Ensnared (The Spider's Mate, #1)

by Tiffany Roberts

“Your every act of defiance, Ketahn, serves as proof that you are to be my mate. You alone are worthy of that honor.”

Anything that appeared so harmless, so inexplicably alluring, could only bring pain and doom. Nothing good could come of it.

And this unique creature was his female. She belonged to him. Many vrix had tamed wild creatures as pets; why should he not have one of his own?

Not vrix, not animal, not spirit…what was she? His.

I’m caught in a spider’s web.

Those plump little strips of flesh intrigued him for many reasons, only one of which was the way she used them to shape her words.

“And you, Ketahn. I am glad she did not eat you alive.” “Had she done so, I would have used my final breath to ensure she choked.”

As he stared down at her and that strange pulse continued under his palm, he had the sudden urge to weave her into his own heartsthread—to keep her safe, to keep her supported, to keep…her.

It’s because I’ve been so lonely. Because I’ve yearned for someone to hold me, to care for me. Because it’s been so long since…since anyone has touched me like that. It’s because no one has ever touched me like that. With such…reverence.

His arms held her more securely, and he produced a strange sound in his chest—one part purr, one part hum, all parts alien. But it was gentle, soothing, and oddly melodic.

Ivy wasn’t home…but this was the closest she’d felt to it in years.

This strange spider creature, this wholly inhuman male, genuinely cared about her. More than any human ever had.

His touch—she’d yearned for his touch. The touch of a spider creature.

Just as surely as he was bound to his broodsister and his friends, Ketahn was bound to Ivy.

The connection they shared was deeper than Takarahl’s tunnels, more powerful than a raging storm, and more mysterious than the spirits dwelling in the jungle’s darkest places.

She could never call Ketahn handsome, not by any human standards, but he was striking and beautiful in his own right.

“You have taught me, Ivy. Not every moment in the Tangle must be a struggle.”

“I don’t even know which direction to look if I wanted to gaze toward Earth,” she said softly. “I don’t know how far away it is, how long it’s been since I left…” She looked up at Ketahn and flattened her palms on his chest, calling his eyes back to her. “But I know that I’m not alone. And neither are you, Ketahn.”

“I would see you clad in silk.”

“I will see you clad in my silk.”

Ketahn was not attractive by human standards, but that didn’t stop her body from reacting to him. He towered over her, a dominating force, charging the air with raw lust and enveloping her in his presence, which was equal parts possessive and reverent.

Ivy was no vrix, but why should she not go about clad in silk? Why should her skin not be caressed by the finest cloth that could be woven by vrix hands?

What difference did human and vrix make? Ivy was his. She would be his mate—his nyleea.

“Now you are mine, my nyleea. My mate.” He smoothed a hand over her hair. “My heartsthread.”

How was it possible to feel more wanted, more loved, by something so alien than by those who should have loved her most?

Now Ketahn and Ivy were mates, they were bound, they were ensnared by one another.