Forbidden, Tempted Series (Book 1)

by Selene Charles

  Abel didn’t know.

  He didn’t know.

  “Stay away from her,” he growled, sweat gathering on his brow as he fought to keep it together. Something about the girl made him this way.

  Her scent, her look, and the way she’d leaned in at the lunch table today. Her sweet breath mingling with his, her pupils dilated and her skin flushed with blood. That wild hair that reminded him of flame—deep red with hints of gold.

  She should fear him, just the way others did. They sensed the darkness in him, but not her. She’d leaned in and her eyes had begged for something he couldn’t understand but desperately wanted to.

  Violence again crowded his vision, tried to claw its way out of him. But he wouldn’t let it. He was still a man. Still human.

  “No.” Abel scooped up the sandwich and dumped it in the trash can. “If you don’t like her, that’s fine. But I invited her to the hole and she’s coming.”

  “You did what?” Cain roared, barely hanging on to his sanity. His skin prickled with a violent rush of heat. He gripped his skull, counting slowly to ten. “She doesn’t belong among us, Abel. We don’t know her. She could be dangerous.”

  Abel laughed, wiping up the last smear of mustard on the floor. “Yeah, all one hundred pounds of her. Get bent, Cain. It’s my life, and I’m not gonna have you or Dad telling me what I can and can’t do.”

  If he didn’t leave now he was going to pound his brother to a bloody pulp. The veins in his arms and neck throbbed with a liquid rush of adrenaline. Cain yanked open the door, inhaling the fresh scent of the night, the cornfield-sweet aroma and humid Tennessee air, letting the smells roll through his nose, smoothing his frayed edges and bringing back the sanity he could barely control anymore.

  Abel was right; he didn’t used to be this way. He could laugh at one time.

  Hand gripping the knob, feeling the metal soften beneath the flex of his hand, he asked, “Did she really call me that?”

  Abel laughed, the sound harsh. “Wait. Do you care? Oh please, tell me—”

  Cain slammed the door, rattling the trailer behind him.

  Janet was running with Rhiannon in tow. They were giggling, twirling, and laughing breathlessly. “I hear she’s a walker, and a flier annnd throws knives. It’s ridonkulous. Come look.”

  Rhiannon nodded, her blond hair trailing behind her like a banner in the breeze.

  Cain knew everyone in the family, and he’d never heard of a flier and walker. He stepped in front of Janet, crossing his arms. “Who’s that, Ja?”

  She stopped, the smile on her face freezing in place, brown eyes wide as she shook her head. “Cain.”

  The smell of her punched him in the gut—lilac and lavender, the scent of Flint was all over Janet.

  An icy fist rammed through his heart.

  “Where is she?”

  Janet wasn’t stupid, she knew who he meant, and she didn’t try to deny it. “In the big top.”

  He shook his head. “You know better, Ja. Abel might not. But. You. Know. Better.”

  Fury sparked in the depths of her rich brown eyes, a flash of the beast that lurked within the façade she wore. “She’s not like that.”

  “You don’t know that. You don’t know anything about her. Why is she here? Why now? You don’t think it’s suspicious?”

  “Chill, Cain.” Rhiannon’s voice rolled through him like warm honey. She had her arms crossed in front of her. “She’s just a little bitty human. What could she possibly do to the big bad rager?”

  Disgusted, he turned his back on her smirking face. “Ja, come on. You know how these things always end.”

  “She might be who she claims to be. I ate lunch with her today, and I detected no deceit. I’d know. You know I’d know. I like her. She’s clumsy. Human. Normal. And God knows I need some of that right about now.” Holding her chin high, her entire body began to tremble.

  But not with fear, with the beating of her monster coming to life like a slumbering dragon flexing its wings.

  He didn’t know what, but the girl had a way about her. If she was capable of turning a kanlungan into a pussycat, he had to find out who she was. And if she was what he thought she might be... he’d destroy her.

  Cain turned on his heel, marching toward the big top.

  “Cain, stop.” Janet tugged on his arm.

  She might be a monster, but so was he. He shook her off.

  “Her dad came for the job.” Janet jumped in front of him, punching his chest with her flat palms, pleading with her eyes for him to stop. “It’s not like that, Cain. Adam’s talking with him now. It’s legit, Cain. This is none of your business—leave it.”

  He shoved his face into hers, letting his poison leak into his eyes, knowing they now glowed an eerie shade of crimson red. “This is my business, you’re all my business. Why are you fighting to protect something you don’t even know? This is how we get hurt, Ja, trusting. I won’t make that mistake,” he snarled, ignoring the hurt gleam in her eyes.

  Whipping around, he followed the scent of lilac and lavender.

  Each step ratcheted up his pulse. Dizzy with the scent of her, he threw the flaps aside. Janet continued to plead with him to listen. But he was past listening. They all knew better. They’d been down this road before. Never trust what you didn’t know.

  Her smell was everywhere. That crazy sick feeling beat at his chest, his throat. Then he looked up and a haze of red swept his gaze.

  She was running, hair whipping behind her slim shoulders, a look of pure joy radiating from her face.

  His muscles throbbed, pulsed with an angry shot of power.

  She must have realized she wasn’t alone. Flint turned toward him, her mouth dropping open for a second. And then she was falling.

  There was a net, but a roar—primal and feral—ripped from his throat and he ran.

  Chapter 5

  Hands yanked on her arms, making her squeal as a bright bolt of pain flared through her shoulders.

  “Why are you here?”

  Dizzy, a scream still trapped in her throat, all she could do was stare at Cain with a mixture of shock and terror. How had he grabbed her? One second she was falling into the net, legs braced to her chest to absorb the impact, and the next she was plastered against a chest that felt as hard as rock, staring into a face that looked like he wanted to rip her limb from limb.

  But the violence lurking on his face was second to the fact that he actually had his glasses off, the eyes she’d been so obsessed with earlier now glowed back at her.

  Deep, bloody red.

  She sucked in a breath, words lost to her as she lost herself to the chaotic rhythm of those swirling eyes.

  Flint wasn’t good at science, pretty much hated it with a passion. But she remembered a video she’d watched once. When Earth was first forming and how the world was nothing but sea and lava. Looking in his eyes was like seeing the beginning of time.

  “Answer me!” He shook her harder.

  “Contacts?” she breathed, wondering if she’d really said that out loud. It had to be contacts. Nobody had red eyes. Especially not swirling red eyes.

  He narrowed them, and he had thick brows—perfect thick brows that sloped along the graceful lines of those crazy-colored eyes. Her fingers clenched.

  Cain looked confused, his hand shifting slightly down her bicep, gripping the muscle, sending a hot shiver to race like wildfire through her blood.

  How sick was it that all she could think about was the rough texture of his palm on her naked arms? How his heat literally seemed to leak straight into her pores, warming her from the inside out?

  Slowly it dawned on her that she’d better answer or he’d probably try to shake her head off her neck. Gnashing her teeth, she shoved him back. Or tried to; he barely moved.

  “How did you get up here so fast?” Flint wrapped her arms around herself, still caught in his snare.

  “Who are you?” He snarled, legs braced wide, hands flexing by his side. “Why
are you here? Who sent you?”

  Flint kept backpedaling, trying to get away from his toxic touch, nearness, and hate. But he followed her, each question bringing him one step closer, and then she had nowhere else to go. At the edge of the rope and nothing but twenty feet of empty air below her, she couldn’t jump.

  “What is your problem? Why do you keep harassing me?”

  He grinned and her heart stopped. It wasn’t fair—why couldn’t she feel like this about Abel, anyone else but Cain? He was a one hundred percent, grade-A jerk, and yet her body didn’t seem to give a crap.

  Currents of electricity sparked like her namesake inside her, heating her blood to a boil.

  “I will find out.” His words were low, edged in velvet and steel. Massive arms swayed toward her.

  She had nowhere to go. Pulse thundering in her ears, she held her chin high as his rough hands clamped on her arms, pulling her gently back to his chest. Then his fingers traced a slow path down her arms with the tenderness of a butterfly’s caress.

  Cain’s breathing was heavy, his eyes glossed over with an emotion she could hardly comprehend.

  “I will find out who you are.” His thumb burned a fiery trail, one she couldn’t see but could feel deep in her bones.

  Licking her lips, her body shot with a tiny jolt when his eyes homed in.

  “Did you leave me that note?” she whispered. “Did you say they were watching me? Why?”

  His nostrils flared and his thumb stopped moving and all she wanted to do was beg him to never stop. She clamped her lips together, hating what she felt. What he made her want.

  Cain didn’t answer as he stepped away.

  Angry, excited... Flint ground her molars. “You want answers, then you answer me.”

  Anger pulsed off him in thick, choking waves. He moved on the netting like it was nothing, never getting snagged in the holes the way she would if she wore his shoes. Almost like he was walking on air, then he was climbing down, disappearing into the dark tunnel ahead.

  Confused, Flint didn’t move.

  Janet chuckled. And though the girl stood twenty feet below, Flint had no problems hearing her. “You’re right, it is just you.”

  Chapter 6

  Cain slammed his fist down on the table. Eli and Seth stared back at him with raised brows. Twins, they were more than identical—the two moved and breathed as if they shared the same soul. His cousins on his father’s side, and also his right-hand men, they’d all gone through the change at the same time.

  Eli stood, blond spiky hair mussed around his head. “Cain, man... you’re pulsing.”

  He didn’t need Eli to tell him that. Cain felt the blood roaring through his veins like a tidal rush, filling his limbs, stretching his veins, punching through his heart like a fist. “Find out everything you can about her.”

  Green eyes narrowed with a devilish glint. Seth’s slightly deeper voice chuckled. “Lemme guess, Red driving you nuts?”

  Their trailer wasn’t large, and with three big bodies in it, moving around was next to impossible. Eli grinned, full lips curving into a smiling snarl.

  Cain clenched his fingers, counting to ten as the haze of violence tried to slither across his vision.

  The twins must have recognized what was happening. Suddenly the leering smiles were gone, replaced by grim determination. Eli gripped Cain’s wrist, squeezing so hard it would have snapped a human’s bones.

  Seth punched him. He barely felt it.

  Cain trembled, biceps clenching and flexing as his breath blew out like a bellows.

  “Don’t sink, man,” they both growled. “Stay out of the haze.”

  Thick hairs ripped through his biceps, a growl gathered deep in his gut. Their voices were so far away, like listening to chatter underwater.

  “Come on, dude. Wake up, Adam will go ape if you destroy another trailer.”

  Cain squeezed his eyes shut, knowing they glowed a bloody red. The fuel of fury gathered in his bones, his blood.

  She’d looked so small. Fragile. He could have crushed her neck with one jerk. Snapped her spine in two with a casual flick of his wrist, but she hadn’t trembled from fear. There’d been fire, an answering gleam in her gaze. And her smell—it saturated his lungs, buzzed through his head like a fog bank. Thick and viscous and disturbingly appealing.

  His heart rate began to settle down, the blinding fog of rage slowly lifting as he thought of Flint. It took several deep breaths to get his body under control, the hot rush of anger becoming a gentle tide.

  Cain opened his eyes. Eli and Seth stared at him like he’d sprouted a second head, a look of shock plastered on their faces.

  “Man,” Seth whispered, slowly releasing his grip. “I thought we lost you. What happened? We don’t get like this unless we’re...”

  Cain jerked his hand back, forking his fingers through his hair.

  “Is it the girl? Is she really...” Eli said, words trailing off at Cain’s narrowed glare.

  Growling, Cain cocked his head. Holding her had been a bad idea. But seeing her falling, it’d snapped something long dormant inside him. She’d felt good in his arms. Too good. Then she’d mentioned that note.

  “Her name is Flint,” he muttered, the animal still in his voice. “You guys need to find out everything you can about her.”

  Seth nodded, grabbing his laptop.

  Seth and Eli might look like gym rats, but there wasn’t a computer system they couldn’t crack.

  “I need to know why she’s here.” He licked his lips. “I saw the hive eyeing her at lunch. She got a note today. Eli, you find out who sent it. Report back to me immediately.”

  “What’d the note say?” Eli grabbed a black tank top off the corner of the bed and slipped it on.

  “Doesn’t matter.” Cain opened the door. “You just tell me when you find out. Order’s gonna be calling Adam tomorrow. I need to know what to report.”

  He left the door hanging open behind him and jogged toward Adam’s trailer. Adam hated to be surprised, as demons often do. But Cain wasn’t in the knocking mood.

  Adam lifted his brow at the sound of the cracking boom when the door hit the thin metal wall. “And to what do I owe this honor?” he drawled.

  Cain smelled her everywhere. She’d been in this office, staring at Adam. “You can’t hire them.”

  Adam licked his teeth, standing slowly. “I’m not hiring them. I’ve hired him. She’s just a... consolation prize.”

  Nostrils flaring, knuckles flexing, Cain’s eyes didn’t swerve from Adam’s mesmerizing ones. “You know that ad wasn’t for them. It was for the hive.”

  “And how do you know they’re not part of that hive? Hmm?” Adam popped an orange slice into his mouth, filling the room with a sharp citrus scent. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Besides”—he sat on the edge of the hard wood desk—“we need catchers. They’re terribly hard to come by anymore.”

  “Get someone else. Not them.”

  Electric-blue eyes narrowed to pinpricks. “You’ve got the stench all over you.”

  Cain was aware of that. He reeked of pheromones and lust, the animal nature in him wanting to claim the redhead as his own. Not because he loved her or even liked her—he didn’t even know her—but because his beast said so.

  Adam smirked. “Listen, Cain. I’m running a legitimate business here.”

  He scoffed. “So that’s what you call this place?”

  “Legitimate enough not to get caught.” Adam’s deep voice shivered with the faint stirrings of laughter. “Keep an eye on your girlfriend. If she’s hive, kill her. End of story.”

  Wiping his hands on his jeans, Adam stood and nodded toward the door.

  “Screw you,” Cain muttered through clenched teeth.

  Adam flashed bright white teeth. “Thanks. But I’ve got that covered. Now get out of my office. Come back when you’ve got something good to report.”

  Cain turned on his heel. He needed to get away, get away and burn
off the excess adrenaline flooding his body like jet fuel before he did something really stupid... like torch the place to the ground.

  “Oh, and, Cain?” Adam’s voice was a lazy drawl. “If you like the girl at all, don’t sleep with her. Because I swear if you do, I’ll kill her myself.”

  Cain slammed the door so hard the top half slipped off its hinges. Adam’s laugh echoed behind him.

  There’d been a time when he’d been just as innocent as Abel, when he’d thought the world was as simple as black and white. But he knew better now.

  He’d always sworn he’d kill himself before turning into his father.

  God help him...

  He pounded the dirt road, walking to his black Ford Mustang. A gift from Adam, for living through the change. His rebirth into hell.

  Flint called to him at a visceral level. The type of girl he’d have obsessed about before. The type of girl he’d have invited to the hole. Cain swallowed hard. But she wasn’t for him. Couldn’t be.

  Because Adam was right, if she was hive... Cain would kill her.

  He’d gut her, twist her head off, and never look back.

  Chapter 7

  Four days.

  Four days had gone by since that night.

  The night she’d been in his arms, his warm breath mingling with her own, making her light-headed and breathless. And then nothing.

  She gazed at his empty desk. Every morning she’d come to class, not sure what she’d say to him. Demand an answer to her question? Try to make sense of the crazy feelings he inspired in her? Two parts hate, one part... what? Something not quite hate?

  Each night she’d gone to sleep, stomach churning with nerves and the bated anticipation of knowing that maybe tomorrow she’d see him. Maybe tomorrow... but he was never around. Not at his table at lunch, not in class.

  Abel didn’t seem fazed by it, and the one time she’d sort of hinted for an answer as to where he was, Abel had shrugged and quickly changed the subject.

  She nibbled her bottom lip, banging the tip of her pencil on her desk as she counted down the seconds until...