EXTRACT FOR
But Fear Itself
(Giselle Renarde)

"Going back to him is not an option," said that deep, masculine voice in the darkness.

Racine felt a tickle across her bare foot. When she looked down, a garter snake glided effortlessly across her toes.  She screamed, dropping the hose, and accidentally kicked the snake into the air.  In the darkness, its black skin shimmered orange with firelight.

She stumbled backwards, tripping over the hose and falling flat.  Her wet clothes adhered to her skin like they'd been glued on, but she couldn't steal her gaze away from the snake caught mid-air.  

Was it stuck in a spiderweb, or something?  How was it doing that, floating there?

And then, as the lawn held her down, something unbelievable happened: the snake... changed.  At first, she couldn't tell what was going on.  It grew bigger, wider, thicker, and as it did so, its form altered considerably.  The snake became more than just a snake.  It sprouted arms, sprouted legs.  The tail remained a tail, of sorts, except it moved to the front and... oh!  Racine felt awfully naughty when she realized what she was staring at.

Her gaze darted up the man's form, stumbling over rippling abs and a hard chest.  His skin was as dark as could be??"much darker than hers??"but it lost the characteristic glimmer of a snake's.  Standing before her was a man, no question.  A naked man??"no question about that, either.

"What... who..."  Racine skittered away from the stranger, her hands and feet slipping against the wet grass.  "Is this for real?"