Caught in Forbidden

by Keira Blackwood

  Mine.

  If I knew anything about mating instinct, it was the longer we were together without me claiming every inch of her body, the harder it became to keep my thoughts in check.

  “I saw that donut truck when I was running around town, and I passed right by. Deliciously Magical. I can’t believe I didn’t put it together sooner.” She shook her head.

  “Fear for your life can do that to a person.”

  “Fair enough.” Cordelia popped the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth. “Do you think it’s safe for me to go out to meet her?”

  “Sure.” We were far enough away from town that no one driving by would see her.

  She didn’t have to be told twice, and she hurried outside. I followed.

  Pearl parked her donut truck and climbed out. Her short red hair seemed even brighter than usual now that she was standing in full sunlight, and the rows of hoops in her ears glinted.

  “Hi.” Cordelia said.

  “You must be Cordelia,” Pearl said.

  “I’m sure my reputation precedes me,” Cordelia said.

  “It does,” Pearl said. “And it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She didn’t offer a hand to shake, instead keeping them clasped behind her back. “I’m going to take a look at you, okay?”

  “Sure.” Cordelia looked at me, and her brows knitted together.

  Pearl circled around the two of us with an intense look on her face. Finally she stopped in front of Cordelia. “I believe you,” she said.

  “You do?” Cordelia sighed, and her shoulders dropped. “I can’t even...I’ve been looking for Victoria, my mom’s friend. It’s been hell, everyone thinking I’m some kind of monster, hunting me. You don’t even—” She closed her eyes.

  “Victoria’s my mom,” Pearl said with a warm smile. “She retired a few years back. I took over for her, while she travels the world on those crafting cruises. Living the life.”

  Cordelia’s lips thinned into a line. “That sounds nice for her.”

  “Don’t worry.” Pearl reached out and touched her hand. “I’ll help you.”

  “Thank you. You really don’t know how much this means to me that you believe me.”

  “For a witch to cast the kind of life magic required to drain decades from a shifter, she’d have to be not only extremely powerful, but completely in control of that power.”

  “I’m neither of those,” Cordelia said.

  “That’s not exactly true,” Pearl said. “Your power is strong, but raw. And there is something suppressing your magic.”

  “What? Suppressing my magic? What do you mean?” Cordelia asked.

  “A protection spell, that both keeps you from harm and suppresses your potential.”

  “Protection? Only Matt has offered me that.” She frowned. “Whatever the spell is—it has failed. Miserably.”

  “Not necessarily,” Pearl said. “If the shifters around you are being targeted, it’s likely the target of the magic has been you all along.”

  Pearl waved her hand in the air, and Cordelia grabbed her chest.

  “Are you—” I grabbed her shoulders. And then I saw it. Her tattoo was glowing red. I looked at Pearl.

  She dropped her hand.

  “What did you do to her?” I took a step closer, anger pulsing through my veins. I trusted Pearl.

  “I’m okay,” Cordelia brushed her fingers over my arm. “Really.”

  My nerves calmed under her touch.

  “The spell is in your tattoo,” Pearl said.

  I remembered noticing her ink that first day, when she’d taken a shower at my house. There was some kind of rune in it, but I’d never have thought it was magical.

  “Here.” Pearl draped a cord around Cordelia’s neck. A crystal the same shade of red that the tattoo had turned hung down over her heart. “Another layer of protection. The crystal should also help you channel your power. Objects fly near you, right?”

  “Yeah,” Cordelia said. “When I’m upset.”

  “With practice, you’ll be able to control it,” Pearl said. “Matt, can you get us something to destroy? Bottles would be perfect.”

  I looked between the two women, and Cordelia gave me an encouraging smile. Content that she was comfortable, I headed in and found some empty bottles in the recycling bin.

  I set up the bottles along the fence posts.

  Pearl squared Cordelia’s shoulders and manipulated her arms until Cordelia looked like she was pretending to make an alligator mouth with her hands. Then Pearl stepped back.

  “Focus on the way the bottle would feel in your hands. The surface is cool and smooth. It’s hard yet fragile at the same time,” Pearl said.

  Cordelia closed her eyes.

  The bottles didn’t move. It didn’t seem like anything was happening.

  “Breathe slowly, and imagine there’s no space between you and the glass,” Pearl said. “There’s no fence, no forest, no anything but you and the bottle.”

  Cordelia squinched up her face and shook her head, then slowly moved her hands closer together as if she were grabbing a hold of something. Her eyes opened slowly.

  One of the bottles wiggled.

  “I did that!” Cordelia proclaimed, and threw her arms around me.

  She felt so good against my chest. I hugged her back, grateful to be here to witness and celebrate with her.

  “Do it again,” Pearl said. “And imagine the air inside the bottle expanding, flying out into the clouds.”

  Cordelia squinted her eyes and repeated the pose. This time, the bottle fell to the ground. We did a few more rounds before Pearl hugged Cordelia and told her to call anytime.

  “Thank you—so much,” Cordelia said to her. “This is amazing.”

  “Always happy to help a fellow witch,” Pearl said, smiling. “Let’s get back to work; I have some more time and you have more practicing to do.”

  The two of them continued their training for hours. I went back to the hangar and fixed sandwiches for the three of us, and we ate out in the field. A few more hours passed before Pearl got into her truck and rumbled away.

  And then Cordelia and I were alone. Darkness slowly overtook the sky, as night fell.

  Without touching it, Cordelia lifted one of the bottles up into the air and pushed it slowly toward me. I backed up, and the bottle followed. I jogged backward and then looped around, quickly changing directions.

  She followed, the bottle floating in the air behind me.

  “You’re good at this,” I said.

  “It’s not as hard as it was.”

  The bottle bumped into my arm. I ducked down and it flew over my head.

  “Tricky,” Cordelia laughed.

  I ran the other way, toward the tree line. She followed.

  Things between us were light and easy, hopeful. When I’d first met Cordelia, she’d been alone and on the run. Something about her had said desperation. Now she was playful, full of light. My heart felt buoyant in my chest, like I too was full of light.

  Cordelia’s and my hearts were the same. We belonged together.

  In the heat of the moment, I made a choice. I pulled my shirt up over my head and tossed it back at Cordelia. She caught it and the bottle dropped a couple of feet. She caught the bottle with her magic just before it hit the ground.

  As I ran, I kicked off my shoes and only paused to drop my pants, careful not to tangle my legs in the fabric.

  “If you think I won’t keep following when you’re naked, you have another think coming.” Cordelia popped from around one of the trees to my side.

  “I wasn’t thinking that at all.”

  I dropped my boxers, and Cordelia froze. Her cheeks turned red as she openly looked over my bare form.

  I winked at her.

  In a glow of white light, I gave control over to my bear. Fur rippled across my skin, as my bones grew and reshaped. The shift was quick, and then it was over.

  I stood in front of her, feeling more naked than I had without my clot
hes. This was the part of me she feared, and in our playful banter, it was what I wanted to show her most. She could trust me, all of me.

  Her eyes were wide, and suddenly I was second guessing my decision to shift.

  I lay down on the ground, hoping she would see there was nothing to fear, hoping she could find a way to accept all of me. It didn’t have to be now, but I hoped it could eventually happen.

  The bottle exploded above my head, raining glass down into my fur.

  “You’re...a bear.”

  I probably should have told her that before shifting in front of her.

  She approached slowly, her hand outstretched. I stayed perfectly still.

  Her heart raced faster than a hummingbird’s wings. I breathed her in—jasmine and some other flowery scent, but not fear.

  She reached down and ran her fingers through my fur, brushing the broken glass onto the ground.

  “Sorry about that,” she said.

  She didn’t have anything to be sorry for. I shook my fur, knocking off the remaining shards. She wrinkled her nose.

  Encouraged, I rose slowly to my feet. Cordelia watched, but she didn’t move away. Instead, she ran her hand down my side and circled around me.

  When she came back to my face, she touched my ear. “You’re a giant teddy bear.”

  I had never been called that before. From her, I liked it. I’d be her teddy bear. I’d be her protector. I’d be whatever she needed me to be.

  She took a step back, and I couldn’t wait a moment longer to talk to her, to touch her back, to hold her close. I shifted to human form, never taking my eyes off her face.

  “I’d assumed you were a wolf,” she said, her eyes dropping between my legs.

  The scent of her sweet arousal filled the air, and my cock grew stiff in response.

  She went on, “A really sweet, really big…”

  She ran her hands down my chest, and her fingers brushed softly over my skin. She traced the lines between my abs, and stopped on the V of my hips.

  Her deep blue eyes flicked up to meet my gaze. Her pupils dilated and her breath caught.

  I ran my palms over her arms, feeling her small frame beneath the thick fabric of her hoodie. When I reached her neck, she leaned into my hand. Her skin was warm and soft, and I wanted to explore every inch.

  She tilted her chin up, and I stepped closer.

  In a quick burst, she lifted to her toes and wrapped her hand behind my neck, pressing her lips to mine. The kiss was hard at first, desperate and needy. We moved together like we’d been doing this forever.

  Her fingers flexed through my hair, and I pulled her close, breaking through the seam of her lips with my tongue. She tasted rich like chocolate, and twice as sweet.

  I pulled back and nuzzled into her neck, breathing her in. I didn’t want to push. She’d been through so much, and I didn’t want to pressure her into anything she didn’t want. I’d wait forever for her, until she was ready. If this went any further, I knew there was no turning back.

  She ran her hands over my shoulders, down to my ass, and squeezed. Her voice was a husky whisper. “Don’t stop.”

  I claimed her mouth with my lips as I unfastened her jeans. She grabbed my cock and stroked it in rhythm with the way her tongue caressed mine.

  I pulled her pants down enough to reach inside. She was hot and wet on my fingers, and she moaned as I touched her. In turn, the way she moved her hand over my shaft made my head spin.

  She kicked off her jeans and panties, and I helped take off her sweatshirt and t-shirt. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around my neck, her legs around my waist. I shifted my balance to hold her. I wanted nothing more than to sink deep inside of her.

  “Never stop,” she whispered.

  I plunged in, slow at first. Being inside of her was pure ecstasy. She clamped around me like a velvety vise. I moved her hips, slowly giving her every inch. Her breath hitched every time I gave her more, and she sighed as I pulled back, before thrusting deeper in.

  This was everything. Cordelia was everything, the rest of the world be damned.

  I watched her face, the soft flutter of her eyelids, the way she bit her lip to suppress her moans. I wanted this to last forever, but I couldn’t hold back this time. Next time we’d go slow. Next time I’d savor her, but for now, she rocked against me, desperate for release.

  And I aimed to please.

  I slid my hand between us and worked her clit. She sucked in a sharp breath and her pussy clenched around me.

  “Yes,” she cried. “Yes.”

  I moved her harder, faster, pushing through her orgasm, prolonging her pleasure. And as her muscles began to relax, I found release. Pleasure rocketed through my body and I emptied inside of her.

  I leaned my forehead against hers and kissed her mouth once more.

  “That was—” What could I say? That was everything. She was everything.

  My phone buzzed in my jeans pocket where they lay on the ground.

  I set Cordelia down gently.

  “It was perfect,” she said, and pulled on her pants.

  “It was,” I said.

  My phone kept buzzing.

  “You should get that,” she said.

  I nodded my agreement, but couldn’t tear my eyes off of her. I reached in my pocket and lifted my phone to my ear. “Schneider.”

  “Matt.” Declan’s harsh tone broke the spell.

  “Declan, what’s wrong?” A lump formed in my throat. He knew. He knew about Cordelia, that I was helping her, that I was hiding her from him. I wasn’t sorry, but I was afraid. How could I protect her?

  Cordelia tensed and looked at me with a questioning look.

  Declan exhaled slowly. “Moira’s missing.”

  Chapter 11

  Cordelia

  “So, who’s Moira?” I asked.

  “Declan’s sister,” Matt said. He drove much faster than he had driven to get us to the hangar, and we took the road past downtown, then left the town limits. Woods surrounded the road on all sides.

  “The alpha’s sister?”

  He nodded.

  “I take it she doesn’t disappear often,” I said.

  “No. She’s one of the most dependable people I know. If Declan is this freaked, then something bad is going on.”

  I wondered if her disappearance had anything to do with the strange magic happening, the aging shifters. I would’ve bet my last pair of panties that it did.

  “For whatever part of this situation is my fault—”

  Matt grabbed my hand on the bench seat between us and gave me a look that said I shouldn’t blame myself.

  “Even if it’s just that I’ve drawn the thing here,” I said before he could cut in, “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not sorry,” he said.

  “If I hadn’t come—”

  “Then you wouldn’t be here with me.” Matt squeezed my hand.

  He was right, I wouldn’t. I never would have met him. It would be innocent people somewhere else suffering.

  “I still don’t understand how the Redemption wolves could blame you without giving you a chance to tell your side,” he said.

  “To be fair, my mother probably soured them to all witches, let alone one baring our last name.”

  He brushed his thumb over my hand, showing that he was here for me. “Your mother?”

  “Yeah. She fucked with them. Asked for their help, used their resources, and then turned on them. She made them into the enemy. And then, when she left town, I was alone with them. I still don’t know why I didn’t get the hell out of there, but it was home.”

  “How old were you?” he asked.

  “Late teens when she left.”

  “You can’t be hard on yourself when you were that young,” he said kindly.

  I supposed he was right, but retrospect sometimes made me feel like an idiot.

  We drove in silence for a couple of minutes, then I said, “Declan isn’t going to be happy to see me, is he?
”

  “Probably not.” Matt shrugged. “But too fucking bad for him. You haven’t done the stuff they all think you did.”

  “Other than making things fly around when I was scared,” I reminded him.

  “Moira was helping out with Caleb,” Matt said. “She disappeared from there, and she wouldn’t have left without telling anyone. Declan’s going to have to accept the help of everyone we can get, because Moira could be hurt.”

  “Or...old,” I said thoughtfully. I hated to even think this way, but if Moira had been afflicted by the aging thing, and I hadn’t been anywhere near her, maybe Declan and the Redemption shifters would finally believe me.

  But hopefully she was just lost after a walk in the forest. Hard to imagine, given that if she was Declan’s sister, she was also a shifter and highly unlikely to get lost. I frowned. Whatever happened to her, I could try to help find her. My mother had done finder spells all the time, and if I was remembering correctly, they weren’t all that difficult. Besides, maybe Pearl would be here, too, and she’d help out with ingredients and showing me how again.

  Matt turned down a well-shaded driveway. Brilliant leaves in orange and red blazed in the trees, reminding me that winter would be coming soon. Eventually we reached a charming old house. Five stories high, it had a welcoming patio in the front, with chrysanthemums blooming in a flower bed in front of it.

  Matt and I got out of his truck and walked up to the porch. Caleb, the guy who had hit on me and then aged at the grocery store, was sitting on the porch in a rocking chair.

  “Get off the lawn!” Caleb shouted. He raised a cane in the air and waved it around, narrowly missing some hanging plant pots. “Off the grass! I don’t know what’s wrong with you kids!”

  I hurriedly jumped off the grass and onto the steps, not wanting to incite further ire. Matt joined me.

  “Is Declan inside?” he asked Caleb.

  “Yeah,” Caleb said in a wobbly voice. He looked older than he had at the grocery store, with thick white whiskers covering his chin. When he saw me staring at him, he smacked his lips together and pulled a piece of candy from a little dish next to him.