BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
THE NOT SO LITTLE MERMAN
Royal Duty, 1
Matilda Janes
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
Elsie opened her mouth wide as if she were yawning, feeling instant relief when her ear finally popped from the altitude change. Aloha. Elsie and her sister were en route to Honolulu National Airport, and she nearly wept with relief when drink service finally approached. After the past few weeks Elsie was in need of a big girl drink. She put the “everything is awesome” smile on her face, gave the stewardess their order, and accepted their drinks before she continued to spin her tale of woe.
“‘We want you to be happy for us,’” Elsie told her sister as she recounted the worst night of her life. A week ago today, her fiancé of four years and her former best friend since college had decided to tell her they were suddenly in love.
“That bitch did not freaking say that!” Bethany sounded righteously incredulous on her behalf, and Elsie had to smile. They might have their differences, but her younger sister always had her back. Elsie took a drink of her vodka tonic before answering.
“That she did, right after they assured me that they hadn’t slept together … yet. He swears he didn’t cheat on me, but they had feelings they felt they needed to explore,” Elsie said sardonically. The breakup had come completely out of left field, leaving her reeling. Elsie had suspected nothing, thinking life was going along like normal. Then bam—her fiancé needed to “explore” her best friend … literally. What stressed Elsie even more was the fact that they were all coworkers. Returning to work is going to be fun … not. Elsie sighed loudly. She deserved a little wallowing. Life had just taken a hard, hard left.
“Then she had the nerve to finish me off with the cliché: ‘Elsie, the heart wants what the heart wants,’” she said, mimicking her former best friend Joyce’s high-pitched voice.
“Oh my God. No, she didn’t,” her sister groaned, sipping her Bloody Mary. “Who says that shit in real life? I’m so sorry, Elsie.”
Elsie shrugged. At least she’d gotten this vacation out of it, and now she and her sister got to be roommates for the first time in their adult lives. The past week had been a fun bonding experience, even with the cloud of Dan and Joyce overhead. Elsie was six years older than Bethany, and now that they were thirty-one and twenty-five respectively, they could hang out more as equals instead of the big sister, little sister dynamic they’d grown up with.
Dan had told her he felt badly about the breakup and insisted Elsie take the honeymoon he’d already booked. Knowing how upsetting this was, he said he wanted her to relax and recharge. She suspected he just wanted to get her away from the hospital while he and Joyce announced and established their new relationship with their coworkers. God, how embarrassing. Elsie groaned inwardly. Dan, Joyce, and Elsie all worked together as ER nurses at Mercy General. Now everyone at the hospital was going to know their business. Who am I kidding? They probably already knew. She hated being the center of attention. The whole mess sounded worthy of daytime talk show fodder. Ugh. Elsie was in no hurry to return to work. In fact, the idea of a change of scenery didn’t sound bad at all. She sure as hell didn’t need to stick around and have Dan and Joyce flaunt their supposed fledgling romance in her face.
“Honestly, Elsie, I feel like you dodged a bullet. I’m sorry, I love you, but I do. He was such a douche. I know you loved him, but … thinking of having him as my brother-in-law for the rest of our lives? Dinners, holidays?” Bethany shuddered dramatically. “Real downer, Else, real downer. Plus, Mom and Dad couldn’t stand him, and Mom and Dad like everyone.”
It was true; her parents were overly positive people who were hard-pressed to dislike anyone, but for some reason they’d never taken a shining to Dan. They had tolerated him because she was in love. She realized now Dan had always been a bit of a Negative Nelly. At first she’d enjoyed his dry humor. He was witty and fun to work with, but she started to notice how he never had anything nice to say, which drove her mother nuts and to be honest, was starting to wane on Elsie. Dan would be the first one to tell you he could do it better. He couldn’t just be happy for someone, he liked to one up them, and her. Now that he wasn’t around all the time, Elsie realized what a real downer he’d been.
“Dodged. A. Bullet!” Bethany repeated heatedly, bobbing her head up and down to emphasize each word.
The second Bloody Mary Bethany guzzled must be kicking in. Her sister wasn’t usually quite this animated and loose. Elsie sighed loudly. She heard what her sister was saying, but she just wasn’t quite ready to voice her agreement out loud. What could she say? Yeah, I was an idiot? She sure felt like one. Didn’t mean she wanted to admit it.
“And…”
Oh boy, Elsie thought as she settled into her airplane seat, waiting for whatever amazing, tipsy insight Bethany was going to dispense next. Elsie quickly decided, as she downed the last bit, that it would be in their best interest if this was her one and only vodka tonic.
“You’re bummed.” Bethany looked at her pointedly.
Elsie raised her eyebrows. No shit, Sherlock. She gave her sister a look.
“Okay, that’s an understatement. You’re depressed, and rightfully so. No one’s going to tell you this isn’t a royally fucked up situation. Because it is, but—”
Elsie opened her mouth, but Bethany cut her off. “No. Hear me out. You aren’t devastated, Elsie, not like I think you’re supposed to be. I haven’t fallen in love yet, true, but I would think that if he really was the love of your life, you know, your soul mate? You’d be more upset.” Bethany chuckled. “I think you cried harder when your Siamese fighting fish was murdered.” Her sister shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You cried for, like, days over that thing. Jesus, when you called, I thought Mom or Dad had been in a freaking car accident, you were so incoherent and blubbering on the phone. Let me reiterate: you were blubbering over a fish, Elsie. You didn’t blubber over Dan.”
Elsie chuckled at the memory and had to admit even to herself that yes, she might have overreacted a bit when she’d come home from the hospital one evening to find her beloved fish missing from his bowl instead of safe, up high on his specially installed shelf. She’d found that Dan’s cat Cupcake had shimmied up the wall and played with her beloved Drago to death. His rainbow scales and fins had reminded her of a dragon, and as she’d always loved fantasy and science fiction, the name had seemed fitting. She’d found Drago’s shredded body under the couch.
If Elsie were being honest with herself, she suspected her sister was right. Thinking back on it, she had felt more devastated when her fish had died. She’d put a lot of work into keeping him alive, cleaning his bowl and feeding him. With Dan, she felt embarrassed and naive at being so blindsided. Maybe if she’d suspected something it would have been an easier pill to swallow. Though, her sister was one to talk about overreacting.
“Don’t you judge me, Bethany Ann Johnston,” Elsie said, pretending to sound affronted. “You cried at the end of Casper. I think you win the overreacting contest.” Elsie grinned, remembering how inconsolable Bethany had been after watching it as a tween.
“Oh my God, Devon Sawa should have lived!” Bethany whined shrilly.
Elsie cringed and glanced around, hoping they weren’t disturbing anyone.
“I mean, I love Bill Pullman now, don’t get me wrong. Total hottie, but c’mon, that was devastating. I loved me some Devon Sawa.” Bethany took a sip of her drink and smacked her lips. “So hot, and nice tangent, sister, but I’m not done,” she announced. “You weren’t even crying when you called me to help you move out of the apartment, and Captain Douche and Bitch Face had just confronted you minutes earlier, right? Else, am I right? I know I’m right.”
Only her family got away with calling her “Else.” “You’re right, Beth. When you’re right, you’re right,” she said quickly and sighed, feeling a little lightheaded. God, when did I turn into such a lightweight? Working twelve hour shifts in the ER didn’t leave much time for partying anymore. It felt like her tolerance level had tanked to diddly-squat. Maybe gulping the last of her vodka tonic was a less than wise decision. She figured they still had about three hours until they landed. Plenty of time for this lightweight to sober up, she thought.
“Good, forget about Captain Douche, ’cause we’re about to get our freak on,” her sister sang, and squealed quietly in her seat.
“Not too freaky this time, okay?” Elsie told her. She didn’t want to spend the week babysitting her sister. She’d done enough of it when Bethany was an older teen and young adult, and handling a drunk Beth was like trying to wrangle a one-hundred-and-twenty-pound drunk octopus. Her sister would reach out, trying to touch and grab at everyone she passed. Elsie couldn’t help but grin, thinking back. Those were fun times. Inappropriate gropings and all. Luckily, most people had taken Bethany’s attention as a compliment, male and female alike. Elsie wasn’t having any shenanigans, though. Not this weekend. She was here to relax and start a new chapter in life.
Bethany scrunched her face at Elsie. “Okay, Mom.”
“You did not just say that,” Elsie said, eyes wide in mock anger.
“Then stop acting like one,” Bethany admonished playfully. “We’re going to have fun. That’s an order. And don’t worry, I didn’t mean that freaky. I won’t get us in too much trouble. I don’t want to spend the week in jail.” She grinned into her glass.
Elsie watched as Bethany polished off the rest of her drink. Holding it up, she made a production out of shaking the glass and rattling the ice. Elsie just rolled her eyes. Classy, sis. Real classy.
“And see, I’m all done. I’ve hit my limit. I won’t have another till the hotel bar, I promise.” Bethany winked at Elsie.
Elsie groaned, then closed her eyes to try to take a catnap.
Large, darkly tanned, masculine hands trailed up her naked, oil-slicked body and skimmed over her heaving rib cage.
Where in the heck did the oil come from? Elsie wondered as she tried catching her breath, but he was stealing all of the air from the room. She looked up to find his swirling crystal blue eyes staring heatedly down at her. Oh, who cares, she thought. She watched his eyes seemingly turn every shade of blue as his gaze moved down to where his strong hands molded and squeezed her aching breasts. She cried out when he rolled both of her nipples at the same time, sending a rush of pleasure straight to her center. She could feel herself getting wet as her clit throbbed. Why wouldn’t he touch her? She arched her neck and lifted her hips, trying to rub against him, giving him as much access as possible.
“Touch me.” Feeling desperate, she wasn’t above begging.
“I am touching you,” his deep voice told her as he twisted her nipples again, this time harder. The pain and pleasure mixed; she dug her heels into the mattress as her insides clenched. Her body searched for what it knew it was lacking. She felt empty. She looked down to see his big, fat— Why was he shaking her?
“Elsie! Wake up.”
Elsie gasped. “Jesus!” Her limbs reflexively flailed, causing her to kick the seat in front of her. Her right hand flew knuckles-first into the airplane window cover while her left hand smacked her sister on the boob. Fortunately, both were covered in padding.
“Ouch! Sorry, did I scare you?” Bethany asked unnecessarily. Her sister could be such a brat sometimes, as evidenced by the next words out of her mouth. “We’re landing, so you can stop moaning and groaning in your sleep.” She made a production out of rubbing her offended boob.
Oh my God, no! “I didn’t, did I?” Elsie’s heart raced. Between her sexy dream man and her sister’s shaking wake-up call, her adrenaline was still pumping. How embarrassing. She cringed, wondering if her sister suspected she’d been having a naughty dream. And that hadn’t been the first one. Over the past two weeks, she’d had recurring dreams of her mystery lover, sexy dreams starring the same man every night. She’d actually started feeling guilty about the dreams until Dan’s bombshell.
Bethany smirked at her, shrugging, and hummed an affirmative. She said nothing as she got her bag together.
Busted. Her sister was far from stupid, even if she acted like it sometimes. Elsie shifted and squirmed in her seat as she realized she was more affected by that dream than she’d first thought. She’d never had a wet dream before her dream lover’s nightly visits. She assumed that was what these were. But this one had been so vivid. Her nipples were still hard, tingling as if her dream man had just twisted them. Elsie thought sex with Dan had been satisfying, but he’d never gotten her as hot and bothered as her dream man just had. She usually had to get herself going before they had sex, then it was hit or miss if he made her come or if she finished after he’d fall asleep. Dan would never think of twisting her nipples like that. In fact, he never twisted much of anything. When she thought about it, for someone who supposedly knew anatomy and physiology, he really needed a refresher on female anatomy. She silently wished Joyce good luck with that.
Stupid, cock-blocking plane and your stupid landing gear. She was irrationally irritable as she cleaned up her area and prepared for landing. She shuddered, remembering how her dream man’s hands had looked and felt, splayed against her body. They’d been so big and tan against her, making her feel so small, and then when he’d twisted her nipples like that… Holy smokes. Who knows? Maybe Hawaii was going to be good for her, especially if she could finish that damn dream.
But no, fate had decided to still be a bitch. It took forever until they were allowed to deplane and even longer to pick up their luggage. When Elsie and Bethany finally hopped in a taxi, they were taken on a hellishly long ride across what felt like the entire island to arrive at their hotel. Elsie only wanted to take off her shoes and relax, but when she and Bethany reached the check-in counter, the clerk informed them their reservation had been cancelled.
“What do you mean, we’ve been bumped? What does that even mean? We have a reservation. How do you get bumped from a hotel? It was booked almost a year ago.” Elsie was totally and completely at the end of her rope.
“We are so, so, very sorry, ma’am,” the clerk said, trying to placate her.
Elsie and Bethany exchanged glances. Bethany smirked at her. Pursing her lips, Elsie glared up at the ceiling, trying to will patience. She didn’t feel old enough to warrant a “ma’am.”
Elsie dealt with life and death every day as an ER nurse, so she knew how to compartmentalize, but after everything she’d been through this past week, getting here just to find out there was no room threatened crack her “everything’s okay” facade. Elsie tried hard not to lose her shit, but she was getting close. Keep it together, Else, she chanted in her head.
“Because of the inconvenience this will cause you, we’ve upgraded you to our more exclusive facility on our private island just off the coast,” the clerk said. “The amenities there are much more luxurious than what we have here. I know it’s a bit more travel, but truly, you ladies have really lucked out with this upgrade.”
“How far is it from Waikiki? We wanted to go shopping,” Bethany said.
“There are ferries daily, every few hours back and forth from the island, and the trip is no more than an hour and a half, two hours tops if the water’s a little rough,” he assured them. “There’s also some shopping and dining on the island as well. We like to make sure we have a little bit of everything to keep our guests entertained and happy.”
“Except their rooms,” Bethany retorted smartly under her breath. Elsie refrained from snorting out loud at her sister’s comment. Bethany was a sassy one.
“Yes, well, would you like for me to make the arrangements for you ladies?” he asked, his professional smile and demeanor never faltering. This guy was good, and he knew he had them over a barrel. If they didn’t accept, they’d be in Hawaii during the high season without reservations. That could get expensive, or they could get stuck in a roach motel. Not seeing how she had much choice and too tired to look for alternatives, Elsie nodded.
“Yes, please,” she told him. She was ready to be there already.
“Please wait right over there and we’ll have a shuttle take you to the ferry. They’ll have your upgrade info at the check-in desk on the island. Have a wonderful stay, and again, our apologies.”
“Thank you,” she said. They sat in the outdoor lounge to wait for their shuttle. “Well, this is interesting,” Elsie said, looking over at her sister, who was staring down at her phone.
“Wow, this place really is exclusive,” Bethany said without looking up. “The billionaire that owns the resort owns the island and built another hotel for special functions and guests. You can stay there by invite only.” Finally looking up, Bethany wagged her brows at Elsie.
“And we get to stay there just because the hotel here is overbooked?” Elsie asked, doubtful. Bethany just shrugged.
Elsie thought it sounded a little too good to be true, but this place looked legit. It was a large, well-known hotel. A man sporting the hotel’s Hawaiian-shirt uniform walked up to let them know the shuttle was ready for them and kindly took their luggage. Elsie was relieved when she saw a few other women boarding the shuttle as well. She overheard them speak excitedly about their upgrade. So Elsie and Bethany weren’t the only ones affected, then. Elsie figured this probably wasn’t even as big a deal as the hotel was making it. They probably played these games, “upgrading” to promote the exclusivity of the hotel or something. She relaxed further when they arrived at the ferry. There were more people boarding for the island, employees and guests alike.
There were signs for a bar on the ferry but to Elsie’s relief, Bethany skipped it and led her around the upper deck until they stopped and snagged a bench in the sun. They faced the island so they could watch the lush coast as they sailed to their mystery destination.
“We’re really here!” Bethany said quietly, but her voice was full of excitement that Elsie couldn’t help but share. Saying nothing, Elsie just nodded, putting her arm around her sister and pulling her close.
“You’re going to mess up my tan lines,” Bethany said cheekily, but didn’t move out of Elsie’s embrace.
“Shut up.” Elsie chuckled and gave her sister a squeeze, not about to let her go.
They sat close in comfortable silence, leaning into each other. Elsie absorbed the sights and sounds, enjoying ocean paradise that surrounded them.
End of sample chapter