Solstice Burn

Copyright © 2015 Kym Grosso

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

MT Carvin Publishing

West Chester, Pennsylvania

Editor: Julie Roberts

Cover Design: LM Creations

Cover Model: Stuart Reardon

Photographer: Rick Day

DISCLAIMER

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, locations and events portrayed in this book are a work of fiction or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events, locales, or real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

NOTICE

This is an adult erotic romance novella with love scenes and mature situations. It is only intended for adult readers over the age of 18.

~My husband, Keith, for encouraging me to write and supporting me in everything I do, and for our many fun vacations and adventures in the Caribbean that gave me inspiration for this story.

~Julie Roberts, editor, who spent hours reading, editing and proofreading Solstice Burn. You’ve done so much to help and encourage me over the past two years. As with every book, I could not have done this without you!

~My Alpha readers, Rochelle and Maria, who help give me such important feedback and insight during the editing process. You both are awesome!

~My dedicated beta readers, Elena, Gayle, Denise, Janet, Jessica, Jerri, Kelly, Leah, Laurie, Stephanie, and Rose for beta reading. I really appreciate all the valuable feedback you provide.

~LM Creations, cover artist, for designing Solstice Burn’s sexy cover.

~Stuart Reardon, cover model, for another amazing image.

~Love N. Books, for image acquisition.

~ Rick Day, for image photography.

~Nicole, Indie Sage PR, for helping me with promotion and supporting my books.

~Gayle, my admin, who is one of my biggest supporters and helps to run my street team. I’m so thankful for all of your help!

~My awesome street team, for helping spread the word about the Immortals of New Orleans series and my new erotic contemporary romance Altura series. I appreciate your support more than you could know! You guys are the best. You rock!

Chase checked his oxygen and gave a thumbs up to his scuba partner, Evan. He knew he could have pushed deeper, but without his team, he erred on the side of safety. Chase Abbott, a wealthy executive at Emerson Industries, always brought his love of adventure to the forefront of his business; enhancing extreme sporting technologies, products and services to be utilized for both private enjoyment and government contracts. A trained biologist, his specialty focused on deep sea diving. Exploring uncharted locations always brought the possibility he’d discover unique materials that could be used for further research and development.

Deep in the abyss of the hole, he scraped at the wall, collecting a rock sample. While it was illegal for tourists to touch or otherwise harm the ecosystem, as a scientist he’d been granted permission to remove the tiny fragments. He glanced to Evan, who pointed to a bull shark that had come around to check out the invaders in his environment. Chase calmly bagged his specimen, and held his knife firmly. While shark attacks were rare, caution was his friend. Chase knew that this particular species could be aggressive. They both eyed the spectacular creature as it circled. He admired the massive beast, but was relieved when it swam away into the darkness, having satisfied its curiosity.

Chase signaled to Evan, letting him know they should begin their slow ascent. At a depth of a hundred and forty feet, they’d gone considerably further than most recreational divers. They’d taken the tour excursion from the resort, slipping the captain a few hundred extra to tag along and conduct their dive alone.

After a slow ascension, taking time for decompression stops, Chase surfaced and peeled his mask away. He bobbed in the water and waited on Evan who followed. He checked his surroundings, noting the boat to his right and the group of snorkelers swimming toward it. An unusual splash caught his attention, and he scanned the open sea behind him, expecting to see a breaching fish. Instead, he spied flailing arms bursting through the waves, then disappearing back into the ocean.

Chase flipped on his mask, quickly locating the victim. Her long brunette braid swished like a stalk of kelp and he reached around her torso, bringing her upward. She gasped for air as they broke through the water.

“You okay?” he asked, thanking God she hadn’t managed to drown herself. She nodded her head yes but didn’t speak.

It always amazed him how many tourists would go snorkeling, expecting it to be easy. Instead of practicing in a pool, they’d impulsively choose the resort tour, experiencing it for the first time out in open water. Neophytes often found breathing through the snorkel challenging. Inexperience with strong currents and adverse interactions with wildlife were common causes of death.

As he reached the boat, he carefully lifted the woman to the waiting crew. While it hadn’t been his first time saving a fledgling swimmer, he had to admit he’d never rescued someone so beautiful. As she assured the captain she was okay, she glanced over to him, and their eyes locked. Mouthing the words, ‘thank you,’ she tightened her grip on the towel she’d been given. He gave her a small smile and she returned it but quickly averted her gaze.
She’s shy
, he thought. Chase considered that with his many planned dives, he hadn’t intended to socialize on his vacation, but the flicker in her eyes gave him reason to believe things had just gotten a whole lot more interesting than the rock sample he’d collected.

First day at the resort and Penny had almost died.
Go snorkeling. It’ll be fun
, the concierge had said. She should have known better than to think she should try something even remotely adventurous. She’d wanted to talk to the sexy stranger who’d rescued her, but was stopped short as they’d brought another victim onto the boat. Apparently, the newlyweds had decided skinny snorkeling was in order and the husband had scraped his bits on fire coral. He’d been laid out like a filleted fish, his testicles looking like bright red oranges. Penny had rushed to help his wife, by bagging ice and gathering their belongings. When they’d returned to shore, she’d helped them get back to the room, staying with them until the hotel nurse had arrived. Unfortunately, by the time she’d returned to the dock, her handsome scuba diver had vanished.

She recalled the long boat ride back to the resort, and how she’d stolen glances at his broad muscular chest. As he peeled his tanned, hardened body out of his wetsuit, nearly every woman on board took notice. She’d inwardly laughed, amused that her near death experience had been coupled with lust. After everything she’d been through with relationships, she knew damn well that she shouldn’t be giving a second thought to a man. But when he’d smiled at her and pushed on his sunglasses, she found the sight of him impossible to resist. The temptation of a vacation fling seemed more and more appealing.

Returning to her room, Penny lounged on her balcony, contemplating her next big undertaking, nude sunbathing. She took a sip of her punch and thanked the rum gods. For the first time in over six months, she was beginning to relax, stress fading fast with each breath of sea air. She was thankful that her best friend, Tori, had talked her into taking a vacation. Six months ago, when she’d found her ex in bed with their local barista, he’d blamed her for his indiscretion, insisting she worked too much and his needs weren’t met. It wasn’t as if she could argue. His comments hadn’t been far from the truth, but it wasn’t as if rent in Manhattan was going to pay itself. After two years of seventy-hour work weeks, she’d finally earned the attention of the partners.

In the wake of her breakup, Tori had declared an intervention was in order. “All work and no play makes Penny a dull girl,” she had teased in the most tactful way possible, insisting they take an all-girl holiday to Precioso Beach. Penny resisted the idea at first. While she’d never been conservative per se, she’d also never been to an au natural beach before and was nervous at the prospect. During the third blizzard of their harsh New York winter and several glasses of wine later, Penny had relented and agreed to a holiday at the hedonistic resort.

Five days of paradise. One day of almost dying and four more to go. She hoped she’d run into her tanned savior once again and manage not to do anything stupid.

“Great dive today, huh? The wall was killer,” Chase commented, referring to the vertical face they’d descended.

“Hey, I’m just along for the ride, Dr. Abbott. You know…enjoying the flora and fauna,” Evan joked.

“You mean the bull that was giving us the big eye?”

“I was thinking more about the mermaid you reeled in when you got to the surface,” he joked.

“Yeah, she was something, huh? They should have them practice in the pool before going out. Everyone thinks it’s easy until they’re sucking water.”

“I hear ya. She seemed to rebound quickly, though.”

“Sure did.” Chase adjusted his sunglasses, pecked away at his iPad, and attempted to appear nonchalant.

“Everything okay back at home?” Evan asked, shaking the sand out of his towel.

“Yeah, just sending Garrett an update and checking email. I’d like to go back to the hole again before we leave. Let’s charter a boat next time.”

“Sounds good. Listen, I’m going to the pool. You want me to wait for you?”

“No, you go ahead without me. I’m going to pack these samples and overnight them. They can get started on the analysis before we get back. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“So you’re not going to say anything about mermaid girl? No comments, like, ‘hey, she’s pretty hot?’” Evan laughed.

Chase glanced at Evan, considering his answer. His friend knew him well enough to know when he was interested in a woman, but he wasn’t ready to show his cards. He hadn’t stopped thinking of the beautiful woman he’d rescued. If it were not for the guy with the flaming nuts, he’d have used the opportunity to ask her to dinner. Cockblocked by a honeymooner, he’d been forced to observe her from across the deck. After they’d docked, his lovely little snorkeler had gone off with the wife, helping them get back to their room.

Chase knew he shouldn’t let himself become distracted by a woman. It wasn’t as if he’d come to Precioso to play. But in the course of a few hours, it had become difficult to think about coral and shells. The only specimen he was interested in studying was the brunette he’d met out at sea.

“Depends,” Chase replied, his eyes on the screen, concealing his feelings.

“On what?”

“First of all, most people just come to places like this as a one-fer. Some big excitement in their boring lives.” He closed his tablet cover and set it on the stand next to the lounge.

“And your point is?”

“My point is that I don’t even know her. Let’s say I pursue her. It’s not going to turn into anything.”

“And? What’s wrong with a little one night stand action? You think too much.”

“Don’t pull your playboy shit with me. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I get tired of that?” Chase sighed, reached for a tube of suntan lotion and flipped the cap open. “Besides, just because she’s pretty to look at, that doesn’t mean we’re going to hit it off.”

It had become a challenge for him to find someone who shared his adventurous interests. Within the confines of their exclusive club, Altura, Chase and Evan explored their drive to push harder and further into the world of extreme sports. Money was never a consideration as they tested each other’s limits, flirting with death regularly. One person’s threshold for risk could far exceed or far disappoint the expectations of another. Within Altura, however, they understood and played hard, with little regard to societal expectations. Considering the mermaid had almost killed herself attempting to snorkel, he suspected they’d have little in common.