Is Three A Crowd?
Is Three A Crowd?
Five years ago, land appraiser Maris lost all personal memories after an accident.
Now, she is looking forward to a job in the mountains. Then, the sight of Nathan, the landowner, and his business partner, Blake, triggers a sexual response unlike any other.
Maris soon discovers both men were once her lovers, and she is shocked by their past ménage relationship.
Only finding out the details of her accident will unlock her suppressed memories and allow Maris to come to terms with the freethinking woman she once was. But getting her men to agree to continue their previous three-way relationship may be her most difficult quest.
Genre:
Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length:
67,439 words
IS THREE A CROWD?
Louisa Neil
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
IS THREE A CROWD?
Copyright © 2011 by Louisa Neil
E-book ISBN: 1-61034-224-0
First E-book Publication: March 2011
Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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Is Three A Crowd?
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DEDICATION
For my husband, my erotic muse.
LOUISA NEIL
Copyright © 2011
Prologue
They’d been tempted to bring her home earlier but resisted. Their perpetual state of preoccupation and arousal kept her present in their minds. Through the years, missed opportunities haunted them. This time they’d not make any mistakes, take any risk to lose her again.
After five years, they’d come to terms with the situation. Actually, become friends and respected business partners. Both had heeded her mother’s wishes, not pushing Maris to remember them or the parts they played in her past until she remembered on her own. When her mother passed away, they saw no reason to delay further, especially since they knew she had no other family or love interest.
Their time had come. How they reintroduced themselves would be crucial. Their pact still stood. Whichever man Maris chose to be with, the other would back away to ensure her future happiness. While neither Nathan nor Blake liked the idea, it was the only way they could reason to keep Maris happy. And since that had become their ultimate goal, their plan was set.
Chapter One
Maris was always at ease on the job, but today, something was different. Even her dog, Shin, seemed on alert. Beyond company, she was a great companion and watchdog. If Shin was on guard, something wasn’t right. The dog’s hair stood on her back as she scanned the woods, on alert. Her low growling set the hairs on Maris’s neck to prickle. Only leaves and branches fluttered in the light breeze. Pulling the collar of her denim jacket closed, she shook off the odd feelings, forcing herself back to work. Shin followed, her tail straight, her ears alert, her hackles ruffled.
Usually these jobs in the woods soothed her. She’d been looking forward to this appraisal even though she still wasn’t sure how she got the job. Surely, there were qualified property appraisers closer to the site than her
Manhattan
office, but she wasn’t going to argue when her boss, Ron Conleth, gave her the assignment. Surely, a week in the
Adirondack Mountains
could only improve her mood and hopefully her sleeping habits.
Shin let out a low growling sound beside her, the hairs standing on both their necks a second time. Maris scanned the area, still unable to spot anything near them. Her first thoughts tended towards an animal being surprised by the strange sounds she made in their serene forest. Today, something deep inside told her this wasn’t a deer or even a bear protecting her cubs. Maris was being watched, but by who and why she didn’t know, only this wasn’t an owl peeking from a nest. This felt like a human presence. The skin on her arms prickled with goose bumps, making her rub her arms over the cloth covering them. If there was such a thing as intuition, hers was telling her to get out,
now
.
Shin wasn’t responding to her commands, a virtual first between them. From the day she adopted the three-month-old Jindo puppy of Korean breeding, they’d had an understanding of sorts. Other than general puppy hijinks, Shin was a centered, well-mannered dog. Maris accomplished this with consistent training even when it meant she had to get dressed at four in the morning to walk her. Through the last years they’d found a comfortable routine. Today the dog was distracted and non-responsive to both English and Korean word commands.
“Come, Shin.” A snap of her fingers and the dog acknowledged her voice with a quick head turn but didn’t move.
Glancing at her watch, Maris saw it was just past three. The sun would be setting soon, the fall days losing their light early. An innate feeling told Maris not to be in the woods at night. The hike out took twice as long with Shin circling around her as she walked.
Back at the hotel in
Lake Placid
, Shin was fed and walked. Maris took the time to enjoy the indoor pool for an hour before going back to her room to crunch numbers and plot the next day’s plan over a room service supper. One last short walk with Shin, and they were bedded down for the night.
With the television on low to an all-night news channel, Maris prayed the dreams wouldn’t come tonight. When Shin crept up on the foot of her bed, Maris didn’t shoo her back to the floor as usual.
* * * *
Her wake-up call at
roused her from a sound sleep, something she’d not experienced in a long time. By the time she’d fed Shin and dressed, the dog was waiting by the door for her walk. Breakfast was coffee and a muffin in the truck from the hotel buffet as she drove to the site.
The early light gave her a different perspective on the land. After yesterday’s intimidating episode, she’d been hesitant to come back. Now she felt silly, berating herself silently for fleeing early the day before. The morning went smoothly as she trekked around the huge acreage, checking surveyor’s marks. Near late afternoon, Shin started to get antsy. With her work plan for the day completed, Maris decided to leave early.