A Trick of the Moon

A Trick of the Moon

Melinda Barron

A Trick of the Moon

Copyright © September 2009 by Melinda Barron
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

ISBN 978-1-60737-473-2

Available in PDF, HTML, Microsoft Reader, and Mobi Editor: Maryam Salim

Cover Artist: April Martinez

Printed in the United States of America

Published by

Loose Id LLC

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San Francisco CA 94102-2907

www.loose-id.com

This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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About this Title

Genre:
BBW Multicultural Ménage Suspense BBW Maura Atwell has put away her attorney shoes to run her father's guest ranch while he recovers from a stroke. When what looks to be a Native American kiva is discovered on her father's land, she does what any good attorney would do: she has it investigated.

Archeologist Declan Littlecreek has wanted Maura since they were in college. Knowing sex and friendship don't always mix, he kept things from getting too heavy. Now that Maura is asking for his help in exploring her new find he's all game: and he's ready to explore the attraction between them.

Declan and his best friend, policeman Dario Fuentes, travel to the Full Moon Ranch to see what they can find. While the threesome explores the kiva, they also discover a passion that burns hot between the three of them, binding them together.

Is the passion they feel just a Trick of the Moon, or will their romance carry over into life in the outside world?

Publisher's Note:
This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic
language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal
play/intercourse, ménage (m/f/m).

Chapter One

“The Devil's Highway.” Dario Fuentes glanced out the window at the barren land surrounding them. “Are you sure you're not taking me to meet someone evil? This is Highway 666, you know.”

“Not anymore. Technically it's now Highway 491. The name was changed several years ago.” Declan Littlecreek hazarded a glance away from the long stretch of highway and glanced at his friend. “You have been out of touch for a while if you didn't know about the name change. And you call yourself a New Mexican. We should have you deported to New York.”

“I always thought 666 worked for this road, since it's more than a little desolate, like I imagine hell would be. What have we seen for the last twenty miles? Nothing but cactus, yucca, some snakes. I'm sure if I had a magnifying glass, I'd see a scorpion or two, or more. It may be 491 now, but it was 666 for many years. The mark of the beast, remember? What sort of woman are you taking me to?”

“Trust me, Maura's not a devil. She's a true friend who needs some help.”

Declan veered to the other side of the road to avoid hitting a snake as it slithered across the asphalt. “Besides, you're the one who said he was bored.

Maybe you need a little trip to the dark side.”

Dario tried not to laugh. “Lay this out for me once more.”

“It's been more than once.” Declan readjusted his posture and took a sip from a fast-food cup, grimacing at the taste. “Maura and I went to school together, at UNM, but she grew up out here, near Shiprock. Her father owns a dude ranch, taking out hikers and rock climbers and the like. He suffered a stroke about six months ago, and Maura, being the dutiful, and only, daughter, 2

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took a sabbatical from her job as a lawyer to stay with him. He's well enough to be in a rehabilitation center in Albuquerque, and she's running the place on her own while he's gone.”

There was a pregnant pause, and then Dario cleared his throat. “Tell me why she needs an archeologist and a cop.”

“She didn't call for the cop, only the archeologist.” Declan glanced over at him. “You're here because I thought you might enjoy the ride. Remember, you said you were bored?”

“Yeah, I remember that from the first time you brought it up, five seconds ago,” Dario said with a laugh. He glanced back out the window and took a long drag from his water bottle. Despite the fact it was a desert, this stretch of road was really pretty, if desolate. They hadn't seen but two cars in the last fifteen minutes, both of those heading toward Gallup, where the two of them had left more than an hour ago.

“So, did you two”—Dario punched his fist out in front of him several times—“you know, ride the hobbyhorse together?”

“No, unfortunately.”

“How come?” Dario could practically see the wheels turning in Declan's mind as he contemplated his answer. He wondered if his friend was trying to give him the truth, or think up an answer that wouldn't bruise his ego. Maybe he'd tried and she'd turned him down. If so, that could make this trip very awkward.

“It was never the right time, you know. The attraction is there, always has been. But things always seemed to get in the way.”

“What kind of things?” Dario took another swig from his bottle. After Declan didn't answer, he snorted. “Turned you down flat, did she?”

“No, she didn't.” Declan's grip on the wheel tightened. “It just never happened. Hey, I was…younger then.”

A Trick of the Moon

3

“No love skills, huh?” Dario laughed at the angry noise that came from Declan's side of the SUV. “Maybe she'll appreciate the attentions of a handsome Hispanic cop rather than a… What the hell are you, anyway?”

“Don't make me pull this car over.” Declan kept his gaze on the road. “I'm half-Irish, half-Native American, and you know it. I'm the best of two worlds, while you've only got one going for you.”

They both laughed, and Declan grimaced as he took another sip from his cup. “We're stopping at the next available place; this is nasty.”

“Way to change the subject. Did you bring me along to lighten the tension just in case you hit on her and it goes south?”

“No, I didn't.” Declan glared at him.

Dario studied his friend carefully, then waited for him to speak. When that didn't happen, he asked, “What sort of trouble are we looking at right now?”

“Maura helps guide trail rides, and on the last one she took out toward some rock formation, one of her guests came across an opening in the ground.

Maura said she didn't let him go down, but when she peered into it, it looked like a
kiva
. Check my directions, will ya? I don't think we turn until after Shiprock, but I want to make sure.”

Dario took the sheet of paper Declan offered him. “After we go through Shiprock, turn right when you see the sign for Full Moon Ranch. It's about fifteen miles past that. Remind me again what a kiva is.”

“An underground room used for religious gatherings or rituals.”

“I see said the blind man.” Dario stretched out his legs. “If she's found ruins on her land, shouldn't she call the government? Stuff like that is protected under law, isn't it?”

“Yes, it is. But she wants to see what she's got before she calls in someone who tells her it might be nothing.”

Declan stayed quiet and Dario focused his gaze on him. “What else aren't you telling me?”

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Declan cleared his throat. “After she'd taken her charges back to the ranch, she went out on her own. She didn't have a ladder to go down inside, but she brought a bright flashlight with her. She said there were signs the structure was being used. It smelled like sage, and the ashes from the fire looked as if they were new.”

“That's interesting. Who would be using it?”

“That's the million-dollar question.” Declan tapped the brakes to slow down behind an ancient truck that crept along in front of them. Declan weaved into the other lane before pulling back behind it. “Can't see far enough ahead to tell if anyone's coming. I'll pass him after the next hill.”

“If anyone's coming? There hasn't been a car coming the other way in quite some time. I'm sure we're fine.”

“Better safe than sorry, as the old saying goes.”

“That explains it.”

They topped the hill and Declan pulled around the other vehicle. “Explains what?”

“Why you and Maura never got together.”

Declan's look conveyed his confusion.

“It's the 'better safe than sorry' attitude,” Dario explained. “You had chances to be with her, didn't you?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“It wasn't just perfect so you didn't go for it.”

“I should have left you at home.”

“Get pissed, but it's true. You have to have everything just perfect, and sometimes it's not like that. One of those times when the two of you were in school together, you should have grabbed her and laid one on her, and then you should have let nature take its course. Instead you thought it through and tried to decide which would be the best way to kiss her, or try to get her into bed. By the time you were done working through your logic, school was out, A Trick of the Moon

5

she had a job, you had a job and then bam—here she is, in the middle of the desert.”

A strained silence filled the car. Dario could practically see the wheels turning inside Declan's mind as he thought of something to say.

“Listen, you've been out of school for six years, and it's obvious you still think about her. And when she was in trouble, you were the first person she thought about. If the opportunity comes up this time, don't think. Do.”