Chapter One

Nicole only wanted a nice quiet evening to herself. She'd just put in four twelve-hour shifts at the hospital and her body and mind screamed for a break. She finished folding the last of the laundry and sat the basket in the corner of the laundry room.

Nicole planned on soaking in the tub for an hour while reading one of those hot, steamy books she'd picked up at the local bookstore last payday and hadn't had a chance to open yet. A glass of wine and a few aromatic candles would also relax her.

She walked into her bedroom, pulled her sweatpants and tee shirt off and dropped them in the dirty clothes basket. Nicole strolled to the bathroom, turned the faucet and let the hot water begin to fill her bath. She stepped back and admired her tub. When she was apartment hunting, it was the bathroom that sold her.

The apartment was priced a little steeper than she wanted, but when the agent opened the doors to the bathroom she couldn't do anything but say, "Where do I sign?"

The room was huge. It had a skylight encrusted with cut stained glass, and on bright sunny days the room was bathed in a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors. On rainy nights, the water cascading down the glass lulled her to sleep, only to awaken with pruned skin and thankfulness she hadn't drowned.

The toilet was separated in a small room and the shower stood in the corner, surrounded by glass bricks from floor to ceiling with the exception of the entrance, closed off by a simple white curtain. There were also two shower heads, one of which, if she positioned it just right, was not only a shower but also gave one of the best orgasms a spray of water could offer.

However, the piece de la resistance remained the bathtub. It stood in the middle of the floor, surrounded by plush foot-deep carpet. From afar, it looked like an antique tiger pawed bath, but once she stepped up to it the small Jacuzzi jets made her salivate. She would no longer have to go to the gym just to get in the hot tub and sooth her aching muscles.

Nicole stepped over to the wall cabinet and pulled out a bottle of bath oils. After pouring a generous amount into the raging water, she dipped her hands into the canister of bath crystals, scooping some up and dropping that, too, into the water. It was just enough to give the water a frothy appearance.

She would turn the jets on before she got in and too much would have the bubbles touching the ceiling. She found out after she moved in, Jacuzzis and bubble bath did not mix well. After two major catastrophes in the tub and having to get the carpet cleaned she set out on a mission to find the right concoction.

It only took her a week before she wandered into a bath and body type store and found foaming bath crystals. Not bubble bath. Elated with her find, she made it a point to go to the store almost every week.

Swishing her hand in the water and finding it suitable, she wrapped her hair in a small towel, took her glasses off, sat them on the small table she'd placed next to the tub and slowly stepped over into the bath. The hot water stung her toes and tickled up her calf. Nicole paused and waited for her body to adjust to the heat and then continued her assent.

The frothy aqua slid up her body like a warm hand. Caressing, teasing, soothing. Her mouth parted into the perfect 'oh' when it reached her womanhood and sent a shiver up her spine. This was one of the reasons why she favored a long, hot, soak in the tub. Who needs a man when you have a Jacuzzi?

A soft chuckle escaped her throat at the thought that floated through her mind. Deep down, Nicole knew a man couldn't be substituted by a bubble bath. But when that's all you've got, you have to make it good. Her body relaxed back against the warmed porcelain and she almost moaned when the steam rose to her nose and wafted up to her brain. Lavender and cinnamon and something else attacked her senses and stilled her heart. The salesperson was right when she said this oil was to die for.

Nicole reached over, turned the jets to lull and closed her eyes. Before she could resist, her eyes slid shut. Soft foamy bubbles caressed her body and rocked her to sleep.

She didn't know how long she'd been under, but the wrinkles in her fingers and toes told her it must have been at least forty-five minutes. The water was cooling and the steam that fogged the room like a curtain was gone. Nicole opened her eyes and scanned the surroundings.

Something caught her attention. She closed her eyes and reopened them. The large black--no, brown--spot floating in the air confused her. She blinked, ran her hand across her face and stared at it until it came into focus. It wasn't floating but crawling down the wall. No, it wasn't crawling. It was just there. Not moving. Not doing anything. A large brown spot the size of her fist. What was it? Nicole brought her hand up and fumbled for her glasses on the table without taking her gaze off the brown object.

Her hand trembled when she brought them to her face and she dropped them into the water. Her heartbeat sped and a large lump lodged in her throat. She fanned around in the water, grabbed her specks and brought them to her face. Staring through water-streaked glass, Nicole's body stiffened when the realization of what it was came into focus.

When she moved to Florida everyone at work told her about these monsters, but she didn't believe them. She hadn't seen any and she was never one to believe what she couldn't see with the naked eye. But she could see this perfectly clear. It was the largest, ugliest, hairiest spider she'd ever seen. Her back went ramrod straight. Her gaze flew from the spider to the door.

Every nerve ending in her body screamed for help. She hated spiders. She hated little creepy crawling bugs, anything that could slide up a pant leg and bite or snuggle under the blanket when you weren't paying attention and poison you in your sleep.

Nicole would rather have been face to face with a lion, tiger or bear than a spider. And this was no normal spider. She closed her fist and placed it between her line of vision with the mutated spider on the wall. She could still see part of its legs. Yup, this was the spider from out of space, for sure. She stared at it and when it didn't move decided it was asleep. Do spiders sleep?

She began to stand and it spasmed and crawled three inches toward the floor. Nicole screamed and almost leaped backwards from the tub. Water sloshed over the ledge and saturated the floor, but she didn't care. The spider jumped and landed a mere four feet from her and then scurried in her direction.

Nicole didn't know where she was going or how loud she screamed, but the soreness in her throat from straining was evidence of her dilemma. She ran from the bathroom through the living room and to the front door, the screams still careening from her throat.

Not thinking about anything but escaping from the spider, she swung the front door open and slammed full force into the man walking past her door. She hit him so hard he toppled backward and fell to the floor. The packages he was carrying flew in the air and crashed to the ground. His arms came up and around her in a tight grasp as he tried to stop her and calm her.

"What's the matter?" His voice sounded hurried, concerned.

"B ... b ... b ... bathroom!" Nicole gasped for air. "Gun! I need a gunnnn!" Her head was spinning. Her chest tight from how hard her heart pounded against her rib cage.

His body sprang up, he grabbed the baseball bat he'd just propped at his door and ran into her apartment. He stopped outside the door, turned and said, "Go inside my place. Stay there until I come back."

Terry Slade didn't know what he was going to find in the bathroom of this hysterical female but he figured it was an intruder. When he researched the area for housing, he was pleased this one proved to be in a safe neighborhood, but there were pervs all over the world. They found their way into the quietest, safest places and he was sure this apartment didn't corner the market on a total absence of crime.

His hand tightened on the narrow end of the bat as he slowly crept toward the bathroom door. It was wide open and he saw no movement within the confines of the room.

Whoever was in there might have run out or was hiding in a closet or behind another door, waiting for him to pass before he jumped out and attacked. He heard the slightest of noises from behind him and swung around, ready to hit. Nicole screamed again and drew her hands up in front of her.

Slade placed a finger against his mouth to silence her. She nodded, swallowed and stepped up behind him. He shook his head and she stopped. "Go back to my apartment." His voice was a mere whisper.

He took another step toward the bathroom and jumped in while swinging the bat. He hit nothing but air. Slade stopped, moved his gaze around the room and searched for the intruder. Nothing.

He stepped out and walked across the hall to her bedroom. A quick glance under the bed and in the closet and again he turned up empty. Turning, he walked back to his apartment. Stepping in to the front room, he found Nicole exactly where he'd sent her. Standing perfectly still, almost in shock in the middle of the floor.

His eyes popped wide open when the realization she was naked hit his consciousness. As naked as a brand new baby, but she was no baby. Her soft-bronzed skin resembling hot milk chocolate glistened with the water still dripping down her skin. Her breasts, ample and perky with nipples the size of grapes, sent a twitch straight to his groin.

"I um ... I um..." Slade swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to speak again after diverting his gaze to the floor. "I didn't find anyone, miss."

"It's got to be in there." Nicole sucked in a breath and her breast rose and fell.

Slade drew in a breath and let it out slow, trying to stave the heat rising in his body. "Who was it? What did he look like?" He grabbed the phone off the small side table. "I'm going to call the police."

"Police?" She took a step toward him and he backed up. Geez, what is he, nuts? Who calls the police for a spider? Nicole stared at him, wondering what was wrong. He had to have seen the spider. If it got away she would never be able to sleep in that apartment again. She'd have to move. Break her lease, anything, but she'd have to find someplace else.

"The spider was huge." She shook her head when the memory of it chasing her came back to her mind. "How could you not see it?" Nicole stared up into his eyes and for the first time realized how gorgeous they were. They stared back at her like emeralds. Bright, yet dark and mystical all at the same time. "It was as large as your head."

"Spider ... spider?" Slade ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. "It was a spider?"

Nicole nodded her head.

"You want to show it to me?" Slade held his hand out for her to grab.

Nicole took a step back, her head shaking widely from side to side.

"Okay. Wait here."

He turned and walked back to her apartment, wondering when she was going to notice she wore no clothes. He'd wanted to point it out to her but figured it could wait until he found the notorious spider. Probably a tiny garden-variety kind the size of a pin top. He stepped up to the bathroom door and stood perfectly still. His gaze traveled across all of the surfaces, the walls. Nothing.

He took another step into the room. This time he looked behind the tub, the shower curtain and where the toilet hid. Still nothing. Getting down on his knees, he fanned his hand under the tub. The swift tickle of something big and hairy running across his arm sent a shiver straight to his stomach. His arm tensed.

The gigantic brown spider skidded across the floor and ran into the corner. Slade fell back and butt-walked to the far wall.

"Shit!" He yelped when his eyes focused on the scary beast. "Well, I'll be damned." He started laughing at himself as he pushed up from the floor. "Damn thing scared me too. No wonder she panicked."

He tiptoed closer. The poor spider hovered in the corner perfectly still. It was probably more afraid of them than they were of it. He kneeled down, swooped it up in one hand and cupped it with the other. Once outside, he tapped his door with his foot and waited for Nicole to open the door.

"Was this the intruder?" The smile that curved his mouth tilted the corners just enough to mock her.

Nicole's gaze slid down to his hands and when she realized what he hid in his grasp she screamed, slammed the door and locked it.

"Hey. It's okay. They don't bite."

Slade heard Nicole's breathing through the door. Was she crying? Her respirations sounded ragged. Her voice broke into fractured syllables when she spoke.

"Kill it! You've got to kill it or it will come back."

"They don't bite." He repeated.

"Don't care. I hate spiders. Kill it."

Slade laughed loudly and boisterously. He shook his head, peeked through his tightly cupped fingers and stared at the spider. It hadn't moved since he picked it up. Probably scared to death. He walked through the parking lot toward the wooded area to the side of their building.

He bent down and opened his hands. "All right, little fella." He shooed it with his finger. "I wouldn't advise you to come back. Can't guarantee your life next time." He straightened and returned to the apartment.

His fist rapped on his door. He knew she was peeping out of the security hole.

"Where is it?"

He held up his hands and turned them in front of the little hole so she could see they were empty. "It's gone. May I come into my apartment?"

The door slid open and Nicole stood there, a look of disbelief on her face. Her eyes jetted from right to left looking for the spider. She let out a loud sigh and smiled. It reached all the way to her eyes.

"I don't know how to repay you."

Slade stood in the doorway, not wanting to get too close to her and her nakedness. Damn she looked good. The water had begun to dry. There were streaks where bubbles slid down her body toward areas he'd like to taste firsthand. His gaze slid from her face down the length of her body. He sucked in a breath.

"Miss ... Um ... um..." He again looked over her head to the far wall. If he didn't, he was going to embarrass himself.

Nicole glanced over her shoulder and in the direction he was looking, wondering what he saw. She hunched her shoulders and figured he was just shy or thought her sublimely stupid for being afraid of spiders. A cool breeze brushed over her body and she looked down. Stark shock covered her face.

"Oh!"

Slade settled his gaze on her face and smiled. He tried for comfort but knew that running to a stranger totally naked would hardly make her feel better.

Nicole didn't know what to cover with her hands. Her face, her breast or her crotch. Heat rushed to her face. Her chest constricted and she couldn't breath. The room began to spin around her head. She thought she heard him curse right before her eyes rolled to the back of her head, the room went dark and she passed out.