Neptune’s Passion

by Cameron Allie

  Hot Greek male looking for roommate for tropical vacation. Must be female. Must be sexy brunette, with a passion for reading. Must be Natalie Donovan.

  When Griff asked her whether, to cut costs, she’d like to room with him at their friends’ wedding, Natalie should have said no. But now as they sip margaritas on a white sand beach, Natalie finds flirting with her long time crush a little too easy. And finds sleeping next to him, night after night, to be too much temptation.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Neptune’s Passion

  Copyright © 2017 Cameron Allie

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-1097-1

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

  Look for us online at:

  www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com

  Neptune’s Passion

  By

  Cameron Allie

  Dedication

  To Cathy and Loreta,

  The crazy ladies I was working with during the year I wrote what would eventually be my first published novel. Despite the work part, I had a blast spending time with you. Thank you for your support and friendship.

  Chapter One

  Natalie now knew what an utter mistake she’d made by agreeing to room with Griff.

  Over the top of her book, she watched him walk out of the pool at the resort. Water cascaded down his body, shimmering in the sunlight as it trickled down his abs. His biceps swelled when he reached up to smooth wet hair out of his eyes. If touched, Natalie expected those circular bumps would have absolutely no give.

  Smiling at her, he stretched out on the neighbouring lounge chair. He didn’t bother to use the towel he’d left hanging on the back. Instead, he let the hot sun evaporate the clingy droplets. Raising one arm, he used that impressive bicep to cushion his head. In a state of relaxed bliss, he closed his eyes.

  Natalie’s heart skipped a beat. The masculine tuft of hair beneath his arm curled from lingering moisture. Retaining some of the chlorinated water, the hair on his forearms and legs was plastered to his skin. On his smooth chest, the only place water had pooled was beneath the gold cross pendant that sat between his pecs.

  Forcing her attention back to the book, she attempted to make sense of the words on the page, but with her mind turned to mush she ended up reading the same sentence over and over.

  “You should join me.”

  “What do you mean?” Considering they were sharing a room at the resort, they’d spent much of the last few days together.

  “In the pool.” Opening his eyes, he focused his bright blue gaze at her. “We’ve been here two days already, and I’ve yet to see you get into the water. In the ocean or the pool.” He eyed her outfit. “Ditch the cover-up and join me.”

  Their group of friends had flown down to the Bahamas to celebrate Sabrina and Mark’s wedding. Between family, friends, and significant others, they totalled sixteen. They would spend one week enjoying the sand and surf, watch their friends get married, and then fly home again, leaving Sabrina and Mark to revel in a second week at the resort, for their honeymoon.

  “I’m plain Jane remember?” Natalie shook her book. In high school, they’d all teased her for being a bookworm. “It’ll take a lot of coercion to get me into the water.”

  “Nat, you’re anything but plain.” The way Griff looked at her, as though he was mentally undressing her, made her shiver. “I think I’m up to that challenge.” He looked toward the bar. “In the meantime, how about a drink? My treat.”

  Because the resort was all inclusive, she laughed.

  Coming from an abusive, alcoholic family, Natalie didn’t often overindulge, but one drink might prove a nice distraction, so she agreed.

  “What do you drink?”

  Besides the occasional glass of wine, she didn’t know much about alcohol. She shrugged. “Something fruity, maybe?”

  He swung his long legs over the side of the lounger, resting his bare feet on the patio slabs. “Something fruity coming up.”

  Natalie admired the swimming trunks he wore, a silhouetted palm tree down one side cast in the glow of a deep red sunset. She snorted. Sure, it was the bathing suit she was admiring.

  Putting her nose back between the pages of her book, she again tried to focus on the story, but her brain wouldn’t cooperate.

  Six months earlier, Griff had come into the coffee shop where she worked. He’d asked her whether as a way to cut costs, she’d like to share a room when they went to the wedding. She should have said no.

  She’d had a major crush on him since they were in high school. Each time he posted a picture on Facebook of his latest adventure—touring Europe, building houses in Chile, or swimming with great white sharks off the coast of Australia—she’d pictured herself right there with him, exploring new places and indulging in his wonderful body.

  But having lived in foster homes as a teenager, adventure for her came in the form of paying her way through university and being able to afford her own apartment. The biggest risk she’d ever taken had been when she started up her blog. Online, she’d connected with another avid romance reader, and together they had started up a review site. The closest she got to adventure was in the pages of her books. And that was the way she preferred to keep it.

  When Griff came back with a martini glass overflowing with fruit, she still hadn’t managed to flip the page. “Wow, that’s a lot of fruit.”

  He grinned and passed her the glass. “I didn’t know what to get. This is what the bartender recommended.”

  With a pineapple slice embedded on the rim and a plastic sword displaying an orange slice and two cherries, Natalie wasn’t sure where to begin. She put her lips along the pink-sugar coated rim and took a generous sip. Eyes growing wide, she coughed. “Wow! That’s strong.”

  Griff set his own drink between their chairs on the small wicker-and-glass table. He motioned for her to pass the fruity cocktail to him. He turned the glass so that as he drank his mouth occupied the same place hers had only seconds before.

  It made her tummy do flip flops.

  “I agree, strong.” He held up a finger. “But fruity.” He passed it back to her. “All the drinks here are strong.”

  Natalie put her reading is a hoot owl bookmark between the pages and set the book aside. Stirring the drink with the fruit laced sword, she reclined in her seat. They engaged in idle chit chat, drinking their more-alcohol-than-any-thing-else beverages, and enjoying the sunshine. Occasionally someone from their entourage would come by to sit for a while. After unsuccessfully pleading with Natalie, Griff eventually dove back into the pool.

  The resort boasted multiple pools and white sandy beaches, but after dinner that night, their group congregated near the pool wher
e Griff and Natalie had spent the day. Sabrina and Mark had chosen to get married during the off-season, so the resort was more emptied than occupied. They basically had the pool to themselves, so when they started up a game of water volleyball, they weren’t disturbing anyone.

  A few chapters further, Natalie got interrupted when water was dripped onto her legs. Frowning, she glanced up and found Griff looming over her. With his Greek ancestry, dark features, and sharp blue eyes, he resembled the Roman God Neptune. In the fading daylight, water glistened on his body. The only missing pieces: the big beard, and the trident.

  “If you want to keep your book safe, I recommend you put it away.”

  Confused, she asked, “Why?”

  She shrieked when, without warning Griff squatted down, placed one hand under her bent legs, the other behind her back, and lifted her into his arms. Natalie struggled to get away from his cold, wet body. “Put me down.”

  In the pool, their friends laughed and cheered him on.

  “You’re going in the water. You can do it alone or with the book.”

  “Fine.” She huffed. “Put me down, though.”

  He did as she asked, but suggested, “You might want to lose the cover-up, too.”

  Natalie growled her displeasure over that, but set her book on the chair and dropped her white beach cover-up over top of it. She went a step further and put her glasses on the table. If she was reading the situation correctly, it would be safer if she left them behind. She stared up at a now slightly fuzzy Griff. “Better?”

  His gaze ate her up, and with deep male appreciation he replied, “Much.”

  Feeling playful, Natalie crossed her arms under her breasts. “I’m not going in the pool.”

  He grinned. “Oh, yes you are.”

  Deciding she wouldn’t make it easy, Natalie ducked around him and darted away. She wasn’t nearly fast enough. She hadn’t even made it past the end of the pool before he caught her around the waist. Hoisting her up once more, Griff stood at the deep end of the pool. “In you go.”

  She squealed in protest as he stepped off the ledge, dropping them both into the water.

  That night, after using the bathroom to change into her pajamas, Natalie crawled beneath the covers of their shared king-sized bed. Next to her Griff lay over the duvet, wearing only his boxer shorts and using the remote to flick through the limited television channels. She picked up her glasses and book from the nightstand.

  “Will it bother you if I watch T.V.?”

  “No. It won’t bother me.” A few minutes later she felt him studying her. She rested the book on her lap. “Yes?”

  “How does the whole review thing work?”

  “My book review blog?”

  “Yeah. Sabrina tried explaining it to me once, but I still don’t get it. She said people send you their books for free, and you read them.”

  “Basically, that’s what I do. Authors send me their books. Some of the books go to my partner Sharon. Then I write a review on the ones I’ve read and post it on my site.”

  “Why?”

  Natalie pushed her dark-framed lenses further up her nose. “To help readers decide which books to read.”

  “What if you don’t like the book?”

  “Then I give them a bad review.”

  His eyebrows rose.

  “I try to always find something positive to write, to sort of soften the blow. Sharon and I worked out a rating system. Each book gets a review and a rating out of five wine glasses.” Natalie smiled proudly. “We also post a little excerpt from the book.”

  Griff scrutinized her. “I have a hard time believing you could ever write something like that, or give someone a bad rating.”

  She shrugged. “I want readers to feel confident they can trust our opinions. That’s how we’ve built such a big following. We’re trustworthy. Sometimes, though, a bad review can sell books just as well as a good review.” He frowned, so she explained, “Readers want to know why the book was so terrible. They want to see for themselves.”

  “Do you make any money doing this?”

  Griff knew she worked at the coffee shop, which was her steady income for bills. It also forced her out of the house and made her socialize with people. She was an introvert at heart, and having a job where she could cultivate relationships with co-workers was a good thing. Plus it got her ass off the couch.

  “Sure. Some. We don’t charge for reviews. We also don’t review every book, there are just too many. But like I said, we’ve created a following, and with such high traffic driven to our site, we feel comfortable charging authors for advertising space. I’m not going to get rich doing it, but I get to read a ton of free books, and the advertising covers the cost of running the website and leaves us with a little pocket change.”

  Natalie was proud of what she’d accomplished and happy with her life. She went out just enough that she didn’t go stir crazy, had enough money to live comfortably, and got to spend most nights immersed in a fictional world while cuddling with her cat.

  Idly she smoothed the bedding. “What about you? Any great adventures planned?”

  “No. This mini vacation is the last for a while. I wanted to go out and see the world, and I did.”

  Natalie agreed. He certainly had.

  Once, when they’d been in the final months of high school, he’d asked her to go to the movies with him, but knowing his plans included travelling the world, and hers involved buckling down at university, she’d turned him down. Neither one had mentioned it ever again. She wasn’t even sure if it had been a date, or just two friends hanging out.

  Each time he came home he spent a few months living with his parents and visiting friends before he was off on the next adventure. Natalie was sure she’d made the right decision. She loved seeing his posts online and occasionally chatting with him whenever he was in a location with decent Wi-Fi.

  “But we’re closer to thirty than twenty,” he said.

  That was an understatement. “Much closer.”

  “Right.” He set the remote between them. Reclining on the mattress, he propped his head up with one fist. With his other hand, he traced imaginary patterns on the duvet. Natalie loved the sexy leather bracelets that encircled his wrist. She wondered if they were still damp from the pool. “I always planned on having kids.”

  Natalie’s brows rose. She’d been unprepared for that admission. “Really?”

  His lips twitched in amusement. “Can’t see me as a dad?”

  “No. Definitely I can.” And she could. She recalled a photo of him playing soccer with a bunch of boys in Africa. “You’d be a great dad.”

  “Thanks. I just always knew I wanted to travel, so I thought the best time to do that would be in my twenties, before kids. Then when I settle down, I’ll have already had those experiences.”

  That made sense. “But you’ll probably still get the travel bug.”

  He shrugged one tanned shoulder. “Probably. I know I’ll definitely want to take my kids to Greece. I loved it when my parents took us there. It really gets in your blood, you know?”

  She didn’t, but she nodded anyway.

  “I was born in Canada, but every time we visited Greece, it just felt like home.”

  “This is my first time out of Ontario.”

  “I thought it might be.” Griff smiled. During takeoff, he’d commented on her look of horror. He’d offered to hold her hand, but she’d stubbornly refused. “You’ve got no interest in travelling?”

  “I never had the money. Or the ambition to go anywhere.”

  Griff agreed. “You had a pretty shitty childhood. I always assumed books were your escape.”

  She waved her current novel. “Yes, they are a wonderful escape.”

  Gently Griff pried the book from her hands to read the back. She picked up the remote to see what options the television held.

  “Sounds interesting,” he said when they swapped objects.r />
  “It is,” she confirmed. Eager to get back into the narrative, she opened the pages. At one point the author had her laughing out loud, which drew Griff’s attention away from the nineties sitcom he’d settled on.

  Three chapters later, Natalie put the book away. Tucking herself beneath the covers, she removed her glasses, setting them on top of the book. With the sound of a horror flick playing in the background, Natalie slipped into sleep, dreaming of romantic getaways with a certain hunky Greek man.

  Chapter Two

  Rousing the next morning and knowing she didn’t have to go to work had Natalie smiling. Although she liked her part-time gig at the coffee shop, she was grateful for the vacation. She was even more grateful she got to wake up next to Griff.

  While running her hand over her face to ensure she hadn’t drooled in her sleep, Natalie heard the toilet flush. Griff was already up. She stretched before rolling out of bed. When the door to the bathroom opened, Natalie headed in that direction.

  They’d fallen into an easy morning routine over the last few days, each one respecting the other’s privacy, each one considerate when it came to personal needs and the desire to freshen up.

  Griff emerged from the bathroom, but this morning, rather than let her pass, he blocked her way. It didn’t take her long to notice the massive tent in his boxers. Morning wood, she assumed.

  Prying her eyes away from his erection, Natalie ducked her head, opting to stare at her toes. They poked out from the bottom of her striped pajamas pants. Waiting for him to move out of the way, she wiggled their blue-painted tips.

  He didn’t get out of her way. In fact, he stepped closer.

  She could feel his body heat. Could smell the minty freshness lingering on his breath from his toothpaste. She linked her hands behind her back to keep herself from reaching for that intriguing bulge.