Fantasy Resort

Publisher:  Ellora’s Cave

ISBN: 9781419907074

Available Now

Erotic Futuristic Romance

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[This story is a sequel to the previously published Fantasy Bar.]

After the death of her beloved Jaimee, Mirage leaves Fantasy Bar behind and heads to her best friend’s place on Portakin 3, Fantasy Resort. There, she returns to the career she abandoned when she opened the bar, nursing.

Four months after her arrival, she’s asked to take care of a man she’s told is a witness sent to the resort under protective custody while they track down the men who tried to kill him. Mirage is up to the task and takes the responsibility of caregiver seriously. But what she isn’t up for is how that man makes her feel. Especially when he looks at her with eyes so much like Jaimee’s.

It had taken her two years to get past her previous hurts and trust Jaimee. But after only a few minutes with her patient, she feels safe, making confusion and quilt wage a war within her.

As she grows closer to discovering the truth about her patient and her growing attraction to him, their private hideaway will be exposed and the men who tried to kill him before will try again.

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Excerpt

Nicole stood outside Ethan’s door, her hand frozen on the knob. The doctor had left hours ago with strict instructions that the medicinal lotion she held be massaged into his legs nightly. He hadn’t come out or made a sound since the doctor and Brett had left and she was worried about him, although for the life of her she didn’t really know why. She didn’t even know him, but there had been something in his eyes. Hell, not in his eyes, but the eyes themselves.

She shook her head, mentally chiding herself. It was her imagination and nothing more. It had just unsettled her, looking into Ethan’s brown eyes that were so much like Jaimee’s.

Steeling her spine, she gently knocked on the door before opening it. She’d come here to take care of him and take care of him she would. “Ethan?” she called softly.

She noticed him immediately, standing by the open French door leading to the pool outside. He stiffened, but said nothing as she came further into the room. His trim waist and firm hips caught her eye and she let her gaze roam down his body, clad only in a pair of shorts. Even slim from recovery, she could still see the power and strength his body once held.

Past him, the night sky twinkled. Three of the larger planets closest to Portakin 3 could be seen. The blue and red lights of the orbiting ships and satellites gave the evening a festive appearance. Like the lights of Christmas back home.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she whispered softly and moved to stand next to him.

“Yes,” he whispered back. “I’m sorry I was such an ass earlier. This rehab and being cooped up is starting to get to me.”

“It’s all right.”

He kept his gaze on the sky, and she studied his profile. He was a handsome man, with a strong chin and cheekbones, but just a tad gaunt. He needed to eat more, regain some of the strength he’d lost. She knew all about that. The last beating she’d received from her boyfriend had almost killed her and it had taken months for her to return to her normal self. Or at least as normal as she could be.

She sighed, and he turned to look at her. There was such sadness in his eyes it tore at her heart. She smiled slightly and a muscle jerked in his cheek. Why did he seem so familiar to her?

Clearing her throat, she leaned her back against the doorframe and rested her hands at the small of her back. “Tomorrow we’ll see if we can work on that being-cooped-up thing.”

His lips quirked just a little. “How do you plan on doing that?”

She inclined her head toward the surf. “We can do your rehab on the beach. The sunshine will do wonders for you.”

“Think I’m too pale?” he teased.

She scrunched her nose and gave him a good once-over. “Maybe just a tad.”

He chuckled and turned to stare back out at the sky. “Yeah. I’m certainly not the man I was.”

“You will be again.”

“Will I?”

His gaze remained glued to the stars, his brow creased in thought. With a bit of surprise, she realized he was very easy to talk to and tease. Even though they’d only just met, she felt as though she knew him.

“Who is she?” she asked quietly. Only a woman could put such hurt and pain in a man’s eyes.

He looked at her in confusion. “What?”

“Something has you sad.” She shrugged. “I just assumed it was a woman.”

He smiled slightly and turned to lean against the other doorframe, facing her. “I just miss my life. There’s no woman.”

“No?” How could someone as handsome as he was not have a woman?

His gaze moved back to the surf, sadness once again shadowing his eyes.

“So you lied. It is a woman,” she said with a grin tugging at her lips.

He snorted. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to another woman.”

While his head was turned she studied his chest. A long pink scar crossed his left pec muscles, running from the tip of his rib to the right collarbone. A similar scar ran down the side of his right ribs.

There was no hair on his chest and as her gaze lowered to take in his long legs visible beneath the shorts she realized he had no hair there either. His skin was just like a baby’s skin. She glanced back up at his face and his anguish-filled eyes. The heat of a blush moved up her cheeks with the realization he’d caught her staring.

Clearing her throat, she pulled the medicine from behind her back. “The doctor told me I was to rub this into your legs nightly.”

Ethan shook his head. “That’s not necessary, Nicole. I can do it.”

She frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous. Stuff like this is what I’m here for. Besides, he said your legs needed to be massaged as well.” As though it were the most natural thing to do, she sent him a teasing smile. “And I’m very good at that.”

Ethan swallowed. Hell yeah, she was good at that. But the thought of her touching him, and not being able to touch her in return, tore him up. There was no way he could handle that right now.

Nicole pointed toward the wicker bed, giving him her most stern expression. “Move, cowboy. On the bed.”

He fought a smile as he watched her boss him around. “Anything else? Would you like me to strip as well?” Her lips pursed as she studied him, and he frowned. “No, Nicole. I’m not stripping.”

She flashed that adorable, mischievous grin of hers and his gut clenched. “That’s a shame.”

“Behave yourself, woman. I’m a recovering man and my heart can’t take much excitement,” he teased.

Shaking her head, she smiled at him. God, she was so beautiful. Her chestnut hair was up and off her long, slender neck. Small ringlets hung down around her ears and bounced as she shook her head. His hand itched to remove the hair clamp and run his fingers through its softness. A breeze blew through the door, bringing her lavender scent, and he inhaled deeply as he lay across the bed.

“I have a feeling, Mr. Ethan Scott,” she chided with a grin as she settled on the mattress next to his thighs, “that your heart can take much more than you let on.”

“Maybe I exaggerated just a bit,” he replied as he held his thumb and forefinger up close together.

She spread the cold cream on the skin of his thigh, and he sucked in a shallow breath. His new skin was so sensitive. “Damn, that’s cold.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a way to warm it.”

“It’s fine once the initial shock passes.”

His eyes closed and he let his body relax as her hands and fingers massaged his sore muscles. They were firm, yet gentle and he remembered all the other times she’d touched him. Sifted her fingers through his hair, skimmed them along his chest and across his nipples.

[…]

He frowned. “It’s been a while. Okay?”

She giggled and moved her massaging fingers to his other thigh. “Well. You are at Fantasy Resort. Maybe we can make that part of your recovery.”

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