Chapter
One
Arachnocadia
Unamused,
Gwar watched from his throne while his warriors celebrated their
enemy’s demise.
Wishing
he was elsewhere, he sighed as women bumped and grinded against the
crotch of his warriors while other coupled in the dimly lit corners
of the Great Hall to the beat of the music.
Centuries
ago, when he was a young warrior, he celebrated his war parties in
the same manor with his long time friend Slayer. At the time, it was
nothing for them to share several or more Mairachanids or spider
maidens. Now it all seemed so unappealing.
Mastedon,
the wolf spider they killed had tried to invade the home of Abigail
Mason, the human woman he was assigned to protect many months ago by
their creator Arachnianne.
Originally,
he was not to interfere with the woman, so he watched her from afar.
However, something blossomed in his soul every time he observed the
ebony beauty in her home.
When
he first laid eyes on the sassy, yet seductive five foot eleven inch
bombshell, something within him had awakened and he knew he’d
fallen hard for her. Even so, there would never be a chance to get to
know her. That cast an eerie shadow over his heart and soul,
thrusting him into the depths of despair.
Imagining
touching her smooth mahagony skin made his cock harden. With a groan
he adjusted the organ straining against his black pants while
picturing her squared angular face and smoldering brown bedroom eyes.
He loved how she adjusted her glasses on her cute button nose and bit
her full sensuous lips eagerly whenever she read her erotica books.
Suddenly
Arachnianne appeared and the warriors ceased their celebration. It
became so silent, one could hear a pin drop.
“ Carry
on.” Arachnianne commanded, with a wave of her hand. Shifting
her long black robes, she stood in front of the spider king.
“ Your
soul is blackened and filled with sorrow.” She retorted with a
sigh. “It offends me greatly that you no longer cherish what
has been given to you so long ago. The only time you seem to find any
happiness is when you’re guarding the human.”
Gwar
rose and bowed to his creator. “It is true, I am hollow within,
but rest assured, as your king I will always carry out my duties to
you.”
“ Not
from the heart, no doubt. I didn’t create you to walk the
realms as some mindless meat sack of a king. What happened to your
zest for life? You should be celebrating with your warriors.”
“ I
don’t know.” He shrugged as he looked into Arachnianne’s
black eyes. Those eyes could slay him, turning him into dust if she
so chose. In a sense, he’d welcome his own demise because
somewhere along the line, he’d lost his way.
“ I
need you to return to the human’s home, immediately.”
Arachnianne announced.
“ She’s
safe now, what more is there for us to do?”
“ She’s
your soul mate, Gwar. You’ve served me well for so long and I’m
willing to make a bargain with you.”
His
eyes widened and he swallowed the lump in the back of his throat.
Could this be the moment he’d been waiting for during his
entire existence?
“ What
bargain do you speak of?” He asked wrly.
“ She’s
killed at least a few dozen of your warriors you left to guard her.
If you can persuade her to change her mind about spiders, I’ll
allow you to shed your immortality.”
Gwar’s
pulse raced at the thought of becoming human. “You would allow
this?”
Arachnianne
nodded. “However, if you fail, Abigail will be captured and
turned to stone. She’d make a great addition to my garden,
don’t you think?”
The
threat made him burn with anger, causing Arachnianne to smirk. “See
that, you care more for the human than you do for yourself. I could
destroy you now if I wanted for shooting those daggers out of your
eyes at me.
He
blinked several times. He didn’t know it, but his fangs had
descended at the thought of Arachnianne harming his Abigail. Damn!
Apparently he had it bad for the
K. Sterling
Jacquie Rogers
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Shiloh Walker
Elizabeth Moynihan
Mary Balogh
Tara Fox Hall
Jonathan Maberry
Jane Hunt
James Kakalios