Crimson Debt: Book 1 in the Born to Darkness series (36 page)

“I know what it must have looked like but it
wasn’t like that,” I told him. “I mean, it could have been. I’m
sure it would have been if I hadn’t…hadn’t figured out a way to
make it work.”

He laughed bitterly. “You found a way to make
being raped work? How very clever of you.”

“It wasn’t rape,” I said angrily. “It was
submission.”

“What?” He frowned at me, clearly
surprised.

I ducked my head, unable to look at him.

“Submission,” I repeated. “You were…more
animal than human while…while it was going on. You had needs that
had to be met. I just…gave you what you needed.”

Corbin looked at me with a new light in his
eyes.

“So you willingly submitted to me? That
doesn’t sound like you, Addison.”

I pulled my robe closed and crossed my arms
protectively over my breasts.

“Yeah, well…maybe I’ve changed.”

“Well, I have not,” he said grimly. “I am a
vampire and my true nature was revealed to you last night.”

“Will you please get over the ‘oh, I’m a
guilty monster’ crap already?” I snapped, losing my patience.
“Yes,
you were out of your mind and you got a little rough.
Hell, Corbin—I expected that. You want to know the truth? I
excepted
to be torn to pieces.”

He had been looking a bit calmer but now his
eyes went hard again.

“Then why did you do it?” he demanded in a
low, angry voice. “Damn it, Addison—I was
prepared
to die. I
never asked you to give your life to bring me back. To risk a
horrible and painful death out of some twisted sense of obligation
and duty.”

“Is that what you think?” I demanded. “Listen
to me, you big asshole—” I reached up and poked him angrily in the
center of his broad chest. “I didn’t do it out of duty or because I
owed you anything for saving Taylor or protecting me from Roderick
or anything else like that.
I did it because I love you!
And
you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought if you can’t see
that.”

Corbin’s eyes widened and then narrowed.

“You are lying.”

“What?” I glared at him and shook my head. “I
tell you I love you and you say
I’m lying?
Why the hell
would you say a thing like that?”

“When I was giving you my blood in an effort
to heal you from my savage attack, you pushed me away,” he accused.
“You said, ‘Not that! Anything but that!’”

I felt suddenly cold as I remembered his
blood filling my mouth.

“I was talking about you turning me into a
vampire. You…you didn’t, did you? Because I love you, Corbin, but I
don’t want to be like you. Living on blood, never going out in the
sunlight…it wouldn’t be right for me. You can understand that,
can’t you?”

“I can.” He nodded and his eyes suddenly
softened. “Forgive me. I thought you were protesting the blood
because you didn’t want me to bond you to me.”

“What?” This was something entirely new to
consider. “You
bonded
me to you? As in for life? For all
eternity?”

“For as long as I live, anyway,” Corbin said.
“It was the only way to save your life. I had taken too much of
your blood—you were dying, Addison.” His tone took on a pleading
tone. “Please tell me you would not rather be dead than bound to
me.”

“I could ask you to say the same thing,” I
pointed out. “You were checking out on me without even telling me
first.”

“I didn’t think you cared.” His deep voice
was soft, almost wistful.

“Well, I
do
. I love you, damn it,” I
said, poking him in the chest again.

Corbin caught my finger in his big hand and
then pulled me closer until I was pressed up against his tall
frame.

“Addison,” he murmured, cupping my face in
both hands. “I have loved you from the moment I first saw you. Say
you will stay with me now, promise never to leave.”

“I promise,” I said and he kissed me, gently
at first and then with more passion.

We were just getting into it when someone
started pounding on his office door.

The pounding continued until Corbin pulled
back from our kiss, a look of irritation on his face.

“Now who can that be?”

“Probably Bambie,” I said with a smirk. “She
hates to be left out of the gossip.”

With a muttered curse about nosey barmaids,
Corbin went to fling the door open. He was all set to give the
hapless Bambie a piece of his mind but it was Taylor standing there
instead. Her thin face was set in lines of determination as she
stared up at Corbin.

“Master Corbin,” she said, lifting her chin.
“I know you’re my master now and I’m supposed to bow to your every
whim but I
will not
sit back and let you abuse Addison. She
is my best friend and she deserves more than—”

“Take it easy, roomie,” I said, going to take
her hand. “Corbin’s not abusing me—if anything I’ve been abusing
him.” I gave him a smirk and one corner of his sensual mouth
quirked up in return.

“He’s not? But…I heard, we
all
heard
shouting.” Taylor still looked upset. “And no one else would come
see what was going on but I didn’t want you to get hurt, Addison. I
mean, any more than you already are…” Her eyes flickered over me
and I pulled the green kimono closer around me self-consciously. No
doubt she had seen the bruises and come to the same conclusion
Corbin had.

“I’m fine,” I assured her. “You on the other
hand…” I took a step back and looked at her, noticing again how
tired and thin she looked. There were bruised looking smudges under
her lovely blue eyes and her bones were poking through her skin.
She looked like she was anorexic or in the last stages of some
awful disease.

Abruptly, I was angry at Corbin all over
again. I turned to him, scowling.

“Look at her, Corbin.
Look at her.
She’s starving and where is Victor? You
promised
you’d call
him.”

“I’m sorry, darling—I forgot. I was a bit
preoccupied making sure I hadn’t killed you,” Corbin said dryly.
“If it will make you feel better, I will call him immediately.”

“Do that,” I said and turned back to Taylor.
“You should have said something,” I told her. “You can’t just let
yourself starve.”

She looked suddenly even paler—if that was
possible.

“I didn’t want to. Because I knew it would
mean I’d have to leave and go away with…with him.” She shivered and
wrapped her arms around her waist. “I don’t even
know
him,
Addison! And now I’m supposed to go live in his house and drink
from him?”

“It’s only for three months,” I said, trying
to console her. “Okay, I know it
sounds
like a long time but
I swear I’ll come visit you as much as you want.”

“But what if he wants to…to have sex?” Her
eyes were wide and frightened. “I mean we're
married
,
Addison. What if he thinks it’s his right as my husband? But I
can’t do that. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be with someone
again, let alone a complete stranger.”

“You don’t have to,” I soothed, taking her
hand and pressing it in both of mine. “Corbin made him swear not to
abuse you in any way—remember?”

“I know. But I just…I can’t. Not after
Roderick…the things he made me do…”

A single tear was standing in her eye again
and I knew she would have been crying hard if she’d had the
moisture in her body to do it. Her return grip on my hand was
panicky-tight but again, for some reason it didn’t hurt. Maybe
because I was bonded to Corbin and was more “durable” now that we
were together.

“Taylor,” I began but suddenly Corbin’s voice
cut through the air sharply.

“I do not care
what
phase the moon is
in or
how
inconvenient it is for you, Victor,” he was
growling into his phone. “Your blood bonded mate is here with me
and she is
starving.
You have put off your responsibilities
for long enough—you will come and get her
now
or I swear I
will give you ample reason to regret it.
”

I could hear faint cursing coming from the
other end of the conversation but Corbin only nodded in
satisfaction and hung up.

“He will be here shortly,” he said, turning
to us. “Although I am afraid he is not very happy about it.”

“Oh God!” Taylor hugged me tightly, an
embrace that would have cut off my air and circulation and maybe
cracked a few ribs before. I was pleased to note, however, that it
didn’t bother me at all this time.

I hugged her back. “It’s going to be okay,
hon,” I told her, stroking her hair. “I promise it is. You let me
know if he so much as looks sideways at you and I swear I’ll come
put him in his place.”

Corbin smirked at me. “I thought you were a
vampire killer—not a werewolf slayer.”

“Silver works on both of you,” I reminded
him. “But actually, I’m thinking of giving it up—the vampire
killing thing, I mean.”

Taylor seemed to forget her own worries
because she pulled back and looked at me uncertainly.

“Really? You’re going to quit being an
Auditor?”

I shrugged. “You’re free, hon—well, you will
be in three months, anyway. And I’m with Corbin now. It would be
kind of hypocritical of me to go around enforcing the law against
human/vamp sex when I’ll be breaking it on a regular basis
myself.”

“A
very
regular basis, I hope.”
Corbin’s voice was a sexy growl that made my cheeks hot.

“Anyway,” I went on, still talking to Taylor
and trying not to let Corbin know he was affecting me. “I’ve been
thinking I might go back to school—take another whack at my
dissertation. And what about you? Why don’t you go back and finish
your training to become a vet?”

Taylor looked intrigued. “I never thought
about that. I guess I could check into it. I mean, I’d have to take
night classes but I was pretty far along…”

“You can work in one of those all night
emergency veterinary clinics,” I exclaimed. “Like the one we took
Samikin to when he got that thorn in his paw.”

“Samikin…” Taylor looked subdued and I
suddenly remembered that the cat in question had run away and never
come back after she had become a vampire. For some reason, cats
don’t like vamps. Dogs don’t seem to mind them though—I don’t know
about other animals.

“Or you could study something else,” I said
quickly. “There are lots of options open now that Celeste is out of
the picture.”

“You’re right.” Taylor lifted her chin. “I
can do anything I want again after this is over with. And I know
it’s going to be fine—so much better than my life with Celeste was.
Except…” She shook her head, obviously unable to continue.

“What is it?” I urged gently. “Is there
something else bothering you? Well, I mean, other than having to go
live with a surly werewolf you barely know?”

She gave me a wan smile and nodded
reluctantly.

“It’s…hard to explain. But ever since I took
his blood—ever since I drank from that chalice—I’ve been feeling
so…so…
weird.”

“Weird how?” I asked, feeling worried. Had
Victor’s blood poisoned her somehow?

Taylor shook her head again and I saw her
cheeks go that pale pink which would have been a deep blush on
anyone else.

“I can’t…explain it,” she whispered. “It’s
just so…so strange. Ever since this thing started—”

“This
thing,
huh? Meaning our fucking
three month marriage?” said a growling voice from the doorway of
Corbin’s office. “Sounds like you’re as excited about it as I am,
sweetheart.”

Taylor’s head jerked up and she took a step
back as Victor filled the doorway.

I had to bite back a gasp too. As before he
was huge and irritated looking but I thought he looked wilder than
he had last time I had seen him. His hair seemed longer and his
eyes, which had been mostly brown before, were pure, animalistic
gold.

“Good evening, Victor,” Corbin said smoothly,
coming forward. “How good of you to come so quickly.”

“I was right around the corner at a
construction site,” the were growled. “But I’m telling you, Corbin,
this is
not
a good time for me to take her. What with the
moon being full tonight and—”

“I’m very sorry it’s your time of the month,”
Corbin interrupted. “But Taylor cannot wait any longer—she is
literally starving to death.”

“What?” Victor frowned. “Well, why doesn’t
she drink some blood?”

“Because you have the only blood that won’t
make her sick,” I said, glaring up at the big were. “You’re
blood bound—
that means Taylor can only drink from
you
.”

“
What?”
Now he looked really upset and
pissed off. “She has to what? You’re kidding me!”

“I assure you, my friend, this is not a
joke,” Corbin growled warningly. “Taylor is your responsibility. Do
you not remember the part of your vows where you promised to
protect and nourish her?”

“I thought that meant like…I don’t know,
bringing home the bacon or some shit like that,” Victor protested.
“I didn’t know I would actually
be
the bacon.”

“Forget it,” Taylor said, lifting her chin.
She turned to Corbin. “Master, there is no need for this
now—Rod…the one who sought to hurt me is gone. I no longer need
protection so this marriage is pointless.”

“In other words,” I said. “Can she please get
a divorce?”

Corbin frowned at them. “I am afraid not. The
union the two of you entered into is both legally and spiritually
binding. You
need
each other. If you try to break the Laws
of Qwnership there will be serious repercussions for both of
you.”

“He’s right,” Victor growled, surprising me.
“We’re stuck in it.” He jerked his head at Taylor. “Come on. My
truck’s out back.”

“Wait a minute.” I stepped in front of her.
“You
do
remember that you swore not to hurt or molest
her—right?”