Scarlet Heat

by Evangeline Anderson

  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 Vi
ctor 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.”

  “Not anymore,” I said sweetly. “I make him cookies from scratch. I’ll give you the recipe if you want—you can make up a batch and try to find some other man who isn’t already taken.”

  “Why…you…I…” She seemed almost speechless with rage, which was fine with me. I felt my own anger rising, along with a fierce possessiveness. Victor was mine and I wasn’t about to stand by and let some little werewolf skank with a plate of store bought cookies say otherwise.

  “Goodbye,” I said and shut the door in her face.

  There was a loud crash outside and I realized that LeeAnn must have thrown the plate full of cookies down on the porch in a fit of childish rage. The plate had exploded like a bomb and glass shards and cookies had gone everywhere. Watching from the kitchen window, I saw her flounce off to a waiting candy apple red Mercedes parked in Victor’s front drive. The bumper sticker on the back actually said, Yield to the Princess. Unbelievable.

  I felt considerable satisfaction as I watched her drive off but it didn’t last for long. Inside I was wondering if there was any truth at all to what LeeAnn had said. Was it possible that her relationship with Victor was legitimate? Were they really engaged? And where did that leave me? How could Victor act so sweet and considerate and all the while keep LeeAnn a secret? Should I confront him about her? Did I even have a right to do that?

  We have a temporary arrangement, I reminded myself unhappily. And he had a life before he met me. Corbin really didn’t give him a choice about marrying me—he just forced Victor to take me on. Maybe he’s just waiting for our time together to be over so he can go back to the pack where he belongs.

  The unhappy thoughts followed me like a dog dragging its tail as I stuck the broom out the door and carefully swept up as much of the shattered plate and the stale cookies as I could reach without going outside. I didn’t know what I was going to say to Victor or if I would say anything at all. One thing was clear, though—until I found out exactly what was going on, I would be dealing with the heat creeping up on me strictly by myself. There was no way I was going to ask him to help me in such an intimate way when I wasn’t sure if he was promised to another woman or not.

  No way in hell.

  Chapter Fourteen—Victor

  When I got home, Taylor was quiet—too quiet. She was leaning back against one of the counters with her arms crossed over her breasts, as though she was waiting for me.

  “Hey, baby,” I said as I came in the front door. My work boots crunched on something and I looked at the porch as I put down the package I was carrying. “What’s this?” I asked, picking up a shard of glass and half a cookie and tossing them in the trash can.

  “Nothing.” Her voice was a little too casual. “Just something LeeAnn brought by.”

  “What?” I stared at her. “What the hell was she doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same thing,” Taylor said quietly. “I mean I could, but I won’t. It’s not really my business.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I growled. “If you want to know something, ask—I don’t have anything to hide.” The brand at my lower back throbbed uncomfortably as I said the words but I couldn’t call them back. Not when she was looking at me like that.

  “No, really…” She shook her head. “I’m not trying to be bitchy or catty or anything like that. I really don’t have the right to ask about your business. Our relationship is only temporary and I’m not even really your wife—”

  “Yes, you are,” I interrupted, a burst of possessive anger rushing through me. “We’ve been over this, Taylor—you’re mine—my business is your business. So if you want to ask me about LeeAnn—go ahead—ask me.”

  “Okay then…” She bit her lip. “LeeAnn said something about your waiting period as a lone wolf being up so now you can join the pack? Oh—and she also mentioned that you’re her intended mate. Is that the were version of being engaged?”

  I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face.

  “Baby, look, please don’t get all hung up on this. That girl is crazy—you know I don’t want to join the pack and I never promised her anything.”

  She arched an eyebrow at me.

  “All right, so you’re saying she made it all up?”

  “Every bit,” I said. “She came around a couple of times with those nasty cookies of hers when I first moved here but I put her off.”

  “You must not have put her off very hard,” Taylor observed quietly. “She seemed certain you two were going to be bonded.”

  “Well, I couldn’t be too rude,” I growled, feeling put on the defensive. “Her father is the damn pack leader and she’s the Alpha bitch. Giving offense to a high ranking pack member in their own territory is serious—even for a lone wolf.”

  Taylor frowned. “It’s a good thing I’m not a wolf then—I don’t think she liked what I had to say.”

&
nbsp; “Which was?” I leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed my arms over my chest.

  Taylor’s cheeks went pink. “I…I just told her to back off. I told her you and I were together and she had no say in it.”

  “You told her right,” I said simply. “We’re bonded and there’s nothing she can do about it. Although she might try if she took offense.”

  Taylor looked troubled. “I only told her the truth. I didn’t know weres were so touchy.”

  “It’s an animal thing,” I said. “A territorial thing.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” Taylor nodded but she was still too quiet—too subdued. I had a feeling she wasn’t convinced there was nothing going on between me and LeeAnn.

  I pushed away from the counter and came over to stand in front of her.

  “Taylor,” I said softly. “Come on, please don’t let this ruin your day. If there was one lesson my old man taught me, it was ‘don’t dip your dick in crazy.’ I knew the first time that girl came around with her cookies and her attitude I didn’t want any of that.”

  “Well… all right,” she said at last. “But what about the whole waiting period thing before you joined the pack? What was that about?”

  I shrugged. “A formality. Every lone wolf has to register with the local pack—kind of a formal meet and greet thing. At that time, you’re put on their rolls as a possible member. But if you don’t follow up after the period is over, it’s assumed you want to stay on your own.”

  “And you really don’t want to be part of the pack?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “No, never. And even if I did, they wouldn’t have me.”

  “What?” She frowned. “Why not? You’re big and strong and brave—I mean…” She blushed and dropped her eyes. “I mean, any pack would be lucky to have you.”

  I grinned and stroked a strand of her long dark hair out of her eyes.

  “Thanks, baby. But they wouldn’t think so if they knew about—” I stopped abruptly.

  “About what?” she asked, watching me curiously.