
Forbidden Dance
Amber Kuhlman Thielman · Ongoing · 37.0k Words
Introduction
Chapter 1
The weather outside is frigid, matching my mood, as my stepmother Sadie runs a single manicured finger over the windowsill of my dorm room, lifting it to her face a moment later to inspect the dust that has settled on the tip of her perfect finger. She makes a face, shooting a glance over her shoulder at my father who has been standing awkwardly to the side as she tears apart every little thing about my room.
“It’s dirty,” she announces to no one in particular. My new roommate isn’t here yet, thank God, and I’m hoping she won’t show up until after my dad and step-monster finally leave me in peace.
“I don’t mind,” I say, trying to usher her along faster. “It just needs a little wipe down. I can do that.”
Sadie turns in my direction, her nostrils flaring like they do when she thinks I’ve said or done something stupid, which is almost always. “Your father and I aren’t paying for you to be here and clean,” she huffs. “That’s the school staff’s job.”
I bite my lip to keep myself from reminding her that whatever money is being paid into this institution for my schooling doesn’t come from her; not even a single drop of it. My father is funding this excursion, which is even worse because Sadie got to choose which college I enrolled in, and the only one I actually wanted, far away from her and far away from Seattle, wasn’t an option. But what Sadie says, goes. It’s been like that for years since my mother died and my father remarried a woman who, unbeknownst to me at the time, was his mistress.
Fucked up, right? Yeah, I think so too.
“I’d better get settled in,” I say to the room, hoping my dad will take the hint and guide Sadie out. I’m so tired of being under the scrutinizing gaze and thumb of my prude of a stepmother. Finally, I’m free, eighteen, and in college … and I still can’t get rid of her. Even now, sitting in my new dorm room, I’ve been forced to dress in what Sadie refers to as appropriate clothing. A knee-high skirt from the stone age, leggings so I don’t show too much skin and a sweatshirt that makes my skin itch uncomfortably against the itchy fabric. Even now I can’t get rid of her influence.
“Honey, Faith is right,” my dad says, finally finding his balls to speak up. It’s rare, but it has happened before. “Let’s go and let her get settled in.”
As Sadie considers this, the front door opens and a young woman who must be my assigned roommate poked her head in, flashing the three of us an awkward smile as she pulls a suitcase full of luggage in after her. I rise from the bed with a grin, holding out my hand, grateful for the distraction. Maybe now they’ll leave.
“Are you Tara?” I ask. “I’m Faith. It’s really nice to meet you.”
“Yes,” she’s beaming as she shakes my hand, and I’m silently filled with glee as I take in her ripped skinny jeans, tie-died tank top, black pixie cut, and nose and eyebrow piercing. This girl is the last sort of influence Sadie would have picked for my roommate, and that fact alone has me silently gloating. “Nice to meet you, too,” she says, and it’s impossible not to catch the way her eyes dart over my conservative, ridiculous outfit. Anything to appease the step-monster, I want to tell her. But we’ll get to that later.
“Darling,” my father says, trying to snag Sadie’s attention again. He’s bored, I can tell, and I don’t blame him. “Let’s leave the girls to get to know each other, shall we?”
Sadie tears her disapproving gaze away from Tara for a moment before she wheels on me again, hands poised on her hips like she’s preparing to scold a toddler. “Rules,” she says. “What are they?”
Heat rises to my neck and cheeks as anger boils in my chest, but I close my eyes and recite what she wants to hear. If I don’t, I’ll never hear the end of it, no matter how humiliating this is about to be.
“No drinking, no smoking, no parties, no boys,” I say, inwardly cringing as the words leave my mouth. From the corner of my eye, I see Tara’s jaw drop as she settles herself on the empty bed, but I can’t meet her gaze.
“And?” Sadie persists, her cold blue eyes boring into mine. As I meet her gaze again, my jaw locks, and I resist the urge to knock her flat on her ass.
“And no dance,” I mutter, dropping my gaze to the floor. I’m weak. I can never hold my own against her.
“That’s right,” Sadie says. “We’re paying a pretty penny for you to study economics at this school, and I refuse to sit by and watch you throw it all away for a chance to show off your half-naked body to a bunch of men.”
I grit my teeth without answering, wondering what Tara thinks of me now. With my luck, she’ll have requested a new roommate before Sadie even leaves campus.
“Time to go,” dad says, crossing the room to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Call if you need anything, Faith.”
Yeah, right.
“Sure, dad.”
“Behave,” Sadie says, not bothering to hug me goodbye as she follows my father to the door. Behind me, Tara waves cheerily at them.
“Nice to meet you,” she calls, but Sadie pretends like she’s heard nothing as she leaves the room, shutting the door forcefully behind her.
Finally, I can breathe.
A migraine is tugging at my skull as I turn around to look at Tara, embarrassed she’d heard the lecture. But she doesn’t look disgusted by me, not at all. In fact, she looks amused.
“Stepmom?” she asks as I cross the room and sit back down on the edge of the not-so-cozy bed. I don’t care that it’s not expensive or fancy. I’d sleep on a concrete floor before going back home and living under her roof.
“How did you know?” I ask, reaching for the outrageously tight clip in my hair to undo it, letting my golden blond curls escape from their prison and down my back.
“The dynamic between you two,” Tara says with a laugh. “The hate is real. She seems like a right bitch, that one.”
“She is.” I can’t defend her, not even a little. Sadie is beyond a bitch. Sadie is a fucking monster.
“You seem like a smart, well-rounded woman,” Tara continues, her bold brown eyes scanning me, sizing me up. “Why do you let her treat you like that?”
“It’s a long story,” I say with a sigh. “She might look like a bloodsucking demon from the outside, but on the inside, she’s so much worse. Trust me …you don’t want to tangle with her.”
Tara shrugs as she lifts her suitcase onto her empty bed and unzips it to begin unpacking. I watch her for a moment, smitten with this girl already. She’s unabashedly her, and I like that in a person. It’s been a long time since I could be unapologetically me, too.
As Tara unpacks, humming silently under her breath, I figured I should do the same. I unzip my bag and pull out all the shitty, conservative garments Sadie had bought and packed for me. More long skirts, more leggings to go under said skirts, and too many sweaters to count. As I’m folding these things and stuffing them into a tiny drawer on my side of the room, I notice that Tara is watching me.
“Is that all you have?” she asks. “Sweaters and pioneer skirts?”
I laugh, although it’s not funny, and shake my head. “The majority of it, yes,” I say, shoving a pair of stockings into the top drawer before slamming it shut. “But it’s not everything.” Nibbling my lip, I pull out the remainder of my clothes, the ones that had been safely hidden beneath Sadie’s mess of crap. A glittery, spaghetti strap top with the word Dance scrolled across the front, as well as a pair of fishnet stockings, frayed denim shorts that make my ass look good, and a pair of ballet flats that would have given Sadie a stroke if she’d seen them. As I drape my outfit over the bed, Tara’s eyes light up.
“Damn girl,” she says. “Maybe you’re not the lost cause I thought you were.”
“I haven’t always been like this,” I say, glancing down with disgust at my current outfit. “This is all Sadie’s doing. But …Sadie’s not here now, is she?”
Tara beams. I have a feeling I’ve made my first real friend here.
“No, she’s not,” she confirms. “So how about you throw that spicy little number on, and we can take a tour of the campus.”
I run a hand through my loose curls and lean into my suitcase for one last thing; a small bag of hidden makeup that Sadie never knew about. I hold it up and grin at Tara. “Give me five minutes.”
Last Chapters
#25 Mark
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#24 Danny
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#23 Faith
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#22 Theo
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#21 Faith
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#20 Mark
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#19 Mark
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#18 Danny
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#17 Faith
Last Updated: 3/7/2025#16 Theo
Last Updated: 3/7/2025
You Might Like 😍
The Biker's Fate
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?"
"No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me."
He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the sexy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever.
Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart.
Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
The Prison Project
Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?
Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.
Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.
Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...
At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…
Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?
Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?
What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…
A temperamental romance novel.
His Mission
Emily is suddenly thrown from one world of danger and uncertainty into another. The two teens ride the rollercoaster of love, unbelievable betrayal and heartache.
Accardi
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.
Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
Badass in Disguise
"Jade, I need to check your—" the nurse began.
"OUT!" I snarled with enough force that both women backed toward the door.
Once feared by Shadow Organization that drugged me to replicate my abilities into a more controllable version, I had escaped my restraints and detonated their entire facility, ready to die alongside my captors.
Instead, I woke up in a school infirmary with women arguing around me, their voices piercing my skull. My outburst froze them in shock—clearly they hadn't expected such a reaction. One woman threatened as she left, "We'll discuss this attitude when you get home."
The bitter truth? I've been reborn into the body of an overweight, weak, and supposedly dim-witted high school girl. Her life is filled with bullies and tormentors who've made her existence miserable.
But they have no idea who they're dealing with now.
I didn't survive as the world's deadliest assassin by allowing anyone to push me around. And I certainly won't start now.
The mafia princess return
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis
Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now—billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn’t mind. I’d crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one?
Wrong.
One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That’s when it hit me—he didn’t love me. He didn’t even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn’t even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup.
So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster—my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise.
Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
Enter him.
Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I’d met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes.
It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised.
But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.
And, as it turned out, the best decision I’d ever made.
Because my one-night stand isn’t just some random guy. He’s richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with.
And now, he’s not letting me go.
Mated by Contract to the Alpha
William—my devastatingly handsome, wealthy werewolf fiancé destined to become Delta—was supposed to be mine forever. After five years together, I was ready to walk down the aisle and claim my happily ever after.
Instead, I found him with her. And their son.
Betrayed, jobless, and drowning in my father's medical bills, I hit rock bottom harder than I ever imagined possible. Just when I thought I'd lost everything, salvation came in the form of the most dangerous man I'd ever encountered.
Damien Sterling—future Alpha of the Silver Moon Shadow Pack and ruthless CEO of Sterling Group—slid a contract across his desk with predatory grace.
“Sign this, little doe, and I'll give you everything your heart desires. Wealth. Power. Revenge. But understand this—the moment you put pen to paper, you become mine. Body, soul, and everything in between.”
I should have run. Instead, I signed my name and sealed my fate.
Now I belong to the Alpha. And he's about to show me just how wild love can be.
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride
Yet Alexander made his decision clear to the world: “Evelyn is the only woman I will ever marry.”
My Possessive Alpha Twins For Mate
My drunk stepfather remained indifferent, his weight suffocating, making it hard to breathe as my heart raced.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and two figures burst in.
"Get off her!" a deafening roar echoed.
I didn't expect the twin brothers who'd bullied me at school to come charging in like gods to save me.
After my grandmother passed, I had to move in with my mom and stepdad, who treated me like a servant. I prayed every day for my 18th birthday to come, so l could leave and escape this broken home.
However, on my first day at my new school, l encountered the legendary twins everyone feared.
To make matters worse, the Moon Goddess revealed they were both my mates!
After helping me out with my stepdad, my twin mate cornered me, played with my hair, and whispered possessively, "You belong to us, our little mate..."
Nanny And Her Four Alpha Bullies
But her origins make her a thorn in the side of the school's four ruling brothers.
They have to take a little baby girl, less than a year old, to school.
But the baby girl resists everyone ...... except Chloe.
So Chloe, a new adult, is forced to become the baby girl's nanny and live in the bullies' dormitory?












