âWhere is the pain worst?â Emily demanded, refusing to let herself think about the warmth of his oiled-satin skin as she ran both thumbs up his neck, one on each side of his cervical vertebrae.
Emily could feel the tension in every one of his muscles, but whether that was the result of the pain or because she was touching him she didnât know. All she knew was that she needed to help him if she couldâ¦and if he would let her.
âRelax,â she urged as she began to gently massage the knotted muscles at the base of his skull. âIs it too painful to bend your knees up and rest your forehead on them?â
Relax?
Zayed stifled a groan. Didnât the woman know she was asking for the impossible? He hadnât been relaxed since heâd looked up and seen her standing in the doorway.
Sheâd been like a ray of sunshine with her blonde hair and pale summery clothes sprinkled with flowers, and as for those eyesâ¦their limpid green had seemed cool and soothing as theyâd taken his measure across the room, even as theyâd sparked something impossible deep inside him.
Josie Metcalfe lives in Cornwall with her long- suffering husband. They have four children. When she was an army brat, frequently on the move, books became the only friends that came with her wherever she went. Now that she writes them herself she is making new friends, and hates saying goodbye at the end of a bookâbut there are always more characters in her head, clamouring for attention until she canât wait to tell their stories.
Recent titles by the same author:
THE DOCTORâS BRIDE BY SUNRISE*
TWINS FOR A CHRISTMAS BRIDE A MARRIAGE MEANT TO BE SHEIKH SURGEON, SURPRISE BRIDE
*Brides of Penhally Bay
Welcome to Penhally Bay!
Nestled on the rugged Cornish coast is the picturesque town of Penhally. With sandy beaches, breathtaking landscapes and a warm, bustling communityâit is the lucky tourist who stumbles upon this little haven.
But now Mills & Boon® Medical⢠Romance is giving readers the unique opportunity to visit this fictional coastal town through our brand-new twelve-book continuity⦠You are welcomed to a town where the fishing boats bob up and down in the bay, surfers wait expectantly for the waves, friendly faces line the cobbled streets and romance flutters on the Cornish sea breezeâ¦
We introduce you to Penhally Bay Surgery, where you can meet the team led by caring and commanding Dr Nick Tremayne. Each book will bring you an emotional, tempting romanceâfrom Mediterranean heroes to a sheikh with a guarded heart. Thereâs royal scandal that leads to marriage for a babyâs sake, and handsome playboys are tamed by their blushing brides! Top-notch city surgeons win adoring smiles from the community, and little miracle babies will warm your hearts. But thatâs not allâ¦
With Penhally Bay you get double the reading pleasure⦠as each book also follows the life of damaged hero Dr Nick Tremayne. His story will pierce your heartâa tale of lost love and the torment of forbidden romance. Dr Nickâs unquestionable, unrelenting skill would leave any patient happy in the knowledge that sheâs in safe hands, and is a testament to the ability and dedication of all the staff at Penhally Bay Surgery. Come in and meet them for yourselfâ¦
THE pain was unrelenting, but Zayed was almost used to that by now.
What hurt his pride was to admit that, by this time in the evening, he had little chance of disguising the unevenness in his stride as he made his way down to the stretch of water-smoothed sand at the edge of Penhally Bay.
Anyway, there was nothing he could do to switch off the agony that came with the end of a busy day, other than taking large doses of analgesia, and he wasnât going to start down that path. If using those means to relieve his pain left him unfit to take care of one of his little ones, there would be no point to his existence.
He swore softly as his foot caught on the roughness of the granite steps and forced himself to concentrate a little harder. At least, at this time of an August evening, with the sun sliding towards the ocean, there were few people around to notice if he stumbled about like a drunk.
He smiled wryly at the thought, unable to remember the last time heâd tasted alcohol. It must have been back in the days when heâd been in medical school, indulging in that brief spell of belated teenage rebellionâ¦before his world had become such a dangerous place, before everything had finally spiralled out of control.
âBut Penhally isnât such a bad place to end up,â he murmured as he paused long enough to scan his surroundings, the perfect picture postcard of a Cornish fishing village. It had been only fairly recently that the influx of summer visitors drawn to the better-than-average surfing beach had expanded the place into quite a thriving little town. Heâd first visited the area one summer, in his other life, and the serenity of this little place, where almost every building looked out towards the vastness of the ocean, had called to him.