"Do you like me?" I asked. "Do you really like me?"
Imogen nodded. Water gathered at the edges of her eyes. "Yeah," she whispered, in a voice pained enough to crack my heart.
"Then let's...go out, after this," I said. "We'll go on a date. We can figure this out together, and we can take one step at a time. Okay?"
Imogen nodded again. I took her hands in mine. 
Heartwood: Forbidden is the tale of the young, headstrong Ophelia stepping into a world of magic and witches. At first it seems like her greatest challenge will be finding her Familiar or drawing her Implement from a great tree, but then she runs into Imogen, daughter and heir to the Magnolia family, and learns very quickly that romance and magic probably shouldn't be allowed to mix. If Ophelia plays the game well, she might be able to get the girl and still end up on top. But Ophelia has never been good at following the rules... 
Heartwood: Forbidden is created by EOK Gifford-Smith, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

Heartwood: Forbidden

Not-Imogen had me pinned down, on the edge of the wooden platform above who-knows how far a drop. And she wasn't wearing a shirt.


"You can feel me if you want?" she said, practically breathing the words into my ear. "You can do more than that. This spell creates an illusion strong enough to fool all the senses, which means--I would argue--that it's not really an illusion anymore."


"What do you want?" I hissed. "Why do this?"


"I'm curious," she said. "And so very hungry for answers. Won't you help me?"


Not-Imogen pouted, contorting the sexy features of Imogen's face into a lip-biting, tantalizingly transparent offer.


"You want to know what's between us? Nothing. We're friends." I could feel my anger again. That was good, I needed something to weigh against the heat rising through me. I wouldn't betray Imogen's trust. I didn't know why Kozakura wanted to know about our relationship so badly, but it couldn't be for good reasons.


Chapter 18: Fall