Free The Alpha's Mate by Jacqueline Rhoades Page B

moved past her
toward the house.
    “No!” That came out clear enough. Elizabeth
pulled his arm to prevent him from going forward. Instead, she
found herself pulled along in his wake, her hand seized by his.
    “Where is it?” he asked again when they
reached the porch.
    “K–k-k-kitchen.” She was still attempting to
move in the opposite direction. He wasn’t gripping hard enough to
hold her. She didn’t want him to let go.
    “Stop,” he said firmly and tugged her hand.
Like jitterbug dancers, the tug brought her swinging around and
into his chest. He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders,
holding her in place until she gave up the fight. The hand holding
hers he used to lift her chin. “It’s just a snake. I’m sure you’ve
seen one before.”
    “O-only very briefly in the zoo and I never
invited him home for supper.”
    He laughed and gave her a quick squeeze.
“That’s my girl. Not so scared you can’t make a joke of it.”
    “I wasn’t joking.”
    Elizabeth followed him into the house,
peeking out from behind his broad back. She wasn’t proud. If that
snake came slithering across the floor, she was going to climb that
broad back until she was sitting on his shoulders. He, after all,
was wearing boots.
    Marshall walked easily across the living room
to the kitchen door and looked inside. He stopped and looked back
over his shoulder and spoke to the top of her head.
    “Lizzie? Honey? He’s over in the corner
looking as happy as a well fed snake can be,” he whispered. “Seems
like you invited him for supper after all.”
    “Very funny. Can you get rid of it or not?”
She was pressed up against his back, using him as a shield between
her and the giant serpent in her kitchen.
    “Well ma’am, I could, but it’s a might hard
for a man to move quick and concentrate when a lady’s got her hand
down his pants.” His shoulders shook in silent laughter.
    Good heavens! He was right. Without thinking,
she’d gripped his belt and her fingers were half way down his
backside. She snatched her hand back and held it to her chest.
“Sorry!”
    “No need to be. Pure pleasure on my part.” He
stepped away from her and into the kitchen.
    She leaned in to watch, saw him bend and his
hand flash out faster than an ordinary man’s should. He stood up
straight and turned to her, grinning like a boy.
    “It’s just a little one,” he said of the two
foot black rope hanging from his fist.
    The snake hung there, docile, its beady black
eyes staring straight ahead. She could see a slight bulge in its
body below where Marshall gripped it firmly behind its head.
Hanging from Marshall’s ham sized fist, this snake didn’t look very
threatening at all.
    “That is not the snake that crawled out of
those cupboards.” She pointed to the open doors and started to
laugh. “The one I saw was much, much bigger, at least eight feet
long. Okay, maybe six. Probably that one’s father.”
    “Why don’t I set this fella on his way and
come back and take a look around. Pa could be hiding under your
bed. You never know.”
    He winked and she felt the flush rise to her
cheeks. Cassandra would invite him to check between the sheets as
well, but as much as Elizabeth wanted to follow her bold and sexy
character’s example, she couldn’t. Her tongue was stuck to the roof
of her mouth and she was having trouble swallowing.
    “Coffee?” she croaked.
    “Sure,” he said, nodding at the snake, “Let
me take care of this.” He raised the snake in a semi-salute and
headed for the back door.
    “Oh, uh, let me get that for you.” Elizabeth
reached around him and the snake to push back the bolt on the door.
It was a tight squeeze between the counter and the wall and
Marshall stepped back just far enough to give her room to open the
door and reach for the hook and eye that served as a lock for the
screen door. She held it open with her back as Marshall and his
captive walked out. He paused next to her and leaned down to
whisper