Lonestar Angel by Colleen Coble Read Free Book Online

high alert. A snake? His keys were on the nightstand. He threw them to the floor to see if he could elicit any different sound. Like a rattle. But all he heard was the clang of the keys hitting the rug, then a frantic slithering sound. Eden stirred beside him, then her breathing deepened again.
    It was definitely a snake, but at least it wasn’t a rattler. More likely a patchnose or a bull snake. It would be frightened, but he needed to get it out of the room before Eden saw it and freaked. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do it in the dark. He sat up and put his feet on the floor, then flicked on the light. The warm glow chased the shadows from the room. He blinked and glanced around. A snake was coiled about six inches from his foot. He froze when he recognized the familiar markings. A rattler. It hadn’t rattled, but then, they didn’t always.
    The snake was within striking distance, and Clay didn’t move a muscle. If Eden moved or made a noise, the thing was likely to bite him. She sighed, and one hand stretched out. The snake’s eyes didn’t blink, but Clay could tell it had noticed the movement.
    “Eden, don’t move,” he whispered. “Can you hear me? Don’t move. There’s a rattler by my foot.”
    She sighed again, and he knew she was sleeping too soundly to have heard his warning. She stirred again, and the snake showed signs of agitation. His best chance was to jerk back his foot, but he knew rattlers. They were lightning fast, and this was a big boy. It might even be able to reach him on the bed.
    Wait. The pillow. Could he hit it with the pillow and knock it down? His mouth was dry. Keeping his gaze on the snake, he slowly moved his hand over to grasp the pillow. He threw the pillow and jerked his foot back at the same time. Everything happened so fast that he wasn’t aware at first that he’d been bitten. Then a stinging pain radiated from his ankle.
    “Eden!” he said, reaching over to grab her arm.
    She fought him off. “Don’t touch me!”
    “Wake up. I need you.” He wasn’t sure if it was the poison or adrenaline, but his head spun.
    She finally sat up in bed. “Clay? What’s the matter?”
    If he hadn’t seen the drops of blood from the puncture wound, he wouldn’t have believed it. His ankle stung. “A snake bit me. The phone is on your side of the bed. I need you to call Rick.”
    Her eyes widened, and the last of the sleepiness in her eyes disappeared. “You’ve been bitten?”
    He nodded. “By a rattler. It’s under the pillow on the floor. Don’t get out of bed. Just call Rick and tell him what happened. I’m a little woozy. I have to lie down.” He flopped onto his back.
    She grabbed the phone on the bed stand and called the main house. He listened to her explain the situation to Rick. “He is coming over right away with some men.” Her eyes were worried. “How do you feel?”
    “My lips are numb,” he said, struggling to talk.
    “You might be having an allergic reaction. I think it’s too soon for venom to be doing anything. I’ll call Rick back. Maybe he has an EpiPen.” She punched in the number again.
    Clay struggled to draw in a breath. His chest felt tight, and his throat seemed to be swelling. Eden was right. The venom shouldn’t be having an effect for half an hour, but allergic reactions happened sooner.
    The pillow hid the snake, but he could see the reptile’s tail sticking out from under it. The tail moved, but the rattle made no sound. So that’s why he’d had no warning. He closed his eyes.

6
    T HE SNAKE ’ S HEAD EMERGED FROM UNDER THE PILLOW , FOLLOWED BY A LONG , SINUOUS BODY . Eden shuddered, unable to tear her gaze away as the beautiful creature slithered across the floor to curl in the back corner. She touched Clay’s damp forehead.
    His lids fluttered, then opened. His pupils were enormous. He licked his lips. “Where’s Rick?”
    “He’s coming.” A tourniquet wasn’t advisable at this point, but she wanted to do something .
    She