Scarlet Heat (Born to Darkness) (18 page)

I glanced at the clock on the mantle. It was just
barely one and I had woken up at noon.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I honestly don’t. Maybe
it’s something to do with Victor’s blood, but ever since I came to stay with
him, I’ve been waking up earlier and earlier.”

“That’s some special blood,” Addison remarked.
“Keep drinking it—seems to be doing you good.”

“It is,” I said and then couldn’t help thinking
of what else drinking Victor’s blood was doing to me. The feelings I had—the
heat that was slowly growing in me again…getting more and more difficult to
ignore.

I knew I ought to say something about it to
Victor—to ask for his help—but I was shy and embarrassed. It had been so long since
I had even possessed a sex drive that it seemed completely foreign to have to
satisfy it. After being born to darkness, I had just assumed that it was gone
forever—lose your sex drive, gain a set of fangs—those are the breaks.
Apparently, though, I was just repressing mine because of all the horrible
things Celeste did to me. The heat had brought it out in full force and though
I hadn’t yet reached the level of discomfort I’d had before Victor had touched
me and made me come, I had a feeling I would be getting there soon.

A shiver of desire ran through me. The idea of
being in his arms again, feeling his big hands on my body, letting him make me
come…just imagining it made my nipples tight and my pussy wet. But I had to
work myself up to it—after what I had been through with Celeste, it wasn’t easy
for me to ask. And there was also the fact that I didn’t feel like I could
offer him anything in return—that made things difficult.

I had an idea that the big were was noticing what
was going on with me. Sometimes I saw his nostrils flare when he looked at me
and I knew he was scenting me. But he never said anything—never confronted me
about it as he had the first time. Part of me wished he would—I felt like I
could admit my need if only he said something first. But so far he was keeping
quiet.

I thought of how good he smelled and how safe I
felt in his arms. Thought of the delicious way he had stroked into my pussy
with his fingers so slowly until I came.
God!
I shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Maybe I should get over my
embarrassment and ask for his help tonight, when he came home from work…

“…raining so hard it looks like freaking monsoon
season over here.” Addison’s voice brought me back from my extremely
personal—and private—dilemma. Despite the fact that she was my best friend, I
still hadn’t told her about my strange walk on the were side and the fact that
I was going into heat. I knew I would eventually—when we had a chance to talk
face to face. But except for a few brief meetings when she brought things I
needed and had left at Corbin’s club, we hadn’t had much time to catch up. And
it was too personal a subject to go into over the phone.

“Yeah, I think it’s overcast here too,” I said,
squinting out one of the windows. Since Victor had put the dark film on all of
them we had been able to take down the aluminum foil and open the drapes, which
I liked—it made the house feel lighter and airier.

“It’s probably headed in your direction then,”
Addison said. “You’d better batten down the hatches and unplug all your
electronics.”

“I think Victor has surge protectors,” I said.
“But I guess—”

A loud knocking on the kitchen door surprised me.
I had been lounging on the brown leather sectional, redoing my toenail polish
and watching a special about different dog breeds on Animal Planet as I talked
to my best friend. Now I sat up so quickly I almost spilled
ruby slippers
nail polish all over the
couch.

“Can I call you back, Addison?” I said, standing
up and hobbling into the kitchen so I didn’t smudge my fresh polish. “Somebody’s
at the door.”

“Who?” She was immediately suspicious and
protective. “Be careful, Taylor—don’t open it! It’s still the middle of the
day.”

“The sun’s hidden by all the clouds,” I said,
trying to reassure her. “So don’t worry. It’s probably just the UPS guy or
something.”

“All right.” She sounded slightly mollified. “But
just watch yourself—you still don’t know who put that trap on Victor’s land.”

“Whoever it was, they like to be sneaky,” I
pointed out. “I doubt they’ll come walking up in the middle of the day to
introduce themselves.”

Just then, the knocking sounded again.

“Look, I really have to go,” I told Addison.
“I’ll call you back later. ‘K, roomie?”

“Okay. Just be careful.” She blew me a kiss and
hung up.

I looked out the high window in the door, wishing
that Victor had installed a peep hole. All I could see when I looked out was
the top of a blonde head. Then whoever it was knocked again.

“Hello?” a female voice called, sounding
impatient. “Victor, honey, are you in there?”

Victor honey?
I had been halfway entertaining
the idea of not opening the door and waiting until whoever it was went away but
this got my attention. Being careful to stay well back, I opened the door and
looked out.

Standing there on Victor’s front porch was a
diminutive girl who looked to be about nineteen or twenty. Her honey blonde
hair was parted in the center and pulled back into two braids. She was wearing
a white button-down shirt that strained over her full, obviously braless
breasts and a little plaid pleated skirt that stopped at mid-thigh. Her full
mouth was lipsticked a glossy bubblegum pink and she was holding a plate full
of cookies in one hand.

Clearly she was going for the naughty school girl
look. And if that didn’t work—hey look—cookies!

“Hello,” I said, frowning. “Can I help you?”

She gave me a look that was decidedly unfriendly.

“Yes, you can go get Victor for me. I need to
talk to him.”

“I’m sorry—he’s not here,” I said, crossing my
arms over my chest. “Can I take a message?”

The girl got a pouty look on her pretty, spoiled
face.

“Don’t lie to me, lady—I
know
he’s here. I saw his truck parked around back.”

“He got a ride to work with someone else today,”
I said. “And I don’t expect him home for a while.” I raised an eyebrow at her
pointedly. “Can I ask who you are so I can tell him who came to see him?”

“Why don’t you tell me who
you
are first? And what the hell are you doing in his house?” she
demanded.

Okay, I’d had about enough of this spoiled little
brat, whoever she was.

“I’m Taylor,” I said, giving her a frosty smile.
“Victor’s
wife.”

“What?” She stumbled back, nearly spilling the
plateful of cookies. “But…that’s impossible. Victor is going to marry
me.”

It was my turn to be shocked. “Excuse me? What?”

“That’s right, lady—he’s
mine.”
She actually snarled at me, curling her bubblegum pink lips
up and baring her little white teeth. “My intended mate.”

Intended mate?
What the hell did that mean?
Was Victor engaged to this girl somehow?

“Well, I’m sorry,” I said, trying to cover my
confusion. “But he’s not here. I’ll tell him you stopped by.” I started to shut
the door but she wasn’t having it.

“Wait just a Goddamn minute.” She seemed to
recover her poise and pushed her way past me into the kitchen uninvited.

“Hey!” I protested, stunned by her rudeness. “This
is a private residence. You can’t just come barging in.”

“The hell I can’t!” She plunked the cookies on
the countertop hard enough to chip the glass plate and whirled around to face
me, hands on her hips. “Now, I don’t know who you think you are but you’re
going to have to leave
right now.
Victor
is
mine—
I’m his intended mate.”

There it was again—
intended mate.
I couldn’t help it—I was starting to feel worried.
Could there be a kernel of truth in what the girl was saying? Had Victor only
married me because he knew it was a temporary arrangement, and after we parted,
he could still go through with his other engagement? I didn’t want to think
that of him—he seemed too honorable, too straightforward for that kind of
thing. But the girl was so insistent it was hard to know what to believe.

“Who are you, anyway?” I demanded. “Victor hasn’t
said anything to me about having an ‘intended mate’ or anything like that.”

“I’m LeeAnn Wainright,” she said, as though I
ought to know her name.

I shook my head. “Sorry—doesn’t ring any bells.
Victor never mentioned you.”

She flushed dark red. “I’m Alpha Bitch of the
Tampa pack and my father is the pack master.”

“Victor’s a lone wolf,” I pointed out. “He
doesn’t have a pack.”

“Not yet, but he will. There’s a waiting period for
a lone wolf—it’s been understood from the first that he’ll join us as soon as
that’s up. Which it is now—
today.”
She
nodded decisively as though she’d had the last word.

I shook my head. “Again…he’s never said a word
about that to me. I think you must be mistaken.”

“There’s no mistake,” she insisted. “He’s the
only male I’ve ever met who’s Alpha enough to be my mate.” She tossed her honey
blonde braids proudly.

“Well, he’s taken right now,” I said. I was
starting to get angry. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave.”

Her eyes flashed. “I’m not going anywhere until I
see Victor. He always returns my howls on full moon nights. Can you say the
same thing?”

“I don’t howl,” I said, through gritted teeth.
“But I
do
know when we go to bed at
night he doesn’t seem to have any other woman on his mind.”

It was a bit of an exaggeration. It was true that
Victor and I still shared the big king sized bed but he always became the wolf
before he got into it with me—maybe because he knew I found him less
threatening—less sexual in that form. I loved to snuggle close to his furry
back and burry my face in his ruff—what the wolf lacked in pillow talk, he made
up for by being so warm and comforting.

So yes, we were sleeping together but all we were
doing was literally sleeping. But there was no reason Goldilocks here had to
know that. As far as I was concerned she could imagine us doing the horizontal
mambo every night.

And apparently that was
exactly
what she was thinking because her face got even redder.

“How dare you insinuate that you’re fucking my
man, bitch. Do you know what the penalty for infidelity is in the pack?”

“Again, he’s
not
part of your pack.
And he’s blood-bonded to
me.
Can
you
say the same
thing?” I asked, throwing her words back at her.

She scowled. “We’re not bonded—not yet, anyway.
But we will be. Victor, he—” Suddenly she stiffened and took a step toward me.
The nostrils of her perfect little nose flared as she inhaled deeply. “Wait a
minute—you’re not were, are you?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Nope.”

“Then what the hell
are
you?” She took another deep sniff. “You’re not any kind of
shape shifter and you don’t smell all the way human either. You have
some
were scent. But it’s mostly…” Her
eyes widened and she took a step back. “Oh shit! You’re a fanger!”

“I’m a
vampire,”
I corrected her, lifting my chin.

“And you’re saying Victor bonded you? A fucking
vamp?”
She shook her head, disbelief and
revulsion warring on her pretty face. “That’s
disgusting
. And
forbidden.”

“I’m sure it is,” I snapped.
“If
you’re part of the pack. But Victor isn’t. So if you could
please
leave
now…”

She glared at me. “I told you, I’m not going
anywhere until I see Victor.”

“Oh, yes, you are!” I picked up the plate of
cookies and thrust them into her hands. Then I gripped the back of her neck and
marched her toward the door. She struggled but she was no match for me—I’d been
feeding on Victor’s blood for almost a month now. It had made me stronger and
faster and right now I was
pissed.

“How dare you lay hands on me? Let go of me! This
is a serious offense!” she protested as I steered her forward.

I ignored her and pushed her out on the front
porch, carefully avoiding any possible sunlight myself. I started to shut the
door but LeeAnn clearly had to have the last word.

“This isn’t over, you know!” she exclaimed,
glaring at me. “You may think you’ve won but you haven’t. There’s no way Victor
could be happy with a cold blooded fanger cunt like you!”

“Oh, no?” I said, smiling grimly. “Well, he seems
perfectly happy so far. Oh, and next time you decide to bring a man cookies,
maybe you should put a little effort into it—you know, instead of just dumping
out a box of Chips Ahoy on a plate and pretending you made them yourself.”

She looked down at the plate in her hands and her
face went even redder. “I always bring him these—they’re his favorite.”