Page 66 of Bull Moon Rising

“Notjustspiders. They’re great big ones. Terrifying creatures.” His lip curls and he looks absolutely revolted. “I wish there weren’t, but you need to be prepared for such things.”

“You say they’re big? How big?” Lark asks. “Like…the size of a plate?”

“Big as my thumbnail,” he declares in a grave voice, his expression somber. “Trust me when I say they’re horrible.”

My lips twitch, but I promise myself I won’t laugh. “While I hate a spider as much as anyone, I don’t see how this camping excursion continues to help us. We’re more in danger of mosquitos and getting a cold from being rained upon than running into cave spiders. If you really want to teach us what it’s like in the tunnels, we’d be better off indoors, don’t you think?”

He shakes his head. “This is about—”

“I know what it’s about,” I protest, exasperated. “All I’m saying is that there has to be a better way to teach us than to trudge us through a forest full of mud!”

Hawk storms over and plants his hands on his hips, looming over me. Mereden makes an alarmed squeak but I only glare back at the Taurian. If this is an intimidation tactic, it’s not going to work on me. “Do you have something you want to say to me?” he asks in a deadly voice. “Wife?”

“Yes.” I lift my chin. “This is madness. If you want to teach us how to move about in the tunnels, find us a nice dry basement instead and—” I cut off as he puts a finger in my face. “Put that thing away.”

“Aspeth,” he says, his tone full of warning. “Iam your teacher.Magpieis your teacher. If we tell you to trudge through the mud for a week straight, that’s what you’re going to do.”

“I really don’t think—”

“Tut!” The finger is under my nose again, raising higher with the sharp syllable. “You’re not here to think, you’re here to learn.”

Now I’m the one making an angry sound. “I’m not some idiot—”

“No, just a terrible listener.Andyou don’t seem to like being told what to do.” He eyes me balefully, looking nothing like the heavy-eyed bull who fingers me to climax when we’re alone. “I’m thinking you’ve picked the wrong line of work.”

“You’re not here tothink, you’re here to teach,” I snap back, using his words against him.

Gwenna hisses between her teeth.

Kipp takes a delicate step away from us.

Hawk gets in my face, his muzzle practically to my nose. “If you were a man, I’d turn you over my knee and spank you like a child, since you’re acting like one.”

I’m not sure why, but the angry flick of his tail hitting his thighs and the loom of him over me doesn’t make me any madder. If anything, it makes heat uncurl deep in my belly. “My gender shouldn’t matter.”

His eyes narrow. “So youdowant me to spank you.”

Now we’re both breathing hard.

“Hey, uh,” Lark says. “I think I speak for all of us when I say ‘What the fuck?’ ”

“Mind your business,” Hawk says, not looking away from me. I don’t look away from him, either. If I continue to meet him glare for glare, is he going to make good on his word? Is he going to turn me over on hisknee and spank me, his hand on my bare buttocks, me helpless and splayed over his lap…?

Mercy, that should not be as arousing as it is. I blink up at Hawk, and I could swear I see a hint of red in the gleam of his eyes. Is it the moon making him act like this…or does he really want me? It’s most likely the Conquest Moon, as he’s drummed into my ears over and over again, and the realization dampens my arousal.

I’m just convenient, nothing more.

Before I can come up with a response, there’s a distant sound in the woods like that of branches snapping. We all turn, and then a voice calls out, “Ho! Is someone there?”

“Ho,” Magpie calls back in greeting, cupping a hand to her face. “Over here! By the stream!”

To my surprise, the pack I have on my shoulder slips. One of the straps falls away and I turn to grab it, only for the entire thing to tumble to the ground with a wet slap. The blankets, foodstuffs, dry boots, and everything else spill out into the mud, and I want to scream in frustration. Just what I needed.

Gwenna kneels down next to me, picking up one of my boots. “You clumsy, silly thing,” she loudly exclaims as the riders make their way toward us.

I pick up one end of the strap, noticing it’s been unbuckled. What the—

“Pull your hood up,” Gwenna whispers to me. “Do it now. Quickly.”

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