Dear Readers!

FORBIDDEN ADDICTION is here...finally! We know some of you have been waiting for what feels like forever to read Phoenix and Dante's story, and we are so happy to let you know that today is the day you can finally get it! We can't wait to hear what you all think. Thanks for your patience!

Love and happy reading!
R.L.

 

 

With a tortured past, she’s a cat-shifter who refuses to get close to anyone. Yet she can’t seem to resist the leader of the vampire protectors.

Phoenix Kaplan has never felt a connection like the one she has with Dante Leonidas. She might service him monthly, allowing him to feed from her blood, but as much as her body tells her differently, she knows it can be nothing more, not with her insecurities and inability to be intimate with a male.

That is, until she realizes the one thing she desires most in the world is something he can give her…and she propositions him to impregnate her.

She’s never wanted anything more than to be a mother, and all she needs is this one thing from Dante.

Although he should refuse, Dante can’t resist the temptation. He’s addicted not only to her blood, but also to the enigma that is purely Phoenix. And he is determined to prove to her that he can give her much more than what she asked for.

She might protect her heart with an impenetrable wall, but he’s willing to do whatever it takes to break down that wall in order to get what he desires most in the world.

Forbidden Addiction is the fourth book in R.L. Kenderson’s steamy paranormal romance series. If you like alpha males, spicy vampires and shifters, forbidden love, and hot sex, then you’ll love the fourth installment of this addicting series.

Grab Forbidden Addiction and enter the seductive world of the forbidden today!

 

The reviews have been wonderful:

Amazon 5.0 out of 5 stars (so far)!

"It's finally here!! If you are a fan of this series then you've been waiting for Dante and Phoenix's story."

"I loved, loved, loved Phoenix and Dante's story. Each book in this series is fabulous!!! Forbidden Addiction is sexy, dark, heart wrenching and beautiful. I hated for it to end."

"I loved this book! Seriously ADDICTED to R L Kenderson's paranormal world!"

"Loved this book. It was by far the best of the series so far. The authors went above and beyond with this."

"I absolutely loved Dante and Phoenix's story - it was everything I imagined it would be and so much more."

"Dante and Phoenix are my absolute favorite couple."

"So so good. I loved it from start to finish."

"For anyone who is a fan of R.L.Kenderson this book is one of my favorites I love the whole Forbidden Series."

 

Excerpt:

As Quentin talked, Phoenix listened, trying to ignore her sense of restlessness.

“We had a couple of witnesses—human—who said they saw a dark SUV. But this is Minnesota, so the number of dark SUVs is in the thousands. It’s not much to go on, but it’s something. So, everyone, keep an eye out,” the wolf-shifter explained. “Unfortunately, the number of perps seems to be inconsistent. We’ve had reports from two to five.”

“Our vampires in the St. Paul Police have heard about the SUV,” Dante said. “And we always knew it was a group, but it might be hard to catch all of them at once. Hopefully, when we catch one of them, they’ll start ratting each other out.”

Phoenix’s agitation didn’t stem just from the fuckers out there, hurting their people. Or from all the commotion back at her alpha’s home. A big part of it had to do with the pure maleness of the vampire standing at the front of the room.

“And the elderly woman who was hurt yesterday didn’t hear, see, or smell anything?” Quentin asked.

Dante shook his head. “She scared off whoever was out there before she could see anything. And her sense of smell isn’t what it used to be. She couldn’t tell how many there were or if they were human, shifter, or vampire. And they must have parked a ways away. They took off on foot, and she didn’t hear or see a vehicle besides her son’s. Although her hearing and eyesight aren’t great either.”

“Shit,” Quentin said.

Damien barked out a humorless laugh. “Shit is right.”

Dante nodded his head in agreement as he licked his bottom lip and then sucked on it, slowly pulling it out between his teeth, the white of his fangs prominent against the deep color of his mouth. She knew he did it because he was frustrated, but it made her think of something else entirely.

Phoenix remembered when Dante had rescued her from Gerald.

Gerald was Vance’s cousin who’d had big dreams of killing off the alpha and his family. During an attempt to capture Gerald, he’d escaped, shooting Saxon and Zane in the process and kidnapping Phoenix as he fled. Gerald had planned to rape her but stopped when he smelled Dante on her. He’d taken his anger out on her breasts by biting her nipples, drawing blood. Most females would have been happy that this was all that had happened to them. And Phoenix was grateful that he hadn’t raped her, but her past issues made Gerald’s punishment seem almost as bad as if he had.

Phoenix shuddered at the memories. The memory of Gerald and the memories of others who’d come before him.

But, after Dante had rescued her and discovered that she’d been injured, he’d healed her. With his mouth. Just thinking about it gave her hot flashes. It was the first time ever that anything had felt good when it came to her breasts. She’d had issues with them for as long as she could remember. She’d developed early, especially for a shifter, and they had brought unwanted attention to her body. But Dante had seemed to sense that she wasn’t like other women, that she needed more care, which she was thankful for and embarrassed about at the same time. She sincerely hoped it was something he had just guessed about her rather than something he knew to be true. Because the thought of Dante knowing her past bothered her.

Saxon shifted beside her. Not many knew her past, but he did. Phoenix looked from Saxon to Dante and back to Saxon.

Oh God. She felt panic rise in her chest.

Saxon wouldn’t have told Dante what had happened to her, would he? The two of them had managed to become friends, and Saxon knew she had this weird…thing…with Dante. Would he have warned Dante about her past and her issues?

She sat forward in her seat. Was that why Dante never tried to have sex with her?

But she didn’t want to have sex with Dante. Right?

She slumped back down in her seat and stared at her hands. What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I thinking these things? She was not normally like this.

It had to be seeing Saxon’s happy family along with the two pregnant females and all the dumb, blissful couples in her life. It was messing with her head. She had decided a long time ago that she would never be able to mate and have a family. She’d thought she had actually made peace with it.

So, why am I acting like a stupid schoolgirl?

She looked up and right into Dante’s handsome face, and she pictured the way he had looked at her last night with heat in his eyes.

“Come here, Red.”

And she had. She’d walked right over to him and let him pull her down onto his lap. She’d let him sink his beautiful fangs into her neck and take her blood. He didn’t even have to touch her anymore for the ache to settle between her legs. He’d just stuck his thumb, which he’d cut with his incisor right before he pulled her down, in her mouth, so she could take his blood, and she’d gone off like a rocket at the first taste.

Phoenix looked away. How pathetic. She was pathetic.

It was no wonder that Dante didn’t pressure her to have sex. He didn’t need a simple creature like her.

He had to know she didn’t have much experience. She didn’t know why he continued to feed from her because, way back when she’d first met him, he’d told her that he fucked when he fed. And, even though she knew he’d had orgasms in the past when he fed from her, they never came close to having sex. That meant, whatever they had going on between them wouldn’t last. Couldn’t last. For all she knew, Dante was feeding from someone else. And fucking that someone.

A light bulb went off in her head.

Of course.

Of course, Dante hadn’t given up his sex life to, what? Have some weird relationship with her where they didn’t even get to first base, much less go all the way.

She felt sick.

So, why did he continue to let her come to his home and feed from her?

She looked up into his eyes again as she felt the room closing in on her.

Of course.

He felt sorry for her.

That was why he let her feed him and why he fed her his blood, knowing she’d climax.

Poor little damaged she-cat. She was lonely and fixated on the big, strong alpha vampire. The big, bad alpha vampire who was also kind and didn’t have the heart to tell her to get lost.

Loser. The word taunted her. That was the word her second boyfriend had called her.

“I’m having sex with Sheena because you’re a loser who can’t even pretend to like sex.”

Make that pathetic loser because, when she’d been with her ex, she’d known she wasn’t doing anything for him in bed.

But, with Dante, she’d thought he was actually getting something out of their feeding sessions.

Phoenix stood so fast that the chair rolled out from under her and hit the wall behind her.

“Phoenix?” Vance said, concern in his eyes. Concern she didn’t deserve.

Vance had been disappointed that she had gone after Gerald without the rest of her pride, injuring both herself and Dante in the process. Something that could have been avoided had she asked for help. Vance hadn’t said it, but Phoenix knew she had to earn back his trust because the pride and the sentinels were a team, and she had temporarily gone rogue.

“I have to use the restroom,” she told her alpha.

It was a lame excuse, and she was pretty sure everyone could tell she was making it up. But it was better than staying there. And, even though they couldn’t hear what she was thinking, the thought of them all knowing her humiliation made her scramble out of there even faster.

She practically slammed the door of the conference room open as she hurried out to rush down the hall, bypassing the first set of restrooms that stood right outside. She didn’t know how long she was going to be in there, and she didn’t need to run into anyone when she came back out.

She’d been to L & L Construction many times and even picked up odd jobs now and then, so she knew her way around the building. The conference room was on the main floor since that was where they would bring clients to show them presentations and have meetings. Phoenix skipped the elevators and headed toward the back to enter the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time until she made it to the second floor.

Several offices and cubicles were up there along with more than one set of restrooms. Thankfully, at that time of night, they were all empty, and everything was mostly dark, except for a few desk lamps that had been left on and the streetlights shining through the windows.

Phoenix walked past an empty office that was used for excess storage and almost went in there, but she needed to go to the ladies’ room. She needed to look at herself in the mirror. She needed to face herself.

Phoenix entered the dark restroom and leaned against the door for a minute. The silent darkness seemed creepy but didn’t scare her. She almost wished there were someone in there for her to fight because she was in the mood to kick some ass. It would be an easy way for her to vent her frustration and shame. But she was alone.

She reached out and felt along the side of the wall until she flipped the light switch. The bright fluorescent bulbs flickered on, hurting her eyes. She let her pupils adjust and then walked further into the big room and over to the sinks, taking in her appearance in the mirror.

Her face was pale, and her green eyes looked huge. Her hair had come loose from her ponytail, and her baggy clothes were twisted. She fixed her hair and straightened her clothes. She pinched her cheeks to give herself some color and blinked a few times to take away the deer-in-the-headlights look.

She narrowed her eyes and told herself with conviction, “You are not that little girl anymore. You are a grown woman. You are a sentinel. You have trained to fight and to not let anyone take advantage of you again. You’re strong. You don’t need a man. And you certainly don’t need sex. You have yourself. You have your friends. You have the other sentinels, and you have your pride.”

She paused and took in a deep breath, but this time, when she spoke, her voice lost the force behind it. “You don’t need him,” she practically whispered. “He’s just another guy. He’s nothing special. You. Don’t. Need. Him.”

She wasn’t sure she believed her words, but she felt a little better. She had needed that reminder of how far she’d come. She’d needed to tell herself that it was okay to be alone.

She made herself look into her eyes for a few more seconds. Then, she stuck up her chin and forced out a wobbly smile. It wasn’t the most confident, but it would do for now. She nodded in agreement and turned around to leave the restroom.

She stopped when she saw someone by the door. She hadn’t even heard it open.

“I’m nothing special, huh?” Dante asked.