Read Online Scarlet Heat (Born to Darkness) by Evangeline Anderson - Free Book Online

overhead-mounted microwave were located.
    That was where she was standing but it was clear
she’d been through the sunlight to get there—there were angry red blisters on
one of her arms and red marks on her legs. Now she huddled in the tiny area of
shadow, trembling with fear, a trapped look on her face.
    I could see how it must have happened—Taylor
running blindly to get away from me, sliding into the kitchen too fast to stop.
Being burned by the light and skidding to a halt in the tiny oasis of shadow.
Now she was stuck there with the blinding, deadly light all around her like an
animal caught in a trap.
    An animal caught in a trap. That was me last night.
    I suddenly flashed on the way she had talked so
soothingly to me right in this very room the night before. I had warned her
specifically that my wolf form might be dangerous to her and yet she had let me
in and treated my wound, risking grave injury to herself to help me. These
weren’t images pushed forward by the wolf—they were primal memories, stored in
my subconscious and just now coming out. With them came a powerful sense of
protectiveness. I had to help her—had to save her. She was mine .
    Taylor looked up at me, her blue eyes wide with
fear and panic.
    “Victor,” she whispered. “I can’t…I’m afraid to
move. The sun is too strong. I don’t…don’t know if I can go through it again.”
    “Stay right where you are,” I told her, fumbling
the sweatpants on as fast as I could. “It’s going to be okay, baby—it’s going
to be all right.”
    “It’s so bright.” Her voice sounded choked and tense. “I’ve never been up this early since I
was turned. I forgot…forgot how hot it could be.”
    “Everything is going to be okay.” I came to her,
walking through the sunlight that was deadly poison to her pale skin. I held
out a hand but Taylor shrank back from me.
    “What…what are you going to do?” she whispered,
eyeing me fearfully.
    “Just shield you,” I assured her. “Look, I’m
going to come up behind you and keep my back to the windows. You’re small—I
should be able to cover you completely.”
    “You will?” She didn’t look too happy about the
idea.
    “I won’t hurt you,” I said, trying to keep my
voice gentle and low, although every instinct I had was screaming for me to get
her out of that room. It was like I had walked in on her holding a ticking bomb
in her hand—I had to get her out now . “I’ll never hurt you, Taylor,” I
said again.
    She looked at me, as though trying to read my
face. Then, slowly, she nodded.
    “All right,” she whispered. “But please—let’s
hurry.”
    “As fast as we can,” I promised. “You stay right
with me and I’ll keep the sun off you until we get out of this room.”
    Carefully, I edged up right behind her until her
back was to my front. I could feel her shaking as I wrapped my arms around her,
trying not to hurt her burned skin. I looked down, making sure that she was
completely protected, completely hidden by my body. Feeling her lush ass pressed
back against my shaft was distracting but I pushed my desire for her out of my
mind and made sure her legs were perfectly lined up with mine.
    “Okay,” I murmured in her ear. “We’re going to
move. Left foot first, then right, keep going until we’re out of the kitchen
and into the living room. There aren’t as many windows in there and they all have
drapes on them.”
    “Okay,” she whispered back and we began to move.
    As we made our way out of the kitchen, I could
feel how tense she was against me. It was the exact opposite of how she’d been
in bed, when she was still asleep and thought I was the wolf. I wondered if she
hated this, being so close to me. Or if she was just afraid of the sunlight. I
really hoped it was the latter.
    Finally, we were clear of the kitchen and into
the dim hallway leading to the living room. I kicked the kitchen door closed
with my foot, shutting out the brilliant flood of