Scarlet Heat

  I felt stupid asking it. What kind of doctor treated vampires? And what kind of medicine could they take? They didn’t drink anything but blood.

  Right! Blood! A light bulb went off in my head. What an idiot I was not to see it right away—blood, she needed blood!

  I started to offer her my right wrist as I had the night before, but it was still sore from her last feeding. The left wrist was out of the question too—it was tender as hell from the fucking trap I’d walked into as the wolf. The only option left was my throat, but she had been scared to death when I’d offered it to her the night before—possibly because I was looming over her, making her feel vulnerable.

  I thought about it for a minute but I could only see one solution. Sitting down beside her on the couch, I gathered her into my arms again.

  “What…what are you doing?” She looked at me with eyes filled with mistrust and hurt. My heart twisted painfully—I didn’t want her afraid of me.

  “It’s okay, baby,” I murmured, shifting until I was lying back on the long sectional with my head and neck propped on the arm of the couch. “I’m just giving you what you need.”

  “Don’t need…anything,” she protested when I settled her more firmly against me.

  “Yes, you do. You need blood.” When I got where I was going, I was lying on the couch with her soft little body draped over my chest and thighs. Her scent filled my senses and a strong feeling of protective possessiveness washed over me again.

  It was too strong to deny—the instinct of a wolf to protect its mate.

  She’s not really my mate, I tried to tell myself. We’re married in name only. I’m not even supposed to be touching her, let alone lying half naked on the couch with her draped all over me.

  But there we were, all the same. And though I had sworn to myself just the night before I would never do it again, I turned my head and offered her my throat—giving her the sign of submission no Alpha should extend to anyone.

  I heard Taylor catch her breath and when I cut my eyes to the right to look at her, I saw the hungry, helpless look on her face. The tiny, sharp, delicate points of her fangs were peaking out from under her lush upper lip.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” I murmured, tilting my head a little more. “Come on.”

  She looked up at me, uncertainly. “You mean it? I…I’m so thirsty. The sun…”

  “Take what you need,” I told her and really meant it. I wanted her to feed on me, wanted to know that I was nourishing her, healing her with my blood. I supposed I would have thought feelings like that were sick and twisted even a few days ago. But now they just seemed natural and right. Taylor was mine to nourish and protect and heal—I had to do right by her. “Come on,” I urged her again.

  She finally accepted my offer. Lifting her face to my neck, she struck quickly, her sharp little points sinking into my throat and piercing the vein neatly.

  I had been braced for the pain but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had the night before. Either she was getting better at biting me or I was getting used to it.

  And then the pleasure started.

  It was the same as the night before—a warm tingling that started in the pit of my stomach and seemed to spread to every part of my body at once. My hard-on had gone down when I was so concerned about her but now it came to life again and I could feel myself standing at complete attention, tenting the baggy material of my sweatpants embarrassingly.

  God…I shifted under her and felt her stop sucking. Oh, she must think I was upset.

  “It’s okay,” I told her, hoping my voice didn’t sound too strangled. Hesitantly, I put a hand to her back to urge her on. Feeling her silky, bare skin under the soft cotton of the t-shirt didn’t help the situation between my legs any, but I wanted her to know everything was all right. “Take as much as you want,” I told her, stroking her back lightly. “I don’t mind, really.”

  Taylor tensed for a moment under my touch and then seemed to relax into it. With a little moan of contentment, she went back to sucking my neck, drawing deep to get everything she needed.

  I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the little sounds of pleasure she was making in the back of her throat, trying not to feel her warm, soft body pressed against mine. Her scent was getting hotter all the time—the ribbon of scarlet heat widening to a stream…a river of fire, teasing my senses, telling me things I knew couldn’t possibly be true.

  Or could they?

  Chapter Six—Taylor

  When I finally had enough of his warm, delicious blood and withdrew my fangs, I thought I heard Victor breathe a sigh of relief. No doubt he was getting really tired of me biting him but there was one more thing I needed to do—something I hadn’t tried last night because I didn’t think I could do it. But I felt stronger now—more able to access my natural abilities. Leaning down again, I lapped gently at the twin puncture marks I had made on his neck, willing the skin to close, trying to heal him from my bite.

  “Taylor honey,” he said, his deep voice tight. “What…uh, what are you doing?”

  “Trying to seal the wound.” I looked up at him, worried. “I should have at least tried to do it the night before when I drank from your wrist, but you seemed like you were in such a hurry to go…”

  “Oh.” He shifted under me and I could feel the tension in his big, muscular body. At last he said, “Well, is it going to take much longer?”

  “Not much.” I gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry—you’re probably sick of me sucking your neck, huh?”

  He shifted again. “I’m just in kind of a, uh, uncomfortable position here.”

  “Oh, sorry!” I pulled back and hopped up at once. The place on his throat where I had bitten looked pretty good, actually. Maybe after six years I was finally beginning to get the hang of some of this vampire stuff. Or maybe the lessons Corbin had given me were kicking in—either way, it appeared that I was now able to heal wounds—at least small ones. It made me feel proud—like I was finally becoming a proper vampire.

  Victor sat up too and grabbed a throw pillow, holding it casually in his lap. I wondered briefly if he had gotten hard again and tried to push the thought away. It was embarrassing enough to be sitting here on the couch with him, wearing only a thin white t-shirt while he was bare chested and only wearing sweats. We didn’t need to bring anything else into our weird little pseudo-marriage to complicate it.

  “Are you feeling better now?” he asked, looking at me seriously. “I mean really better?”

  “Yes, I am.” I nodded and gave him a grateful smile.

  Victor smiled back. Our eyes met for a minute and I looked away quickly, my cheeks heating. Damn it, why did he have to look so good, sitting there with his broad, muscular chest and those dark, intense eyes? They had gone back to brown, I noticed—maybe they only turned gold when his wolf wanted out.

  “And the burn is all healed?” he reached for my hand and extended my arm, searching for the angry red blisters that had popped up during my brief exposure to the sun—there were none.

  My cheeks got even hotter and I pulled back my hand.

  “I’m fine,” I murmured, nodding. “Your blood is amazing—it even healed the marks I had left from this morning.”

  “This morning?” He frowned.

  “You know—when I was trying to coax you into the house? Your wolf, I mean.”

  “That’s right.” He frowned at me. “I remember what happened—you actually risked going out into the sunlight to bring me in, didn’t you?”

  “I had to go out,” I protested. “You seemed so afraid of me.”

  “Goddamn it, Taylor!” he growled and I flinched at the deep, angry sound. “You shouldn’t have done that—you could have been killed.”

  I lifted my chin and glared up into his eyes.

  “What was I supposed to do? Leave you outside with that awful trap clamped on your poor paw? Besides, the sun was just coming up—it wasn’t even really over the horizon yet. It wasn’t nearly as stro
ng as it is right now.”

  “It was strong enough to give you blisters,” he pointed out. “Listen, I don’t want you doing that—don’t want you risking yourself for me ever again, do you understand?”

  “Why not?” I demanded. “You risked yourself for me.”

  “What?” He shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

  “Back on the night we were married, uh, blood-bonded. When Roderick…when he wanted to…to take me…” I swallowed hard and I heard a little click in my throat. Remembering made me feel sick but I made myself go on anyway. “You…you wouldn’t let him. You claimed me, saved me—”

  “I just did what any decent guy would do,” he protested, shifting uncomfortably. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch while he hurt you.”

  “That’s really nice of you to say,” I said softly. “But you could have been killed. Roderick…he was really strong and cruel and…and…” I shook her head, unable to go on.

  “Hey…” He took my hand gently again and this time I didn’t pull it away. The touch of his warm, callused palm was comforting. “That Roderick asshole—the one Corbin killed with the weird magic stake—is he the one who hurt you? Who made you so afraid?”

  I hunched my shoulders and looked down at our joined hands.

  “He…he was one of them,” I whispered.

  “Who else?” he demanded, his eyes flashing a dangerous deep gold. “Who else hurt you?”

  I bit my lip. “Mainly Celeste—my old mistress. The one who brought me over to start with. I don’t really want to talk about it. Okay?” I looked up at him pleadingly.

  Victor searched my eyes with his own for a long moment and finally nodded.

  “Okay,” he said roughly. “But if you ever want me to teach that bitch Celeste a lesson—”

  “I just want to forget about it,” I said quickly. Which was true, except some things you can’t forget, no matter how hard you try.

  “All right,” he said, letting it drop. “But I really don’t want you going out in the sunlight again—you scared the hell out of me just now.”

  “I was pretty scared myself,” I admitted. “I never would have gone out of the house in direct sunlight, though—I only went out this morning because the sun wasn’t really all the way up yet. And I wanted to coax you in and get that awful trap off your paw.”

  “That’s another thing,” he said, frowning at me. “I warned you that my Wolf might be dangerous to you—might see you as the enemy or prey. You shouldn’t have risked letting me in.”

  “I had to,” I said simply. “I’m a vet—or I was going to be, anyway, before Celeste came along and turned me even though I didn’t want to be turned. I can’t stand to see an animal in pain. I had to help you.”

  He gave me a grim look. “You’re lucky I didn’t take your face off.”

  I gave him an arch little smile. “You were too busy eating bacon—three packs of it.”

  “Three packs?” He stared at me in disbelief. “You let me eat three packs of bacon? Fuck, woman—my cholesterol is going to be through the roof.”

  I shrugged. “It was the only way to keep you busy while I treated your paw. Besides, you didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who worried about things like cholesterol. If you did, why would you have three packs of bacon in your fridge in the first place?”

  “There was a sale at Publix,” he grumbled. “That precooked stuff—it keeps forever.”

  “It does as long as you don’t turn into a huge hairy wolf and gobble it up all at once,” I said solemnly, trying not to laugh.

  Victor looked at me and I could see his defenses crumbling. Suddenly, he gave a snort of amusement. I pressed my hand over my mouth but couldn’t hold back a giggle, which made him snort again. Before I knew it, we were both nearly crying with laughter.

  “I don’t…don’t know why it’s so funny,” I gasped at last, wiping my eyes. “But if you don’t eat bacon when you’re a wolf, what do you eat?”

  “Game mostly,” he said, shrugging. “Sometimes I leave something out for myself—you know, in case I didn’t catch anything. But I would never leave out that much bacon—I got no fucking self control when I’m the wolf. I don’t know when to stop.”

  I shook my head. “That is so weird. You leave out food for yourself?”

  “Yeah, well,” he said defensively. “Some nights are better hunting than others. And all that running around in the woods works up an appetite.”

  “No, no—I don’t mean weird in a bad way,” I said hastily. “I just meant…the way you talk about your, uh, wolf—it’s almost like it—he—is your pet. A pet that lives inside you, I guess, and only comes out at night during the full moon.”

  “He’s more than a pet—he’s the other side of me. And he comes out a lot more than that,” Victor growled. “He…sometimes I get stuck in that form. As the wolf. That’s why I told you not to expect me back anytime soon.”

  “So that’s why you were able to stay a wolf even after the sun came up,” I said thoughtfully. “I wondered about that. Can you turn any time you want?”

  He nodded. “Could do it right now if I wanted to. But then I couldn’t guarantee when I would change back again. Probably tomorrow morning. The sun being up helps some.”

  “Is that normal, I mean, for a were?” I asked, before I thought about it.

  Victor’s eyes went abruptly hard.

  “I have…” He cleared his throat. “I have a condition. Called Moon Sickness. That’s what enables me to turn whenever I want, even in the daylight hours, and keeps me in the wolf form for longer than usual.”

  I sensed I had hit a raw nerve.

  “I’m sorry,” I said apologetically. “I didn’t mean to say you weren’t normal—of course you are. I’m the one who’s messed up.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, frowning. “You seem fine to me.”

  “Oh, no,” I said emphatically. “I’m a terrible vampire. That’s why Celeste hated me so much. She said I was the most hopeless person she’d ever turned.”

  “Well, it doesn’t sound like you much wanted to be turned in the first place,” he pointed out. “It’s hard to be good at something you hate. But you don’t seem like you’re doing too bad to me.”

  I sighed. “Thanks but I can’t do anything. I’m no good at finding a vein—or I wasn’t until Corbin showed me. And I know it hurts when I bite people.”

  “It’s not so bad,” he said politely. “I mean, it hurt a little last night when you took from my wrist. But this…” he rubbed the spot on his neck where I’d bitten him. “Hardly hurt at all.”

  I felt cautiously pleased. “I am trying to get better,” I said. “I’m learning how to heal the wounds I make too. But there is one thing I don’t think I’ll ever be any good at.”

  “Which is?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Glamour.” I sighed. “You know, controlling someone’s mind? Putting a suggestion in their thoughts or letting them see a fantasy—”

  “You mean glam-sex?” he interrupted.

  I nodded. “I can’t do that at all. And honestly, even if I could do it, I wouldn’t want to. You should hear all the disgusting things people want you to describe—it’s like being a phone sex operator except you’re actually seeing and feeling the things they want you to talk about. Ugh.” I shivered.

  Victor looked thoughtful. “I can see how it would be fucking nasty with some jerk you didn’t even know. But it doesn’t sound so bad if you were with someone you wanted to be with.”

  “Yeah, well…” I sighed and looked away. “It’s actually the best way to get blood from a human but I’m no good at it.”

  “Which means that once you and I, uh, go our separate ways, you’re going to be starving again?” He frowned at me.

  I stiffened. “I’ll get by.”

  “But you shouldn’t have to. Look, why don’t you practice?”

  “Practice—how?”

  “On me.” He shrugged. “Wer
es have a natural mind shield but I could let it down enough to let you in.”

  “Well…” I looked at him uncertainly. “I don’t know…”

  “Just try it,” he urged. “You seem to be getting better at the biting thing—at least from my point of view. Maybe you can get better at all of it now that you’re someplace safe. Someplace you know nobody’s going to hurt you if you mess up.”

  He had a point and I was sorely tempted. I had been doing better at what my friend Addison called ‘the vampire basics’ lately. Maybe Victor was right. Maybe I just needed a little practice.

  “Okay,” I said at last, making up my mind. “But this will have to be a strictly G-rated fantasy. I’m not up for anything else.”

  “I know it.” Victor gave me a level look. “Believe me, I’m not offering to let you glam me because I want to cop a mental feel or anything like that. I just thought you could use the practice.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled at him. Despite his rough exterior he really was turning out to be a nice guy.

  “Okay.” Victor cleared his throat. “So how do we get started? I’ve never done this before.”

  “I haven’t either—not successfully anyway,” I admitted. “But I think we just hold hands and look into each other’s eyes.”

  “Okay.” He held out his hands to me and I took them, feeling my pulse flutter at his touch. God, he was so warm. I leaned forward and looked into his eyes, which honestly wasn’t easy to do. They were a deep, chocolate brown and so intense. I felt like he was the one looking into me and not the other way around.

  “Now what?” Victor asked, as we continued to stare at each other.

  “Um…concentrate on dropping your shields.” I wished my voice didn’t sound so breathless. “And then tell me…tell me what you want to see.”

  “Hmm…what I want to see.” I could see a small smile twitching around the corners of his mouth.

  “G-rated,” I reminded him hurriedly.

  “Right. G-rated. Okay.” He nodded. “What I want to see is you, standing in front of me wearing that same dress you had on the night we were bonded.”