Scarlet Heat (Born to Darkness) (22 page)

“You don’t need any.” He reached for my hand and
pulled me down on the bed beside him.

“Victor…” I shifted uncomfortably. The excitement
at the club, the danger of the fight, seemed to have calmed my heat
considerably. But now, being close to him, smelling his scent and looking into
his eyes, I could feel my body ramping up again. Could feel the flames of
desire licking like curious tongues all up and down my flesh. I wished
self-consciously that I had worn a bra and panties under the shirt but I hadn’t
bothered. As Victor said, he was usually the wolf by the time I was ready for
bed.

Earlier I had been so hot I almost felt ready to
admit my need and ask for his help. But now, back in familiar surroundings, I
felt nervous again. Nervous and shy and filled with doubts and bad memories.

“Victor,” I said again. “Why, um, why
are
you still in human form?”

He shrugged, his broad, bare shoulders rolling
with the gesture.

“Thought you wanted to heal me. It’s a hell of a
lot easier to do if you don’t have to lick through fur.”

Well, that was true. I looked at him critically,
wondering where to start. One eye looked swollen, as though he’d been hit there
and there was a mark on his cheek—the spot the other were had punched him, no
doubt. It was still bleeding a little, probably because the bastard had been
using silver knuckles. Silver wounds could be hard or impossible for a were or
a vamp to heal.

But the obvious place to start was his throat.
I’d marked him pretty badly myself with a fresh set of fang wounds and hadn’t
had time to heal him before we were interrupted.

“Okay,” I said, scooting closer to him on the
bed. “Let’s see what we can do.”

Victor rumbled assent and seemed willing to be
healed. Unfortunately the marks on his throat were on the right side and I was
sitting on his left, making it hard to get to him.

“Straddle me,” he said at last, while I was
trying to figure out the best angle of approach. “It’ll make things easier.”

It would also force me to part my legs, which I
had been keeping tightly shut, and get extremely close to him. I hesitated,
uncertain.

“Come on, baby, I don’t bite,” he said softly,
looking into my eyes. “That’s your job, right?”

I smiled at him. “Yeah, I guess so.” I straddled
his lap, unable to help remembering that we had been in this exact same
position the last time he had helped me back off the heat.

Speaking of the heat, it was running wild in me
now, burning like a barely controlled forest fire. My nipples were pressing
hard against the worn white fabric of the t-shirt, making two little pink
points that were clearly visible through the thin material. And when I spread
my legs a little wider to get comfortable, I saw Victor’s nostrils flare and
his eyes flashed gold. God, he could smell me—could smell how hot I was getting
for him! The thought was both embarrassing and exhilarating.

I wondered if he would say something but he just
stayed silent, looking at me. His large hands rested lightly on my hips, as
though to hold me in place and his eyes searched mine.

“Well…” I cleared my throat, trying to seem
normal. “I guess we should get started.” I leaned down, being careful to keep
some distance between us down below, and started to lick his neck to seal and
heal the wound. But to my surprise, he stopped me.

“No.” He shook his head. “Leave that one.”

“But…they’re really deep,” I protested. “I wasn’t
as, uh, gentle as I should have been.”

“Did you hear me complaining?” he demanded
softly. “I didn’t mind. I love it when you get your fangs in me deep, baby.”

His hot words sent a shiver through me but I
tried not to show it.

“They’re…they’re really prominent too,” I pointed
out, tracing the wounds with my finger. “And they’re obviously from being
bitten. If you leave them, everyone will know—”

“That I let you drink from me? Let them,” he growled,
his eyes flashing fiercely. “I’m not fucking ashamed of it.”

“All right.” I nodded. He seemed determined to
leave my mark on him and who was I to tell him different? “I’ll start with your
eye instead,” I murmured.

“Okay.”

I placed my hands on either side of his head,
threading my fingers into the thick, springy black hair. “How did you get this,
anyway?” I asked as I began working on him, licking carefully around his eye
socket and the tender flesh just below his eye.

“Uh…think the guy in that retarded three wolf
shirt elbowed me in the face,” he said. Then he gave a low, rumbling laugh.
“God, that tickles!”

“Sorry. Almost done.” I gave a final lick,
savoring the flavor of his skin, enjoying it almost as much as I enjoyed his
blood. He tasted wonderful, especially compared with the other were I’d bitten.
Delicious and warm and salty with a hint of spice—why was it so different when
I was with him? Shouldn’t all weres stink and taste bad to me? Then why did I
find Victor’s scent so enticing? Why was his blood so delectable, so
satisfying?

I finished with his eye and noted with
satisfaction that it looked just the same as the other one. My healing powers
had developed wonderfully since I had been with him. Next was the silver
knuckles scrape on his cheek.

This one was a bit harder to reach. I had to sit
down in his lap to get on the right level. I jumped up again, though, when I
felt the hard ridge of his cock brushing against my naked pussy through the
thin material of his sleep pants.

“Sorry.” His voice was a soft, deep growl. “Can’t
help it, baby. Having you so close…”

“It…it’s okay,” I whispered, staring at him
uncertainly. “I’m just not sure if…”

“Come down,” he urged me gently, looking into my
eyes. “I mean, if you want to.”

“I do,” I said softly. “I just…I’m not sure.”

Victor stroked my cheek. “I won’t hurt you,
Taylor. Won’t take more than you want to give. I like the way you feel against
me.”

“I…I like the way it feels too,” I confessed a
little breathlessly. The soft way he talked to me, the gentle way he touched me,
was so different from the abuse I’d suffered when I lived with Celeste. He made
me feel safe…safe and loved. I felt something inside—some knot that kept me
bound up in fear and bad memories of the past—beginning to loosen, just a
little bit.
Yes,
I thought.
I want this. I can do this.

I lowered myself down again, letting myself
settle more fully in his lap. Victor gave a soft, deep growl and I had to bite
back a moan as I felt my pussy lips part around the thick ridge of his shaft.
The sleep pants he had on were made of thin, soft material and it seemed like I
could feel every bump and ridge of his cock rubbing against my bare, open pussy
and my slippery inner folds.

And speaking of slippery, now that I was pressed
against him, I could feel how wet I was. A surge of embarrassment went through
me and I started to get up again.

“What’s wrong?” Victor held me gently but firmly
by the hips.

I bit my lip, my cheeks going red. “Nothing
except…I’m, uh, afraid I’m getting your pants, um, all wet.”

“I know.” He held my eyes with his. “I love it.
Now come on, baby—I thought you were going to heal me.”

“Oh yes…yes, of course.” I relaxed in his lap and
took a deep breath, trying to stop my heart from beating so hard. That’s what I
was doing, I told myself—just healing him. That was all this had to be—we
didn’t have to go farther if I didn’t want to.

Leaning forward, I cupped his face in my hands
and went back to work.

I could feel the numbing tingle of the silver spreading
through my mouth the minute I licked him—it was like licking a mildly
electrified wire, not pleasant but not unbearable either. I traced the scrape
over and over with just the tip of my tongue, paying careful attention to the
deepest part of the wound until I tasted only his blood without a single tang
of the burning metal that had marked him. I was just about to finish up by
sealing the wound when Victor gave a low groan.

“Did I hurt you?” I pulled back at once, looking
into his eyes, which were pure gold.

“Uh-uh. No, baby.” He shook his head but his
hands tightened on my hips. “I’m afraid you’ll have to get up now, though.”

“Why?” I asked anxiously. “Was it…is there
something I did wrong?”

“Of course not, you’re perfect.” He gave me a
strained smile and I couldn’t help noticing that his eyes were glowing so
brightly they looked like molten metal. “It’s just…this is, uh, harder than I
thought.”

“What is?” I asked, even though I already knew.

“Touching you. Being so close to you when you’re
in heat without doing anything about it.” He sighed roughly, his hand going to
the small of his back. He rubbed it fiercely. “I’m sorry, but my condition—”

“The moon sickness?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded. “Uh yeah, that. It makes it…I’m just
really close to…to having a serious problem. So I’m afraid I can’t let you
finish healing me.”

“But…I was so close to being done,” I protested.
“I hate to leave the job unfinished—you could have a scar.”

“Taylor,” he said quietly, looking me in the
eyes. “I’m sorry but I can’t do this anymore. I though I could but it’s a bad
idea. I can’t…can’t let you lick me again unless—”

He broke off abruptly.

“Unless what?” I prompted, my heart beating like
a drum in my chest.

Victor cupped my cheek. “Unless you let me return
the favor. And I don’t mean licking your face, baby.”

All the breath left my lungs and for a moment I
felt completely frozen. I knew what he was talking about—licking me, tasting
me. My pussy throbbed with heat and I felt fresh wetness between my legs as I
pressed against him.

“Victor,” I whispered. “You know I want to…to let
you. I’m just so…I’m still afraid.”

“You don’t ever have to be afraid of me. I’ll be
gentle—so gentle.” He pulled my face closer to his. “Here, let me show you.”

He had kissed me before—once in our first glam-session
and also when he was touching me before, helping me back off the heat that
threatened to consume me. But this kiss was different.

His lips barely brushed mine at first, nuzzling
against me so softly, so delicately I could barely feel anything but his warm
breath. Then, slowly, he pressed his mouth to mine, first kissing my top lip,
and then my bottom one.

“Oh,” I whispered softly against his mouth. The
way he touched me, so tenderly, so gently made me feel utterly desired, utterly
cherished.

“So sweet,” Victor murmured roughly and took my
mouth again, this time deepening the kiss until I could just feel the tip of
his tongue brushing against the seam of my lips, asking for entrance.

I moaned breathlessly and opened to him. He
tasted wonderful, like scotch and cinnamon and some dark spice I couldn’t name.
His hands cupped my face as he kissed me, his long fingers warm against my
skin. I could feel the tension of his big body and knew he was holding himself
back, forcing himself to go slowly and carefully when part of him desperately
wanted to do the exact opposite. But I felt nothing but safe with him. Nothing
but loved.

When he finally pulled back, I looked into his
glowing golden eyes and nodded.

“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, Victor, do it. I…I want
you to.”

“God, baby, you don’t know how much I want this,”
he groaned softly, kissing me again. “Do you want to lie down or should I taste
you sitting up?”

“Um…” I cleared my throat. “How…how would you do
that?”

“Like this.” He slid down and propped several
pillows behind his shoulders so he was sitting against the headboard. “Come
here and I’ll show you,” he said, motioning for me to come closer. “Unless
you’d rather lay back on the bed?”

I though of how open and vulnerable that position
would make me feel and shook my head.

“I…I think I’d rather do it this way.”

“Come on, then,” he murmured. “But take that
shirt off first. It’ll get in the way otherwise.”

Blushing, I slipped off the shirt and laid it to
one side. It was the second time he had seen me naked but I still felt self-conscious.

Victor’s eyes were hooded with desire and he gave
a soft growl of approval deep in his throat.

“God, you’re beautiful, baby. Your soft, full
breasts—those tight little nipples. Can I suck them some before I go down on
you?”

“I…I guess so.” My heart was drumming in my chest
as I leaned forward, offering him my breasts.

Victor was just as gentle with them as he had
been with my mouth. I had to bite back a moan as his rough cheeks brushed my
tender slopes and then he leaned forward and captured one tight, aching peak
between his lips.

“Oh!” I couldn’t keep quiet anymore. His mouth
was hot and wet and the teasing way he traced my nipple with his tongue made my
pussy throb with need. The heat surged inside me, and suddenly I couldn’t stand
it anymore. “Victor,” I begged as he sucked my second breast, taking as much as
he could into his mouth at one time. “Victor, please…I can’t…I need…”