It was frustrating wanting something when she couldn’t have it. Breeze’s advice also came to mind but she discarded it. She didn’t want Shadow to ever feel as though she’d pressured him into ha**ng s*x and he might if she stripped na**d and just entered his room. Would he even agree to it if she demanded sex?

She shook her head. That definitely wasn’t how she wanted him. There was an awareness of her body that seemed unending. It was his fault. All those muscles and sexy sounds he made just made her think of sex with him. She wasn’t about to ever forget waking in that shed with his rigid c**k nestled between her thighs.

Something tickled her ankle and she shifted her leg. It stopped, probably the sheet lying on her wrong. Her mind wandered back to thoughts of Shadow and how to get him into her bed. The days were ticking down until they’d return to Homeland. Her idea that frolicking with him in the water wearing the tiny bathing suit Breeze had packed might tempt him into sex hadn’t been an option yet. He wasn’t about to let her near the river again until one of them could swim.

Her eyes flew open as something tickled her foot again. Her heart jumped and her breath froze. Whatever it was moved again. She bolted upright and blindly reached for the light as she jerked her legs up to her chest. The lamp clicked on and she gripped the sheet, throwing it back.

A black spider was all she saw before she reacted. The shriek tore from her before she could stop it and she rolled right off the bed. The spider seemed to follow as her horrified gaze tracked it on the edge of the mattress. A loud thump sounded somewhere in the cabin and a door slammed into a wall. Heavy footfalls fell as she scrambled to put distance between her and the bed.

Her bedroom door flew open and Shadow stormed in. She turned her head, looking up at him. He wore nothing but a pair of boxers and a fierce look. “What is it?” His fingers were flexed into claws, his attention immediately fixing on the window. “Is someone outside?”

“Um, it’s a spider.” Her hand shook when she lifted it to point.

Shadow’s mouth fell open as he gawked at her.

“Look at it. It’s big. It was on my foot.”

“That tiny thing?” He crouched, staring at her instead of the intruder in her bed. “Did you fall out of bed?”

“It’s a spider.” Why can’t he understand how scary they are? It touched me.

He glanced at it, then her. “Hell.”

He straightened, walked to the bed and picked up the spider. She cringed. The thing could bite. It might be small but anything with eight legs had to have sharp little fangs. It made sense to her. Maybe its little legs had clawed tips. Eight of them. I hate spiders. The creepy, ugly things.

Shadow disappeared into the bathroom. She heard the water turn on. He returned and bent, his hands still damp as he lifted her from the floor. He tried to put her back on her bed but she clutched at his hot skin, shaking her head.

“It could have family. Maybe a nest in my bed.”

His eyebrows arched as he paused then turned and carried her into the hallway. He used his elbow to turn on the light before gently settling her on her feet. “Are you okay?”

“It was in my bed. On my foot.”

“Now it’s outside. I opened the window and put it out there. It won’t get back inside.”

“Why were your hands wet?”

“I washed them.” He gave her a concerned look. “I take it you’re terrified of spiders?”

“Yes.”

His lips twitched. “It was tiny, Beauty. Not even poisonous. I’m pretty sure about that. Hold on. I’ll go check your bed and your room.”

She followed him just inside the room and watched as he shook out her sheets, bedspread, and even lifted the bed to peer under it. He swept the room, even opening drawers and pushing furniture around until he finally looked at her.

“No nest and no family.” Amusement glinted in his eyes. “It was a hermit spider.”

“That’s not funny.” She calmed though. “I’m sorry. I screamed, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“I really hate them.”

“I realize that.”

She backed out into the hallway and he followed.

“Are you afraid to return to your room? Do you want me to check it again? We could change rooms. There’re no spiders in my bed.”

Here was her chance. She could use fear again to talk him into allowing her to sleep with him but she still felt guilty about doing that in the shed. Honesty was best. It was the Species trait she admired most and Shadow deserved that from a woman.

“I’m okay. I know you were thorough in your search and no more critters will bother me.”

“Good.”

It was impossible not to notice his chest. So broad, so bare and so close. The flat disks of his ni**les were mesmerizing but not any more so than the way his stomach muscles tempted her to touch them, trace each one and keep going lower.

“Beauty?”

She realized she was staring at his boxers. Warmth heated her cheeks as she lifted her chin. “Sleep with me. Not because of the spider or because I just had a scare. I want you to hold me because I like it when you do.”

He said nothing but he swallowed hard enough for her to see his Adam’s apple bob.

She took a step closer, until they nearly touched. “Isn’t it time we got beyond our pasts? We’re two adults. I’m attracted to you. I think you’re attracted to me.” She glanced down and saw the way his boxers had filled out. The outline of his c**k couldn’t be missed. “I know you’re attracted to me. Wasn’t holding me nice? I liked sleeping on you.”