A Trick of the Moon (18 page)

A Trick of the Moon

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“To say I'm confused is an understatement,” Declan said. “We fell into it so easily, and I have to say I've never, ever, grabbed another man's dick. But it seemed right and…”

“Yeah, it did.” Dario leaned forward. “We're missing someone for this conversation to be whole. It's not fair to Maura for us to talk about it without her around. Don't you think?”

Guilt rushed through Declan. “Yeah, I do. I just wanted to make sure that you knew the road I wanted to take. You're my best friend, Dario, and you have been since junior high. Think about that, and about what's happened this week. I don't want to do something that's going to come between you and me, or between me and Maura.”

“Did I hear my name?” Her voice seemed to wash over him like a cool summer rain. He smiled as he watched her come out of the bathroom, a towel held close to her chest, hanging down to barely cover the sweet V between her legs. “The towels here suck.”

“Then let it drop, baby. I know I'd love to see your luscious curves.” Declan shook his head but smiled at Dario's words. His friend was an incredible flirt, a skill he'd never been able to adopt.

“We were just talking about you.” He looked at her before glancing at Dario.

“Oh really? Planning your next seduction?” Before he could answer, she held up her hand. “I want to know about the last one. At one point you were tied to a chair, and the next minute you were…um…” She cleared her throat.

“Sticking his prick in your ass?” Dario held up his hand. “That was my fault. I didn't fasten one of the belts, so he could get out if he wanted to.”

“I see.” She moved toward the bed they were going to sleep in, then dropped the towel and slipped between the covers. “Are we going to talk, or are the two of you going to shower?”

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“Let's talk first,” Declan said. “Dario and I were just discussing how good the three of us were together.”

He saw her breasts rise as if she'd drawn in an unusual amount of breath and was holding it inside her. Was that a bad sign or a good sign? “I agree. It wasn't a trick of the moon.”

“What?” He stood and walked to the bed, sitting down on the end. Dario moved from the other bed and sat down opposite him. “What do you mean?”

“I thought it was just because of where we were, you know, at the Full Moon, isolated out in the country. I worried that after we moved into the real world things would fall apart. I was wrong.”

“Silly girl,” Dario said, winking. “You need a spanking.”

Maura covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking with laughter. “You like to spank, don't you?”

“I love it.” Dario turned to Declan. “That's my job in our little trio. The spanker. She's the spankee, unless you think you might need one too.”

“Forget it,” Declan said, holding up his hand. “Maura can take that job. I'll hold her down, if need be. Or just watch.”

They both glanced at her as she said, “Excuse me. If this is going to be a trio, then things will be decided by all three of us, not just two. And I'm not so sure about this spanking thing.”

“You loved it when I slapped your ass tonight,” Dario said, as he got up on his knees, then inched toward her. “And you loved it when I spanked you the other night too. Admit it.”

Declan leaned over his elbow and watched the two of them as Maura put up her hands to playfully ward Dario off. He grabbed her hands, and they struggled, falling onto the bed, both of them laughing. He watched them wrestle for a few minutes, his cock actually stirring despite the fact he was dog tired from their earlier lovemaking. Best to put a stop to this before they got going again and forgot what they were talking about.

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“Hey, you two, the topic of conversation?”

Dario turned to him as he pinned Maura's arms above her head. “That usually means what you're talking about, right?”

“Cut it out,” Declan replied. “I want to make sure we all know this was no trick of the moon, whether we're talking about the Full Moon, the Half Moon, or the true moon, being the big, round ball in the sky at night. What we're feeling, all three of us, is the real thing.”

“It is for me,” Dario said. “The big question is where do we go from here? I suppose that's the topic you want to focus on.”

“That's right.” Declan got up, then lay down behind Maura, sliding his body against hers. She was still damp from the shower, and it felt wonderful to feel her slippery skin pressed against him. Dario lay down in front, effectively making a Maura sandwich. “Where do we go from here?”

“Are we supposed to have an answer?” She turned as much as she could, putting her head on the mattress and dividing her gaze between the two of them. “I'm still at the Full Moon until Dad gets back, and truthfully, right now I'm still your boss.”

“What, you worried we were fucking you to get a bonus?”

“Dario.” Declan reached over Maura and pushed at his friend. “That was tacky.”

“One of my traits, sometimes good, sometimes bad.” He leaned over and kissed her shoulder. “Sorry.”

For a minute, Declan thought she would tell him to get lost. The Maura he knew always stood up for herself if she was upset, and she seemed that way right now. After a few moments, though, she puckered her lips and then gave him an air kiss. “You're forgiven. This time.”

Dario inclined his head. “I'll remember that. But I'm still the main spanker.”

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“We'll see.” Maura looked back at Declan, and he savored the look she gave him. There was surprise there, and it was obvious to him that she'd expected what they had together to stop after their work with the kiva was done. It hurt to think she thought so little of him, but then again he hadn't given her any reason to think he felt otherwise, so he needed to take a big part of that blame.

But there was also love there, and as she looked back at Dario, the look didn't change. “I don't mind saying this scares me, more than just a little.”

Even though she expressed nervousness, her voice sounded sure, and Declan loved that about her. “It's hard enough to have a relationship between two people, much less with three. We need to make sure that we're all ready for that.”

Declan pulled her closer to him, and Dario moved in too. The arousal he'd felt moments ago started to stir again. “People are never really ready, Maura.”

Behind her, Dario nodded. “If they were, the divorce rate would be much lower than it is right now. We need to go into this knowing that there will be tough times, but we want each other enough to work at it, to keep it going, and to get past our differences and any problems that might pop up.”

Declan's eyes widened. He'd never once heard Dario speak about relationships in that manner. Most of the time he'd only talked about the women in his life in terms of sex. “Well spoken.”

Dario placed his cheek on Maura's, then let his hand move to Declan's arm. The sense of belonging was strong for Declan, and he knew the others felt it too.

“What happens now?” Maura snuggled between them. “My dad is expected back in two weeks, but who knows if he'll want me to stay. And I owe him that.”

“Understandable,” Declan said. “I'm gone from home sometimes, and so is Dario.”

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“I'm wanting assignments closer to home,” Dario put in. “The last one kept me near the border for far too long. I'm ready for some stability.”

“I gave up my apartment,” Maura said softly. “I'd thought about buying at one point, but something always held me back.”

“We'll find a place for the three of us.” Declan ran his hand over her hip, caressing her thigh before moving back up. “We don't have to rush into things and buy yet, but we can find a place to live and to grow together.”

“But what about—” Declan put his finger against her mouth.

“Enough. If we let you, you'd ask 'what happens when' questions all night long. We take it a few steps at a time, and if there's a problem, we discuss it.

Agreed?”

They both looked at him, and it was Dario who first said, “Agreed,”

followed by Maura's whispered, “It sounds too perfect to be true.”

“Nothing's perfect,” Declan said. “But we'll work hard to make sure that it's damn close to it.”

They lay together, their arms wrapped around each other; the silence seemed to be keeping them closer instead of driving a wedge between them. It was Dario who sat up first. Declan watched him stand and stretch, then head toward the bathroom. “If you're lucky, Deck, I might leave you some hot water.

If not, you'll learn to jump toward the shower first.”

The door shut, and Declan lay still, his arms around Maura. “I might need a cold shower after being this close to you.”

She gave him a saucy look that made his stomach tighten in anticipation.

“Maybe we can work something out after Dario is back, and you won't need a cold shower.”

“Don't tease me.” He kissed her gently.

“Never. Well, maybe sometimes, but this isn't one of them. Trust me.”

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Chapter Thirteen

Maura felt as if the world had dawned anew. Not that things were different physically. She was in a car, headed toward the home she'd always known. But she was sitting between two men. Her men. She'd woken up nestled between Dario and Declan, just as she had for the past week. But today it was different.

Today they were a couple. She mentally gave herself a head slap, not a couple, a trio. They were together. They'd spent last night making love, again, and then spent hours discussing sex, food, cooking, sex, entertainment choices, and sex.

They'd also talked about housing, and areas they thought would be the best place to start their new life.

They'd decided to try for a place in the country. Dario had said he knew people who had property for rent, or for possible sale sometime in the future.

They'd all decide that renting was the best possible option, for now. There were too many things to work out about buying that they didn't want to deal with right now.

The plans for now were simple. They would go back to the Full Moon, check the camera to see if any images had been recorded, and then travel to Albuquerque. She was sure Bear would be thrilled to get rid of her for another few days. While they were in Albuquerque they could meet with her father, and she could introduce him to Dario.

He'd already met Declan, years ago, and had always been impressed with her friend. She was sure he would feel the same way about Dario, although she was reluctant to tell him about her starting a relationship with two men.

Since his stroke, his health had been fragile, although it was getting much better. There was a large part of her that worried that if he disagreed with her A Trick of the Moon

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choice, it could send him backward in his recovery, and that would lead to terrible guilt: guilt she wasn't sure she could ever live with.

They'd discussed it last night, and both men had soothed her fears, going so far as to tell her that, if she thought it necessary, they would wait to disclose the extent of their connection. They hadn't made a decision about it, saying it would be best to wait and see what happened when they went to visit her dad in rehab.

They were about five miles away from the turnoff for the Full Moon, and she cleared her throat. The ride had been fairly silent until now. She wanted to continue their discussion from last night, which had been short.

“We need to finish our talk,” she said.

“You tired us out last night,” Dario replied. “And we're still recovering.”

In answer she put her hands in their crotches, running her fingers up and down cocks that seemed semihard to her.

“You don't seem too tired,” she said, shooting both of them an amused grin.

“Watch it, skipper.” Maura wanted to ask him what she was supposed to watch, but Declan interrupted.

“As much fun as it would be to park, I'm eager to get back to the Half Moon, see if the camera recorded anything. Don't you two agree?”

There was a long silence, and then Dario cleared his throat. “Archaeology over sex? That's an interesting turn of events.”

“I'm wanting to solve a mystery,” Declan said. “I'm not talking about taking archaeology over sex, just postponing it for a little while. Plus we'll be back in our tent, unless one night in a bed has spoiled the boss and she wants to stay at the house.”

“No, I'll take the tent.” She definitely wanted the tent, which would be away from everyone. They were going to face things together, but she really had 134

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no desire to have another run-in with Bear. “You shouldn't get too excited about the camera. It may be good equipment, but it's very dark down there.”

Neither of them said anything, and she focused her gaze on Declan. “What am I missing?”

“We didn't exactly leave the camera in the kiva.” Declan's voice was tight, and she wondered exactly what they were hiding. “We left it in the truck that was parked near the tent.”

Her heart dropped. “My truck? So if someone saw something and tried to steal it, they'd break into my truck. No wonder you didn't tell me. When exactly did you do this?”

“Before we left yesterday,” Dario replied. “You were still sleeping, and we talked about it after we woke up.”

“Thanks for telling the boss.” She shot them both glares. “What prompted the change?”

“We decided the camera was easily spotted in the kiva,” Declan said, his voice matter-of-fact. “We did what we thought was necessary.”

“I see.” She clasped her hands in her lap. “You're fired, both of you.”