tmp0

The
Spider King

By

Charisma
Knight

Copyright
October 2013 Charisma Knight

Cover
art by Charisma Knight, October 2013

Edited
and proofed by Shannon Williams

No
part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or
mechanical means, including but not limited to printing,
file-sharing, and e-mail, without prior written permission from the
author.

All Rights Reserved

This
is a work of fiction. All characters, places, businesses, and
incidents are from the

author’s
imagination. Any resemblance to actual places, people, or events is
purely

coincidental.
Any trademarks mentioned herein are not authorized by the trademark

owners
and do not in any way mean the work is sponsored by or associated
with the

trademark
owners. Any trademarks used are specifically in a descriptive
capacity.

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are
products of the

author’s
imagination, or used fictitiously and are not to be construed as
real. Any

resemblance
to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or
dead, is

entirely
coincidental.

You
never know who or what is watching. Successful in business and
unlucky in love, Abigail Mason plays the cards life has dealt her.
Although lonely, she’s focused her talents on other aspects of
her life. Bold, yet sassy, there’s one thing she fears most.
Spiders.

When
the mysterious, hunky many appears in her bedroom out of the blue,
Abigail thinks she’s lost her mind, especially once discovering
there’s more to him than meets the eye.

Spider
king, Gwar has been observing introvert, Abigail for months within
the very confines of her home. When he finally approaches the lovely
woman with the smoldering bedroom eyes to woo her, he realizes he’s
bitten off more than he can chew but as always he’s up for the
challenge.

Warning:
This
short, sexy, fantasy read will raise your blood pressure and leave
you with a smile on your face.

A
big thanks to the readers for your continuous support. You guys are
awesome!

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 woman.

“
She’s
killed some of your best warriors,” She agitated further. “What
are you going to do about it?”

He
groaned. It was just like Arachnianne to make an enticing opportunity
look like gold, then mold it into a deadly entity that would consume
him no matter the path he chose. She was not only their creator, but
a trickster to boot.

“
Arachnianne,
sooner or later immortality can take a toll on one’s soul. It
brings me to my knees and I can no longer bear it. You know this
better than anyone here. Why do you taunt me so?”

“
It’s
like a slap in the face when one of your finest creations turns on
you. You’re telling me I failed, that I’m not perfect.”
She hissed. “How dare you.”

Unshaken,
Gwar ignored his creator’s temper tantrum. If she struck him
down now, perhaps he could find some semblance of peace. Most likely
she’d turn him into a lower life form, making him live for an
infinite period of time.

“
I
know your fear, Gwar. But I won’t use it against you. Your
destiny is with the girl, but you must do me this favor and change
her mind against my beautiful creations. Once you’ve
accomplished this task, you will be human and shall never hear from
me again.”

“
Give
me your word, Arachnianne.”

She
nodded and smiled. “You have my word.” With that, she
disappeared as quickly as she appeared, leaving Gwar to ponder his
thoughts.

Chapter
Two

Maryland,
several weeks later

Abigail
stretched while inhaling the sweet aroma of cranberry spice candles
before plopping down on the sofa and enjoying a lazy evening at home.
The weekend was here and she planned on being a couch potato at
least for one night.

Propping
her feet on the ottoman, she tightened the sash of her red silk robe
before picking up the remote. While flicking through the cable
channels, a little black dot caught her attention. It moved, and her
worse fear came to life.
A
damned spider!

“
Oh
no, not again!” She groaned. This was the fifth time this week
she’d seen a spider in the house. Sure enough, a black spider
the size of a nickel was sitting there. Watching her, no doubt, or at
least that’s the way she perceived it in her mind. This lone
spider had found the time in his schedule to stalk her when she was
alone.

She
rose off the sofa and hurried into the kitchen to retrieve the can of
Bug-Be-Gone. Sure, she could squash him with her shoe, but hell. What
a mess it would make. Her skin crawled and nervousness settled over
her as she gripped the can in her sweaty palms. Her heart thundered
against her chest and the palms of her hands became moist.

“
Not
enough room in my house for both of us. I hate you little bastards!”
The spider appeared to study her movements and scuttled to the left.
Anxious, she aimed the can and sprayed, unleashing a large fog of
the magical mist into the blinds.

The
defenseless spider began to run, but she chased it relentlessly with
the spray. “Oh no you don’t! Little motherfu…”

Once
she was sure it was dead, she stopped spraying. She coughed a few
times and fanned the air around her, refusing to open the window.
There were probably more waiting to get in.

Just
then, she heard a key rattling in the door and smiled. Oh thank God
for small favors. Her roommate was the master of ridding their home
of bugs. He never killed them, just captured and released them
outside.

Harrison
crossed the threshold and started choking. “What the
hell,Abigail!” He stormed past her, opening the blinds and the
windows. “You’ll kill us both.”

“
Don’t
open the windows. They’ll come in if you open the windows.”
She shivered while imagining more of the tiny eight-legged pests
invading her sanctuary. The mere thought of seeing several spiders at
a time made her flesh crawl.

Harrison
rushed toward her and snatched the can out of her hands. “You
know this shit is dangerous, right? Your phobia’s gonna be the
death of us.” He muttered with a shake of his head. “I
seriously think you need a hypnotist to get over this.”

Abigail
shrugged as her imagination got the best of her. “I’m
sorry, but you know how I hate spiders. They’re nasty
disgusting little creatures.”

“
Abby,
you always talk about going to places with warm climates.” He
arched a dark brow. “You know they do have tarantulas in some
places. Some of them are as big as my fist.” He teased. “You
know I used to have a pet tarantula as a boy.”

Abigail
covered her ears. “Yeah, I know that. You’re so damned
gross.”

“
Abby,
you know if you were to hold one, you’d conquer your fears.”

“
Alright,
not helping here!” She swatted at him and flopped on the sofa.
“I’m staying my ass right here in good ole Maryland, so
there’s no chance in that.” She quipped. “She
stared at the mocha colored man as he adjusted his black wireframe
glasses and stroked his goatee. “Wait, weren’t you
supposed to be at Caroline’s tonight?”