REVIEW, EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: The Distraction (The Body Works Trilogy #2)

The Distraction (The Body Works Trilogy #2), by Sierra Kincade
To Be Published February 3, 2015
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Format: e-ARC, provided by NetGalley
Genre: adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating: 5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Anna Rossi knows that opening your heart only gets you hurt. But Alec Flynn is just too good to resist…

It’s been three long months since Anna’s seen Alec, since he saved her life and lit up her soul with unquenchable desire. Being without him has left her on edge, but his bravery has motivated her to change her life and go after what she’s always wanted—a job where she can help people. She can’t wait to show Alec the woman she’s become in his absence, or to prove how much she’s missed him…

Three months away has done nothing to slake Alec’s need for Anna. Unfortunately, it hasn’t made his life any less dangerous. The last thing he wants to do is hurt Anna, but if giving her up is the only way to save her, he’s not sure he can do that either. He’s determined to have her for as long as he can. Except his past is creeping up on him faster than he knows, and this time he may not be able to keep her from becoming collateral damage…

I would say that if any couple I've read about could be described as combustible, it's Alec and Anna. Chemistry... well, that would put what these two have to shame. And with the connection that this couple has with one another, you want nothing more than to see them happy and settled together. Sadly, it seems that Sierra Kincade is determined to kill me slowly and make me wait for their happy. The Distraction sent me wildly shifting from fist pumping to panty adjusting to tear wiping. Ah - my kind of book. 

It's been three months since Alec has seen Anna. During that time, Anna has taken steps to better herself and to make things ready for when Alec returns. Despite their intense connection, when he does show up again, things are awkward and tense. Getting to know one another again and even better than before is hard, but love like they have can't be contained forever. Unfortunately, Alec is still playing a dangerous game and keeping lots of secrets, both of which make forging a healthy relationship difficult. As Anna tries to manage her new career and her big feelings for Alec, she begins to lose herself a bit. Just as she decides he's worth any price, she's faced with a price that just may be too steep after all. 

What would you do for love? What would you risk? It's an incredibly romantic notion to automatically assume that there is no price too great. Anna seems to be a woman of the world. I mean, with everything she went through in The Masseuse and all that she discovered through her association with Alec and his employer, it's understandable that she's a little jaded. And, yet, when it comes to Alec, her love and passion for him overtakes everything. 

Alec has a lot of his plate. He's being pulled in so many different directions by so many different people. I felt so much for him in The Distraction. It's obvious that he wants nothing more than to just be... with Anna. She is his rock and safe place amidst the craziness in the rest of his life. She supports him, cares for him and loves him completely. And he is so protective of her. After the danger they've already experienced together, he wants her safe more than anything else. He's even willing to walk away to give that to her if need be. 

You might think that the danger and subterfuge encountered in The Masseuse has passed, but in reality, it's only gotten started. Anna is constantly being put in danger, but no one is quite sure by whom. These two just can't catch a break! When they should be reacquainting, they instead are having their homes broken into, being followed on the street and attacked anywhere and everywhere. It sucks so much. 

But, when they are together, holy crap are they TOGETHER. The passion and chemistry leaps off the page and nearly brings you to tears. These two are sexy and hot and they set my lady bits on fire. There is no shortage of sexy times in The Distraction. 

Everything comes to a head at the end during a truly explosive and scary encounter. There are twist and turns that I never saw coming. And a finale that broke my heart. Thank goodness there is another book coming in this series, because now I need Sierra Kincade to put my heart back together. 

     Alec laid me on the bed, kissing me in a long, tender way that pulled at my heart.
     “Don’t move,” he whispered. He disappeared into the shadows and I rose to my elbows, brows creased in concern when I realized he’d gone into the closet. Surely he wasn’t there to get the rope. When I’d said I wanted to try again I’d meant I needed him, not that I was ready to be tied up.
     He returned with two silk neckties—things I’d seen him wear when we first met. A lump formed in my throat as he sat on the edge of the bed, holding them in his fist.
     “Alec, I don’t want to ruin any of your fantasies tonight.”
     His thumb whispered across my cheekbone.
     “You didn’t ruin anything,” he said. “I don’t have a fantasy where you’re afraid.”
     His words eased my mind but not my body; I still shivered when the tip of one of the neckties tickled my belly.
     “Stay with me a little longer,” he said. “I swear, I won’t hurt you.”
     I nodded, knowing that he didn’t mean physically, but mentally. Still anxious, I laid back down.
     “I did this wrong before.” His voice was soft and low, and wrapped around me like a warm blanket. “Let me try to fix it. If it’s too intense, just say the word.”
     I considered this. “Okay.”
     The silk slid up my shoulders.
     “I should have asked for your trust first,” he said.
     Goosebumps rose on the side of my neck as the tie passed lightly over it.
     “You have it,” I said.
     He trailed the material up the side of my cheek, and then slowly covered my eyes. As he reached behind my head to tie it, his lips found mine, and he kissed me for a long time, until the nerves scattered and in their place was something more demanding.
     He drew back.
     “I should have told you that I’ll bring you back from anywhere I take you. I won’t leave you, and I won’t let you go.”
     I gasped as he lifted my left wrist. He massaged the tender skin at the base of my palm, then kissed it. His tongue flicked over the red marks and I jerked, hypersensitive to his caress.
     I concentrated on my breath, but was unable to feel Bobby’s restraints binding me as the tie slipped around my forearm. I waited for him to lift my wrist over my head to fasten it to the bed frame, but he did not. As I felt through the darkness, I found that he’d tied the other side to his own arm, the knot loose enough to turn or slip free if necessary.
     His fingers wove through mine, feeling their way over the pads of my fingers. When our hands clasped, I shuddered, feeling somehow more joined to him than I did with him inside me.
     “Alec,” I whispered. My senses were more acute with the wrap around my eyes. I could hear every compression in the mattress as he moved, feel the heat of his body as he adjusted his position to sit beside me. Desire throbbed low in my belly. I became desperate to know where he would touch me next.
“I should have told you I love you, Anna,” he murmured. “Because I do. I love you so much it hurts.”
     I stilled.
     “I can feel you inside me.” He moved our clasped hands over his heart, squeezing tightly. “When you’re in pain, I can’t breathe. And when you’re scared, I want to kill the man who did it, even if that’s me.”
     What he said slayed me. I wanted to take off the blindfold, see his eyes, but I didn’t need to. The truth was right there in his touch.
     “Forgive me,” he said.
     I couldn’t speak, my throat was so tight. Instead I nodded, and he rested his forehead on my shoulder. He kissed my chest, right above my heart. And then my shoulder, and then higher—at the base of my neck.
I siphoned in a quick breath. The softest touch there was enough to ignite my senses.
     “Is this okay?” he whispered.
     “Yes.”
     He lightly pressed his lips just behind my ear and it felt like lightning zapping straight into my core. My back bowed, and my free hand squeezed the comforter. He shifted positions, and his tongue swirled just below my collarbone. The cool air did nothing to ease the heat rising inside of me. I began to pant, turning feverish as he held back what I needed. Feather-soft, his closed lips brushed over my shoulder, a brief whisper only. I quaked beneath him. My back dropped down hard enough to make the mattress bounce.
     “What are you doing?” I asked.
     He moved our joined hands, twisting his wrist so that my palm rested against the back of his hand. With our fingers overlapped, he drew a slow circle around my other breast. I pressed down, urging him to touch me more firmly, but he withheld.
     “Watching you,” he said.
     My cheeks flushed. “Do you like that?”
     He guided our hands lower, and switched positions again, so that his hand was behind mine. When we reached his jeans, he pressed my hand over him, so that I could feel his answer.
     His groaned as I reached for the button at the top of his fly.
     “Not yet,” he said tightly. “Just let me touch you for a while.”
     What happened next was like nothing I’d ever experienced. He felt me, every inch of me. With his lips. His tongue. His fingertips, and sometimes mine. Each kiss took me higher, drew me tighter. Time ceased to exist. All thoughts vanished. There was only my body, trembling from the inside out, throbbing with a need so powerful tears soaked the blindfold to my temples.

 
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