Read Her Hard to Resist Husband Online
Authors: Tina Beckett
Her Hard to Resist Husband
Back in her husband’s bed?
Dr. Tracy Hinton has spent years traveling round Brazil, trying—and failing—to forget her sexy husband, Ben Almeida. But when disaster hits a small community with potentially catastrophic consequences, she needs his unrivaled medical expertise. Surely she can keep things strictly professional, even if she
does
remember how good they once were together? And working against the clock means they can temporarily put aside their differences. Yet there’s no denying their sizzling attraction—and Ben has always been so hard to resist….
He stared at her for a long moment, taking in the parted lips, the glittering eyes…an expression he knew all too well. He lowered his head, and an inner shout of exultation went off in his skull when she didn’t flinch away but met him halfway.
Their lips connected and it was as if a match had been struck in the presence of gasoline fumes. They both went up in flames.
A low moan slid between them. One that most certainly hadn’t come from him. Taking that as a signal to continue, he lifted his fingers and tunneled deep into her hair, the damp moisture of her scalp feeling cool against his overheated skin.
Ignoring the microscope and slides, he shifted her legs sideways until they rested between his, without breaking contact with her mouth for even a second.
The change in position pressed her thigh against his already tightening flesh, which was pure torture—it made him want to push back to increase the contact. He forced himself to remain still instead, although it just about killed him. It had been four years since he’d held this woman in his arms, and he wasn’t about to blow it by doing anything that would have her leaping from his lap in a panic. Realistically he knew they weren’t going to have sex here, but he could take a minute or two to drink his fill of her.
Only he’d never really get his fill. Would always want more than she was willing to give.
Dear Reader,
There comes a time in our lives when we’re confronted with tough challenges or painful decisions. When those decisions are of a life-changing nature there’s a temptation to draw inward and isolate ourselves, locking out those who love us the most.
Tracy Hinton faces just such a situation. And at a time when she should lean on her husband the most she shuts him out completely, creating a rift that soon grows too wide to bridge.
That could have been the end of the story, but sometimes we’re given a second chance—an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past. What we do with that chance will set the course for our future. Will we waste it? Or will we embrace it and accept the good things life has to offer?
Thank you for joining Ben and Tracy as they embark on a very special journey of healing and second chances. In confronting the mistakes of the past they rekindle a love that has never quite died. These two characters stayed with me long after I wrote “The End.” I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Love
Tina Beckett
HER HARD TO RESIST HUSBAND
Tina Beckett
Also by Tina Beckett:
THE LONE WOLF’S CRAVING**
NYC ANGELS: FLIRTING WITH DANGER*
THE MAN WHO WOULDN’T MARRY
DOCTOR’S GUIDE TO DATING IN THE JUNGLE
*NYC Angels
**Men of Honor duet with Anne Fraser
These books are also available in ebook format from
www.Harlequin.com
.
Dedication
To my husband, who stands beside me through thick and thin.
And to my editor, Suzy, for making me dig deeper than I ever thought I could.
Praise for
Tina Beckett:
“A tension-filled emotional story with just the right amount of drama. The author’s vivid description of the Brazilian jungle and its people make this story something special.”
—
RT Book Reviews
on
Doctor’s Guide to Dating in the Jungle
“Medical RomanceTM lovers will definitely like
NYC Angels: Flirting with Danger
by Tina Beckett—for who doesn’t like a good forbidden romance?”
—
HarlequinJunkie.com
on
NYC Angels: Flirting with Danger
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
T
RACY
H
INTON
DIDN’T
faint.
Her stomach squirmed and threatened to give way as the scent of death flooded her nostrils, but she somehow held it together. Calming herself with slow, controlled breaths was out of the question, because breathing was the last thing she wanted to do right now.
“How many are there?” She fitted the protective mask over her nose and mouth.
“Six deaths so far, but most of the town is affected.” Pedro, one of her mobile clinic workers, nodded towards the simple clay-brick house to his left, where an eerily still figure was curled in a fetal position on the porch. Another body lay a few yards away on the ground. “They’ve been dead for a few days. Whatever it was, it hit fast. They didn’t even try to make it to a hospital.”
“They were probably too sick. Besides, the nearest hospital is twenty miles away.”
Piaui
, one of the poorest of the Brazilian states, was more vulnerable to catastrophic infections than the wealthier regions, and many of these outlying townships relied on bicycles or their own two feet for transportation. It was hard enough to make a twenty-mile trek even when one was young and healthy, which these poor souls had not been. And cars were a luxury most couldn’t afford.
She wouldn’t know for sure what had caused the deaths until she examined the bodies and gathered some specimens. The nearest diagnostic hospital was a good hundred miles from here. In any case, she’d have to report the possibility of an epidemic to the proper authorities.
Which meant she’d have to deal with Ben.
Pedro shook his head. “Dengue, you think?”
“Not this time. There’s some blood on the front of the man’s shirt, but nothing else that I can see from this distance.” She stared at the crude corral where several pigs squealed out a protest at the lack of food. “I’m thinking lepto.”
Pedro frowned. “Leptospirosis? Rainy season’s already over.”
The area around the house consisted of a few desiccated twigs and hard-packed clay, confirming her colleague’s words. The sweltering heat sucked any remaining moisture from the air and squeezed around her, making her nausea that much worse. Situated close to the equator, the temperature of this part of Brazil rarely dipped below the hundred-degree mark during the dry season. The deadly heat would only grow worse, until the rains finally returned.
“They have pigs.” She used her forearm to push sticky tendrils of hair from her forehead.
“I saw that, but lepto doesn’t normally cause hemorrhaging.”
“It did in
Bahia
.”
Pedro’s brows went up. “You think it’s the pulmonary version?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Do you want to take samples? Or head for one of the other houses?”
Reaching into the back pocket of her jeans, she eased out her cellphone and glanced hopefully at the display. No bars. What worked in Sao Paulo obviously didn’t work here. “Is your phone working?”
“Nope.”
She sighed, trying to figure out what to do. “The tissue samples will have to wait until we come back, I don’t want to risk contaminating any live patients. And maybe we’ll come within range of a cellphone tower once we hit higher ground.”
* * *
Benjamin Almeida pressed his eye to the lens of the microscope and twisted the fine focus until the image sharpened, making the pink stain clearly visible. Gram negative bacteria. Removing the slide, he ran it through the digital microscope and recorded the results.
“Um, Ben?” His assistant’s hesitant voice came from the doorway.
He held up a finger as he waited for the computer to signal it had sent his report to the attending physician at the tropical disease institute of
Piaui
. The man’s office was fifteen steps away in the main hospital building, but Ben couldn’t take the time to walk over there right now. Dragging the latex gloves from his hands and flicking them into the garbage can to his right, he reached for the hand sanitizer and squirted a generous amount onto his palm.
“Yep, what is it?” He glanced up, his twelve-hour shift beginning to catch up with him. There were two more slides he needed to process before he could call it a day.
“Someone’s here to see you.” Mandy shifted out of the doorway, the apology in her cultured Portuguese tones unmistakable.
“If it’s Dr. Mendosa, tell him I just emailed the report. It’s a bacterial infection, not a parasite.”
A woman appeared next to Mandy, and Ben couldn’t stop his quick intake of breath. Shock wheeled through him, and he forced himself to remain seated on his stool, thankful his legs weren’t in charge of supporting his weight at that moment.
Inky-dark hair, pulled back in its usual clip, exposed high cheekbones and a long slender neck. Green eyes—right now filled with worry—met his without hesitation, her chin tilting slightly higher as they stared at each other.
What the hell was
she
doing here?
The newcomer adjusted the strap of a blue insulated bag on her shoulder and took a small step closer. “Ben, I need your help.”
His jaw tensed. Those were almost the exact words she’d used four years ago. Right before she’d walked out of his life. He gave a quick swallow, hoping his voice wouldn’t betray his thoughts. “With what?”
“Something’s happening in Sao Joao dos Rios.” She patted the bag at her side, words tumbling out at breakneck speed. “I brought samples I need you to analyze. The sooner the better, because I have to know why people are suddenly—”
“Slow down. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She bit her lip, and he watched her try to collect her thoughts. “There’s an outbreak in Sao Joao dos Rios. Six people are dead so far. The military police are already on their way to lock down the town.” She held her hand out. “I wouldn’t have come if this wasn’t important. Really important.”
That much he knew was true. The last time he’d seen her, she had been heading out the door of their house, never to return.
He shouldn’t be surprised she was still roving the country, stamping out infectious fires wherever she went. Nothing had been able to stop her. Not him. Not the thought of a home and family. Not the life she’d carried inside her.