Once Forbidden by Hope Welsh

 
     
    Prologue
     

     
    It
was forbidden.
    That
thought reverberated though Devlin’s mind as he stood in the growing crowd and
watched the firefighters pull the unconscious woman from the house. He studied
her dispassionately as they placed her on a stretcher. He heard words that had
no real meaning for him; they were words of mortals—words of those without the
power to know.
    Fifty
percent burns. Wouldn’t survive. Too much damage.
    But
they were wrong. Devlin sensed the strength in the woman. She was not going to die. But he knew she’d probably want to. Her skin was damaged beyond
the means of modern medicine.
    She
wasn’t beyond his means, though. He could heal her—make her whole again.
Devlin considered the possibility. It was forbidden. Vampires weren’t to
involve themselves with the frailties of humans. And yet….
    This
human was different. This woman was extraordinary. Of course, he had never come
to her, but he had been watching her. The woman was one of the Chosen—one of the few that could be reborn. Sired was the proper term, of course. But it
wasn’t appropriate, not for her.
    Since
coming to North Carolina five years before, Devlin had sensed her presence and
been drawn to her. Finding out her name would have been easy, but he hadn’t.
Somehow, he’d known that knowing her name would make her even more desirable to
him than she already was.
    As
she rarely left her house, Devlin deduced she worked from home. He knew that
she was solitary—which suited him, as this was a solitary existence. Very
often, the Chosen were solitary creatures, almost as if nature had been
training them for the possibility of being forever changed.
     All
vampires could sense the Chosen. He’d sensed others, but none of them drew him
as she did. In the Old Days, there would have been no question. When a vampire
wanted a mate—that person was simply sired. All that had changed with the
Hunters. Humans that considered it their sacred duty to kill every vampire they
could find. The Elders had changed the law one hundred years before—outlawing
the change of a human.
    For
this woman though, he considered the forbidden anyway. She was special—and not
simply because she was one of the Chosen.
    The
woman had risked her own life to go into the burning house for a child. He’d
been watching her as her dark hair had caught in the light of the street lamp
as she’d been carrying her groceries home. Long and gleaming, he’d longed to
run his fingers through it. Once more, he’d been following her—watching her.
    She
was a small woman, probably at least a foot shorter than his own six-three. But
her determination more than made up for what she lacked in height.
    Flames
and vampires were a fatal mix, of course, so he’d had no choice but to wait. Against
all the rules of the Elders and his own common sense, he had called 911. What a
laugh that would have given those he knew. But somehow, he’d known that she
would come out of the house alive. The child had survived as well. She’d
brought the child out and turned back inside, looking for more survivors.
    Such
foolishness, he thought now. But valor he could admire. And desire.
    Yes,
he had the answer. He’d make her his—to hell with what the Elders would say. He’d
been alone long enough. She would be his mate.
    He
heard someone whispering. Sarah Hart. Such a pretty name, he mused. Sarah.
    Devlin
turned and disappeared into the night, knowing he’d go to her when it was time.

 
    Chapter One
     

     
    The
dream was so real….
    “You
will belong to me, Sarah. When the time is right, you will know,” he said in a
deep hypnotic voice.
    “But
how? Why? I don’t understand any of this!” she exclaimed. She couldn’t move her
eyes from his. They were dark green and intoxicating, and had the power to make
her feel things she’d thought to never feel again. Desire. Need. And
more—wanted.
    “You
will know,” he said simply. “For now, that is all I will tell