."

The small blonde's eyes dropped to the table. "Yeah, he's been pretty busy with it all." She looked up suddenly catching sharp blue eyes on her before they looked away embarrassed. "Enough about him though...I haven't answered your other questions yet."

"By all means, do tell."

"Well, I'm a floater for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. They usually stick me on percussion, but I've been known to beat the timpani a time or two."

"You don't say? By percussion you mean xylophones and the like?" Daryn queried.

"Yeap, some of the other guys think it's a bit weird for a such a small woman to bang on all of that stuff, but that's only because they've never saw me in my rock band days when I sat behind a kit slamming my snare and Zildjian cymbals."

"Wow, that's great that you can play all of those things though. I think the only instrument I've ever mastered was the triangle, although I did try the tambourine once," Daryn ruefully grinned at the other woman. "Sadly, I'm the least musical of my family. My older brother Dale plays bass and my dad plays the bongos and congas. Every now and then my mom chimes in with a pair of maracas."

My favorite part of being in an orchestra is when the Christmas Pops rolls around. I love to break out the sleigh bells to use in all of the festive carols," her eyes dropped to the table, "I'm missing that this year since I decided to come on this trip."

Daryn reached out impulsively laying her hand over the other woman's, "I'll do my very best to make sure you think this trip is worth it."

The blonde's nose crinkled up in the most adorable fashion as she smiled at her companion. "Thanks... I'm sure it will be." Lyn smiled as the larger hand overtop gently squeezed her smaller one. "So how about you, Daryn?" The young woman mischievously grinned at her before turning the tables, "What do you do? Where are you from? What brings you to Mexico in December?"

"Ah...well, I'm the CEO for a rather large corporation..."

"CEO?" The blonde blurted out. "You can't be a day over twenty-seven."

The brunette smiled at the woman's incredulity. "Yep, CEO, although it doesn't hurt that my family owns the company...and I'm twenty-eight. You?

"Twenty-six...so your family owns a corporation?"

"Mm hmm."

"Well what do you make, or sell or do?"

Daryn laughed suddenly at the small woman's curiosity laced exasperation. "Actually we do a variety of things since we own quite a few subsidiaries our most well known venture is Comet Press. That's not to say we don't own small companies either. In fact, we've got a small manufacturer in Kansas that makes a wooden dasher for old-fashioned butter churns."

"Wow," Lyn looked at her with something akin to awe. "And where do you oversee all of this from?"

"Our base of operations is in Chicago, but I like to travel around and check out our various holdings. After this little side trip, I'm going west to New Zealand," Lyn watched as a wistful tone floated out from Daryn. "It's a beautiful country. If I can get either one of my brothers to take the helm, I'd like to move there permanently," her voice rang out wistfully

"Sounds exciting..." she smiled. "I've always wanted to go there although I'm not sure I could ever permanently leave the good old US."

"You only say that because you've never been there," Daryn chided as her warm blue eyes met with soft green ones.

"Perhaps..." Lyn conceded. "So what are you doing in Cabo San Lucas? Are you on business?"

"Actually this is more of a birthday trip. My brother Dennis and I, we're twins," she explained, "...usually get gypped for presents because our birthday is Christmas Eve. Well this year he got a new boat and invited me along for a few weeks of fun, sun and total relaxation."

"Sounds nice, which one of you is older and are you close?"

"I was born first and sometimes."

Lyn's eyebrow popped up at her statement but before Daryn could explain further their waiter came back setting piping hot plates in front of them. The two women dug into their meals with gusto both finding the food as enjoyable as the company they were sharing it with.

They had almost finished the meal when the restaurant's strolling musicians came by and serenaded them. Daryn couldn't help but laugh as Lyn turned the color of a beet from the attention. My God she is so adorable, the woman thought to herself. She whispered over to the embarrassed woman, "Do you think we could get them to play a polka?" Daryn burst out into laughter as the bashful woman turned an even brighter red as the musicians moved on to another table chuckling to themselves.

Soon enough, the meal was done and they found themselves back out on the street. Unwilling to part company so soon, Daryn racked her brain to come up with an idea to keep the smaller woman with her.

"Do you want to..."

"Are you busy..."

The two laughed at their simultaneous efforts before Daryn cleared her throat, trying to keep the blonde near. "I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk with me down to Lover's Beach..." instantly realizing her faux pas, she quickly corrected herself, "I mean, to see the Arch. It's right off of Lover's Beach you know."

"Really?" The blonde's eyes lit up with excitement at Daryn's suggestion. "I've wanted to go ever since I found out we were coming here, but Al has been so busy and I didn't really want to go down there by myself. Seemed a bit silly..."

"It's not silly at all," Daryn smiled as the other woman's features lit up in reflex. She held her arm towards Lyn crooking at the elbow, "Milady," she playfully intoned.

Lyn reached out taking the proffered appendage all the while laughing at its possessor. "You're a goof, aren't you?"

"Sometimes," the brunette responded before stepping forward, setting the pair's impromptu sightseeing trip into motion.

* * * * * * * *

Daryn sat back, her body sinking into the comfy captain's chair in her cabin on the yacht. She smiled to herself remembering the glorious afternoon she had spent with the green-eyed woman who had completely fascinated her. She had practically floated on air back to the marina, her heart skipping around in her chest over the small woman. A light rap of knuckles on the entry hatch quickly brought her out of her reverie. "Enter," she called through the door smiling as Dennis entered the cabin.

"Good evening Mr. Sleepy Head," Daryn cheerfully greeted her brother.

"I saw you when you came up the pier. What's with the cheery waltz, Sis?" Dennis yawned as he plopped down into the plush chair next to hers.

"Ooh Denny boy... I met the sweetest, hottest, most adorable little vixen at the market today. Just your type too," she goaded him.

"Oh really?" Dennis instantly perked up. "Did she fall for your charms?"

"Hardly..." she scoffed. "She's engaged and you know how much I abhor adultery." He shot her a pointed glare, "Okay so maybe having a fianc? isn't quite the same thing as having a husband, but I have my honor to think about. It's bad enough I'm already in total lust."

"That pretty, eh?"

"More than that," she smirked, "but you'll get to see later tonight...she's coming over for dinner." Daryn watched amused as Dennis' eyebrow popped up into his hairline.

"You, invited someone...for dinner?" He stammered incredulously. "I never thought I'd see the day my rich playgirl sister would bring someone home to meet the family."

Swatting at the man's arm she playfully chided him, "She's already engaged Denny."

"So?"

"So...this covetousness has to stop," she muttered, more for her own benefit than her brother's.

"Covetousness...is that even a word?"

Glaring at him she ground out, "Can it Denny." She growled as his smile widened further at her agitation. "I'm not going over it again so you can drop it now." Daryn quickly glanced at her watch. "It's almost five-thirty now and she's coming at seven." Pinning him with a serious look she continued, "If you're on anything less than your best behavior, I'll kill you...and don't even think about making a play for her," she intoned. "Lyn is strictly off limits."

Dennis raised his hands in a gesture of innocence, "I'll be a perfect gentleman, Daryn. No need to resort to murder. I mean jeez...did you forget to take your chill pill today?"

"Very funny," Daryn got up from her seat stretching. "I need to tell Brian that we're having a guest for dinner... Do you need anything from the galley?"

"A little hair of the dog would be nice...but no worries, I'll come with." He slowly stood, unfolding his tall frame from the soft cushion of the chair.

It struck her suddenly, how much she and her brother resembled each other. It was like looking at a carbon copy only in male form. They were both tall, each of them reaching six feet give or take an inch. Their hair a thick midnight black taken from their father, while their eyes shown in a fiery bright blue their mother's genetic gift to them. Both were their own people as evidenced by the many times they had waged war against each other as children. As they grew older, the distance dissipated; now their only glaring difference was the fact that Dennis was fast on his way to becoming an alcoholic.

She eyed him with dismay before crossing the floor to a wooden cupboard on the wall. Removing a plastic bag full of medicine bottles she sifted through them until she found the one she was looking for. Opening it she shook out two tiny white pills handing them out to Dennis, "Here, these'll make you feel better, but don't even think about having another drink for at least four hours or so."

The man stepped up taking the pills from her outstretched hand before popping them into his mouth swallowing them dry. "What are they?"

Daryn looked at him incredulously. "It really amazes me how you can do that without any water or anything, and you're supposed to ask something like that before you take the pills, Denny."

Flashing a smug grin he taunted her. "It's not my fault you didn't learn how to swallow pills until you were fifteen." Her harsh stare quickly convinced him to change the subject. "So what's in the pills Doc?"

"Don't worry about that, just remember what I told you about the drinking."

"Yes, Ma'am," Dennis sniggered throwing his arm up in mock salute.

"Smart ass," Daryn muttered as she walked out leaving him behind in the cabin.

* * * * * * * *

Daryn woke up feeling as if she'd swallowed an entire bag of cotton. Carefully cracking an eyelid, she shrunk back in agony as the bright sunlight filtering through the hatch caused her throbbing head to pound even harder. Just as it was settling down to a manageable level, her not-so gentle ship's bell alarm clock began to chime. Reaching out to silence the loud gong coming from the other side of the bunk, she suddenly found herself half pinned by something. What the...

Peeking her eyes open once again, she found a mass of soft blonde hair stretched out across her chest and shoulder...her naked chest and shoulder. Lyn was half lying on her and half across the bed equally naked and seemingly muttering to herself. How in the hell is she sleeping through this racket? Daryn wondered as she strained to extract her arm from under Lyn's warm body so she could reach out and turn off the alarm.

"No Mike, had enough. Don't wanna two-step...sit," the small woman muttered as she shifted slightly before settling back down into undisturbed sleep.

Finally freeing her trapped appendage, Daryn reached up hitting the alarm before sinking back to the bed feeling slightly nauseous from her efforts. The warm body sliding across her tall frame caused her to jump as Lyn subconsciously settled her small form on top of Daryn.

Lyn Stanton, you are such a cutie, she thought as she wrapped her arms around the sleeping blonde in guilty pleasure. I'd love for you to stay here forever...but you're not mine. Her face fell in dejection at the realization that she had no claim whatsoever on the woman currently lying with her. Speaking of that, just how did you get into my bed... she looked down at the expanse of bare flesh covering her, and why are we naked? She relaxed further into the mattress trying to remember the events of the previous night as her head continued to pound in a steady tattoo. A soft groan coming from her chest region alerted Daryn as the younger woman began to stir.

"Number...truck...hit," her guest moaned as she slowly came into awareness.

Stretching her facial muscles into a slightly painful grin, Daryn whispered. "I'm not quite sure, but apparently it hit us both."

The blonde's head quickly popped up, hazy green eyes finding twinkling blue before tightening in pain from her sudden movement. "What are you... What hap... Where am I?" The words trickled out between gritted teeth.

"Do you always ask so many questions at the same time?" Daryn teased the woman throwing Lyn's line from the previous day back at her.

"Oh you know what I...ugh." Stopping abruptly, Lyn closed her eyes before wearily lowering her head down on Daryn's chest.

"This is the last time, I come south of the border," she groused, her head bobbing slightly as the taller woman let out a soft chuckle. "This is all your fault you know," the grumpy blonde whined. "If you had stopped refilling my glass, I never would've had so much to drink."

Daryn groaned in sympathy, "That wasn't me...Denny was the one holding the bottle."

"You weren't helping."

"I'll help now... If you get off of me, I'll go to the galley and have Brian whip up some of his miracle cure."

Lyn grunted with effort as she rolled off the other woman. "Heal me and I'll worship you forever."

"Is that a promise?" She questioned as the blonde replied with a pillow smack to the face. "Okay okay, I'm going," Daryn grumbled as she got up from the bed, stopping only to put on a robe before heading out of the cabin.

Grabbing the side of her pulsing head, Daryn moved down the passageway. The tossing motion of the ship slowing down her progress even further as she tottered from side to side, praying all the way that the nausea she had been lacking so far would remain missing. I never felt the water this rough in a slip before what the hell is going on?

Daryn stumbled into the galley finding it surprisingly empty. That's funny...Brian is always here...musta gone to the head or somethin' her muddled mind reasoned as she crossed the vacant space. Thinking nothing more of it, she reached into the cupboard pulling out the jar of creamy peanut butter and gratefully wrenched it open. "Thank God Dennis didn't eat it all." Grabbing a spoon, she dug into the container scooping out a heaping spoonful before quickly jamming it into her mouth. She let the sticky substance rest against her tongue for a moment, hoping that her flip-flopping stomach would relax and allow her to swallow without fear of it coming back up.

She was about to swallow when a sudden lurch caused her to crash into the cupboard, sending the cold metal spoon bumping against the roof of her mouth. "Dammit!" She muttered while rubbing the sore spot where her head had connected with the wood. "Why does the tide have to act up today?" Daryn groaned as she glanced out the hatch.

"What the..." The sight of water as far as her eyes could see stunned her into silence. Running to the opposite side, she looked out seeing the same thing through the other panes of glass. Denny didn't say anything about taking the yacht out for a pleasure cruise today... she thought. I better get up topside and ask Captain Carl what's going on. Daryn made her way to the stairs just as another figure began on his way down. Hearing the heavy footfalls she looked up straight into the dark barrel of a 9mm gun.

"Move back," the man's harsh voice called out.

Daryn stood her ground. "Who are you, and what are you doing on this boat?"

"Lady, if you don't move back I'm going to shoot you and walk right over your body without any qualms." Shaking the gun in her face he continued down into the galley as she slowly backpedaled.

"What did you do with my brother and the crew?"

"Nothing worse than what I'll probably end up doing to you," he sneered. "Is there anyone else onboard?"

Thoughts of the small blonde in her cabin came unbidden at the question as Daryn tried to figure out some way to answer without putting Lyn in the same danger she was currently facing. Before she could respond, the gunman whirled her around, pressing the gun painfully into her neck. "Never mind your answer, we'll just go see for ourselves."

Pushing her into the passageway, they crept from cabin to cabin forcing her to open the doors as he quickly peeked inside of them. The entire time Daryn tried to figure out some way to warn Lyn but the stranger's close presence and the gun resting firmly against her neck hindered all of her ideas. After systematically checking all of the other spaces, they stood in front of hers.

"What are you waiting for? Open it," he softly commanded. Having no other choice she turned the handle, pushing the door open to expose the cabin's interior and the winsome blonde puttering around inside.

Having heard the door, Lyn blindly addressed Daryn as she continued arranging the covers on the bed. "I hope you don't mind; I borrowed some of your clothes. Seems mine got..." Her words trailed off as she looked up at the doorway, noticing the two figures there for the first time.

Seeing the woman's stunned confusion, Daryn spoke. "I'm sorry Lyn..." Daryn ground out, "it seems like we have an uninvited guest." The tall woman barely heard the younger woman's outraged cry before a heavy object connected with her head sending her reeling to the floor in darkness.

* * * * * * * *

The first thing Daryn noticed was the extremely loud tribal drumming pattern being played in her head; the second was the peanut butter laced cottony taste pervading the interior of her mouth. Never again, she thought as images of the previous night's overindulgence and waking up with a hangover came to mind. It wasn't until she tried to move that she realized something was wrong. Opening her eyes she could just make out the paneled interior of her cabin instead of the windowed portal that should've been there. What the hell is going on? Her cloudy mind wondered.

"Daryn, are you awake?"

The soft whisper seemed to come from directly behind her. Daryn attempted to turn towards it only to realize that she was bound tightly to something as evidenced by the rope coiled around her arms and torso and the solid softness pressed up against her back. "What the fuck is going on?!" The cushy mass behind her squirmed, confusing the disoriented woman further.

"Shh," Lyn harshly shushed the woman tied to her back. "Do you want them to hear you?"

"Lyn, is that you?" The brunette questioned. "Who are you talking about, and why are we on the floor?"

"You don't remember?"

"No, the last thing I remember was waking up with a hangover."

"You don't remember going to the galley to ask Brian for his hangover cure?"

"Brian? Cure?" She hazily repeated. "The galley!"

Lyn let out a sigh of relief at the other woman's reemerging cognizance. "Do you remember now?"

"Barely..." she trailed off as her forehead screwed up in thought. "I went out to the galley but couldn't find Brian. It was odd, but I wasn't really in a position to notice anything much, until I realized that extra sway I was feeling came about because the boat was moving. I started up to the deck to ask Captain Carl what was going on when I ran into that guy. He pointed a gun at me," Daryn momentarily shivered as she remembered the fear and anger she had felt being held at gunpoint. "That bastard knocked me upside the head!"

"Shh!!"

"Sorry," she whispered as she began to wriggle around in their bonds. "How long have I been out?"

"About twenty minutes," Lyn grunted as the other woman's motions jarred her. "Would you stop moving around! The damn swells are bad enough already!"

Ignoring the blonde's outburst, Daryn continued to squirm. "If you twist this way, I think I can get this rope loose." As she shifted her arm back and forth the coils began to minutely creep up their bodies. Feeling the tightness around her chest loosening, Lyn joined in, the two women working in tandem to push the rope up past their shoulders.

Daryn's ears perked up as she heard a noise in the companionway. "Hustle up will ya? I think he's coming back."

They worked faster only managing to move the rope a little before the door swung open revealing a tall sandy haired man. "Good, you're awake...I was hoping that'd be the case."

"Why are you doing this, Al?" Lyn questioned.

Al? Daryn's ears perked up. "Al as in your fianc? Al?"

"Former fianc?," the smaller woman yelled.

"It's Mike actually...and I would think it's rather obvious what I'm doing here," he blithely answered.

"Son of a bitch...the theft ring with your company?"

"Had to have a mastermind...but I won't bother you with all the details. I'm sure there's enough on your mind for now."

"Where is everyone else?" Daryn demanded.

"I knocked them out and tossed 'em before casting off."

"Nice to know you haven't resorted to murder yet you lying bastard," Lyn spit out.

Mike crossed the room kneeling in front of the smaller woman "That can always be arranged," he said grimly. "I am rather sorry for the inconvenience. It seems that someone tipped off the police about my involvement. I raced to my boat for a quick getaway, but imagine my surprise when I found the local cops waiting there with my former confederate. I had to jump on the nearest boat to keep them from seeing me."

"Serves you right, greedy bastard," Lyn snarled. Daryn's body arched out as the man brutally kicked the woman trussed up behind her.

"Is that anyway to talk to your fianc?, Carolyn? What would your mother say if she heard you?"

"What do you want with us?" Daryn yelled out in an effort to draw his attention from the winded blonde.

"Nothing," he calmly answered before crossing the room and walking out the door.

Daryn and Lyn remained quiet, listening as his footsteps echoed down the hall, both of them heaving a sigh of relief when he was out of earshot.

"What are the odds your fianc? would pick my brother's boat for his impromptu getaway?"

The blonde chuckled. "Normally I'd say a million to one...but as you can see, I'd be way off."

Daryn laughed with her as the two of them resumed their struggle against their bonds. "How about we go dancing, once we get out of this?" Daryn grunted as the ropes edged up her chest. "I know this great little club."

The small woman fidgeted around in their mutual bindings. "I'm not really much of a dancer."

"Neither am I," the tall woman snickered. "My parents didn't find out until after a few years worth of lessons though. At least it wasn't all for naught... I eventually learned how to do a pretty mean tango."

Lyn smiled. "My mom works with the ballet and tried to get me into it, but I managed to successfully fend her off for years. Surprisingly enough, Al...I mean Mike and I got into a swing class back in LA."

"LA, huh... Is that where you're from?" Daryn bent her recently freed lower arms up at the elbows pulling on the upper coils of rope.

"Oh no, I originally came from Texas. I only moved to California after he got a promotion out there."

"Hmm... I've never lived anywhere other than Chicago. My mother is from France, and my father hails from Spain. My brothers and I are still trying to figure out how they got together and ended up in America."

Lyn sputtered as the rope raked across her mouth. Daryn pulled up quickly giving a sharp tug. "Ta da!" She exclaimed as they tossed off the rest of their bindings. "Are you ready to go get that jerk?" She turned to find the small blonde practically breathing fire behind her.

"Are you kidding?" Lyn asked her incredulously. "I seriously owe that jerk. Besides...my childhood idols were Charlie's Angels; I've always wanted to kick some ass like 'em."

"Let's go then."

The two women carefully crept out of the cabin, their light footfalls barely making any noise as Daryn led them out into the open common area. Finding it empty, they continued on, finally reaching the stairs that would take them up top. The brunette crawled up each one on her hands and knees briefly popping up her head in an attempt to locate their captor. Spotting him, she signaled down to the waiting blonde watching as Lyn slithered up behind her. The two split up, one going port side, the other starboard as they made their way to Mike who was standing at the helm unarmed.

Lyn jumped up unexpectedly, drawing the man's attention toward her as Daryn covertly snuck closer to his position. "You know, I should've let Blitzen and Prancer bite your ass when they had the chance."

The man looked up surprised to see her standing so close to him. "Those two mangy mutts...they never did like me."

"Well Blitzen has always been a great rat catcher..." she opined.

His eyes screwed up tightly as his hand shot out to the console for the gun. With a yell, Daryn dove, knocking them both to the hard deck. "Goddamn bitch get off of me!" Mike yelled as they tussled back and forth for the gun. He reached up, tightly wrapping his hand around her throat as she struggled to loosen the weapon from his grip.

His tight hold released slightly as Daryn kneed him in the groin. Their bodies bucked into each other as the ship came down from another swell banging their hands hard against the deck. Mike lost his grip sending the gun skittering toward Lyn. She quickly grabbed it, straightening up to point the weapon at the two people still rolling around at her feet.

"Stop!" She yelled. "I'm serious. I will shoot you Al or Mike...whatever your name is."

He looked up into her eyes, dropping his hands from the gasping brunette's throat at the deathly serious glint in Lyn's green pools. "Fine, I give up."

"Good," Daryn coughed out before punching the man square across the face, knocking him out.

The small blonde rushed over to the older woman. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, my throat's just a little tight. We better get some rope on him before he comes to," she lightly rubbed her fingers over the tender areas on her throat, grimacing at the thought of the bruises that were probably already forming.

"You stay here I'll go get the rope, and bring you back something to soothe that." Lyn stated before turning around and running below deck.

Satisfied that the man wasn't going anywhere for the time being, Daryn got up, walking over to the helm. She looked up at the clatter of footsteps telling her that Lyn was back. "We don't seem to be too far out, so I'll just point us back east and hope we hit the Port of Cabo."

"Sounds like a plan," the green-eyed woman agreed as she cheerfully trussed up her ex-fianc? much like a cowboy in a rodeo.

"Don't get too used to having him for a prisoner. We've got to turn him in."

The small woman smiled up at the brunette, her eyes glinting in the midday sun. "I know that silly...I'm just having my fun while I can." They stared at each other quietly going over the events of the day.

"Lyn..."

"Listen Daryn..."

"You first," Daryn acceded.

Lyn nodded taking a deep breath before starting. "About this morning..." she looked away her face turning red in embarrassment. "I...I just wanted to say that I really liked waking up with you. Even though I don't have any recollection of how we got that way or what happened."

Daryn watched the woman intently, afraid to hear what would be said even though it seemed to be good news. She held her breath as the blonde plodded on with her speech. "This last day or so...well, you've made me realize that something was missing from my relationship,"

No shit, Daryn thought to herself.

"And well...now that I'm apparently free," Lyn nervously continued as she looked down at her hands, "I was wondering if you were maybe interested in going out with me."

Daryn crossed over to the apprehensive woman and tenderly lifted her face smiling brilliant as bright blue eyes met deep green. "You know," she softly stated, "They always say you can't have sex before the third date."

"Good thing we've already had the first two then," Lyn smiled before gently lifting her body up on her tiptoes, deeply kissing the woman.

"Well I'm glad that's settled," the brunette laughed when they came up for air. "Although, there's one thing about this whole thing that just amazes the socks off of me," Daryn said thoughtfully.

"What's that?"

"I can't believe you named your dogs after two of Santa's reindeer," she seriously intoned as the blonde wrapped her arms around the tall woman.

"Get used to it..." Lyn mock scowled. "You're going to be meeting them really soon."

Daryn looked down into the green eyes of the woman walking next to her. "Is that a promise?"

Squeezing the brunette tightly to her, Lyn answered. "Yeah, it is."

The End.

All 78 words used in a combined total of 120 instances.