Mated in Forbidden Read online

  Brody looked like he was trying to keep a straight face, but I was genuinely happy for Brianne, that she’d found someone to love.

  “I would not be surprised at all if he loves you back,” I told her.

  “Thanks, I really hope so. Anyway,” she said, “if you want Caleb, you can have him. You know, he was so nice when we had that night together, completely unlike the time five months ago.”

  Alarm bells sounded in my head. I remembered the way Caleb had acted at the bar last week, how he hadn’t seemed anything like himself. He was like a completely different person. Maybe he was like that when he actually liked women, unlike the way he treated me. But then, Brianne had said unlike usual, so was he usually an asshole with her, too?

  “Five months ago?” Brody asked, looking at her stomach.

  “Yes, he was a dick then. The sex was great, but he was his usual jerky self,” Brianne said. “But then, a week ago, he was sweet. Attentive. And that’s when he gave me this beautiful baby.”

  “One week?” Brody voiced my exact thoughts.

  Brianne gave him a strange look. “Yeah...how long do you think it takes for gestation?”

  Brody looked at me, a what-is-wrong-with-this-woman expression on his face.

  “It takes one week,” Brianne said. “Everyone knows that.”

  Unbelievable. Something very strange was going on. Brody and I exchanged a look.

  There was a knock at the door.

  “Excuse me a moment.” Brianne headed past us, Maxwell in her arms.

  I rose from my seat, unsure if I should ask more questions or offer to hold her baby while she slept. Something was wrong with her if she thought it only took a week between doing the act and having the baby. She’d lost time, probably due to sleep deprivation. It was the only thing that made sense.

  Brody leaned in and whispered, “People say it takes nine months. Really it’s ten months. Forty weeks, not one week. Even if she got pregnant with him five months ago, she wouldn’t have a full-term baby, like this one obviously is.”

  I nodded.

  A bunch of noise preceded Brianne’s return. Clearly she had company, a whole group of it.

  Three women with big bags and baby carriers bustled into the living room. One of the babies was cooing, one was crying, and the women were all laughing and talking at once. And then I saw them.

  They were the women from Hellfire, the mothers of Caleb’s babies.

  “Oh no.” The words just slipped out under my breath. I grabbed Brody’s wrist. “Time to go.”

  He didn’t resist and he didn’t ask, he just followed.

  I attempted to squeeze past the mass of mommies, unsuccessfully.

  “You’re Caleb’s girlfriend,” one of them said.

  Brody stiffened behind me.

  “I’m not,” I said.

  “You were with him at Hellfire the other day,” she said.

  I nodded.

  “I swear that man has multiple personalities. Watch yourself,” she said. “And bring your own condoms. Double up.”

  I made a sound, a dumbfounded bumble of a sound.

  Brody cleared his throat and looked directly at the mom. “If you don’t mind me asking—”

  “Kayla.” The woman winked and offered Brody her hand in the way that made it seem like she expected him to kiss it.

  He took her hand and shook it up and down, awkwardly. Her grin fell.

  “Kayla,” he said. “When exactly did you have sex with Caleb?”

  I elbowed him in the ribs.

  He didn’t respond.

  “A week ago, of course. I just gave birth, see?” She raised her baby carrier up, showing the near twin to Brianne’s baby boy. But this one had a pick onesie and a bow on her head.

  “I do see,” Brody said.

  “Unless I could get that one-night sweet version, I’d never touch him again though. But you—” She winked at Brody.

  “We have to go,” I said and pulled on Brody’s wrist.

  My mind raced, my heart twice as fast. None of this made any sense.

  We settled into the truck.

  “One week,” Brody said. “Four babies.”

  “Yep.” I leaned my head back and squeezed the wheel.

  “And they think you’re his girlfriend.” There was no judgement in the way he said it, not like James. “I need to show you something.”

  Oh, this again.

  Brody pulled out his phone and scrolled through his pics, settling on a video.

  He looked at me, a softness to his expression, then hit play.

  It was the front porch of Daphne’s B&B. There was a sweet old couple sitting on the porch swing cuddled together. They looked like they’d been together for fifty years and that their love had only grown during that time.

  Everyone deserved love like that.

  I smiled and looked at Brody. “That’s sweet. Don’t tell me you’re going soft on me and you’re trying to make me smile instead of scream.”

  “Look closer,” he said, and replayed the video from the start.

  I looked at the couple’s faces and my chest and stomach twisted in realization.

  This was a week ago, when I was magically aged. That was me...snuggling up to Caleb.

  “I took this as a joke,” he said. “You never know when a little blackmail will be needed in the future. But looking at it again...I think there’s something here.”

  There was something—a complete lack of sense. I didn’t remember anything from the time I was hit with the aging magic. I couldn’t account for my behavior, I couldn’t explain it, and yet…

  “We need to tell Declan about the speed of the pregnancies,” I said, turning away from the video.

  “We do,” Brody said. “And the video?”

  I nodded. It wasn’t just the video, or the pregnancies. I knew it was crazy, but maybe it wasn’t Caleb’s fault. Maybe when we had aged, Caleb had been magically cursed with multiple personalities and mutant sperm. I shivered at the thought. This was Forbidden, after all. Bizarre magic wasn’t out of the realm of possibility—they didn’t even approach the boundary of that realm.

  Certainly there was only one way to find out about his personalities and sperm.

  “You talk to Declan,” I said. “I need to talk to Caleb.”

  Chapter 15

  Caleb

  James O’Malley and I would probably never be best friends, but he seemed to have taken down his temper a notch. Daphne helped me out by quickly closing the notebook on the table, so he wouldn’t see the list of women I’d slept with. I’d have to find her a sparkly notebook or something to say thank you.

  Just because James hadn’t seen the list, didn’t mean it wasn’t there. I still felt like an asshole—he’d been right to call me one.

  But the past was just that—the past. I realized now that all this time, it was always Moira who I’d wanted.

  Daphne and Declan let me join them for dinner—a homemade lasagne. Declan looked over the notebook, nodding as he did. His hair was still blue because he hadn’t had a chance to dye it back yet. I tried not to stare, but it wasn’t easy to ignore.

  He pointed at the list I’d made. “Have any of these women come to you with pregnancies?”

  I looked it over. Brianne was the only one, from five months ago, so I pointed to her name. “That one.”

  “And the other pregnant women…?” Declan asked.

  “As far as I can remember, I never slept with any of them.”

  “Okay, thanks,” he said, tapping the list. “I’m going to talk to the pregnant women and anyone who saw them with you.”

  “Oh, there’s one other thing,” Daphne said.

  He took her hand. “What’s that, babe?”

  “It’s not normal,” she said tentatively, “for a woman to be ready to give birth in a week.”

  “Right,” he said.

  “Really, though? Because until Caleb told me that, I totally thought it was normal.”

 
Declan stared at her like she was crazy, which seemed pretty fucking backwards given the state of his hair. I had nothing against blue hair, but it didn’t look right on the alpha.

  Daphne glared at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I can’t help what I’m believing. I mean, I believe you and Caleb, but I also believe this other thing. It hurts my head.”

  “Don’t worry, Daphne,” Declan said. “We’ll get this figured out. I’ll find some photos of Caleb with time stamps, talk to witnesses, and get to the bottom of this.”

  His blue hair seemed to glow in the dining room’s subtle lighting. I bit back a smirk.

  “What?” he barked.

  I shook my head. “Nothing at all.”

  He frowned—he could tell I was lying.

  Daphne giggled. “It’s your hair, babe.”

  “I’m going to kill Brody,” he growled. Turning back to me, he said, “Now get out of here. And try to make things right with my sister.”

  “I’m trying,” I said, swiping another cookie from the plate on my way out of the kitchen.

  Once I was in my room, I flopped down on top of the bedspread and started to dial Moira again. I didn’t think she’d answer, but I didn’t know what else to do.

  Before I could pick her name from my list of contacts, an incoming call interrupted me. It was the realtor, Elijah.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey, Caleb. How are you?”

  Terrible, I thought. “Not bad. What’s up? Did you hear something from the sellers?”

  “Um, no, actually.” He paused.

  I waited, staring up at the ceiling fan. Like everything else in the B&B, the fixture had a vintage feel even though it was new. Daphne had similar taste to my Gram.

  “Elijah?” I asked. “You still there?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know who else to talk to, and since you seem like the town expert on women…”

  Three weeks ago, I would’ve proudly claimed that title.

  “I’m really not, but go ahead,” I said.

  “I want to do something for Brianne.”

  “Okay.”

  “But bringing her a baby blanket doesn’t seem like enough. I mean, I have the baby blanket, and I think she and the baby will like it. But also…”

  He paused again, and I settled against the decorative pillows on my bed to wait.

  “Also, I love her,” he said in a rush.

  “I see.” I felt like a fuckin’ therapist.

  “So what do I do?”

  “Does she know how you feel?” I asked. Again, like a therapist.

  “No.”

  “Maybe you should tell her.”

  “I’m not so great with words.”

  I sighed. “Well, how about a state of the art grand gesture, then?”

  “A grand gesture?”

  “Right,” I said. “When words don’t work, you use your actions to proclaim your love.”

  Holy shit, that was it. I knew what I needed to do.

  “You’re right,” Elijah said.

  “I know.”

  “I have to go—”

  “One thing,” I said.

  “What?”

  “I need the phone number of the sellers.”

  “I’m not supposed to give you that,” he said.

  “I just gave you advice to help you woo the woman of your dreams,” I said.

  He grumbled. “Hang on.”

  A second later, he was giving me the phone number.

  “Thanks, man,” I said.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  We hung up and I dialed the sellers’ phone number before I could forget it.

  A woman answered.

  “Hi,” I said. “My name’s Caleb, and I had been interested in purchasing your townhouse.”

  “How did you get this phone number?” she asked.

  “Uh...through a favor. But I’m not calling to harass you, I swear. I’m just calling because it turns out I’ve been fighting over the townhouse with the woman I love. She wants to buy it, too. And even if she won’t have me, and I can’t have her, she should have the house because she has a beautiful soul.”

  The woman was quiet for a moment. “Thank you. You sound like a nice man. I hope you can convince her of that, too.”

  We hung up and I leaned back on the bed. Tomorrow, I had to tell Moira everything. Phone calls and texts weren’t enough. I needed to speak to her, face to face, and let her hear and see the truth for herself—I was a miserable sonuvabitch without her and I’d do anything to fix things between us. I’d give her the world—starting with a townhouse.

  Chapter 16

  Moira

  Last night, I’d planned to visit Caleb to talk things out. But then I’d gotten a phone call about setbacks in Redemption that I’d had to deal with right then. One of the pipes had sprung a leak. There was sitting water on the floor, warping the brand new hardwood. The drywall had swelled and crumbled.

  By the time all of that was over, I realized it was too late to go over to Caleb’s. I didn’t want to bother Ms. Cortez. That’s what I told myself at least, because I was tired and not up for dealing.

  The new day was a new opportunity, one I needed to seize before I chickened out.

  But first, donuts.

  The lot in front of Eden Groceries was empty except for the few cars parked near Pearl’s donut truck. I parked and waited my turn as she helped the two people in line in front of me.

  When it was my turn, I leaned on the window and met Pearl’s warm smile with one of my own. “Hey, Pearl.”

  “Moira, how’s it going?”

  “Good. Terrible. I don’t know,” I laughed.

  “Uh oh.” She set down the towel she was holding and leaned on the counter across from me.

  “This’ll be a strange question, I’m sure,” I said.

  “Those are always the best ones.”

  Pearl had such a gentle way about her, she instantly put me at ease.

  “Have you heard about women giving birth after a week of pregnancy?”

  “Of course,” she said. “You didn’t know that?”

  Maybe it was a human thing. Maybe everyone in town believed that was the case now. Whatever was happening with Caleb, there was a greater influence at work. If it was affecting Pearl, that meant we were all in bigger trouble than I’d realized.

  “The thing is, that’s not true, or at least it wasn’t a week or two ago,” I said. “It’s supposed to take nine—no, ten months.”

  She searched my face and leaned down on her elbows. “Memory magic at work maybe,” she said.

  I let out the breath I was holding. She believed me—no questions asked, she believed me.

  “Have you told Declan about this?” Pearl asked.

  “Brody was going to talk to him yesterday.”

  Pearl nodded. “Last night, he was asking around for pictures of Caleb with time stamps. Do you think that’s related?”

  “Declan is?” I really needed to talk to my brother. It seemed our communication lately was not so great.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think it’s possible for magic to give a person multiple personalities?” I asked.

  “Sure, anything is possible.”

  I shifted my weight. Next was the weirdest question.

  “What about magically mutated sperm?”

  She snort-laughed. “Sure, why not?”

  “This is Forbidden.” I nodded. “Thanks, you’ve been a real help.”

  “Anytime. Can I get you anything before you go? Magical, or just magical for your mouth?”

  “Right,” I said, remembering why I’d stopped by in the first place. “Two glazed buttermilks.”

  “Caleb’s favorite,” Pearl said without judgment, and turned to grab them from the back. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Of course. Hey, I haven’t heard from Brody in a few days.” She shifted her footing. “Is the dreamcatcher working out?”

  “You k
now, I’m not sure. You should call him. I bet he’d like that.”

  We said our goodbyes. I paid for the doughnuts and headed back toward my truck.

  But then I saw someone strolling down Main Street. The jeans and brown work shirt looked like Caleb’s. That swagger was undeniably Caleb’s. I headed after him, slowly at first, then faster as I tried to catch up.

  “Caleb!” I called after him.

  He didn’t turn or stop. But from the way his taut ass looked in those pants, and the way his blond hair was cut against his muscular neck that led to broad shoulders, it had to be him.

  When he turned down an alley, I followed, finally catching up to him. I grabbed his wrist and he turned.

  His golden-brown eyes warmed as he looked at me, and he actually smiled.

  “Look,” I said. “I need to say some things to you. I just want you to listen, okay?”

  He nodded.

  “Okay,” I said again.

  Now what exactly was I supposed to say to him? My nerves were jittering, and my stomach was twisted. This was my chance, our chance at a future, at forever. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

  “It hurt the way you treated me when we were kids. It hurt so much worse that you didn’t tell me you were going to be a father. I thought we had something, that we’ve always had something special. If I let myself think about it, I know it’s love. I know that you’re my mate, and I want forever with you. But I need a promise first.”

  He took a step closer and ran his hands down my shoulders. His smile spread wide and he tilted his head toward me.

  “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.” His voice was soft.

  But as he leaned in to kiss me, my skin prickled.

  It wasn’t anticipation. It wasn’t right—he wasn’t right.

  I took a step back and really looked at him. His kind eyes and congenial smile made my stomach churn. I didn’t know who this guy was, but he wasn’t Caleb.

  “You’re not my Caleb,” I whispered.

  “You’re beautiful. Let’s share a glass of wine and I’ll give you a massage.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll start with your feet. I’ll rub each and every toe.” He winked at me. “I like feet.”