Lone Star Magic (18 page)

“How?” Her eyes were huge, terrified.

“Through them, over them. Step on as many as
you can, as hard as you can.”

She shot him a look of mingled fear and
disbelief. “You don’t have a better idea?”

The first wave of arachnids was five feet
from them. More had begun dropping off the ceiling. “No. Let’s
go!”

Still, she hesitated.

“They’re falling in your hair,” he pointed
out.

She took off running, flailing and kicking
and screaming and shaking out her hair.

Cursing, he followed.

Spiders dropped on her as she ran, dozens of
them at once, and Carly couldn’t help but scream. Or start to,
until she realized if she opened her mouth, the spiders could get
in there too.

Still… blech.

One hand clutched her medicine kit, and she
used the other to sweep off spiders. The damn things kept coming,
like they were unkillable. For every two she killed, four more
appeared to take their place.

Some stung when they bit. Others never fought
back.

Apparently, she wasn’t allergic to spider
bites.

Once outside, in the dim light of the
half-moon, she shook her head like a crazed woman, frantically
brushing at her arms and shoulders, trying to reach her back. Oh,
and her neck, and the collar of her shirt – oh geez.

She stomped as many as she could, watching
the other scurry off in various directions. Head upside down, she
combed through her hair, trying not to gag as more spiders fell to
the ground.

This was worse than snakes. Maybe. At least
just as bad. Revolting.

Frantic, she peeled off her shirt and shook
it, did the same with her shorts, gave herself another good brush
with her hands, and prayed she’d gotten rid of them all.

Beside her, Alrick danced his own, frenzied
dance. Now that she’d settled down enough to notice, she realized
he seemed as panicked as she. Hopping up and down, slapping at
himself, he would have looked comical if she wasn’t so intimately
familiar with how he felt.

“I hate spiders.”

“Yes,” he snarled.

Oddly enough, this too helped to calm her.
“You don’t like them either, huh?”

The look he gave her spoke volumes. Stomping
his feet, he ripped off his tunic and shook it out. She had a
second to admire his rippling muscles and washboard stomach. Then
he peeled off his leggings.

Carly’s mouth fell open. All he wore for
underwear was some kind of leather cup.

She couldn’t help but stare. Luckily, he was
too involved with squashing spiders to notice.

Kayo dashed up, panting. Belatedly, Carly
realized she’d completely forgotten about his warning barks.
Glancing at the round pen, where both horses stood peacefully, she
heaved a sigh. “I don’t know why Kayo was barking. The horses seem
all right.”

“Maybe he saw the spiders.” Alrick pointed at
the house. Carly squinted through the darkness, trying to see.
“They’re all over the outside as well.”

“Ughh.” She shuddered and brushed at her arms
again.

“Are you all right?”

She glanced over, once again amazed by how
casual he seemed about his nakedness. Realizing what he was doing,
she blinked and tore her gaze away, back to his face. “I think so.
You?”

“Fine. Spiders bite. Did you get bitten?”

Self-conscious now, glad at least her
tangerine bra and panties matched for once in her life, Carly gave
her hair another quick finger comb and shook her head. “Some. I
guess I’m not allergic. Nothing’s happened. And if anything does, I
brought my kit.”

Alrick watched her for a moment then bent at
the waist and flipped his long, sable hair in front of him,
dragging his fingers through it. When he straightened, he slapped
at his back and grimaced. He flicked at his arm and stomped on the
ground, hard. “Cursed buggers.”

She looked down. Big mistake. On the dry,
cracked earth at their feet, hundreds of them scurried. Never had
she seen so many spiders at once, and so many different varieties
together.

“Spiders suck.” Her skin crawled. Resisting
the urge to scratch until her skin turned red, Carly joined him in
stomping several more.

“Spiders do not suck,” Alrick corrected.
“They spin and bite, but have no tube with which to drink your
blood. Nor do they want to.”

“That was just an expression.” She stomped as
many as she could, but backed away when they swarmed her flip-flop.
“Meaning I don’t like them.” Wanting to get away from the oncoming
second wave of arachnids, she started towards the pen. “Let’s check
on the horses.”

Barking agreement, Kayo ran circles around
the pen, careful to stay out of reach of the crawling bugs.

“Carly?”

Distracted and trying to dodge a particularly
large and nasty looking tarantula, she nearly tripped. “What?”

“What about your clothing?”

Earlier she’d changed out of the silvery
dress into her regular, summer clothes. But no way was she touching
that stuff. It was most likely full of spiders. “What about
it?”

“Don’t you think you should get it?”

She looked down at herself. The night air
felt warm. “Hey, my bra and panties cover more than most
swimsuits.”

He’d scooped up his own clothing and carried
it in his arms. “You might need it.”

With her index finger and thumb, she
retrieved her tank top and shorts. “I hate it when you’re right.
But I’m not putting it back on. Not until I’m one hundred percent
positive there are no spiders in my clothes. It’s too dark out here
to tell for sure.” She pointed at the light pole across the yard,
near where the barn had once stood. “I’ve got a light over here.
Come stand under it. I’ll check you if you’ll check me.”

Also, the advancing spiders would have to
cross a lot of ground to reach them.

Still, he hesitated, clothes held out before
him.

Modesty? Or what? She crossed to the pole.
“Come on, let me check you for spiders. Don’t worry, I’m so not
gonna jump your bones.”

He didn’t move. She couldn’t make out his
expression in the shadows. “Alrick?”

“Jump my… woman, half the time I have no idea
what you’re talking about.”

It figured. “Never mind.” She flipped on the
switch, illuminating not only where she stood, but the round pen
and the horses. Resting their heads on the top rail, they watched
her with much more interest than Alrick.

She shuddered to think what they’d do if the
spiders got on them. Which they would eventually if they kept
coming this way. They’d have to move them.

But first, she wanted to make sure there were
no more spiders crawling on her. Turning her back to him, she
lifted up her heavy hair. “Come on, we don’t have too long before
they reach us. We’re going to need to move the horses. Right now I
need you to check me out for spiders.”

Contrived? Maybe. But she didn’t care. She
wanted to make sure she was spider-free. The feel of his hands on
her skin would be an added bonus. One she would not let him know
she enjoyed. She’d had more than enough rejection from him.

She waited. He didn’t move.

“Fine.” Turning, she motioned to him. “I’ll
search you first.”

No reaction.

“What if you missed some? You might still
have spiders crawling on you? Like in your hair.”

He muttered something and strode over,
carrying his clothes out in front of him like a shield. She muffled
her smile. Big, bad, warrior Prince. He really must hate spiders as
bad or worse than she.

“Stand over here, under the light. Turn your
back.”

He did, and she realized his leather pouch
thingee was only a thong in the back. “Oh, cripes.”

“What?” he growled, clutching his clothing in
one hand and flipping his long hair over his shoulder with the
other.

“Nothing.” Damn. She looked away, but she
couldn’t catch her breath. She’d known he was good-looking, but
nearly naked Alrick was male perfection – tight buttocks, narrow
waist, and muscular legs. She might be a widow, and they’d
definitely agreed he was off-limits, but she
was
human. No
female could glimpse a man who looked as good as this and not feel…
intrigued.

“Well?” The impatience in his voice brought
her back to the task at hand. “Are there any more spiders?”

“I’m looking, I’m looking.” God help her, she
was. Heart thumping loudly in her chest, she started at his ankles,
inspected both of his calves, then moved up to his thighs. “No
spiders.”

She breezed past his behind, unable to resist
brushing at his back – just in case there were smaller arachnids
she couldn’t see – and then put her hand on his shoulder to turn
him around.

He turned easily enough.

She tried to remember to breathe normally.
Resolutely, she kept her gaze above his waist. One, two, three
quick brushes with her hand at his chest. Such muscles. Damn.
“There. All done. All gone.”

“What about my legs?” His voice sounded
gravelly, husky, hoarse. Sexy as hell. She bit her lip to keep from
moaning out loud.

“Your legs – of course. How could I forget?”
Nearly babbling, she dropped to her knees in front of him. In her
haste to avoid looking
there
, she nearly bumped him there
with her head. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Then she couldn’t help but
look.

Great. His body was as aroused as his
voice.

Her position suddenly struck her. On her
knees in front of him, if she lifted her head she could—. No. Not
just no.
Hell, no
.

Quickly she inspected his feet and his
legs.

“Nothing,” she sang out, as cheerfully as she
could. Pushing herself up and away from him, she gave him her back,
lifting her heavy hair off her neck. “My turn.”

He brushed over her shoulders, feather-soft.
She shivered. He trailed his fingers down her sides.

“No spiders, so far.”

Spiders. Right. That’s what they were
doing.

His hands cupped her breasts. Lightly.
Reverently.

Jerking away, she gasped. “What—!”

Withdrawing, he drew his hands down her
sides. “Hold still. I’m looking for spiders.”

Trying to hold herself immobile while her
heart threatened to burst out of her chest was no easy feat. She
broke into a light sweat and concentrated on regulating her
breathing.

Where she had brushed him, he stroked. Down
the curve of her spine, over her buttocks, down her legs. Her knees
went weak and she wobbled. “Damn it, Alrick. You’re not playing
fair.” More than her face was blazing.

Abruptly, he stepped away from her. She
couldn’t help but look, noting the size of his arousal.

“You’re right. My deepest apologies.” His
husky voice sounded anything but apologetic.

She looked away, biting her lip and thinking
about how wet she was, wondering too at the intensity of her
desire. For him. A man from another place, another reality, a man
who wasn’t even human.

Still, it had been a long time since she’d
felt this way.

Liam – she forced herself to remember her
beloved husband. For the past year, her entire life had been
focused on her grief at losing him. She’d existed in a mournful
fog, feeling nothing, allowing herself no room for anything but
sorrow.

Alrick made her want more.

More than sex, more than the simple pleasure
of her body joining with his.

Alrick made her want to live. Made her
realize her life could be so much more than mere existence. Sure,
she had a purpose now, a reason to escape the warlord – her unborn
child – but not once had she thought she’d experience such emotions
again.

Perhaps her life had not completely died with
Liam.

Maybe now was time to acknowledge the reality
that her life must go on and it would be her choice how she must
live.

Part of her wanted to ask him to still check
her front, but her courage suddenly failed her. Hey, she could look
down the length of her body and see there were no spider left
crawling on her skin.

“Carly?”

She gathered her nerve and inhaled. “I want
you, Alrick.”

“We’ve already covered this.” Alrick sounded
miserable, as though his teeth were clenched and he was in physical
pain.

“I know. But I’ve been thinking. Maybe we
should just give in to our feelings. We can take precautions
against pregnancy. You do have condoms in Rune don’t you?”

“Now?” He sounded incredulous.

She couldn’t really blame him. “After we move
someplace where those damn spiders can’t follow.”

Alrick stared, holding his clothing over his
leather pouch thing – and what she knew was a raging hard-on.

Mouth dry, she took a step closer. “Despite
our best intentions, we have trouble keeping our hands off each
other. If we just go ahead and make love, maybe that’ll get it out
of our systems.”

No doubt one of the stupidest things she’d
ever said, but as good an excuse as any.

If he wanted an excuse.

“So you think if I make love to you now, this
one time will purge our foolish desire for good?” He sounded
scornful.

She glanced at him. Did a double take and
looked again. He’d moved his clothing to his side, no longer hiding
anything. Fully aroused, the man was huge. Magnificent. She’d never
seen anything like it.

“See how badly I want you?”

“Yes.” Licking her lips, she couldn’t tear
her eyes away. “Are you normally,” she cleared her throat, “like
this? So… big?”

The look he gave her was arrogant and
smoldering. “What do you think?”

Again she swallowed. “Okaaaay. Well.” She
tried to think rationally, but all she could think of was sex. Hot,
mindless sex. With him. Inside her. Pounding. Hard and fast and
furious.

Without protection
.

“Oh, damn.” She felt like pinching herself.
“I’m betting you don’t have a condom, do you?”