by Becca Van
“Sapphira, that’s my brother Kael. He came out to help me get you back to our house. One of my other brothers, Kai, whom you’ll meet in a moment, drove your car back here. Why don’t we go inside and get you comfortable?”
“I don’t…”
Ryan didn’t let her finish what she was about to say. “I couldn’t leave you out in your car on the side of the road, honey. You fell asleep while you were talking to me. I didn’t want you waking up and driving away only to have an accident down the road if you suddenly fell asleep again. I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt. It’s my job to heal and protect people.”
“Thank you, Dr. Sinclair,” Sapphira said in a voice husky with emotion.
“It’s Ryan or Ry, honey. Come on, let’s get you inside.” Ryan took her hand and led her into the house. Even though he was going to do everything he could to work out what was going on with Sapphira, he was going to refer her to Dr. Cliff Wright because he couldn’t be her doctor when he had a conflict of interest. Ryan was very attracted to Sapphira and his ethics wouldn’t allow him to treat someone he had the hots for.
When he got into the kitchen, Kai was already there with Kadan. His two brothers had already started clearing the mess away from the dinner he never got to have. His brothers turned to stare hungrily at the six-foot tall, beautiful woman and Ry just hoped that she couldn’t see that they were lusting after her. The last thing he wanted was for his brothers to move in and scare her with their aggressive tendencies, especially Kael. Although Kael was the only one of the triplets that didn’t show what he was feeling in his eyes or expression, it was only because Ryan knew his brothers so well that he could read the desire in their eyes. At least he hoped that he was the only one. Sapphira didn’t need to deal with his brothers along with whatever else was going on with her.
“Sapphira, these are my other brothers, Kai and Kadan. Guys, this is Sapphira Dixon.”
Ryan could describe the expression on Sapphira’s face as shell-shocked. She looked from Kai to Kadan and behind her to Kael. Kael mustn’t have wanted her to strain herself too much since she wasn’t well and moved around him and Sapphira to stand next to his brothers.
“Oh my God. You three look exactly the same,” she whispered, then covered her mouth as if she’d said something wrong. Her cheeks turned a becoming shade of pink and she looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry, that was very rude of me.”
Kael took the couple of steps that brought him close and then he nudged her chin up so she was looking in his eyes. What happened next absolutely floored Ryan. The beginning of a grin tilted Kael’s lips up and then he broke out into a full smile. Kael never smiled. Never.
“But the truth.” Kael chuckled and then he released her and stepped away. “Why don’t you show Sapphira to one of the guest bedrooms so she can get settled?”
“Oh, but I…”
Ryan grabbed her hand again and gave a slight tug, and then he led her out of the kitchen, through the living room and toward the other end of the house. “No arguing, Sapphira. Until we know what is going on with you, you’ll be staying here. Do you need to call anyone?”
“No.” She sighed.
Ryan glanced back over his shoulder and the sadness he saw in her expression broke his heart. He would have loved to ask why she looked so forlorn but he’d only just met her and didn’t want to make her feel like he was giving her the third degree. After showing her the bedroom and the connecting bathroom, she seemed to relax a little. It was as if she was resigned to staying when she really didn’t want to.
He left to go and get her luggage from her car, and when he came back with her suitcase, she was curled up on the bed sound asleep. He put her case close to the closet and after closing the door partway, went out to talk to his brothers and have his much-awaited dinner, his stomach growling with every step he took.
Ryan had a feeling their life was about to change and hoped that his hard-arse brothers didn’t do or say anything to fuck things up.
Chapter Two
Kai pounced as soon as Ryan walked in the door of the kitchen, much to Kael’s amusement. “Where is she from? Where is she going? Does she have any family or a boyfriend? Is she single?”
“Whoa, Kai.” Kael cut in before Kai could ask another question. “Give the man a chance. Let him get his dinner before you start the twenty questions again.”
Even though Kael was just as eager to hear the answers to those questions, he could hear Ryan’s growling stomach and decided his younger brother would be more compliant once he had a full belly. After Ry heated up his steak and then added salad to his plate, Kael snagged four beers from the fridge and passed them around. They sat in companionable silence as they let Ryan eat his food, but Kai and Kadan watched every move Ryan made. As soon as Ry pushed his empty plate away with a satisfied sigh, Kael held up his hand to stop another barrage of questions.
“Is Sapphira all right and has she had anything to eat?”
Ryan took a sip of his beer before he met Kael’s gaze. “I don’t know if she’s eaten and I couldn’t ask her. When I came back in from getting her luggage, she was curled up on the bed sound asleep.”
Kael frowned. “You have any idea what’s wrong with her?”
“It’s on the tip of my tongue or in the forefront of my mind, but I haven’t quite got it yet. It won’t be long before I twig what is going on with her.”
“Well, that’s good.” Kadan drained the rest of his beer. “Once you’ve figured out what is wrong, you can treat her.”
Ry shook his head and met each of his brother’s eyes when they frowned at him.
“Why not?” Kai snapped.
“I have a conflict of interest and it wouldn’t be ethical for me to be her doctor.”
Kael sat up straighter in his chair, pinned him with his gaze, and asked the question he already thought he knew the answer to. “What conflict of interest?”
“I’m attracted to her,” Ryan said quietly.
“Shit. So am I.” Kai scrubbed a hand over his face and groaned.
Kadan punched Kai on the shoulder. “You’re not the only one, bro.”
“No, you’re not,” Kael said in a firm voice.
“Well, fuck,” Ryan practically spat. “What the hell… You guys need to back off. You can get any woman you want. You’re not getting this one.”
“Now wait just a goddamn minute, little bro,” Kadan snarled.
“Stop it!” Kael stepped in before his brothers could start arguing in earnest. “There’s nothing to say we can’t all have her.”
“What are you suggesting?” Ryan asked, but from the look on his face he already knew the answer.
Kael just looked at him steadily. Ry scrubbed a hand over his face and then looked at Kai and Kadan, who were grinning. Kael could see the gleam in their eyes and knew they were on board without having to ask. He, Kai, and Kadan didn’t always need to speak. Since they were triplets, they had a special link and often knew what the other was thinking. They didn’t have ESP or anything like that, but since they spent all their time together, they knew each other like the back of their own hands.
“This town has a lot of ménage relationships living here already. I don’t see why we can’t do the same.” Kael held up his hand again before Kai or Kadan could speak. “Don’t go getting too excited. We don’t know anything about her. For all we know, she could be married.”
He met Ryan’s gaze. “What about you, little bro, are you willing to share her if she agrees to it?”
Ryan sighed. “We don’t even know if she has a boyfriend.”
“She doesn’t wear a ring and there’s no indent on her ring finger,” Kadan said.
Kael couldn’t help but smile. “Noticed that, too, did you?”
Kadan and Kai nodded enthusiastically. Ryan glared at them and then got up to rinse his dishes and put them in the dishwasher. He turned back to face them. “She’s off-limits until I know what’s wrong with her. She’s probably alrea
dy feeling scared and vulnerable. I don’t want any of you adding to her stress. Understood?”
Kael nodded and then prodded his brothers to get their agreement as well. Kai and Kadan both gave a nod, albeit reluctantly.
“Good.” Ryan headed to the living room. Kael, Kai, and Kadan followed behind. He turned the TV on and flicked through the channels until he found a replay of an Australian Football League game showing and settled back to watch. AFL games were played out over winter and the Grand Final was always played in the last weeks of September. Aussies loved their footy and barracking for their teams. Kael and his brothers were no different. They all settled on the sofa to watch the game play out and didn’t mind one little bit that they had seen it before. Just as the siren sounded to end the game, Kael heard a sigh and looked toward the hallway.
Sapphira was standing there looking a little nervous as she shifted from foot to foot wringing her hands, and even though he wanted to get up and go to her, he was too spellbound to move. She was fucking gorgeous with her beautiful face and creamy white skin. Sapphira Dixon was tall for a woman, standing at around six feet tall. She was slim, with dips and valleys, and he wanted to run his hands up and down her body to trace those sexy, feminine curves. Her breasts weren’t big but they would be a good handful, and her hips were nicely rounded, yet trim. And those legs, damn did they go on forever. He could just imagine pumping his dick into her tight, hot pussy with those long legs wrapped around his waist.
Finally he was able to get his body to obey his brain and he got up from the sofa and walked over to her.
“How are you feeling, Sapphira?”
“I’m okay.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
She didn’t answer him but shrugged her shoulders. Kael slowly reached out in case any sudden moves he made frightened her, and he took her hand in his. The heat that traveled up his arm and then shot down to his dick confirmed to him that Sapphira Dixon was indeed the woman meant for him. Kael had never reacted to a woman like that, or so instantly, before and he knew she was someone special. If she hadn’t been unwell, he may very well have put the moves on her there and then, but then he mentally shook his head because he realized that wasn’t the case. He wanted to cosset and cherish her and he’d never wanted to do that with a woman before. Kael was going to take things slow with this woman because she was definitely worth courting properly. Hopefully, he and his three brothers could get her into a relationship with them.
Kael led her into the kitchen and pulled a stool out at the counter. After seeing her seated, he moved back around the bench to get her something to eat. His brothers hadn’t cooked enough for there to be any leftovers but there was always lots of food to be found in their kitchen. He got out some ham, lettuce, tomato, and cheese as well as some bread. When he placed the ingredients on the counter, he looked up to find Sapphira watching him. Movement near the doorway caught his eye and he saw all three of his brothers crowded around and in the doorway, watching their stunning guest.
“Is this okay?” Kael asked, giving her his attention again.
“Yes thanks.” She must have seen his brothers, too, because she half turned to face them. “I want to thank you, Ryan, thank all of you for helping me out. I really appreciate your generosity.”
Ryan pushed his way through Kadan and Kai and then took the stool next to her. Kai and Kadan then moved further into the room and sat down at the large dining table.
“Can I ask you a few questions, Sapphira? I want to try and work out what’s going on with you.”
She nodded and then looked over at Kai and Kadan and then to Kael.
“If you want to talk to me in private, we can do that.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s okay. I don’t have anything to hide.”
Ryan smiled and then began to ask his questions. “How long have you been feeling so tired?”
“Um, just the last couple of months. It’s weird because I’ve never had trouble sleeping before but now I find I’m wide awake for most of the night and I’m falling asleep at the drop of a hat through the day.”
“Have you had any muscle paralysis while falling asleep or on waking?”
Sapphira bit her lip and nodded.
“Okay.” Ryan reached out and covered the hand she had resting on the counter.
Kael finished making her sandwiches and placed them on a plate then pushed them toward her.
“Thanks, Kael.” Sapphira picked up half a sandwich and took a bite and moaned with appreciation as she chewed.
Kael shifted from one foot to the other, trying to surreptitiously ease the ache in his cock. It didn’t help. When he looked over at Kadan and Kai, they were watching Sapphira with hungry, rapt attention, and from the way they both adjusted their cocks in their jeans they were just as turned on by the sounds she was making as he was.
Kael cleared his throat before speaking, in case it came out sounding hoarse with his desire. “Do you have any idea what’s wrong?”
“Yeah, I do, but I won’t be sure until I can send her to see Doc Wright for some tests.”
“Why can’t you do them? You said you were a doctor, didn’t you?”
“Um…” Kael could tell Ry was searching for a way to answer without giving anything away and quickly stepped in to answer for his brother.
“Doc Wright is older and has more experience with this sort of thing.”
Ry gave him an appreciative relieved glance before taking over. “Yes, that’s correct. Doc Wright has more experience with diagnosing sleep disorders.”
“That’s what you think I have? A sleep disorder?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“But as far as I know, there is no history of mental illness in my family.”
“What I think you have isn’t caused by mental disease. If I’m right then you probably have a deficiency of the chemical hypocretin in the brain. When you fall asleep during the day, do you go into a deep sleep straight away?”
“I think so, but I can’t be sure because I’m asleep.” Sapphira gave Ryan a chagrined smile.
“Well when you fell asleep on me earlier your eyes started moving rapidly beneath your eyelids pretty much instantly.”
“What does that mean?” she asked before taking another bite of her sandwich.
“Most people take thirty to ninety minutes to go in the REM cycle of sleep, but someone with narcolepsy hits that cycle almost straight away.”
“Is that what you think I have?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Shit. I’ve heard of that. Isn’t that where people fall asleep without any warning?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Can it be treated?” Kael asked, very concerned over hearing what Ryan’s possible diagnosis was. The last thing he wanted was for Sapphira to leave only to get hurt because she couldn’t stay awake. An ache formed over his chest and even though he wanted to rub the spot over his heart, he didn’t. He looked over at Kai and Kadan and saw that his brothers were also frowning with concern.
“Can it be treated?” Sapphira was looking a little frightened.
Kael walked around the counter and sat on the stool on the other side of her. He rubbed a hand up and down her back, trying to offer her comfort, and was glad when she didn’t try to move away. In fact, she leaned into his touch slightly and from the way her knuckles had turned white, she was gripping Ryan’s hand hard.
“There’s no known cure,” Ryan began to explain, “but it can be controlled. The patient can be given amphetamine-like stimulants, which can help with the sleepiness throughout the day. There’s also a new drug on the market called Xyrem, which allows the sufferer to sleep better during the night, and symptoms of abnormal REM sleep can be treated with antidepressants.
“But the best way to treat narcolepsy is lifestyle change, such as avoiding caffeine and alcohol and heavy meals. Light, regular meals will help reduce tiredness, and scheduled nap times of ten to fifteen minute intervals can also help so
the patient doesn’t just drop off to sleep. A normal exercise routine can also help reduce the symptoms.”
“You said that narcolepsy isn’t a mental illness, so why treat it with antidepressants?”
“It’s not a mental illness, honey, but the serotonin in the medication can help reduce the sleepiness.”
“Shit, this is all a lot to take in. I don’t think I want to take…”
“Try not to worry too much, Sapphira, we don’t know for sure if you even have narcolepsy yet.”
“If I was your patient, would narcolepsy be your diagnosis?”
Ryan scrubbed a hand over his face, looked at Kael and then back at Sapphira. Kael held his breath while he waited for his brother to answer.
“Yes.”
Chapter Three
Sapphira felt like she’d been hit in the head with a two-by-four. How in the hell was she supposed to live a normal life with narcolepsy? She had been on her way to the small Victorian town of Castlemaine to apply for a job in a vet clinic as a receptionist, and after hopefully getting an interview, she was going to scout around for an apartment. But now it seemed all her plans had been blown to hell and she had no idea what to do. Maybe there was an upside since she hadn’t actually sent in her resume or called for an appointment for an interview, but at the moment, as far as she could see, that was the only one.
She was only twenty-four and had her whole life ahead of her. Sapphira had been looking forward to moving on to a small country town since she had become fed up with living in a large city. Melbourne was so damn busy all the time and the hustle and bustle of fast city living had begun to grate on her nerves.
When her grandmother had died four years ago, it had been really hard to move out of their small townhouse, but that place had been so full of memories and heartaches, Sapphira hadn’t wanted to renew the lease when it had come up. She was thankful her grandma had taken her in when her parents had been killed by a drunk driver, but she had been too young to even remember her mum and dad. Her grandma had been like an avenging angel, swooping in and picking her up from her kindergarten. For some reason that moment was forever etched in her mind, but she wanted to be able to remember her parents as well. Maybe the shock of such a tragedy had blocked her memories of her parents. Hopefully one day they would come back, but maybe she had been too young to sustain those memories.
