Forbidden Mountain Read online

  Forbidden Mountain

  Aimee Bishop

  Contents

  FORBIDDEN MOUNTAIN

  CHAPTER 1 – ABIGAIL

  CHAPTER 2 – JEREMIAH

  CHAPTER 3 – ABIGAIL

  CHAPTER 4 – JEREMIAH

  CHAPTER 5 – ABIGAIL

  CHAPTER 6 – JEREMIAH

  CHAPTER 7 - ABIGAIL

  CHAPTER 8 – JEREMIAH

  CHAPTER 9 – ABIGAIL

  CHAPTER 10 – JEREMIAH

  CHAPTER 11 – ABIGAIL

  CHAPTER 12 – JEREMIAH

  CHAPTER 13 – ABIGAIL

  CHAPTER 14 – JEREMIAH

  CHAPTER 15 – ABIGAIL

  EPILOGUE - ABIGAIL

  Don’t miss out!

  Claiming Maggie

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Abigail

  I made a terrible mistake.

  I’ve ruined my life.

  That’s why mom and dad sent me away to live with my grandparents on their farm in the middle of nowhere.

  They want me to milk cows, but I couldn’t think of anything worse.

  All I want to do is run away.

  But the locals spoke of rumors.

  They speak of dangerous men who live in the mountains.

  The most dangerous man of all is Jeremiah. Apparently, people who stray into his path are rarely seen again.

  But that’s just what I do.

  JEREMIAH

  I thought I had it all.

  Money, a perfect family, nothing to ever worry about.

  But then I come home early one night, and I make a discovery that tears all of that apart.

  Before I know it, I’m thrust into the path of a new girl in town.

  She’s a real wild child, the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.

  But her family have forbidden her from the mountain.

  She’s heard all the rumors too.

  But does she believe them?

  © Copyright 2018 by Aimee Bishop - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Published by Sasha O’Hara, LLC

  www.sashasworldofromance.com

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  CHAPTER 1 – ABIGAIL

  The club was jumping. I couldn’t move an inch, and the sweat was pouring down my body, but I didn’t care. I was having the time of my life. The bassline was hitting me hard in the gut, and my feet just wouldn’t stop. I threw myself into the music and felt every beat deep down inside me.

  All around me people were going wild. I was losing myself, losing touch with the world. There was nothing but the music and the alcohol in my bloodstream. Most of all, I forgot all about my problems – the fact that my rent was overdue and that I had a term paper to hand in tomorrow, which I’d barely started. At last, I forgot that I was heartbroken. For the first time in weeks, the tears had dried up, and I was no longer thinking about him.

  Then the music became quieter and quieter, and I noticed the crowd was beginning to disperse. Soon there was more room around me. I looked over to see Amanda and Lucy pulling out their coatroom tickets.

  “Hey! What are you guys doing?” I called.

  Before they could answer the lights came on and the music stopped.

  “Time to go,” said Lucy, as she hooked her arm into mine. “Come on, let’s get our coats. It’s freezing outside.”

  “Aw, no! I don’t wanna go yet.”

  But it was too late. The dancefloor was already empty, and the DJ was already packing up his things.

  “It’s four o’clock,” yawned Amanda. “And we gotta be in class at nine.”

  Class, I thought. I couldn’t bear the idea of having to be there in a few hours.

  Reluctantly, I trailed along behind them as they collected their coats. I was still a little drunk.

  “Right, who’s driving?” I asked.

  “Er, not me,” said Lucy. “I drank enough tequila shots to knock an elephant out.”

  I glanced over at Amanda, but she was looking pale and uneasy on her feet. Then, when I thought she couldn’t appear any worse, a look of panic came into her eyes. She spun around to throw up in the gutter.

  “I suppose it’s me,” I said, and held my hand out for the keys. “It’s a bad day when I’m the responsible one out the three of us.”

  Taking Amanda under my arm, I brushed the hair from her face and led her toward the car. Behind us, Lucy had stopped to talk to a group of guys. I could vaguely hear her say the word party but right now that was off limits.

  “Come on!” I called over my shoulder. She teetered over to us in her skyscraper heels.

  Unlocking the car, I bundled Amanda inside– she fell asleep on the back seat before I’d even had the chance to slip her shoes off.

  “Urgh, I think a hangover’s kicking in already,” moaned Lucy. “I must be getting old.”

  Since her twenty-first birthday the previous week, she’d done nothing but moan about her age, even though she looked younger than the rest of us. Without her makeup, she looked about twelve, and she always bragged about being able to get a child’s fare on the bus.

  “Get in,” I said. “I’m starving.”

  “Let’s get burritos!”

  It sounded perfect. There’s nothing better than a grease-fest after a long night of drinking and dancing.

  “Burritos it is,” I said, as I twisted the key in the ignition.

  Without looking, I pulled out and was immediately deafened by the sound of someone blasting their horn.

  “Jesus, Abi!” screamed Amanda. “You almost hit that car.”

  I waited until it sped off into the distance before I checked the mirror and tried pulling out again.

  “Sorry,” I said, and gave her an apologetic smile. “Didn’t see it coming.”

  She frowned and put on her seatbelt.

  “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

  “I’m fine!”

  “Positive?”

  I nodded, trying my hardest to keep my eyes on the road.

  “I promise, I’m fine.”

  But if I were honest I’d have to tell her that the lines on the road were a little blurry and there was rising nausea in my gut. A red light suddenly loomed up in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, all three of us lurching forward. In the back seat, Lucy mumbled, “What the hell?” then fell back asleep. Behind me, a car honked its horn.

  “Alright, that’s it,” said Amanda. “Get out. I’m driving.”

  “I’m okay!”

  “No, you’re not.”

  The light turned green. I stepped on the accelerator a little too hastily. We were now speeding through the city center, Amanda crying out the whole time as she gripped my shoulder with her nails.

  “Slow down!”

  Those were the last words I heard. After that, there was the sound of yet another car horn, the crunch of metal, and Lucy screaming from the back seat as she was showered with fragments of glass.

  Then there was nothing but blackness and the smell of burning fuel melting onto the frozen street. In the distance, a siren wailed.

  CHAPTER 2 – JEREMIAH

  “Happy birthday, son.”

  I was suddenly aware of the smell of moonshine stinging my nostrils. Looking across the bar, I saw dad pushing a jug toward me.

  “Dad, really? Moonshine?”

  “Nothing beats i
t.” He laughed.

  “What happened to a nice craft beer?”

  He looked horrified, his top lip recoiling back into a grimace.

  “Craft beer? I didn’t raise a wimp, now get drinking.”

  I’d done nothing but drink since I got up. Birthdays were special around here, or at least they were just any old excuse to have a party. But I was getting a little tired of it and just wanted to go home. The appeal of staying out drinking was wearing thin. I had the urge to go home, sit by the fire and cuddle up to Sandy with a jazz record playing in the background.

  “Well drink up,” said dad.

  I grabbed the jug from him and took a polite sip. It tasted like diesel, but I nodded anyway and pretended to love it.

  “Hmmm… great stuff,” I lied. “Your latest batch?”

  “The very latest.”

  “Nice,” I said to keep him happy. “Anyway, where’s Robert tonight? He said he was going to come up and meet us.”

  Dad shrugged.

  “You know how your little brother is. Probably met a girl.”

  I rolled my eyes. The little bastard was always getting into bed with someone new. There were times when I’d started to think he had a problem. In the old days, he’d probably be called a nymphomaniac but now… now he was just considered a young guy who liked to have fun.

  I slid the jug back across the bar. Across the room, my other brother, Nathan was slipping dimes into the jukebox. Every night he played the same damn song, God gave rock n roll to you, and I couldn’t bear the thought of hearing it again.

  “I’m outta here,” I said.

  “Aw, what?” moaned dad. “It’s not every day you turn thirty-five.”

  I slapped my hand on his back and felt how thin he was getting. The sharp points of his spine dug into my palm. I pulled my hand away, scared at the feel of his aging body. His hair was now white with bald spots. Even his beard, which used to be a deep auburn, was now white. I found myself feeling as though I was staring at a ghost. I missed my old dad, the strong bear of a man who could lift stacks of firewood as though they were feathers.

  It could have been that I was getting older myself, or it could have just been the drink, but I found myself overwhelmed with a peculiar sadness.

  “The walk’ll do me good,” I said.

  There was nothing better than mountain air to sober you up, and there was nothing more beautiful than the virgin forest. Especially at night when you could hear the animals rustling in the darkness. There was something so peaceful about being alone at night with nothing but the hoot of an owl.

  Dad didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm, though.

  “It’s as cold as a polar bear’s ass out there,” he said, as he started drinking from the jug himself.

  “I love the cold,” I said. “What the point of living up here if you don’t.”

  Grabbing my coat, I saluted Nathan who was still resting against the jukebox and made my way toward the door. They both waved goodbye, dad shaking his head as I left.

  As soon as I opened the door, a gust of wind blasted me in the face. The snow whirled around me like powdered sugar, settling into tufts around my feet. It was going to be a long walk home, but I needed it.

  Harry barked from the edge of the building. As a malamute husky, he loved the cold even more than me, and had made himself a nice little bed in the snow.

  “Hey, boy. Ready to go home?”

  I rubbed his ears and he opened his mouth in a big grin. I let him off his lead, and he sprinted off into the forest, kicking up snow behind him as he dashed between the trees.

  “Slow down, Harry!”

  But he didn’t listen. He was off running toward the house.

  I trailed behind him, listening to him investigate every smell in the bushes. Looking up beyond the canopy of the tree tops, I could make out the clear sky, the stars sparkling like pinholes of light. Breathing in a lungful of air, I had never felt more grateful to be living somewhere so clean and beautiful.

  To me, the mountain was a paradise, even if the locals down in the town of Bambridge didn’t think so.

  In the distance, I could just about make out the outline of the house with a cloud of smoke floating up from the chimney. Built right beside Nathan’s house, which in turn was built right beside dad’s cabin, it had been my home since the day I married Sandy.

  I thought about her now, with her dazzling blue eyes and soft body. We’d been married ten years this spring, and the spark was still there. She got more beautiful with every passing day and never went a night without telling me she loved me.

  The thought of holding her in my arms made my heart race. I walked a little faster, my boots sinking into the fluffy snow. Harry was already at the front door, barking to be let inside.

  “Shhh…”

  I tried to soothe him and patted his head, but he was restless.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  He was pacing up and down and scratching the door, barking louder and louder.

  “What’s the matter with you?”

  He’d never acted like this, not unless someone had strayed onto our property. He only barked like that when there were strangers around.

  “Calm down, Harry!”

  He barked even louder then began to howl, his voice echoing through the trees.

  “Jeez. Wait a minute.”

  With my gloved hands, I fumbled through my pockets looking for my keys, but my fingers were frozen stiff, and as soon as I found them, I dropped them in the deep snow.

  “Urgh… Just my luck.”

  I bent down to pick them up, my hand disappearing into the snow. Harry continued to pace, moving back and forth as he grew more irate.

  “Stupid dog.”

  Then I heard it and froze. Still bent over, my fingers still grazing the snow, I didn’t dare to move. There was a voice, a male voice, and it was coming from inside the house. But there was something else too, hushed whispers, the sound of frantic footsteps hurrying down the stairs, then the creak of the living room window opening.

  I’d recognized that creak anywhere. It was always something Sandy complained about, and like most guys, I always said I’d fix it but hadn’t got around to it for years. Now I was glad I hadn’t.

  Thrusting the keys into the lock as fast as I could, I shoved my way inside, the snow and wind coming in along with me. Harry raced into the house, barking like a maniac.

  “Sandy?”

  She was standing in front of me; her jaw dropped open. I noticed she was wearing a pink baby doll nightgown. Never, had I ever seen her wear something like that before. She always said she hated pretty lingerie, said it was for the airheads in magazines. But here she was, looking more beautiful than I’d ever seen her. But she wasn’t looking that way for me.

  Behind her, the window was still open, and jammed in between the panes of glass was a body, pale and wiry. And naked…

  “What the fuck?”

  Before I could approach it, he was disappearing out into the night with his clothes bundled in his arms. I took off after him, Harry by my side barking so much his voice was becoming hoarse.

  “Hey!”

  Whoever this bastard was, he sure was fast and light on his feet. But he was going too fast to notice the rock hidden beneath the snow until he tripped over it, falling face first into the ground. He groaned in pain as I caught up with him.

  “Who are you?”

  I kicked him over so he lay on his back. He shivered violently, looking up at me with nothing but a pathetic look of resignation.

  He didn’t need to answer me. I knew full well who he was.

  “Robert?”

  He looked as though he was on the verge of crying.

  “Robert, you son of a bitch! Tell me this is some kind of joke?”

  He continued to shiver and looked everywhere but my eyes.

  “Put your damn clothes on,” I said, and kicked them over.

  He pulled on his pants and coat and hung his head
in his hands.

  “You weren’t supposed to find out,” he cried. “My God, Jerry, what must you think of me?”

  “I think you’re the worst fucking brother ever,” I said, still in disbelief. “Seriously? Sandy?!”

  My body was shaking with the anger. I wanted to hold him down and strangle him, to squeeze the life out of him, but I didn’t dare. He was my little brother, and for some reason, I still saw him as the shy little kid who used to cry when the girls wouldn’t dance with him.

  “I don’t believe this,” I said, throwing my hands up. “I just can’t.”

  From behind us, there was the crunch of Sandy’s small feet stepping through the snow. Her baby doll nighty replaced by her old parka coat and snow boots. She was crying into her scarf, her makeup running down her cheeks.

  “Jerry…”

  “Get away from me.”

  She began to sob, but I couldn’t feel an ounce of sympathy. I couldn’t even look at her. My wife, the woman I adored more than anything else in the world, with my baby brother. There was no way of making sense of that. I thought I had a perfect life, thought that I could trust my own family. But apparently, I couldn’t be more wrong.

  “I’m sorry, Jerry,” she said.

  She was putting on the voice she knew made me weak. It was the one she performed when she first saw Harry as a puppy and wanted him so badly even though I kept saying I didn’t want a dog. It was the one she made on our wedding night.

  “You’re not sorry,” I said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

  They both looked down at the ground. There was an overwhelming feeling between us that nothing was going to be the same again.

  “Please, let me explain,” said Robert.

  “There’s nothing to explain,” I said. “My brother was screwing my wife. What is there to explain?”