Can't Hold Back
Returning Home, #2
By Serena Bell
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 15, 2015
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Thursday, December 17 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm Eastern to help celebrate the
release of Can't Hold Back!
In this tender
military romance from the bestselling author of Hold on Tight—perfect for fans
of of Jill Shalvis and Susan Mallery—a war-shattered veteran gets a second
chance at love with the one that got away.
No girl can resist
a man in uniform—especially if that man is Nate Riordan. But after an injury in
the line of duty leaves Nate broken, body and soul, the soldier finds himself
addicted to his pain meds, with no place to call home. Desperate for an escape,
Nate reluctantly accepts a friend’s invitation to a new veterans’ retreat.
Expecting a little R&R, Nate is shocked when the sight of his physical
therapist opens up another old wound: heartbreak.
Years ago, Alia
Drake fell hard for Nate, but never made her move. Instead, she set up her
sister with the sexy, confident military man, a foolish decision that continues
to haunt all three of them. Now, with Nate as her patient, she can make things
right—even if it means getting too close for comfort. A healing touch and a
little honesty work wonders, fueling a physical intimacy that crosses
professional boundaries. This time, with desire in the air once more, Alia
won’t hold anything back.
You didn’t have to
be a pain-management guru to see it. It wasn’t the tapping that had hurt him.
It was talking about what had happened. It was remembering.
The tender points
on his body told her that his brain was overreacting to pain signals. He was
feeling more pain than there was, like a mic and speakers in a terrible
feedback loop. It was pretty common with trauma, particularly trauma that had
both a physiological and a psychological component.
The first step was
breaking the loop.
She put her hands
on his shoulders.
His skin, even
through his T-shirt, was much warmer than she was expecting, and the sensation
surged through her fingers with a shock that she’d failed to brace herself for.
That sheer, electric human connection.
If a physical
therapist has natural feelings of attraction toward a patient, he/she must
sublimate those feelings in order to avoid sexual exploitation of the patient.
Words to that
effect had been all over her ethics textbook.
She pulled her
hands away for a moment. Recalibrated her mind. Put her hands back on his skin.
The sensation was less intense this time, but still there. Like the heat in his
body threw a switch beneath her surface.
Sublimate.
She knew what it
meant, but she really wasn’t sure how the hell one accomplished it. She’d never
thought to ask.
Maybe this was a
bad idea. She’d thought of it as making reparations, but it was starting to
look more like making the same mistake twice.
It wasn’t like she
had a lot of choices here. She had a man in pain on her table. He’d been
treating his pain with an addictive painkiller. She was currently the only
physical therapist on staff. A litany of facts that didn’t give a shit about
her feelings, natural or unnatural.
Surely treating
him—despite any stray “natural feelings of attraction”—was a lesser evil than
kicking him out of her office and probably sending him back to the pill bottle.
Especially since she’d already screwed up his life once because she couldn’t
control her attraction to him.
A physical
therapist stands in a relationship of trust to each patient and has an ethical
obligation to act in the patient’s best interest and to avoid any exploitation
or abuse of the patient.
Noticing that her
body reacted chemically to the nearness of his wasn’t exploitation or abuse.
And it was pretty clear that it was in Nate’s best interest right now to break
the pain loop.
Tentatively, she
sent heat into her own fingers, warmed the area over his collarbone. So much
tension vibrating in him. Maybe that was all she was feeling, the live-wire
coiled energy of a man who’d been wound too tight. She was used to all kinds of
electricity pouring off people, the accumulated impulses that a human body
stored and shed. What she’d felt a moment ago was just that, another form of
strange energy. Nothing to make herself crazy over.
She felt more
confident now. Right. Nate was in pain. She could help.
She pressed his
shoulders gently down, trying to give his neck a little more room. She kneaded
with her thumbs, urging the thick knot of muscle to let go. A firm,
businesslike touch. Professional strokes.
God, his skin is
smooth.
She watched as his
lips, which had been pressed together, softened. Loosened, relaxed. Felt
something uncoil in her own body. In her chest.
Lower.
Damn it.
 |
| Photo Credit: Susan Young Photography |
USA Today bestselling
author Serena Bell writes richly emotional stories about big-hearted characters
with real troubles and the people who are strong and generous enough to love
them.
Serena loves to
embrace new hobbies, and has at various times enjoyed birdwatching,
backpacking, violin, Ultimate Frisbee, skiing, tennis, ice-skating, dance,
needlepoint, kayaking, paddleboarding, meditating, and swimming laps—to name
just a few.
Her supportive
husband lovingly accepts each new hobby and all the equipment it requires, and
her two school-aged children provide opportunities to explore new activities
like coaching basketball and remembering just how much math she's forgotten.
You can sign up for
her new release updates here! http://www.serenabell.com/newsletter
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