Passion, Victoria 8: Hidden Emotions (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Passion, Victoria 8: Hidden Emotions

  Dr. Ryan Sinclair knows as soon as he sees the unconscious Sapphira Dixon that he could easily fall in love with her, and when his triplet brothers Kael, Kadan, and Kai see the gorgeous six-foot-tall woman they want her too.

  Since Ryan is attracted to her, he can’t and won’t treat her as his patient but takes her to see one of his work colleagues. Sapphira is diagnosed with the sleep disorder narcolepsy and cataplexy, and Ryan and his brothers are determined to help her learn to control her disorder as well court her into their beds and hearts.

  The five people have to overcome hidden emotions and insecurities before they can move forward into an open, loving relationship, and just as it looks like their feelings are deepening, danger comes calling. Will Kael, Kadan, Kai, and Ryan be able to save their woman, or will she succumb to the narcolepsy and be lost to them forever?

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 38,128 words

  PASSION, VICTORIA 8:

  HIDDEN EMOTIONS

  Becca Van

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  visit www.dpgroup.org for more books

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

  [email protected]

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  PASSION, VICTORIA 8: HIDDEN EMOTIONS

  Copyright © 2014 by Becca Van

  First E-book Publication: January 2014

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  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

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Passion, Victoria 8: Hidden Emotions by Becca Van from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Becca Van’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Van’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  About the Author

  PASSION, VICTORIA 8: HIDDEN EMOTIONS

  BECCA VAN

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  Ryan Sinclair was a little different from his brothers. Apart from the fact that his name didn’t start with a K like his triplet brothers, Kai, Kadan, and Kael, he was also considered a nerd whereas his older siblings were warrior-type men. They had all served in the Army, had just retired from service, and were now in the process of setting up an IT and security firm in the small town of Passion. Ryan was glad that his brothers were safe and sound back home after serving their country, but they had become so cold and hard he wondered if they had any emotions left. It was a good thing they had found how to utilize the skills they had learned while serving in the forces and could now use those skills in the normal civilian world. He’d been worried that his brothers would spend the rest of their lives in the Army and end up getting killed.

  Ryan thought it a little ironic that they had dubbed him a nerd just because he liked to read a lot and had always done his homework while studying to get his medical degree, since his brother were always the ones clicking away at computers and laptops. But he didn’t mind. He knew it was their way of being affectionate to him. Plus he had been kind of small, thin, and gangly when he’d been a kid, but now that he had matured, he had developed some muscle and he wasn’t in any way self-conscious about his body. He stood a respectable inch over six feet and even though he wasn’t bulging with muscle like his brothers, he was fit and ripped in a rangy way. Not everyone could be built like a linebacker or a wrestler. The only thing that pissed him off about his brothers was the way women seemed to fall all over themselves to get his siblings’ attention.

  His brothers had no trouble hooking up with the opposite sex but as much as he envied them that, he was also glad women didn’t flock to him like bees to honey. He didn’t want to spend his time hooking up with easy lays like his brothers had when they were younger. Ryan wanted to find that one special woman and settle down with her. He wasn’t getting any younger and was hankering to start a family. But he’d noticed that his brothers weren’t interested in being with women since they had been back home and he wondered if they too were sick of meaningless sex. Maybe establishing their business was their priority now. Or maybe they wanted women they could love and wake up with every day, too.

  Ryan sighed with tiredness as he waved his receptionist good-bye and locked up the clinic. He loved working in a small-town practice and forming friendships with his patients, and if someone called him out in the middle of the night, he didn’t hesitate to go out and see whoever needed him. If he’d still been working in the city that would never have happened. If there was an emergency the patient had to either go to the hospital or call 000 for an ambulance.

  The country was so much more laid back than the city and Ryan loved being able to take care of the people of this town. His clinic wasn’t the only one, which suited him fine because the population of Passion and the surrounding area was approximately ten thousand people and there was no way i
n hell he could care for everyone.

  Ryan got into his SUV and headed home. He’d been living in the one room apartment at the back of the clinic but when his brothers had finished their time in the forces, they had asked him if he wanted to buy a house with them. Ry hadn’t hesitated. In fact, he’d jumped at the chance. Now he was lucky enough to be part owner of a plot of land, which was four acres in size, and with a huge house planted in the middle. The house had six bedrooms, three bathrooms, as well as two studies, a massive living room, and a huge gourmet kitchen with all new, stainless steel appliances, as well as a granite bench top. The dining area was also big and the Merbua timber dining table was large enough to seat ten or more since it was an extendable table.

  Ryan loved going home after a hard day and then sitting out on the wraparound verandah to unwind with a beer and talk to his brothers. There was nothing like the peace and quiet of the country and listening to the music the birds made when they were chirping. The Rosella Parrots were beautiful to watch as they pecked for seed on the lawn out back, their vibrant red and blue and red and green colors always held him in awe. And he loved the sounds the kookaburras made as they sat in among the branches of the gum trees and laughed it up. As far as he knew, there was no other species of bird in any other country like the King Fisher family. Kookaburras were great for keeping the snakes down when it was hot enough to bring them out.

  Ryan slowed his SUV and turned onto the drive. After parking his car in the six-car garage, he got out and headed inside. His brothers were already home but that wasn’t unusual, as he kept seeing patients right up to six o’clock and beyond. If someone needed to see him, then he didn’t say no. Ryan figured if his patients were sick enough to call, the least he could do was fit them in, even if it meant working after his normal scheduled hours.

  Kai and Kadan were working in the kitchen putting a meal together and Ryan figured that Kael was in the study catching up on paperwork. Kael was the oldest of his triplet brothers and a real control freak. He was always working and hardly ever seemed to have any downtime anymore. Thank God Kai and Kadan could cook because even though their mum had tried to teach all of them that skill, Kael and Ryan had never been able to catch on. In a way, he and Kael were very similar in personality, but also polar opposites in others. Ryan liked to be organized and worked a lot, but he wasn’t a control freak like Kael.

  “Busy day?” Kai asked as Ry snagged a beer from the fridge and then sat on a stool on the opposite side of the counter.

  “Yeah, how about you lot?”

  “We’re flat out.” Kadan began to get plates out to set the table.

  Ryan took a sip of beer and just as he was about to offer to get the cutlery or silverware out, his mobile phone rang. “Shit.” As much as he liked helping people sometimes being the only person in a practice and on call twenty-four seven really sucked. “Ryan Sinclair.”

  “Doc, its Noah Beech. I’ve got a woman passed out in her car on the side of the road just on the outskirts of town, ten minutes south of your place. Can you come check her out?”

  “Sure, be there in ten.” Ryan hung up, looked at the food longingly then started toward the garage. “Save me some will ya?”

  “Will do,” Kadan yelled.

  Ten minutes later Ryan pulled over onto the shoulder of the country road behind Police Sargent Noah Beech’s patrol car.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” Ryan asked as he peered in the open door of the small car.

  “No,” Noah sighed and stepped aside so Ryan could assess the woman, “but whatever it is it can’t be good. I’ve tried waking her but she doesn’t respond.”

  “Shit.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  Ryan sucked in a breath of awe when he saw the woman’s face. She was fucking gorgeous with her just-longer-than-shoulder-length dark brown hair and perfectly sexy body. She had the longest legs he’d ever seen and the sexiest, curvy but slim body. He reached in for her wrist, took her pulse, and was pleased to find it strong and steady. Ryan checked her temperature by touching his palm to her forehead and again found nothing wrong. He gently clasped her shoulder and lightly shook her.

  “Ma’am, wake up.” She came awake with a gasp for breath and he found himself looking into the most beautiful gray-blue eyes he’d ever seen. “Are you all right, ma’am?”

  “What…Where am I? Who are you?”

  She tried to get out of the car but Ryan pressed against her shoulder to stop her. “I’m Doctor Ryan Sinclair, ma’am, and the man behind me is Sargent Noah Beech. Noah found you here on the side of the road and when he couldn’t wake you up, he called me to come and check you out. Are you feeling all right?”

  “Um…”

  “Do you have a headache or feel pain anywhere?”

  “No,” she answered, but sounded uncertain.

  “Do you have any medical conditions?”

  She looked away and then met his eyes again. “Not that I’m aware of.”

  Noah moved forward so she could see him. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” the woman sighed but it was a sigh of aggravation and stress and Ryan thought there was more going on with her than she was admitting.

  “Why did you stop on the side of the road, Ms…” Noah was looking at her as if he thought something was wrong, too.

  “Sapphira Dixon.”

  Ryan thought her name suited her. It was as unusual and as exotic as she looked.

  “I became tired all of a sudden and could hardly keep my eyes open. I thought it best to pull over and have a nap rather than endanger myself or anyone else on the road.”

  “Now, that was smart,” Noah said and stepped back. “I need to get back to the station. I’ll leave you to deal with the young lady, Ryan.”

  “Sure, have a good night,” Ryan called and received a wave from Noah.

  The summer light was beginning to wane and Ryan was having trouble seeing properly, but he didn’t like how pale Sapphira looked and asked yet again. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

  “I’m just really tired for some reas…” Sapphira didn’t get to complete her sentence because all of a sudden she was fast asleep again.

  Ryan had a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that he knew what was wrong with her but hadn’t quite put his finger on it yet, but her dropping off to sleep mid-sentence wasn’t good. He unclipped his mobile phone from his belt and pushed speed dial one. Kael answered a moment later.

  “What’s up?”

  “I need you to get Kadan or Kai to drive you out to the main road ten minutes south from home. I have a woman that keeps falling asleep parked on the side of the road and until I know what’s going on with her I don’t want her driving anywhere. I want her to stay with us until I can figure out what’s wrong and I need to get her car back to our place.”

  “See you in ten.” Kael disconnected the call.

  Ryan had never been so glad to be living in the same house with his brothers again. He could always rely on them to help him out when he needed it.

  Kael was as good as his word. Eleven minutes later Kai pulled up in his ute and Kael was in the passenger seat. Ryan reached in and picked Sapphira up in his arms just as Kael and Kai walked up to her car, and he heard their drawn breaths when they saw her gorgeous face.

  “Jesus, she’s a sex goddess,” Kai said in a raspy voice.

  Even though Ryan was an inch over six feet and strong, he thought he would have trouble lifting and holding Sapphira in his arms and guessed she had to be nearly as tall as he was. And though she was tall, she wasn’t as heavy as he thought she’d be. She was still a good weight in his arms for all her slim litheness, but not enough to be a burden or make it hard for him to carry her. He turned toward Kai’s truck with every intention of putting her in the backseat but Kael walked up and took her from his arms. He’d never been so thankful that his brothers were such big, brawny bastards because she wasn’t little, but rather an Amazon of gorgeous femininity, an
d if they had been smaller men, none of them would have been able to lift her.

  “Kai, don’t talk too much, she could wake up and hear what you’re saying. We don’t want her to take exception and for her to get mad. I need her to stay calm until I can work out what’s wrong with her.”

  “Yeah, okay. You know I didn’t mean anything…”

  “I know, bro, but she doesn’t know us and if she heard you she might just take exception.”

  “Let’s get her to our place. Kai, you drive her car and I’ll drive the truck. See you at home, Ry.” Kael gently placed Sapphira on the back seat of the truck, closed the door, and got in behind the wheel.

  Ryan hurried over to his SUV, climbed into the driver’s seat, buckled up, and started the car. He followed Kael in his car and Kai followed him in Sapphira’s car. When he got home, he was going to have to remember to tell his brothers their guest’s name.

  Ryan pulled into the garage after Kael parked Kai’s dual cab, four-wheel drive ute. Just as he got out of his SUV, Sapphira sat up and looked around her with bewilderment and blinked. He skirted the truck and opened the door before Kael could.

  “Where am I? What happened?” Sapphira asked with a hitch of emotion in her voice.

  “It’s okay, honey, don’t panic.” Ryan held out his hand to her and she reached out and clutched it with hers. He helped her out of the truck and steadied her on her feet when she wobbled. Kael walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, as if he, too, was worried she would fall down, and she jumped before looking over her shoulder. Ryan shifted slightly to the side so he could see her face, and when she looked up to meet Kael’s eyes, her eyes widened with what looked like shock. She drew a ragged breath and then turned back to face him.