Bound to Forbidden: Forbidden Shifters, #3

By Liza Street and Keira Blackwood

He might have thought the goth metal band, A Scrotal Eclipse of the Heart, was the worst thing to come to Forbidden. But then his ex showed up.

All Anna wants is to sneak in and out of Forbidden without having to see James. She'll go to enormous lengths to do this, even staying on the edges of town in the revamped asylum. But her visit becomes more than she'd bargained for when she stumbles on a B&B guest in a one-person naked picnic.

James never got over Anna, and for good reason--she left without a goodbye. But as her matchmaking granny thrusts them together and a rambunctious metal goth band wreaks havoc in the bed and breakfast, he's going to have to save her from killer bunnies and reclaim Anna as his mate.

Bound to Forbidden is the third stand-alone book in the Forbidden Shifters series. Do you love hilarious hijinks, steamy love scenes, and hot alphas who aren't afraid to ask for a second chance? Of course you do. ;) One-click Bound to Forbidden for a suspenseful shifter story you won't want to put down!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Liza Street
• Release date: Mar 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393669968

Book preview

Introduction

Forbidden, Kentucky—where mates meet, and monsters make mayhem.

Chapter 1

Anna

I t happened again. Lenore sank into the sofa, tilted her head back, and stared up at the ceiling instead of meeting my gaze. Her tan sweater blended in with the fabric of the loveseat as she sat still, breathing slow, steady breaths. I could feel the anguish in her words, straight to my bones.

I took a sip from my glass of water and waited for her to continue.

This time there were three of them.

That’s the most so far, I said.

Yes. She sighed and looked at me. Her wrinkled face fell into a frown, and her kind, gray eyes dropped in defeat.

Lenore was my oldest client. She’d just passed her ninety-second birthday. In looks, she reminded me of my Gram, whose birthday was coming soon. In personality, though, they were nothing alike.

Tell me about the dream, I said.

Okay, Lenore said. I was walking through the store buying my groceries, when I happened upon the newsstand. All the magazines were the same. Big, muscular young men... she trailed off and frowned.

It’s okay, I said.

I want to tell you.

Take your time.

She nodded and sighed. They each wore a cowboy hat. They were shirtless, buff, with their pants hanging low on their hips. One was riding a horse, one was leaning on a tractor, and one— She squinted her eyes shut. He was naked, with his butt turned for the camera.

I made a noncommittal sound for her to continue.

She started breathing heavier, and her words came out in a rush. "All three of those men that were on the magazines joined me in the store. They kissed me in turn, and I really liked it. Then the ones with pants...the pants magically disappeared...and...it’s escalating."

And that bothers you.

Of course it bothers me, she said. I tell myself that it doesn’t make me a bad person, like you told me. I even...I almost told Teddy.

I nodded.

He’d probably buy himself a cowboy hat if he knew. He’s so sweet, he always wants to give me everything.

Would that be a bad thing? I asked. If he did buy a hat?

She closed her eyes, and the hint of a grin crossed her face. I guess that part wouldn’t be so bad.

It could be a good way to start the conversation, I said. Ask what he thinks about cowboy hats in general. No commitment to saying anything else.

I suppose.

Though there is no harm in not telling him, either. Everyone has fantasies. Teddy, too, I’m sure.

Oh, I know all about what Teddy likes. She shook her head. But that’s different. He’s a man.

Everyone—

—has fantasies, I know.

And that’s okay.

Thank you for fitting me in today, Dr. Stone.

We’d discussed a few times before that I was a licensed therapist, not a doctor. Lenore still called me doctor every time, and it was easier to let it go. It was also my day off, but I hadn’t had anything scheduled except for a trip to the store. I could grab a birthday card for Gram after Lenore felt better, no problem.

Of course, Lenore. I’m always here for you, I said.

I rose from my chair as she stood from her place on the sofa. She threw her arms around me and squeezed.

Thank you, she whispered, before quickly hurrying out the office door.

I headed upstairs, to the residential part of my rental, and picked up my phone from the kitchen counter. There was a missed call, from Caleb.

My half-brother never called. I hoped everything was okay back home.

I hit send and the phone rang.

Too busy to answer your phone, huh? he said.

Hey, I said. Everything okay?

Yeah, peachy.

Okay, I said. Great. What’s up?

Gram’s birthday is coming.

I know.

There’s going to be a party. I know you aren’t going to come, but I promised Dad I’d call.

Dick. No, I didn’t want to go home to Forbidden. I hadn’t gone back since I’d left, but I hadn’t seen Gram in years, and it wasn’t like she had a lot of parties. Ninety was a big one.

When is it? I asked.

Day after tomorrow. Three o’clock at Gram’s place.

The day after tomorrow?

You’ve got big plans in your fancy new life in Colorado, right? Caleb said. Don’t worry, I’ll just tell Gram you were too busy for her party.

I squeezed the counter and took a nice steady, slow breath.

You couldn’t give me more notice? I asked.

Nope. Nice catching up with you, sis. Gotta go. With that, he hung up.

No, I did not want to drop everything and have to reschedule my appointments. No, I did not want to spend time with Caleb. But it wasn’t his birthday, it was Gram’s.

I clicked open my browser and searched for hotels in Redemption, the next town over from Forbidden. No way could I stay in Forbidden. No way could I risk running into James O’Malley or any of his siblings.

There was nothing available in Redemption. Figured.

I looked for the farthest place that would still allow me to drive to the party, then slip out of town before I had to deal with anything I wasn’t prepared to deal with. There was one promising option—Forbidden Bed and Breakfast. It looked like someone had fixed up the old asylum outside of town.

I booked a room and a flight for tomorrow, then pulled the bottle of white wine out of the fridge that I had been planning to nurse over the next week. Looked like I’d be drinking it all tonight.

I was going home to Forbidden. The town I’d run away from ten years ago.

My stomach clenched at the thought of going back, at the thought of seeing him.

James O’Malley had moved on with his life a long time ago. He was probably halfway around the world by now, working at an art gallery in Paris. Or maybe he was painting portraits for a living. Or painting graffiti on the sides of city buildings. Whatever he was doing, he was doing it with some other woman. I wasn’t going to run into him. Everything was going to be fine.

The funny thing was that I was the one who’d left, but I was the one who couldn’t move on.

I uncorked the bottle and took a big-ass swig.

Chapter 2

James

The lights were still off in Daphne’s B&B, so I killed some time by sitting in my truck. She and Declan probably wouldn’t appreciate me banging around in the basement this early.

I missed the mornings where I’d been sleeping in. Now it seemed I couldn’t sleep at all.

I knew what the problem was, I just didn’t want to talk about it. Didn’t want to think about it. They’d had to go and open up those photo albums when Finn and Sophie moved into their new apartment.

Pandora’s fucking boxes, that’s what photo albums really were. They let out everything, and now I couldn’t stop thinking.

Her photo was in my glove box. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to destroy it. Her dark hair had been curled into waves, and her golden-brown eyes had shone with happiness. The dress she’d worn to prom had been slinky and soft. I could still remember the way it felt against my palms when I’d held her and danced with her.

I couldn’t bring myself to destroy the photo, but I sure as fuck wasn’t going to look at it.

I didn’t need to, apparently. The image was etched into my brain. I could paint her, right now, and the likeness of her would be perfect.

One of the lower floor lights clicked on in the B&B. They were up. I opened the truck door and took in the crisp fall air. September in Forbidden could either be chilly, or blistering hot. There wasn’t much in between. This morning was starting out chilly, but I could tell it would get warm later.

I hoisted my toolbox out of the truck bed and started around the back of the building. I’d drawn the short straw—I was on basement duty. None of the brothers wanted to work on it, and Moira had pulled the I run the business side of O’Malley Construction, so I get to delegate card.

The thing about the basement was it was creepy and it smelled bad. Declan was convinced the Slug King, as he called the monster, had originated somewhere in there. But I’d been down there dozens of times and saw no sign of slugs or where one could have come out.

Then again, we’d just knocked down the rear wall, and I hadn’t investigated back there much. It made my inner wolf twitchy.

A turkey vulture sat on top of the double doors that led to the basement. It eyed me with contempt.

"The fuck are