Scarlet Heat Read online

  Taylor wrapped her arms and legs more tightly around me and caught my rhythm, impaling herself eagerly on my cock, meeting me thrust for thrust as she sucked my neck.

  Suddenly, I couldn’t take it anymore. My balls were tight with the need to come and the wolf inside me was howling that we had to claim her now—to claim our mate. Somewhere deeper, I felt the beast agree. Taylor was ours—mine. And I had to mark her, had to claim her so that she stayed mine forever.

  I grabbed her hips tightly in both hands and brought her forward, pumping into her as deeply as I could. And then I felt myself exploding—flowing into her. My blood, my seed, my life force—everything that was in me was filling her up.

  At that point something amazing happened. I felt a warm, golden glow start somewhere in my abdomen. Soon it began spreading to the rest of my body. It healed the brand on my cheek—I could feel the flesh there mending itself, knitting together as the mark of the brand smoothed away. But even better, I could feel the glow of power healing the hole in my heart—the empty socket that had been left behind when Taylor had broken our bond wasn’t there anymore. It was healed—filled in completely.

  Filled with her.

  It felt wonderful—like a chronic pain I had somehow learned to live with was suddenly gone. Like my heart was whole again. Because it was.

  “Taylor,” I whispered hoarsely, stroking her back. “Baby, do you feel that?”

  She retracted her fangs and licked my neck to seal the punctures before looking at me.

  “Yes.” Her eyes were bright. “It’s back, Victor. Our blood-bond…it’s back.”

  “More than a blood-bond now,” I reminded her, kissing her fiercely. “It’s a life-bond now.”

  She looked worried. “Is that…are you all right with that?”

  “Of course, I am,” I promised her. “It’s what I wanted all along. It’s fucking perfect.”

  “Victor,” she murmured, her eyes wet with tears. “I love you so much. I’m so glad you feel the same way.”

  “I never stopped feeling it,” I whispered, kissing her gently. “You’re mine, baby. Mine forever and I’m never letting you go. Never.”

  Chapter Thirty—Taylor

  “What did I tell you? When I’m right, I’m right.” Addison grinned at me and took another bite of her apple.

  “Yeah, yeah, and you’re always right.” I grinned at her. “Give me some of that.”

  She handed me the apple and I took a bite from the other side. Now that I was back with Victor, I found I could really appreciate being able to eat again. The apple was juicy and crisp in my mouth and I couldn’t remember ever tasting anything so delicious. Of course, all food tasted that way to me now, for some reason. And I seemed to get hungry for really crazy things at the most unreasonable hours. Like pickles and ice cream at four in the morning—that kind of thing.

  Addison laughed at me and said I ate like a pregnant woman, which I usually shrugged off. But honestly, I was beginning to wonder if I should buy a test. It was ridiculous, of course, vampires don’t have babies. Then again, I didn’t seem to be fully a vampire anymore. I could eat regular food and even go out in the sun. I still needed the occasional drink of blood from Victor but that wasn’t a problem since he really liked feeding me. It almost always led to sex, which was always a delicious addition to a midnight snack.

  “So you and Victor are going to have a re-bonding ceremony?” she asked, taking back her apple.

  I nodded. “We’re going to do it right this time. The dress, the cake…everything. Small but classic. I’m sure Corbin told you he agreed to officiate.”

  She smiled. “Yes, and I promise I’ll wear a dress that isn’t black to be your bridesmaid this time.”

  “Perfect.” I stood up and stretched, enjoying the feel of the warm sun beating down on my shoulders. We were sitting on the front steps of her condo and it felt good to be outside during the daytime again.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Addison looked up at me, shading her eyes with one hand.

  “To do something I should have done weeks ago—I need to thank Gwendolyn,” I said seriously. “After all, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here enjoying the gorgeous sunshine and your yummy apple and having Victor as my man for good. I’d been…somewhere else.”

  “Where?” Addison looked at me, frowning a little. “I mean, is it like they always say—a warm light and all your dead loved ones and all that?”

  I shook my head. “Not exactly. I mean, I don’t remember much—I think that was part of it. But there was another place too. A pit filled with these big, slimy things with no faces…Ugh.” I shivered, feeling suddenly cold, despite the warm sunshine.

  “What?” Addison rose to stand beside me, her face anxious. “Was it that bad?”

  “It was awful. Hellish.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to think about it, okay?”

  “You don’t have to,” she reminded me. “You and Victor are life-bonded now. He’ll live as long as you do and vampires are practically immortal.”

  “True.” I closed my eyes and turned my face up to the sunlight, trying to dispel the half remembered images. People complain all the time about how Tampa Bay is too hot but after six long years of living in the dark, I was more than glad to be out in the heat and light again.

  “Well, I have to get back to Corbin.” She held out the apple to me. “Want the last bite?”

  “No thanks.” I smiled. “I’m going to go back to Victor’s place—our place I mean—as soon as I leave Gwendolyn’s. I’m making steak and corn on the cob for dinner with strawberry pie for dessert.”

  “Look at you, getting all domestic.” She grinned at me. “You always did like cooking. Maybe you should go to culinary school instead of finishing your veterinarian degree.”

  “Nope, I’m going back to school this coming semester,” I declared. “I spoke to the director of the program, and given my extenuating circumstances, he agreed I can take up right where I left off.”

  “Extenuating circumstances? You mean you told him you were taken and forced to become a vampire against your will?”

  “Something like that.” I smiled. “Actually, I may have used just a tiny bit of glamour on him. Not to cheat or anything—just to get back where I was.”

  She nodded. “I think that’s understandable. Wow, so Celeste was right—you really are unstoppable. Someone with all a vampire’s strengths and none of their weaknesses.”

  “But unlike Celeste, I don’t want to do anything crazy like conquer the world,” I said dryly. “I’ll be happy just to finish vet school and settle down with Victor. I’m really thinking of opening a practice just for dogs—since cats still don’t like me.”

  “You could treat the local pack,” she suggested. “Their wolves, I mean. Now that that little bitch LeeAnn is gone, they might be decent people.”

  “We’ll never know about that,” I said. “Since they’re all scared to death of Victor. You know the pack master showed up at our house and made a personal apology?”

  “But wasn’t LeeAnn his daughter?” Addison asked.

  I nodded. “He was really upset about her but he understood why she died after he found out she was working with Celeste. It was sad, really—he kept talking about how he’d failed her by being too permissive, letting her get away with too much. He really blamed himself more than Victor’s beast.”

  “That is sad,” Addison said softly. “But…so he’s not seeking any kind of vengeance?”

  I shrugged. “He says he’s not. And he begged Victor to leave him and the rest of the pack strictly alone. They’re even going to move their hunting grounds to be away from our land.”

  “Wow. That’s good in a way but lonely for Victor,” Addison said. “Doesn’t he miss having a pack to run with?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “He’s been a lone wolf for a long time. And anyway, now he has me. I’m still a vampire, you know. If he wants someone to run with him, I can keep up with him when