Scarlet Heat Read online

  “Uh, about my moon sickness,” I said, stretching the truth considerably. “The way I get stuck in my, uh, other form sometimes.” The brand on my lower back throbbed again, calling me out. I felt uncomfortable lying to her—or at least not telling the whole truth. But there were some ugly things she just didn’t need to know. I was doing it to protect her. Right?

  “Well, I like you in either form,” she said, giving me a shy smile. “In fact, sometimes I like your wolf form better. He’s more cuddly.”

  “Oh, too bad about that.” I shook my head. “I can change right now for you but I’m afraid it might ruin our plans for the evening.”

  “Plans?” She looked at me doubtfully. “We have plans?”

  “Uh-huh. How do you feel about salsa dancing?”

  She bit her lip. “Um…it sounds great but…you dance? Really?”

  I gave her my best mock offended look. “I’m not as much of a Neanderthal as you want to believe. Yeah, I dance. I’m pretty fucking good at it, if I say so myself.”

  “Well, I’m not any good at it but I’m willing to give it a try.” Her face fell. “Only I don’t have anything to wear.”

  “Yes, you do.” I went back out to the porch and picked up the package I’d left outside earlier. “Hope you like it,” I said as she ripped into it eagerly. “My sister picked it out. She owns a boutique in Tallahassee.”

  “Oh!” she exclaimed as the dress my big sister had picked came into view. It was a short, shimmery thing with a draped top and a low cut back. There were shoes to match too—strappy little heels that would make her long, lovely legs look like they went on forever. I couldn’t wait to see her in them.

  That is, if she would wear the clothes and shoes my sister had picked—I wasn’t so sure because suddenly Taylor had tears in her eyes.

  “You don’t like the outfit?” I asked anxiously. “I can send it back. I—”

  “No, no—I love it.” She sniffed and blotted her eyes with a paper towel from the holder. “It’s just…so sweet. And it’s the first time someone else has picked my clothes in years and got me something I really wanted to wear. Thank you, Victor.” She put the box with the clothes and shoes on the counter and stood on tiptoe to put her arms around my neck. “You’re so sweet to me,” she whispered in my ear. “So sweet and kind and generous.”

  “You deserve it,” I said gruffly, hugging her back. I couldn’t help liking the way she felt in my arms, all soft and sweet and delicate. Then, though I knew I shouldn’t, I pressed my face to her neck and inhaled deeply, taking in her scent.

  It was hot—a lot hotter than it should have been, which bothered me. Clearly the heat was ramping up again. I didn’t want to say anything about it though—it sounded too opportunistic. Like I wanted an excuse to touch her naked body, to stroke her and hold her and make her come. Actually, that was exactly what I wanted but I felt like a jerk for wanting it, especially knowing what she had been through when she lived with Celeste. So I told myself that if Taylor needed help she would come to me. She wouldn’t let herself get too far gone now that she knew the consequences—right?

  God, I hoped not. Especially since her scent acted on me like a drug. It was a closed loop—a vicious circle. The hotter her scent got, the more I wanted her, and the more I wanted her, the more the brand on my lower back ached and throbbed. It would be dangerous to let the cycle continue to a peak but that wasn’t going to happen. Taylor would let me know when she needed me. I just had to trust that.

  We both held the hug a lot longer than was probably necessary. She felt so good in my arms, so right, like she belonged there. I could feel her full breasts pressed against my chest and the soft V of her thighs against my groin. It was sweet torture being so close to her and not being able to do anything to claim her but I liked it anyway.

  I never wanted to let her go.

  Chapter Fifteen—Taylor

  The dress fit perfectly, as did the shoes. Victor must have looked at my sizes before calling his sister. He had mentioned her once or twice before—apparently she was the only member of his family that still kept up with him after he’d been shut out of his home pack. I didn’t know her personally but I was beginning to really like her—she had great taste in clothes.

  I went to the mirror over the sink to take a final look at myself. I had to admit that the shimmery blue dress clung beautifully to my curves. I had filled out some since I had been feeding on Victor so often. Honestly, I really only needed blood once every two or three days but he insisted on letting me drink from him much more often than that. As a result, I had put on a little weight (not a bad thing since I had been practically emaciated when I first came to stay with him) and there was warmth and color in my cheeks.

  I twirled in the mirror, loving the way I looked. The silky cerulean blue material brought out my eyes and the strappy black shoes made me glad I’d just given my toes a fresh coat of polish. The only thing I didn’t like was that the back of the dress was too low to wear a bra with it, but the cowl neck draped over my chest well enough to hide the fact that I was braless—I hoped, anyway.

  I felt cautiously optimistic about our little dance date. The very fact that Victor had called his sister and asked her to send him the perfect dress days ago made me think he really cared. And if he cared that much for me, why would he bother with LeeAnn? He wouldn’t, I told myself firmly. So stop worrying about it and just enjoy yourself tonight.

  As I was making sure my hair and makeup were perfect, Victor came into the bathroom and stood behind me. To my surprise, he was dressed up too—as dressed up as he ever got, anyway. He had on a white button-down shirt tucked into crisp, spotless jeans and he was actually wearing a sports coat. No tie though, which was good. It would have been too formal.

  I gave him a smile in the mirror as I put on some lip gloss.

  “You clean up nice, for a werewolf.”

  “And you’re not so bad for a vamp,” he growled, his eyes roaming over my reflection in the mirror. “In fact, you look fucking gorgeous.”

  “Thanks.” I could feel myself blushing at the way he was looking at me. In the mirror, I could see my cheeks getting pink.

  “Hey,” he murmured stroking one finger lightly over my hot cheek. “What’s wrong—can’t take a compliment?”

  “You’re just embarrassing me,” I said, not meeting his eyes. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?” His deep voice seemed to go right through me and the delicious scent of leather and fur invaded my senses, making it hard to think.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Like…like you’re the big bad wolf and you want to eat me up.”

  The minute I said the words I regretted them. They were too charged with meaning—too easy to misconstrue. Especially when I could feel the heat of his big body climbing my skin like an electric current, and his warm, masculine scent was driving me crazy.

  “Of course I want to eat you, baby,” he murmured, catching my eyes in the mirror and holding them with his own, which had suddenly gone wolf gold. “There’s nothing I’d like more.”

  “Victor…” I shifted uneasily, pressing my thighs together tightly under the thin dress. “You know what I mean.”

  “And you know what I mean, too,” he growled softly. I saw his nostrils flare and wondered if he was smelling me too—smelling my heat. God…I crossed my legs even though it was awkward to do standing up and looked away.

  “We should go,” I whispered.

  “Yeah. I guess we should.” He cleared his throat. “But Taylor…”

  “What?” I glanced up, meeting his eyes again. They were still brilliant gold. Say it, I thought. If you’ll say it first I might be able to give in. But I can’t be the one to bring it up. I can’t.

  Victor opened his mouth and then shut it again. He shook his head.

  “Nothing. Let’s go.”

  I followed him out of the bathroom, feeling uneasy. The weight of things unsaid between us was like a rock around my