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  My heart was beating so hard I thought it must be shaking my whole body but at the same time I felt a kind of languor creeping over me, a delicious sexual flush that seemed to take over my whole body. It made me want to give Corbin anything he wanted, made me want to open myself to him in every possible way.

  “Yes,” I whispered, reaching out to glide my fingers through his hair. “Oh, yes, Corbin. Yes.”

  He gave me a little half smile. “You seem very willing to be healed, my darling.”

  “Extremely willing,” I assured him. “For anything you might have in mind.”

  “Only healing,” he reminded me sternly. “That’s all for tonight.”

  “Then heal me, Corbin,” I begged, knowing there was no point fighting with him. “Please, I need you to heal me now.”

  “Of course.” He dropped a soft kiss at the top of my slit. “The outside first, I think.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning in frustration as he lowered his head and began to take long, slow licks of the outside of my pussy. I was so swollen with need I could feel my outer lips parting for him on their own but he steadfastly avoided my inner folds until I thought I would scream.

  “Corbin!” I gasped at last. “Please, I need you inside now.”

  “Like this, you mean?” he murmured. Spreading my outer lips with his thumbs, he took a long, slow, loving lick, lapping my pussy with the flat of his tongue and making me moan and writhe with delight.

  “Yes, like that!” I said breathlessly. “Only more, Corbin—more.”

  “I am just trying to heal you, Addison. Not pleasure you,” he said with mock severity. “If you would lie still and not squirm so much, the process would be much simpler.”

  “I can’t help it,” I whispered as he bent to lick me again. “The way you heal me feels so good…so right.”

  “Of course it’s right,” he murmured, licking me again, this time paying special attention to my throbbing clit. “We belong together, you and I. I knew it from the first moment I saw you.”

  “It took me…a little while longer to…to figure that out,” I admitted with a little gasp as he sucked my clit between his lips and began to torture it with his tongue. “Ah! Corbin!”

  He looked up at me, his mouth shiny with my juices. “You are delicious, Addison,” he said thickly. “Always so soft and creamy under my tongue. I need to get deeper into you, though. I think it is time I healed you inside.”

  “Yes,” I whispered. “All right.”

  “Good. I’m going to lift you a little, to get better access,” he murmured. Placing his large, warm hands under my ass, he lifted me and tilted my pelvis as though it was a bowl of water and he was a thirsty man looking for a drink. “Going to put my tongue as deeply inside you as I can, Addison,” he said, looking into my eyes. “Just relax and let me in.”

  I had no wish to do anything else. With a little moan, I let my thighs fall open even wider and gave myself to him completely.

  Corbin fastened his mouth to my core and pressed deep inside me, fucking my pussy gently with his tongue, tasting me, loving me…healing me. And though I hadn’t really noticed it before, I could tell now that I had been tender from his rough use the night before. Now, everywhere his tongue touched me I felt a sweet, soothing pleasure pouring over me.

  But though it was sweet and tender, the pleasure still built inside me, begging for release. I could feel myself getting close…so close…but I needed just a little more to go over the edge.

  “Corbin,” I gasped at last, threading my fingers through his hair. “Please…please, I need to come.”

  He looked up at me, his eyes filled with need. “I swore I would only heal you tonight.”

  “And you did,” I protested. “But you said yourself it was sexual between us when you healed me. Please, Corbin—you can’t leave me hanging like this! I’m going crazy.”

  Soft laughter rumbled up from his chest. “I can never refuse you anything, darling. And I do love to make you come. How do you prefer me to take you—with my mouth or my fingers?”

  “Neither,” I said, looking into his eyes. “I want you to take me with your cock.”

  Corbin frowned and sat back abruptly. “No. I won’t do that. Not so soon after—”

  “Stop punishing yourself,” I interrupted him impatiently. “And stop punishing me. I want you inside me, Corbin—I need you there. Need to feel owned by you, completely just like…” I stopped abruptly, biting my lip.

  “Like what?” Corbin demanded, joining me on the bed. “Tell me, Addison.”

  “Like I did the other night,” I whispered, hoping I didn’t make him feel bad again. “You don’t understand, Corbin. It was scary to see you like that but when I finally…when I finally submitted I felt so…so…like I was completely yours. Like you were marking me, claiming me so no other man would ever come near me.”

  He growled softly. “That is probably exactly what I was doing. I just wish I hadn’t done it so roughly, darling.”

  “Make up for it tonight,” I begged softly. “Make love to me.”

  “We never have truly made love, I suppose.” Corbin sounded thoughtful. “I have fucked you when Roderick demanded it and you did the same to me last night when you tied me down before I lost control and…”

  “Before you claimed me,” I finished for him. “Before you made me completely yours. But you’re right, we’ve never really ‘made love’. Not the way you mean.”

  Corbin stroked my cheek. “Then I will make love to you now, darling. Slowly and tenderly. But you must promise to tell me if I am hurting you.”

  “I promise,” I said breathlessly. “But don’t make me wait any more. I need you.”

  “Gods, Addison,” he growled. “I need you too…so much. But I don’t want to hurt you. Come here and straddle me again.”

  He took off his clothes and sat at the head of the bed before holding out his arms to me. I went to him and did as he asked, straddling his narrow hips as I had done earlier. I could feel the heat of his shaft, its broad head just brushing against my bare pussy lips.

  “Now,” Corbin murmured, looking into my eyes. “Put me inside you, Addison.”

  I reached between us and grasped the thick, hot shaft of his cock. Taking a moment, I rubbed it over my inner folds, gasping at the heated contact with my clit, before I finally slipped it down and found my entrance.

  Corbin gave a low curse, his voice thick with lust, as the broad head pressed inside me. “Gods, you’re tight.”

  “You’re just big,” I pointed out, rather breathlessly. “And so thick.”

  “Take me slowly, then,” he murmured. “As slowly as you need to, darling.”

  “I will,” I whispered. Slowly, as he had requested, I lowered myself down, moaning softly as his thick shaft filled me completely. It felt so good—so right and I knew it was exactly what I needed. “Corbin,” I said, looking into his eyes. “Now. I need it now.”

  “My pleasure, darling,” he growled softly. “But as I said, we are going to take it slow.”

  And he did take it slow, incredibly, amazingly slow. Looking into my eyes, he pulled almost all the way out and then sank back into me, filling me to the hilt again…and again and again and again. With every deep, slow thrust I felt the head of his cock kiss the mouth of my womb and his pelvic bone pressing hard against my swollen clit. It was exquisite torture. My pleasure began to build once more and this time I knew nothing would hold it back.

  “Corbin,” I moaned, digging my fingers into his shoulders. “Close, I’m so close…”

  “Come for me then,” he murmured, still thrusting. “Come for me while I make love to you, darling.”

  “But…but won’t you come too?” I gasped as he pulled out of me again and pressed up into me.

  Corbin shook his head, his eyes glinting. “Not yet. Not for a long, long time. I told you we were taking it slow, didn’t I?”

  “Not that slow though,” I protested. “Not…o
h, oh!” Just then my pleasure peaked and I could feel myself contracting all around him, squeezing his shaft as though my body was begging for him to fill me.

  But Corbin didn’t come…he just held still inside me, pressing deep and hard, giving me what I needed until I was ready to go on.

  “So beautiful when you come, darling,” he murmured hoarsely. “And I love the feel of you all around me, milking me so hard.”

  “Corbin,” I begged. “Come with me—come in me. I want to feel you filling me up.”

  “Not yet,” he growled softly and began to move again.

  * * * * *

  I don’t know how long it lasted but I was completely worn out by the time we were done. I had lost count of the orgasms Corbin gave me—by the end I was so exhausted I could barely stay upright in his lap.

  When he finally allowed himself to come, we cuddled in bed with my head on his chest and I sighed contentedly.

  “That was amazing.”

  “It was,” Corbin agreed, kissing the top of my head. “Are you happy, darling?”

  “Very.” I sighed. “It’s funny, I never would have thought I could be happy with a vampire.”

  “We are an irritating bunch,” Corbin agreed with a hint of laughter in his deep voice. “Still, I hope over the next few centuries you can learn to put up with me.”

  “Centuries…” I sighed and shook my head. “It’s too much to take in right now.”

  “Then don’t try. Simply sleep,” he urged. “Sleep in my arms as I wanted you to the first night I brought you here.”

  “I want to.” I yawned. “But…I’m worried.”

  “About Taylor?” he asked. “I told you, she will be fine.”

  “It’s easy for you to say.” I sighed. “After what that bastard Roderick put her through, I don’t think she’ll ever be fine again.” I looked up at him. “Corbin, do you think paying the Crimson Debt—having someone else pay it for her or to her or whatever—would heal her trauma?”

  He shook his head. “I do not know. It is said to heal all ills—physical, emotional, and spiritual. But I believe that physical ailments are what most who pay the Debt seek to treat. Taylor’s wounds are deep—much deeper than any surface trauma.”

  “I know.” I pressed my face against his side and yawned. Sleep was overtaking me and I could barely talk I was so tired. “I just…just want her to be happy,” I said with another yawn. “I wish she could get her life back and…and be as happy as we are.”

  Corbin answered something but I didn’t catch it. As I drifted off in his arms, my last thoughts were of how happy I was and how much I wished the same for Taylor. Before sleep claimed me completely, I sent a prayer to whoever might be listening that my friend would find the road to her own happiness.

  The End

  Author's Note:

  I hope you've enjoyed the first book in my new Born to Darkness series--if you did, please take a moment to leave a review for Crimson Debt. As you can see, there is a lot more ground to cover here. Taylor desperately needs her own book and so does Gwendolyn. Read on for Scarlett Heat, the second book in the Born to Darkness series, and then you can continue with the third book, Ruby Shadows if you're in the mood for a binge reading fest. And after that, there's Brides of the Kindred book 1, Claimed, at the end of this box set.

  There's also a never-before-published story, Dessert, included as a treat, nestled just after Scarlet Heat.

  Happy reading!

  Evangeline

  Born to Darkness

  Book 2: Scarlet Heat

  Taylor is a vampire—but she doesn’t want to be. Turned against her will by her sadistic mistress, Celeste, she has been living a miserable life of bondage and abuse for the past six years. Finally, through the help of her best friend Addison, Taylor is rescued but she can’t relax for long. In order to save her from an even worse fate, she is married off to Victor—a very reluctant groom who just happens to be a werewolf.

  Victor doesn’t want to be responsible for the fledgling vampire, no matter how beautiful she is. Especially when he finds out he is the only one he can drink from. But aside from the strange arousal that overtakes him every time she sinks her dainty fangs into his throat, he has other problems to deal with…and a very big secret to hide.

  Their marriage of convenience is only supposed to last for three months but Victor and Taylor finds themselves drawn together by more than the vows they took. But as their attraction grows, so does something else. Inside Taylor, something is changing. She begins to have physical cravings she has never had before, insatiable appetites that only Victor can satisfy.

  Will she succumb to the madness growing within her or can Victor save her from the Scarlet Heat?

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

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  Go to Table of Contents

  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 va
mpire 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.