Free Scarlet Heat (Born to Darkness) by Evangeline Anderson Page B

you’re doing too bad to me.”
    I sighed. “Thanks but I can’t do anything . I’m no good at finding a
vein—or I wasn’t until Corbin showed me. And I know it hurts when I bite
people.”
    “It’s not so bad,” he said politely. “I mean, it
hurt a little last night when you took from my wrist. But this…” he rubbed the
spot on his neck where I’d bitten him. “Hardly hurt at all.”
    I felt cautiously pleased. “I am trying to get better,” I said. “I’m
learning how to heal the wounds I make too. But there is one thing I don’t
think I’ll ever be any good at.”
    “Which is?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
    “Glamour.” I sighed. “You know, controlling
someone’s mind? Putting a suggestion in their thoughts or letting them see a
fantasy—”
    “You mean glam-sex?” he interrupted.
    I nodded. “I can’t do that at all. And honestly,
even if I could do it, I wouldn’t
want to. You should hear all the disgusting things people want you to
describe—it’s like being a phone sex operator except you’re actually seeing and feeling the things they want
you to talk about. Ugh.” I shivered.
    Victor looked thoughtful. “I can see how it would
be fucking nasty with some jerk you didn’t even know. But it doesn’t sound so
bad if you were with someone you wanted to be with.”
    “Yeah, well…” I sighed and looked away. “It’s
actually the best way to get blood from a human but I’m no good at it.”
    “Which means that once you and I, uh, go our
separate ways, you’re going to be starving again?” He frowned at me.
    I stiffened. “I’ll get by.”
    “But you shouldn’t have to. Look, why don’t you
practice?”
    “Practice—how?”
    “On me.” He shrugged. “Weres have a natural mind
shield but I could let it down enough to let you in.”
    “Well…” I looked at him uncertainly. “I don’t
know…”
    “Just try it,” he urged. “You seem to be getting
better at the biting thing—at least from my point of view. Maybe you can get
better at all of it now that you’re someplace safe. Someplace you know nobody’s
going to hurt you if you mess up.”
    He had a point and I was sorely tempted. I had been doing better at what my friend
Addison called ‘the vampire basics’ lately. Maybe Victor was right. Maybe I
just needed a little practice.
    “Okay,” I said at last, making up my mind. “But
this will have to be a strictly G-rated fantasy. I’m not up for anything else.”
    “I know it.” Victor gave me a level look.
“Believe me, I’m not offering to let you glam me because I want to cop a mental
feel or anything like that. I just thought you could use the practice.”
    “Thanks.” I smiled at him. Despite his rough
exterior he really was turning out to be a nice guy.
    “Okay.” Victor cleared his throat. “So how do we
get started? I’ve never done this before.”
    “I haven’t either—not successfully anyway,” I
admitted. “But I think we just hold hands and look into each other’s eyes.”
    “Okay.” He held out his hands to me and I took
them, feeling my pulse flutter at his touch. God, he was so warm. I leaned forward and looked into
his eyes, which honestly wasn’t easy to do. They were a deep, chocolate brown
and so intense. I felt like he was
the one looking into me and not the other way around.
    “Now what?” Victor asked, as we continued to
stare at each other.
    “Um…concentrate on dropping your shields.” I
wished my voice didn’t sound so breathless. “And then tell me…tell me what you
want to see.”
    “Hmm…what I want to see.” I could see a small
smile twitching around the corners of his mouth.
    “G-rated,” I reminded him hurriedly.
    “Right. G-rated. Okay.” He nodded. “What I want
to see is you, standing in front of me wearing that same dress you had on the
night we were bonded.”
    “Oh, that,” I said, remembering the cream-colored
gown he was talking about. It had clung to me in long, silky waves,