Natural Passion (Au Naturel Trilogy Book 1)

by Anna Durand

  Three days had gone by since our first date, but I'd been here for over a month. I no longer thought of myself as a guest. Neither did Eve. She kept talking about "the guests" but not including me in that designation. I wanted to take her on another date, but I had no idea how to top our evening at the steak house. Dinner, dancing, and sex in the parking lot. That was hard to outdo.

  "Shit!"

  The hissed curse from nearby made me open my eyes and glance toward Ollie, who lay on another chaise a few yards away. He had been reading a paperback. Now, he held the book over his groin, his cheeks red, and darted his gaze around as if making sure no one was looking.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, praying it wasn't no-see-ums again. I'd needed seven days to get over that episode—seven days of Eve tending to me, but still, I had no desire to repeat the experience.

  Ollie eyed me sideways. "I, uh, have a little problem."

  He shifted in his chair, squinting his entire face and taking great care to keep the paperback positioned over his groin.

  "It's embarrassing," Ollie muttered out of one corner of his mouth.

  Ahhh, I finally understood. Every nudist male had the same problem once in a while, though not often. I grabbed my towel off the grass and tossed it to Ollie. "Here. This ought to help."

  He caught the towel but didn't use it. Squinting his face even more, he said, "This won't help. The problem is too…big."

  I flattened my lips to suppress a laugh. "You're a nudist, Ollie. These things aren't shocking to the rest of us, so it shouldn't bother you. Roll onto your side for a bit or go walk it off."

  "Don't think that will help. This isn't the usual kind of problem."

  Since I could see the tip of his dick sticking out from under the paperback, I decided he wasn't exaggerating. "What precipitated the problem?"

  He tipped his head in the direction of the badminton game.

  I glanced there and spotted our newest guests having a good time whacking the ball around with some of the older guests. Kelly and her husband Todd, newlyweds on their honeymoon, had arrived yesterday. Kelly was very sexy, though she couldn't compare to Eve. Still, every time Kelly jumped to hit the ball, her breasts bounced. Every time she scored a point, she did a little victory dance with her knees bent, pumping her fists in the air in time with the thrusts of her hips. The young woman didn't mean it in a sexual way. She was having fun. But her dancing exposed the area between her thighs.

  Well, I did see Ollie's dilemma. What man wanted a beautiful woman to see him in that unfortunate state, especially with her husband watching? Ollie couldn't help it, and I sympathized with his plight.

  Not that I had ever been embarrassed about such a thing.

  Ollie's gaze flicked toward Eve's house. His eyes bulged right before he squeezed them shut. "Oh fuck. Kill me now."

  I glanced back.

  Eve was moseying toward us wearing her favorite short-shorts and tank top with a pair of flip-flops. She smiled and waved at Ollie before aiming her brightest smile at me. Eve blew me a kiss.

  Ollie moaned pitifully and sank down in his chair.

  "Put the towel over yourself," I told him, "then lay the book on top of that."

  He straightened somewhat and followed my advice.

  Eve reached us as Ollie got himself covered. She ruffled my hair. "Scoot over."

  I scooted, and she squeezed in beside me.

  "This is a serious etiquette breach," I said, pretending to be offended. "Physical contact? Shame on you, Evie."

  "This is our resort, and we can do whatever the hell we want." She wriggled to get in a better position. "Besides, I am showing incredible restraint by not copping a feel."

  "I stand corrected. You are behaving admirably."

  Kelly scored another point and did her inadvertently erotic dance.

  Ollie moaned, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut again. He ran a hand over his mouth, sat up, and announced, "I'm going for a walk."

  "We'll go with you," Eve said.

  Ollie's eyes bulged again.

  She tried to get up, but I slung an arm around her waist to hold her in place.

  Eve glanced at me. "What are you doing?"

  "I…" How to explain this without embarrassing Ollie further? I patted her hip. "I'm too comfortable here. Let's stay put and talk about what our next date should be."

  She relaxed and cuddled up against me again. "Sure, let's do that."

  Ollie looked so relieved I almost thought he might collapse. Eve didn't notice because she had aimed her adoring gaze at me.

  Rolling onto his side away from us, Ollie dropped his book and got up while holding the towel in front of him. He hustled off toward the nature trail.

  By the time he'd disappeared into the woods, Eve's expression had turned expectant. "What will our next date be? When will it be? I'm liking the romantic treatment."

  "Hasn't fucking been romantic?"

  "Sure, but it was nice to go out to dinner. And I loved seeing you in a suit."

  "But you tore it off me the second we got home."

  "I loved doing that too."

  "You were stunning in that dress." I stealthily palmed her breast with the arm I had draped over her shoulders, making sure no one else would see it. "But I loved taking it off of your body."

  She drew figure eights on my chest with her finger. "You know, I still haven't given you that striptease I promised you after the no-see-um attack."

  My cock woke up at her suggestion, and I was on the verge of developing a stiffer problem than Ollie had. "Let's go in the house and do that right now."

  A scream reverberated through the clearing around the lawn and the buildings.

  Eve jumped out of the chaise at the instant another scream echoed from the nature trail.

  I leaped up too. We both stared in the direction of the nature trail, the apparent origin of the outbursts. The screams hadn't been pitched high enough to be a woman. It must've been a man.

  "What the hell?" Eve said, squinting to peer down the trail.

  Ollie barreled out of the woods, without his towel, flapping his arms in the air and screaming again. "Run! It's after me! Shiiiiiiiiit!"

  The guests playing badminton froze, their gazes swiveling to Ollie.

  He got halfway to Eve and me before we saw the thing that was after him.

  A porcupine hustled out of the woods, quills raised, making a beeline for Ollie.

  "Shiiiiiiit!" he hollered again.

  Eve rushed toward one of the guests, grabbed the gray-haired woman's badminton racket, and bolted toward the onrushing porcupine.

  Well, if you could call what the creature was doing "onrushing." Though he moved fast for such a large, bulky creature, he was in no danger of catching up to Ollie.

  I hurried after Eve, but she didn't need my help.

  Eve stopped, planted her feet wide, and swung the racket in the direction of the porcupine. She snarled and shouted and stomped one foot, all while brandishing the racket in sharp, whooshing swings.

  The porcupine turned around and hustled back down the nature trail.

  Ollie fell to his knees, breathing hard and red-faced. He collapsed onto his side on the ground and rolled onto his back spread-eagled. "I think I'm dead. That bright light must be heaven."

  Eve approached him, thumping the racket on her palm. "That's the sun, Ollie. You're not dead, though you sure made an unholy ruckus. What happened?"

  He shut his eyes. "I was walking down the trail, kind of distracted and not paying attention to where I was going." He opened one eye to peek at me and winced. "I was looking down, and I sort of stumbled into the porky. He wasn't happy about it."

  "Why on earth were you staring at the ground?" Eve said. "You know better than that. Keeping an eye on your surroundings is critical in the woods."

  "I was—" He flushed even redder, almost crimson, and couldn't quite look at Eve. "I had a problem and needed some
alone time."

  "But why—"

  "Give him a break," I said to Eve. "He's embarrassed enough as it is."

  She glanced at me as I came up beside her. "You know what his secret problem was, don't you?"

  "Yes, but I'm not going to tell you. It's one of those secrets between men."

  Ollie nodded solemnly. "Thanks, man."

  Eve's mouth twisted into a half frown. "Manly secrets? What does that mean?"

  "It's the bro code," Ollie said. "Don't mess with it, okay?"

  Her attention flickered between me and Ollie for a moment before she gave up and shrugged. "Whatever. I guess the secrets of man are not for woman to comprehend."

  Ollie pushed up into a sitting position. "Think I'll go take a nap. Getting chased by a crazy porcupine took a lot out of me." He exhaled, his shoulders sagging. "I'm having one crap day."

  Eve watched him while he got to his feet. "Did something else happen? I mean, besides the porcupine and your secret manly problem."

  He ran a hand over his cheek. "I got an email from Heidi. She's back with her ex."

  "Poor Ollie." Eve wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry."

  Ollie grimaced.

  I decided he was concerned about a recurrence of his manly problem, so I dragged Eve away from him. "Let's go do that private thing we talked about earlier."

  She grinned. "Yes, let's."

  While Ollie shuffled off toward the guest house, Eve and I headed into our house. Yes, I'd started to think of it as "our" house, which didn't bother me the way it might have a few weeks ago. We were living together after all.

  And I liked it.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Eve

  My clothes lay here, there, and everywhere in the bedroom. I'd tossed them away without a thought for where they might land, more concerned with getting Val hot and bothered with my striptease. Not that it took much to get Val in the upright position for takeoff. Sometimes all I needed to do was wink at him. His easygoing nature did not extend to our intimate times. He could be tender, sure, but he could also become the most scorching, inventive, and energetic lover.

  That explained why I was currently lying half on top of him, my cheek on his chest, lazing in the afterglow of sweaty, mind-blowing sex.

  I pushed up on one elbow to admire the tattoos on his arm and chest. The dragon that snaked down his biceps had intrigued me since the day we met, but I'd never quite gotten around to asking about it. I traced the tattoo's lines with my fingertip.

  "Does this dragon have some meaning?" I asked.

  "The design is inspired by Amaru, the winged serpent of Tiwanaku, but it's a stylized version." He took hold of my finger, dragging it along the tattoo while he explained. "It has the body of an anaconda and the head of a bird. Amaru represents the power of nature, and to the Incas, it became a protective deity. No one knows what the people of Tiwanaku thought of Amaru, since their civilization died out many thousands of years ago. Tiwanaku is in the mountains of Bolivia."

  "Wow, you're a history buff. I learn something new about you every day." I tickled his skin with the finger he still held. "Your love of ancient mythology is wicked sexy."

  "I also know about legends of Brazil. Would it turn you on to hear about those?"

  "Absolutely." I wriggled my finger free of his grasp. "Does touching your tattoo give me magical powers?"

  "You don't need magic to entrance me."

  I bent to lave my tongue over the lines of his tattoo, beginning with the tail and gliding my way up to the wings and the head.

  He sucked in a breath.

  I swirled my tongue around the dragon's head.

  Val dived a hand into my hair, cradling my head, halting my exploration. "Don't awaken the beast unless you want to be devoured."

  "As much as I'd love that, I should check on the guests." I hopped off the bed and started collecting my clothes. "I need to cheer up Ollie. He's really bummed about Heidi."

  "What are you going to do? He has a broken heart, but it will heal."

  "I should do something." While I pulled on my panties, I mulled the problem. By the time I got my bra on, no ideas had come to me. I paused, hands on my hips. "How does a woman console a man she's not sleeping with? I mean, I know how to make you feel better, but a blow job doesn't seem appropriate for Ollie."

  "While I'm sure he would love that, I'd rather you didn't."

  Tugging on my shorts, I pretended to be confused. "Really? And I thought you were such a bohemian."

  He sat up and shimmied to the foot of the bed, reaching out to grasp the waistband of my shorts and pull me toward him. "I'm an exhibitionist, remember? Never claimed to be a bohemian. I'd share my sunscreen with Ollie, but I won't share you with anyone."

  "I won't share you either."

  "Good." He placed his open mouth over my belly button and swirled his tongue inside it. "Sharing is overrated."

  "Have you ever done a threesome?"

  "Twice. I prefer to have one woman all to myself."

  "I do love your one-track mind."

  Those lips traveled higher while his hands slid down my thighs. "How can I think of anything else when I'm with you?"

  A breathy moan whispered out of me, but I gathered what little willpower I had left after spending more than a month with him and backed away. I wagged a finger at him. "No more sex. Not until after dinner. Well, maybe mid-afternoon. Oh, just let me talk to Ollie and then you and I can get back to getting it on."

  Val laughed. "That's my insatiable girl."

  "Me?" I shook my head at him. "You are the one who drags me into the woods for quickies, and drags me behind buildings for quickies, and—"

  "I confess to the crime of being addicted to you, Evie." He held out his hands, wrists together. "Lock me up in your dungeon. I hope it's a life sentence."

  Those two words stopped me. Life sentence. He'd been joking of course, but the term implied he wanted to stay with me for good. Or maybe he expected me to go to LA with him.

  Did I want to go with him? What would I give up to have him in my life for good?

  To avoid thinking about that, I finished getting dressed, kissed Val on the cheek, and hustled out of the house to find Ollie. He was nowhere in the guest house or on the lawn. I ran into Ruth and Sylvester, who were relaxing in chaises.

  "Have you seen Ollie?" I asked them.

  "Yeah," Sly said. "He went down the nature trail again, this time wearing clothes and holding on to a badminton racket."

  "That dear, dear boy," Ruth said. "How could Heidi break his heart? She's such a sweet child. This doesn't seem like her at all."

  "We don't have to hate Heidi because she dumped Ollie," I said. "Sometimes things don't work out between two people. I'm sure Heidi didn't mean to hurt him."

  Part of me wanted to be angry with Heidi, the protective part of me that thought of Ollie as a little brother. Mostly, I wanted them both to be happy. Too bad that hadn't happened for them as a couple.

  "Don't forget," Sly said. "Ruth and I are leaving tomorrow."

  "Yeah, I know. I'll miss you guys."

  Ruth leaned forward to clasp my hand. "We'll miss you too, Evie, but we'll be back for the fall color."

  Sylvester chortled. "Maybe we should build our own little bungalow in the woods and live here. Sure would save us the trouble of driving or flying here."

  His wife tsked. "You'd miss the alligators and the early-bird specials."

  Yeah, they lived in Florida. Alligators were one reason I would never move there.

  I chatted a little more with Ruth and Sylvester before I headed down the nature trail in search of Ollie. I found him at the hot spring. He was sitting on one of the benches, his gaze aimed straight ahead though his focus seemed to have retreated into a distance only he could see. His hair was wet, but his clothes were dry. Rather than looking melancholy, he seemed relaxed and content.

  I sat down beside him and patte
d his leg. "Hey, Ollie."

  "Hey, Eve." He turned his face toward me and smiled a little. "If you're worried I might drown myself in the hot spring, you can relax. I'm okay."

  "Are you sure? Getting dumped sucks."

  "Yeah, it does." He braced his elbows on his thighs. "I should've known better. Heidi and her boyfriend were always breaking up and getting back together. Being the rebound guy is never a good idea."

  "No, I guess not. I still feel bad for you."

  "Don't. I'm fine, really." He waved one finger toward the water. "Took a dip in the hot spring, did a lot of thinking, and realized I'm not as bummed as I thought. Sure, I like Heidi. We don't know each other that well, so what I was feeling was only a crush."

  I bent forward too and rested my cheek on his arm. "I'm still sorry. You deserve to find a woman who appreciates you."

  "Heidi dumping me wasn't what really bothered me." He frowned at the ground. "I got laid off."

  "What?" I sprang upright and scrutinized him for a moment until the shock of his statement waned. "That's awful. When did it happen?"

  "A week before I came here. That's why I wanted to extend my stay from two weeks to six weeks." He ran a hand over his mouth and sighed. "Thought I'd feel better if I got away from home. It didn't work. Knowing I have to go back there and look for another job… Man, that sucks way worse than Heidi dumping me."

  "Wish I could help you out somehow." I got an idea and leaped to my feet. I grabbed Ollie's hand and tugged. "Come on."

  He eyed me with suspicion. "What are you up to, Evie?"

  "Let's canvas the guests for ideas on how to get you re-employed."

  "Oh no, come on." He made a pained face, his voice evincing the faintest whine. "I don't want pity from the other nudists."

  "Don't you mean naturists?"

  His lips tightened into a smile he was trying to suppress. "Yeah. I still don't see how the other naturists can help."

  "Won't know unless we ask."

  For the next half hour, Ollie and I talked to everyone—except Val, who had sequestered himself in the spare bedroom claiming to have "important phone calls" to make. Everybody had an idea for Ollie, though none seemed quite right for him. He wrote down everything they said, accepted business cards from those who offered him one, and thanked each and every person who gave advice.