Her lips parted in response, but before the words came out his mouth came down on hers.
Things changed in that instant. His lips were hard against hers and he used them to tug and draw her lower lip to him. As she moaned he moved inside her, his tongue exploring and tasting what she offered. Never had she been kissed like this, and she felt helpless to hold back—not that she wanted to.
She turned her body toward him and wrapped her arms around him, her fingers running through his hair and pressing into his scalp. He kissed her harder, deeper, his fingers tangling in her hair while his other hand trailed the length of her back. She arched in response to his touch, pressing herself against him and increasing their contact.
As suddenly as the kiss had started Tate broke away from her and stood from the couch. The hand he extended toward her quickly pacified her sense of loss. Without words she placed her hand in his and let him pull her from the couch. She trailed him as he led her to the bedroom platform. At the edge of the bed she watched him pull off the shirt that she’d thought left little to the imagination until she saw him in the flesh. Every muscle was perfect and defined. She reached out and let her fingers move softly over the strong breadth of his shoulders, his chest, and then along the washboard abdomen until they ended at the top of his belt and jeans.
He started in the same place, his hands moving around her waist as his fingers grabbed enough fabric to pull the tank top from her body. She had never felt self-conscious about her body, but at that moment she felt very aware of the state of her own arousal. Tate’s hand encircled her waist again, but this time over the bare skin he had exposed. She shuddered at the heat she felt coming from his touch and felt him pull her to him in response.
“Definitely not cold,” she heard him whisper as his warm breath surged against her neck.
Welcome back to the wonderful and tumultuous world of Boston General. As an author I fell in love with Chloe and Tate when I was creating and writing RESISTING HER EX’S TOUCH, and I knew their story could not be left untold. Chloe’s feelings of unrequited love and Tate’s wounded pride needed to be healed.
As a lifelong Mills & Boon® reader I thought I had learned the perfect formula for romance. Attraction, romance, love, turmoil and resolution. AFTER ONE FORBIDDEN NIGHT… has all those ingredients, but put together a little differently. Sometimes in life even the smartest and most successful people don’t know what’s best for them and make the wrong choice—meet Tate. And as for Chloe, everything that makes her a wonderful physician—her knowledge, her drive, her constant need to put others ahead of herself—makes her a horrible patient and an even harder woman to claim.
A modern-day story of star-crossed lovers working through their emotions and fears while continuing to dedicate themselves to the medical profession is what this book offers, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Amber
AMBER McKENZIE’s love of romance and all the drama a good romance entails began in her teenage years. After a lengthy university career, multiple degrees and one formal English class, she found herself happily employed as a physician and happily married to her medical school sweetheart.
She rekindled her passion for romance during her residency and began thinking of the perfect story. She quickly decided that the only thing sexier than a man in scrubs was a woman in scrubs. After finishing training and starting her practice she started writing her first novel. Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest came at a perfect time, and after a few good edits from her wildlife biologist childhood best friend the manuscript was submitted. The rest is history!
Amber currently lives in Canada with her husband. She does her best to juggle her full-time medical practice with her love of writing and reading and other pursuits—from long-distance running to domestic goddess activities like cooking and quilting. Multi-tasking has become an art form and a way of life.
After One
Forbidden Night…
Amber McKenzie
To my Maebyn, who was a dream in my heart when this book began and a reality in my arms when it finished. Thank you for teaching me the joys and discomforts of pregnancy and motherhood. It’s been an incredible adventure that is only beginning.
Table of Contents
Dear Reader
Dedication
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“DR. DARCY TO Trauma One. Dr. Darcy to Trauma One.”
As always her heart began to pound and her attention became focused only on the task ahead of her. Traumas were the scariest and most rewarding part of emergency medicine. By moving and thinking quickly you could become the difference between life and death, and chief emergency resident Chloe Darcy was always half terrified and half exhilarated by the challenge.
She ran to the trauma bay and arrived as the paramedics were wheeling a patient in on a gurney. She took in the unconscious pale thin girl as the paramedics gave their report.
“Twenty-two-year-old female found unconscious by her roommate with bilateral lacerations to the wrists. Estimated blood loss at the scene was minimum one and a half liters. No signs of other trauma or drugs at the scene. She left a note. Apparently heartbroken over a recent breakup. Valentine’s is the worst reminder.”
Foolish girl, Chloe thought to herself. What love or man could possibly be