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  Scarlet Heat

  Born to Darkness Series book 2

  Evangeline Anderson

  KINDLE EDITION

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  PUBLISHED BY:

  Evangeline Anderson on Kindle

  Scarlet Heat

  Born to Darkness 2

  Copyright © 2013 by Evangeline Anderson

  Kindle Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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  Dedicated to Ditter

  Thanks for all your help with the plotting. You’re a great friend with an amazing talent.

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  Author's Note:

  Hi and thanks to everyone who is giving my Born to Darkness series a chance. I know you're all waiting for the next Kindred book and I promise it's coming—I hope to have it out this fall. I'm even including a portion of chapter 2 to keep you going. Look for it at the end of the book. (Hey, no fair skipping there now! Read Scarlet Heat first. lol)

  As always I would ask you to please not pirate my work. I keep the prices low so everyone can enjoy my books but this is how I make my living. If you're stealing my work or selling it or giving it away for free to strangers, you're taking money out of my pocket and harming my ability to care for my family. Please don't do that and if you see anyone else doing it, please e-mail me at [email protected] and let me know about it so I can stop it.

  I have an announcement that will make some of you happy—I am putting Claimed, the first book in my Kindred series into print. It's going through Creataspace on Amazon so it's POD or print on demand. Unfortunately because of the length of the book, the least it can be sold for is 9.75. That's pretty much as low as I could get it and I'll be making much less off the print books than I do off the Kindle editions—this is mostly for the readers who kept writing and asking for a print copy. If Claimed does reasonably well (by which I mean, if it at least makes back the money I put into getting it to print) I'll consider getting the other Kindred books into print as well. So if you like to have print copies of your favorite books, please check it out and let your Kindred fan friends know as well. Here's a link to the print book: https://www.createspace.com/4214214

  Okay, that's all for now except be watching for Ruby Shadows, the third book in the Born to Darkness series soon as wel

  l as Shadowed, Kindred 8. As well as any other stand alone novels my muse cooks up. Sometimes when I get blocked on one book, I have to write something completely different to get around the block. So you never can tell what's coming next…

  Hugs and Happy Reading to All of you!

  Evangeline on April 2013

  Prologue

  My name is Taylor Hendricks and I am a vampire.

  Oh God, that sounds like an introduction at a twelve step program to get over some kind of awful addiction, doesn’t it? But the only addiction I have is to blood—I can’t live without it. And vampirism isn’t something you can get over by going to weekly meetings—or at all, for that matter. The only thing that could cure me of being undead would be a swift stake to the heart or prolonged exposure to sunlight.

  To be honest, I have considered both options.

  Back in my human life, I always thought of myself as a strong, smart person. I was at the top of my class in school and I never needed any help to get by. I lived with my best friend Addison, and I was in my last year of veterinary college with my whole future ahead of me—it was a great life.

  Then Celeste came along. Celeste is a three-star vampire—meaning she has been undead for three centuries, making her incredibly old and powerful. She also happens to be incredibly cruel. For some reason, Celeste took a liking to me and turned me into a vampire against my will.

  I don’t know what she thought she saw in me but I don’t make a very good vampire. I just don’t seem to be suited for the whole undead business. I can’t glamour humans and even if I could, I can’t bear to do glam-sex—a kind of mental porno most vamps are capable of projecting into a willing human’s mind—in exchange for blood. In fact, I’m embarrassed to say that if it wasn’t for Addison’s willingness to be my donor, I probably would have wasted away entirely by now.

  My vampire mistress, Celeste, hated me for being a failure and treated me accordingly. She used me as a slave for the first six years of my new undead life. She beat me, berated me, and broke every bone in my body multiple times. And then it got worse.

  When the vampire Area Inquisitor came to town, Celeste gave me to him as his personal sex slave. Roderick did things to me that…well, I’m trying to forget them. I don’t want to say any more than that.

  Anyway, the whole miserable situation forced my friend Addison into an alliance with Corbin, the only vampire strong enough to take Celeste on and win. Unfortunately, though Corbin rescued me, Celeste and Roderick didn’t want to let me go. From what I heard, Roderick was talking about taking me back to meet the Undead Empress—also called The Lady of Shadows—at the vampire court.

  I’d rather meet the blazing sun at noon.

  In order to put me out of Roderick’s reach, my new master Corbin had me blood-bound to a werewolf named Victor. Now you have to understand that vampires and werewolves really don’t like each other. In fact, we’re pretty much mortal enemies and Victor made it plain he had no interest in marrying a “fanger” like me. I wasn’t too wild about having a hubby that got furry every full moon, either. But Victor owed Corbin fifty thousand dollars and I would literally rather have died than go back to Roderick. Victor was a better option.

  Corbin promised us both we need only stay together for three months—just enough time to satisfy the Laws of Ownership. But he did warn us that breaking the blood-bond between us early would have serious consequences—I don’t know what those might be and I don’t intend to find out. I’m just going to do my time like a good little vamp and when this whole thing is over maybe I can go back to veterinary school and get my life back on track.

  There’s only one problem—ever since I had Victor’s blood from the Chalice of Union during our “wedding,” I’ve been having the strangest…feelings. Feelings I thought I’d never have again for any male after what Roderick and some of Celeste’s other “friends” did to me. And now Victor has come to claim me.

  Oh God, what am I going to do?

  Chapter One—Taylor

  Sitting beside my new husband in his rugged black pickup truck, bouncing along down a bumpy unpaved road toward the huge werewolf’s land, I couldn’t help noticing how angry he seemed. His eyes glowed a steady animalistic gold in the deepening twilight and his scent, wild and musky and somehow entirely masculine, filled the cab of the truck.

  I was frightened of him—scared to death to be honest. I didn’t want to be this close to any male—especially not one who was angry at having me thrust onto him like a bloodsucking burden he couldn’t get rid of for the next three months. The way he’d looked at me when Corbin had informed him that he was expected to let me drink his blood was nothing less than completely disgusted.

  He hates me, I thought miserably. We don’t even know each other and he already hates me. God, I wish I didn’t need him. I wish I wasn’t so thirsty. His warm, animal scent was doing things to me, making my already dry throat feel like sandpaper. Giving me those strange feelings I’d been fighting almost from the moment I’d first drunk his blood from the Chalice of Union during our b
rief and perfunctory wedding ceremony.

  I squeezed my thighs together tightly and tried to ignore both my growing thirst and the frightening needs stirring inside me.

  Overhead, the full moon was rising, shedding pure silver light over my pale, white hands. I noticed they were trembling and folded them quickly in my lap. My stomach felt like it was gnawing a hole in itself and I was faint and dizzy. It had been well over a week since I’d last had any blood but so far Victor hadn’t offered me any. In fact, he’d done nothing but growl at me to get in the truck and those were the last words he had spoken. We had been riding for forty-five minutes in complete silence.

  Maybe if I get him to talk, I thought. Maybe it won’t be so bad…we could even be friends. Or at least not enemies. After all, he went to Corbin to borrow money instead of to another were so maybe he doesn’t hate all vampires.

  I cleared my throat nervously and cast a sidelong glance at the big werewolf. He was so huge he seemed to take up most of the truck. I was scrunched up in the corner, sitting as close to the window as possible to avoid touching him but I could still feel the furnace-like heat of his big body radiating against my cold skin. As intimidating as he was, though, I had to say something. Had to make the first move or nothing was ever going to get done.

  “Um, it’s a beautiful night,” I ventured.

  The big were was silent. I frowned—had he heard me at all?

  “I said, it’s a beautiful night,” I said, raising my voice to be heard above the roar of the truck’s engine.

  “Yeah. Really fucking gorgeous,” he growled, still staring straight ahead.

  Instantly, I was tempted to shrink back into myself and shut up. But something told me that I couldn’t do that. Tonight would set the tone of our future relationship and I didn’t want the big were to think he could treat me like a doormat—just some stupid girl he could walk all over. I’d taken enough abuse from Celeste, had spent years walking on eggshells around my cruel mistress. I’m not going to live like that, I told myself, lifting my chin. Not anymore.

  “Your property certainly is way out of Tampa,” I said, determined to make conversation.

  Victor grunted, his golden eyes never leaving the road.

  “Don’t you like the city?” I asked. “I always think the nice thing about Tampa is that it’s big enough to always have something going on without being so huge you can’t get around in it.”

  Victor made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. “Do you always talk this much?”

  “I’m sorry.” I crossed her arms over my breasts and frowned at him. “I was just trying to make conversation.”

  “Well, don’t. And it’s not that I don’t like the city—I live in the country because I’m a fucking were. I need space to change, space to run and hunt.”

  "Oh.” Abruptly, I felt stupid. “Of course. I guess I didn’t…didn’t think about that.”

  “That’s because you’re a vamp. Your kind don’t need wide open spaces to let loose in—you’re monsters all the damn time, not just once a month like us.”

  “We’re not monsters,” I said, stung. “At least, I’m not.”

  “Oh no?” The glance he threw me was a lot less than friendly. “Last time I looked, vamps are undead and live on blood. That’s the fucking definition of monster if you ask me.”

  “At least I look normal,” I snapped, losing my temper. “At least I don’t grow hair all over and…and turn into an animal.”

  “At least an animal is alive,” he snarled. “More than I can say for you undead fangers.”

  That was it—I had suddenly had enough. Years of repressed anger and hurt rose up inside me. I didn’t care what the consequences were for breaking the blood-bond between myself and the huge werewolf—I wasn’t going to take one more minute of this.

  “That’s it,” I snapped. “Stop the truck.”

  “What?” Victor gave me an incredulous look and kept driving. “Why the hell would I do that?”

  “Because I’m leaving.” I fumbled for the handle on the unfamiliar door. “How do you open this damn thing, anyway?” Falling out of the speeding truck wouldn’t be a picnic but I was a vampire—I would heal. Of course, my body was in pretty bad shape because of the enforced starvation I’d endured recently so it might take a while. But even a slow and painful recovery was better than taking any more of the were’s abuse.

  The handle clicked and suddenly the door flew open. The truck took a sharp curve and I felt myself slipping sideways at an alarming rate.

  Oh my God! I braced for the fall but just as I started to slide out of the cab a big hand reached out and grabbed me by the arm.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Victor brought the truck to a screeching halt and dragged me back across the seat.

  “I told you—leaving. So let me go.”

  “I don’t think so,” he snarled. “We’re blood-bound—you’re not going anywhere.”

  “So I’ll find a way to break the bond,” I snapped, yanking at his seemingly unbreakable grip. “Anything to get away from you.”

  “You can’t break the bond unless you’re willing to go down some pretty dark roads and find a witch that deals in the Shadow Lands. You want that?” Victor demanded. “Because I sure as hell don’t. Like it or not, we’re stuck together, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, no, we’re not.” I lifted my chin. “I spent the last six years of my life being stuck in an abusive relationship—one I couldn’t get out of no matter how hard I tried. I refuse to spend even one second more that way.”

  Victor’s eyes got wide. “Abusive? What the hell are you talking about, abusive? How have I hurt you?”

  “Abuse isn’t just physical or…or sexual, you know.” I felt my throat getting tight but I refused to let my pain show on my face. “There is such a thing as mental and emotional abuse too. Although when I think about it, you did promise not to lay a finger on me and you’re doing a hell of lot more than that right now.”

  I glared at him and then looked pointedly at the big hand encircling my upper arm.

  “Damn it!” Victor pulled his hand away as though he’d been stung. “I was just trying to keep you from killing yourself, lady.”

  “My name is Taylor. Not lady, not sweetheart, and most certainly not “fanger”—it’s Taylor. And I wouldn’t have died—I couldn’t. I’m already dead, remember?”

  “Oh, hell…” He ran a hand through his wild black hair and blew out a breath. “Look, I’m sorry, all right?” he said, apologizing much to my surprise. “This is just…such a bad fucking night for this. The moon is getting high and if I don’t get home soon…”

  “Oh.” Understanding suddenly hit me. “You’re going to…what, change into a wolf?”

  “If you’re lucky,” he said darkly. “And if you’re not…” He shook his head. “Let’s just say I really need to get home and I don’t have a lot of time for polite chit-chat right now.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, chastened. “I didn’t realize your problem was that, uh, urgent.”

  “Well, it is. And it wouldn’t be good for you if I changed around you.”

  My heart was suddenly in my throat. “Would you hurt me?”

  “Not on purpose, no. But my wolf—the wolf inside me…” He thumped himself on the chest. “It would see you as a threat. It’s an instinctive thing—we don’t like vamps. And I don’t think too well in that form—I mostly feel.”

  “So we’d better get to a place where you can, uh, change as far away from me as possible,” I said.

  “Yeah.” He sighed again. “Look, I know I’m being an ass right now and I’m sorry. It’s just…the moon.” He gestured at the full silver orb climbing higher in the sky above them and his voice dropped to an even deeper register, sounding almost like an animal’s growl. “She’s calling me. I’m strong but I can’t hold off my change forever.”

  “Oh, right.” I nodded nervously. I had no wish to be caught in the cab of the truck with a huge
, ravenous wolf who hated vampires. “Well…can you get us home? I mean, your home of course,” I added quickly.

  “Yeah, if we go right now.” Victor started the truck’s engine and looked pointedly at my door, which was still swinging open, letting in the warm, humid Florida night air. “Could you close that? I don’t care if you’re undead or not, you don’t look like you’re in any kind of shape to survive being thrown from a truck doing sixty.”

  “I’m stronger than I look,” I protested, but I closed the door as he had asked. “I heal fast.”

  He snorted and put the truck in gear. “Yeah. Right.”

  “It’s true,” I said, stung. “I’ve had every bone in my body broken multiple times and I healed every time.”

  The look he cast from the other side of the truck was both incredulous and pitying. “You what? How the hell did you break all your bones? You into skydiving or something?”

  I crossed my arms over my breasts and looked down. “I wasn’t the one who broke them. But that’s not the point—the point is that I can take a lot of abuse and still live.” I looked up at him. “But I won’t. Not anymore. Not from you or anyone else.”

  He nodded thoughtfully and I thought I saw just a touch of respect creeping into his golden eyes.

  “I got it. You’re tougher than you look. But you don’t mind me saying so—you don’t look too good.”

  “Thanks a lot,” I snapped. “That makes me feel just great. Are you always this smooth?”

  “No, damn it…” He slapped the steering wheel in frustration. “Look, it gets harder to talk when the moon is full. My wolf comes forward and that part of me…it doesn’t have words.” He took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean you’re not pretty—you are. Fucking gorgeous. I’m just saying you look, I don’t know, sick or something. Kind of weak and frail.”

  “You’d be weak and frail too if you hadn’t had any nourishment in almost two weeks,” I said tightly. “I’m just thirsty that’s all.”