Amanda Stevens - Forbidden Lover

The temptation of being too close

Erin sat staring into the fire, her features soft and fragile in the flickering light. She reminded Nick of a painting he’d once seen—pale, innocent, with an almost mystical aura. But unmistakably woman.

Another time, he would have leaned over and kissed her. He would have taken his time, tasting her delicate lips, loosening her hair until it fell wantonly down her back. He would have touched her all over, whispered what he wanted to do to her….

He let the fantasy spin away with no small regret, and turned his attention back to the darkness outside the cabin. A murderer was out there waiting, and since Nick had been the one to drag Erin into this mess, it was his duty to protect her, not to seduce her.

But Nick knew that one sometimes led almost inevitably to the other….

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

This month, some of your favorite Harlequin Intrigue authors—and a first-timer—deliver a killer selection of books for you to enjoy.

Amanda Stevens closes the case in the final installment of her GALLAGHER JUSTICE miniseries with Nick Gallagher’s story, Forbidden Lover (#557). The Gallagher brothers were born to serve and protect, and three more sexy lawmen you’d be hard-pressed to find. If you missed the first two books, be sure to let us know!

In her twentieth 43 LIGHT STREET title, Ruth Glick writing as Rebecca York scorches some paper with Never Too Late (#558), the steamy story of Scott O’Donnell and Mariana Reyes. Harlequin Intrigue is proud to bring you this terrific ongoing series and we thank you for making it one of our most popular features.

Also, this month, Patricia Rosemoor—Harlequin Intrigue’s most-published author—launches her very own miniseries, SONS OF SILVER SPRINGS. Sometimes it takes a family tragedy to bring siblings back together. But nothing is thicker than blood. Meet the Quarrels brothers in Heart of a Lawman (#559).

Finally, newcomer Karen Lawton Barrett contributes her first title to Harlequin Intrigue. We know you’ll love Hers To Remember (#560) for its emotional drama and highly charged suspense. Hang on to your seats when you read this A MEMORY AWAY…story!

Take home all four books for an exhilarating rush of romance.

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Associate Senior Editor

Harlequin Intrigue

Forbidden Lover

Amanda Stevens

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Amanda Stevens has written over twenty novels of romantic suspense. Her books have appeared on several bestseller lists, and she has won Reviewer’s Choice and Career Achievement in Romantic/ Mystery awards from Romantic Times Magazine. She resides in Cypress, Texas, with her husband, her son and daughter, and their two cats.

Books by Amanda Stevens

HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE

373—STRANGER IN PARADISE

388—A BABY’S CRY

397—A MAN OF SECRETS

430—THE SECOND MRS. MALONE

453—THE HERO’S SON*

458—THE BROTHER’S WIFE*

462—THE LONG-LOST HEIR*

489—SOMEBODY’S BABY

511—LOVER, STRANGER

549—THE LITTLEST WITNESS**

553—SECRET ADMIRER**

557—FORBIDDEN LOVER**

HARLEQUIN BOOKS

2-in-1 Harlequin 50th Anniversary Collection

HER SECRET PAST

Dr. Erin Casey—She’s made a name for herself—but it isn’t the name she was given at birth.

Nick Gallagher—More than anything, the police detective wants the O’Roarke family to pay for its crimes.

Clive Avery—Why would a native Chicago policeman take a new job in the middle of nowhere?

Ed Dawson—The superintendent has never gotten over his stepdaughter’s murder.

Maggie Gallagher—Her blossoming relationship with Ed causes her family concern.

Sean Gallagher—Has Nick’s father’s body finally come home to rest?

Dylan O’Roarke—The attorney claims his client—his cousin—is innocent.

Dr. Russel Quay—He resents Erin’s appointment as head of the forensic anthropology lab.

Fisher—Does the shadowy informant know more than he reveals?

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

The bones talked to her while she worked. As Dr. Erin Casey painstakingly examined the human cranium on her worktable, the story of a life began to unfold for her.

The skull was small and lightweight, which told her the remains were female, and the width of the hipbone concurred. Further examination revealed a small indentation on the pubic bone, indicating that the woman had given birth to at least two children.

The unidentified female was someone’s mother.

How old were her children? Did they still wonder what had happened to their mother? Did they sometimes lie in bed at night, missing her so badly they ached? Did they still dream about her?

Behind her goggles, Erin’s eyes closed briefly as an image of her own mother flitted through her mind. She’d been dead for nearly a year now, but sometimes the loss still seemed too much for Erin to bear. Sometimes the urge to talk to her mother was so strong, the need so great, that Erin would find herself lifting the phone to her ear, only to realize all over again that if she dialed her mother’s number, a stranger would undoubtedly pick up.

Madeline Casey had been everything to Erin—a devoted mother, a best friend, a trusted confidante. The two of them had been on their own from the time Erin was just a baby, moving from city to city for the first few years of her life, running, she now knew, from a past that had colored her life in ways she was only beginning to understand.

Perhaps that was why she’d accepted a faculty position at Hillsboro University, a small, private college in Chicago, the city where Erin had been born and where her mother had grown up. Erin had family here, but none of them would recognize her if they met her on the street or heard her name. She hadn’t seen any of them, including her father, since she was nine months old, nor they her. And Erin’s mother had long ago legally changed both their names, not so much for safety’s sake—though that had undoubtedly been a consideration—but in an effort to sever all ties with a family that had been morally and legally corrupt.

Erin felt no bitterness about the separation. She understood her mother’s motives all too well. The reason she’d moved back to Chicago had nothing to do with renewing ties with her father or his family. Far from it.

She’d come here solely because of her mother. From the moment the offer from Hillsboro had been presented to her, Erin had sensed her mother’s presence would be strong here. Madeline had grown up in Chicago, gone to school and fallen in love here. She’d married and given birth to two children here. When she’d moved away, she’d left a part of her heart behind, and in some strange way, Erin knew this was where she would finally find a sense of herself, here in the shadow of her mother’s past.