Mated in Forbidden

by Keira Blackwood

  Three more strokes of his cock, and his body tensed. He lifted his head and kept his gaze on mine while his dick pulsed inside of me.

  I wasn’t sure how we’d gotten to this place, the two of us naked and sweaty in the woods, but despite all the animosity we’d shown each other over the years, I had zero regrets.

  Chapter 11

  Caleb

  I rolled over and my hand connected with warm, naked flesh. Opening my eyes, I saw an angel sleeping next to me in the bed. I was in Moira’s room.

  “Moira,” I said, smoothing my hand over the delicate slope of her shoulder.

  She murmured in her sleep and pressed back against me.

  Damn, she felt good. My dick was already half-hard, just from waking up with her scent in my nostrils. Now with her smooth backside pressing against it, I was ready to go.

  Scraping my teeth over her neck, I said, “Wake up, angel.”

  She stretched and reached behind her to touch my cock, lightly squeezing it. Then without a word, she moved her leg back and over mine, giving me access to the heaven only she could provide.

  Last night had been fast and desperate. This morning, I wanted to show her another side. I ran my tip over her folds, making sure she was plenty wet. Then I stroked slowly within her, building her up, and up, and up until she was clenching my hip and gasping.

  She came apart with a cry, calling my name, and I came soon after, holding her tight in my arms and pressing kisses along her shoulder.

  We fell back to sleep, entwined.

  The next time I woke, it was mid-morning and Moira’s stomach was growling. She stretched, then turned to look at me, the sheet moving slightly to give me a tantalizing glimpse of her perfect tits.

  “Breakfast?” I asked her.

  “I don’t have anything breakfasty here,” she said. “Just cupcakes.”

  “How about cupcakes after a real meal. Hellfire? My treat?”

  Her stomach growled again, and she grinned. “I think that’s a yes.”

  “Awesome,” I said, climbing out of bed.

  We drove there together, but I kept an eye out for her brother, James. The asshole was probably looking for an excuse to destroy me for touching his sister. It was like he had a supernatural sense for it. I could just be thinking about Moira and he’d shoot me a glare. His mate had tamed most of the grumpiness from him, except where I was concerned. Especially where I was concerned in relation to his sister.

  Luckily, he was nowhere in sight.

  We went into Hellfire Grill and Diner. The place was packed, so we had to wait for a table. I stood close to Moira, not touching her even though I wanted to, because I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about public displays of affection.

  But then she reached over and held my hand, and my heart nearly exploded with happiness.

  Once we sat down, we looked at each other. Her gorgeous green eyes were fathomless and I could stare into them all day.

  “So, last night,” she said with a little smile.

  “Yep,” I said. “And this morning.”

  She burst out laughing, and I joined her. I didn’t think either of us knew what was so fucking funny, but it didn’t matter.

  Once we’d calmed down a little, I said, “And hopefully again tonight?”

  “Yeah,” she said.

  A teenage server showed up, black apron tied around his waist, a notebook and pen in hand.

  “Welcome to Hellfire, what can I get you?” he said in a bored voice.

  Moira and I put in our orders, and the kid shuffled away at roughly the speed of a snail.

  “So we might get our breakfast sometime tomorrow,” Moira said, watching him go.

  “I don’t mind waiting,” I said. “The company’s decent.”

  She grinned. “Just decent, huh?”

  “Indecent would be better.”

  “You’re such a pig,” she said.

  “I can’t be too nice to you or you’ll start taking me for granted.”

  She laughed. “You couldn’t keep up the good guy act long enough for that.”

  “Is that a challenge?”

  She shrugged.

  I sat forward and touched my leg to hers. “You don’t think I can be a good guy?”

  She pressed her leg into mine and leaned forward, too. “I told you I didn’t like you nice.”

  My cock responded to her raspy voice and everything it implied.

  She sat up straight proving she was the one in control, that it was her who had the greater impact on me than I did on her. Winning Moira’s affection was my greatest goal, one I’d fight like hell to achieve.

  “I was surprised to learn you were in the market to buy a house.” Her gaze dropped to my lips before flicking back up to my eyes.

  “Why is that?”

  “I pegged you as a serial...renter.” She squeezed my hand, a small grin playing on her lips.

  “What about you?” I asked. “You have such a nice place already.”

  “I live with Brody.”

  I nodded understanding. “Fair enough.”

  Our teenage waiter approached the table with two plates of food, stopped, mumbled something under his breath, and delivered the plates two tables away. The people sitting in the booth shook their heads. Words were exchanged before the flustered and red-faced waiter took the food away.

  My confidence in receiving breakfast in a timely manner dropped even lower than before. But I didn’t care, not while I was sitting with Moira.

  I turned my attention back where it belonged, to the gorgeous woman across from me. I considered telling her that while she wanted to escape her brother, I was homeless. The townhouse should be mine. But something stopped me.

  Her green eyes grew serious. “Do you think...I mean. Do you think we could be—”

  “Mates?” I said, sensing her discomfort. There was no question in my mind. “If we were, how would you feel about that?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve always hoped to find a mate. And there’s no denying the pull between us is strong.”

  I leaned back in the booth. “I bet you never thought it would be me, though.”

  She squinched her mouth to the side. “No, I really hadn’t thought so. We were more rivals than lovers.”

  “Until now.” I leaned forward.

  “Right.” She smiled.

  I knew I had to tell her about the baby Jill was having. Moira probably wouldn’t mind too much—I mean, Jill was the far-distant past, and Moira was my present and, I hoped, my future.

  “Look,” I said, taking her hands across the table. “There’s something—”

  “Waffles for the lady,” the server said.

  I had to let go of Moira’s hands so the kid could put down our food.

  He added, “And pancakes with a side of bacon for the gentleman.”

  “Well, gentleman, I don’t know about that,” Moira said with a smirk. “Let’s not get carried away.”

  I pointed my fork at her while the food server cast us a doubtful look before moving to another table.

  “Maybe I wasn't a gentleman before,” I said, “but I have been rehabilitated by your love.”

  “And my magic hoo-ha,” she said with a snicker.

  “Yes, that, too. It certainly is magical.”

  She swiped a piece of my bacon, and I let her. I’d buy her all the bacon in the world if she wanted it.

  “So as I was saying—” I started again. Then movement past her shoulder caught my attention.

  The diner door slammed open and four women marched into Hellfire. Jill was in the lead, with Brianne behind her, and two other women I vaguely recognized.

  Every single one of them looked to be nine months pregnant.

  “Caleb Stone!” Jill yelled. “You have some explaining to do.”

  Everyone in the diner turned toward the troop of pregnant women in unison. Then their gazes flicked to me.

  I was more concerned with Moira’s reaction. She looked at the women
, then turned back to me, her green eyes curious. “What’s going on?”

  “What’s going on,” Jill said, “is not only did he knock me up, but he knocked up three other women!”

  “Um...what?” I said.

  “Shameful,” the man in the booth behind Moira’s seat said, clicking his tongue.

  Jill, Brianne, and the other two hurried over, their bellies leading the way, and then they stopped in front of the table.

  “You know,” said Moira, looking extremely uncomfortable, “I think I’m going to go.”

  Her words sounded strained, like her throat was full.

  She was hurting, and that wasn’t right.

  Anger flashed through me at these women who stood before us, ruining what had been a perfect brunch.

  Moira stood up.

  “Sorry,” Brianne said to her, and let her out of the booth.

  I couldn’t let Moira leave like this. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but she was obviously hurt. I wanted an explanation, and I hoped she would stay here for it. “Wait, Moira—”

  “Looks like you had yourself a bad batch of condoms,” Moira said, obviously seething. If she were a dragon shifter, she’d be breathing fire.

  “I don’t know—”

  “Oh, let her go, before you impregnate her, too,” another woman shouted.

  Blinking back tears, Moira grabbed her purse and hurried from the diner.

  Now I was left alone to face these four women. I was painfully aware of all the people in the diner staring at us.

  “Should we go outside to talk about this?” I asked.

  One of the women, whose name I didn’t know, stole Moira’s piece of bacon and took a big bite. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just so freaking hungry all the time.”

  “I think we should stay in here and let Caleb treat us to brunch,” Brianne said, glaring at me as she squeezed herself into the booth.

  With most of the diner’s occupants glaring at me as well, I had no choice but to agree. “Sure. Order whatever you want.”

  “So here’s the thing, Caleb,” Bacon Woman said, “we want to know what you think you’re doing. Because it’s got to stop.”

  I desperately wanted to ask her what her name was. I knew I’d seen her around Forbidden, but I didn’t think I’d ever slept with her. But I’d probably get food thrown at me if I dared to ask.

  “I promise, I’m not going to have sex with anyone else,” I said. “Forever. Except Moira, if she’ll have me after this.”

  Brianne shook a finger at me. “You better not. This is ridiculous, knocking all of us up last week.”

  “Wait, a week? That’s when I slept with each of you?”

  “Duh,” Bacon Woman said.

  “Oh!” Brianne’s eyes went wide with surprise.

  “What is it?” Jill asked.

  “My water...just broke!”

  The entire diner erupted into chaos as people shouted for a doctor and ran around in a general frenzy. I reached across the table and took Brianne’s hand. She looked at first like she might smack me away, but then she gripped my fingers tightly. That was some damn shifter strength she used to squeeze me, although she was a human. Maybe childbirth made women stronger, I didn’t know, but damn she had a grip.

  An ambulance arrived and the medics helped Brianne into the back. I stood there like an idiot, not sure what to do. If that was really my kid she was having, shouldn’t I go with her?

  “Jill, come on,” Brianne said, and Jill climbed into the back with her, daring one of the medics to even try to keep her away.

  Just then, Elijah, my realtor, came up. I hadn’t even noticed him in the diner.

  “I’m following in my car, Brianne,” Elijah called through the ambulance doors just before they closed.

  I looked at him.

  “What?” he said. “If Jill goes into labor, too, Brianne will need state of the art back-up.”

  Chapter 12

  Moira

  Caleb wouldn’t stop calling. He’d called all day and all night. Eventually I’d shut my phone off so I wouldn't have to hear it.

  Every ring had cut right through my chest, accompanied by another stab when the voicemail went through. I hadn’t answered any of his calls, and I hadn’t listened to a single message.

  I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say.

  It was my fault that I was hurting. I’d ignored every ounce of smarts and intuition, and allowed myself to be vulnerable.

  I’d known the kind of man he was, and I’d foolishly thought...I didn’t know what I thought. I hadn’t thought, and that was the problem.

  Restless and agitated, I’d decided sometime during the long night of not sleeping that I couldn’t be home today. It was the pink box of cupcakes on the counter I hadn’t been able to get myself to throw away. It was the fact that even after I’d washed my sheets, I could still smell him. I could feel the heat of him in my bed beside me, even though I was alone.

  There were two productive choices—help Brody with the septic issues at the B&B or check in on Finn and James in Redemption where they were working on converting Yanovich’s new silo. Easy choice. There was no Caleb in Redemption.

  There was a whole lot of nothing to see on the road between Forbidden and Redemption. Fall colors had been shed from the trees, leaving barren branches and dull greens and grays. There were trees and fields, rolling hills, and not a lot else.

  At the edge of town, I slowed so I wouldn’t miss the turnoff. It was a narrow dirt road that curved around a cliff, weird given the area wasn’t particularly mountainous. I found my turn and headed to the Yanovich job.

  When the road opened up, I saw Finn’s truck parked by the silo. There were a number of other trucks and a bunch of guys moving lumber around.

  I parked and climbed out.

  James must have spotted me as I drove up because he met me by my truck.

  “Moira, what are you doing here?” His sharp turquoise eyes assessed me.

  James was both the most volatile and the most observant of my brothers. He’d lost a bit of his edge since he and Anna had gotten back together, but it still didn’t take much for him to detonate. I was generally not the one on the receiving end, but the last thing I wanted was for him to go after Caleb.

  “I’m doing the boss thing. You know, my job.” I flashed him a grin to prove that everything was peachy.

  He narrowed his gaze, making it clear I’d gone overboard.

  I doubled down with a bright smile. “How’s the job going? Were you able to put in the subfloors yet?”

  James waited a beat before accepting the change of subject. “Subfloors are in, wiring and drywall, too. Painters are starting in the upstairs while we make corrections in the kitchen.”

  “Corrections?” I asked.

  James went into specifics that made it clear he had everything under control. In fact, the Redemption job was ahead of schedule.

  “Great,” I said. “I’ll help.”

  We worked until dark. I’d done my best to keep from talking to James, which wasn’t too hard while we were all focused on the job.

  After packing up, we headed to Between the Buns.

  It was a small booth with worn fabric bench seats that felt like they belonged in a van from the 80s. The table was clean but sticky, and the place was packed.

  Finn sat beside me, with James across from the two of us. We were all that pleasant amount of sweaty mess that meant we’d had a successful day of work. We had our drinks already.

  “There’s paint on your face,” James said.

  I hid behind the menu, though we all knew exactly what to order.

  “Oh yeah, big time,” Finn said. “But it’s the bit in your hair that’ll be hard to get out.”

  “Great, thanks,” I grumbled.

  A pleasantly plump middle-aged man appeared seemingly from nowhere. “Good evening, y’all. Do you need a few minutes?” He flashed me a kind smile.

  “We’re all having t
he special,” James said.

  The waiter raised a brow at me without looking at James.

  I nodded. “The special.”

  “You got it.” The waiter slipped out of view as quickly as he’d appeared, no surprise with so many people shuffling up and down and all around.

  I stared at my menu while thoughts of my last restaurant trip filled my head.

  Caleb and I had sat together for breakfast after a night—and morning—of the most amazing sex of my life. I’d thought it meant something to him. It sure as hell had to me.

  I closed my eyes.

  How could he be so stupid? It wasn’t just one mistake. He’d impregnated four women.

  I had four brothers. I could handle a lot. But that level of epic irresponsibility was too much. No matter how much it hurt, I couldn’t.

  Heat rose up my neck and my eyes watered.

  I closed them hard, biting back the tears I refused to shed. Not for Caleb.

  But it wasn’t just for Caleb, it was for the future that could have been, for all the fantasies I’d never allowed myself to indulge in all those years. I’d had a thing for him since we were kids. That’s what hurt the most. I’d thought he could be...I didn’t know. It was stupid.

  “Moira? Are you listening?” Finn bumped my arm with his elbow.

  “Sorry, I’m spacing. What’s up?” I put down my menu and looked over to him.

  Finn’s face fell. “What’s wrong?”

  James smashed his fists on the table. “I’m going to kill him.”

  “What?” Finn asked. “Who?”

  The waiter reappeared and slid three plates with giant burgers and fries onto the table. “Three specials,” he said. “Would anyone like ketch—oh.”

  Like the rest of us, he froze when he looked at James’s red face and the throbbing vein on his forehead.

  James grabbed his burger and knocked his bench back as he stood. “I’m going to need a slice of pie boxed to go,” he said to the waiter, who nodded emphatically. “Apple. Now.”

  The waiter scurried away even faster than before.

  “What the hell, James?” Finn asked, then popped a fry in his mouth.