Ensnared (The Spider's Mate, #1)

by Tiffany Roberts

There was something about this one that fascinated him. Some sort of beauty that could not be placed, unlike anything any vrix had encountered, something that…that didn’t belong in this world.

leaving Ketahn to stare at the creature. A new scent teased him, something clean, exotic, alluring. Something sweet and, somehow…feminine.

Not vrix, not animal, not spirit…what was she? His. If nothing else, she was his.

It adjusted its front legs, shifting its body toward her. Ivy’s heart quickened. She thrust her palm at it again. “No. Stay back.” The creature stilled, eyes dipping to look at her hand. Tentatively, it extended one of its arms. Ivy watched as the creature straightened its fingers, flattened its palm, and pressed it against hers.

For a few seconds, Ivy stared at the comparison. Her pale, tiny hand against the creature’s, so different and yet somehow…somehow similar.

“Ketahn tes Ishuun’ani Ir’okari.” Ivy blinked. That…was a lot. “Ketahn tes Ishuun a…uh…” The creature extended an arm again and, with the same gentleness as before, took hold of Ivy’s wrist. Whether due to fear or curiosity, she didn’t resist as the creature shifted closer to her and guided her trembling hand to its chest. “Ketahn,” it said, bowing its head. “Ketahn,” Ivy repeated.

The corner of her mouth curled up. She was bareback riding an arachnotaur.

Once she was standing, she made to pull her hand away, but he held it a little longer, as though hesitant to let go. Her gaze met his. There was fire in his eyes. Deep, meaningful, and powerful, it spoke of a passion that transcended appearance, language, and culture, of a connection that people only dreamt of finding on this world or any other.

“You are such a…a…an asshole!” She spun and stalked away from him, toward the trees. “You say I am what poop comes out of?” he growled from behind her. “Yes! Stinky, yucky poop!” Ketahn snarled, sounding a little closer. “Where are you going?” She turned with her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I’m going to pee, and I’m mad at you so I am taking a moment to get away from you, spider man.” “Not spider, not man. Vrix.” He halted a few feet away from her, hands curled into fists and muscles tense. “And always you must pee.”

As Ivy swept her gaze around, she realized that those bugs—and similar creatures—were everywhere, as though reveling in the moonlight. “Ketahn, this is beautiful,” Ivy said. “It is.” She looked up at Ketahn to find him staring down at her, his markings glowing more vibrantly than she’d ever seen. “It took me a long time to realize it”—he brushed a finger along her jaw, stopping it on her chin—“but it is very beautiful.”

He covered her hands with two of his and leaned down, gently touching his headcrest to her forehead. “I know, Ivy. Thank you.”

“I would see you clad in silk.” He dropped the leaf and cupped the underside of her jaw, angling her face toward his as he took her hips between two of his hands. “I will see you clad in my silk.”

He lowered his head so it was beside hers and turned his face into her hair. When he inhaled, a sound rolled in his chest—one part purr, one part growl, one part chirrup. Ivy arched a brow. “Ketahn?” He placed his other set of hands on her hips, and they, too, trekked downward, brushing over the fabric of her skirt. They did not stop at the hem; his fingers dipped lower, to the bare skin of her thighs. They remained against her skin as he drew them up again, lifting the dress along with them. Ivy’s heart quickened as he raised the skirt higher, his palms rasping over her skin. His upper hands moved back up her arms, but they didn’t return to her shoulders—they drifted to her chest, each covering one of her breasts and squeezing them. Her nipples hardened against his palms.

To see her wearing something he’d created, something he’d given her, made Ketahn’s chest swell. It was his silk, his crafting, his gift, and it was on his female. She was not vrix, but she was beautiful.

In all his life he’d never needed anything as desperately as he needed her now. And this time, he wouldn’t fight it. He was done fighting it. The Eight had led Ketahn to Ivy, and it was well past time to claim her.

He caught her jaw and lowered his face to hers. “I have conquered you, Ivy, and now I claim you.”

Drawing upon what little willpower he’d retained, he reached forward and buried a hand in her hair, cradling the back of her head. She met his gaze with rounded eyes. “You are mine, Ivy,” he said, his voice rough and raw. “My nyleea. I will not hurt you.” Her brow creased as she searched his eyes. Slowly, some of her fear bled away, and a trusting light bolstered her gaze. “I know you won’t. I…I just don’t know what this is.” “This is the Claiming.”

Ketahn rose, keeping his lower hands on her backside. He reached around her with his upper hands, banding one around her lower back and cradling the back of her head with the other, twining his fingers in her hair. His claspers extended on their own, wrapping around her hips. The tip of his stem pressed against her entrance. Breath ragged, Ivy opened her eyes and met his gaze. The blue of her eyes was nearly engulfed by black. Ketahn tipped her face up closer to his. “You are mine, Ivy.” Tightening his grip on her ass, he pulled her toward him hard as he thrust forward, forcing her entrance open to take his stem.

Nothing in all his life had felt so good. Nothing had been even a sliver as pleasurable. And he wanted—he needed—more. More of this, more of her. “My nyleea,” he rumbled. The heat inside him built to an unbearable degree, burning in his veins. His senses were clouded, overtaken by her scent, by ecstasy, by Ivy. Ketahn’s fingers flexed. He could hold it back no longer. He let the frenzy take over.

As the darkness behind her eyelids solidified, wrapping around her like a warm, soft blanket, Ketahn rumbled, “Now you are mine, my nyleea. My mate.” He smoothed a hand over her hair. “My heartsthread.”

Oh God, she’d had sex with a spider alien and…and…she’d liked it. No, she’d loved it.

He tugged her head back. “Look at me.” Her eyelids fluttered open, and Ivy found herself staring into his eyes, which shone like purple fire against his black skin. “I have claimed you.” He punctuated each word with a powerful thrust, plunging deeper and deeper, each stroke setting off a small explosion of pleasure within her. “You belong to me, my heartsthread. Only to me.”

But she never felt so good as she did in that moment, with Ketahn’s hands stroking her back and caressing her thighs and ass while his thick cock pulsed inside her. A rumbling trill vibrated from him into her. “Now do you understand, Ivy? It was decided before ever we met. You were meant to be mine.” Ketahn raised his head, caught her chin in his fingers, and guided her face up toward his, forcing her to meet his violet eyes. They burned with possessiveness and passion, but they softened as he gazed at her. His mandibles spread, and he tipped his head forward to press his forehead against hers. “My nyleea.” Ivy closed her eyes, and the tears spilled over her cheeks. “My luveen.”

I melt for scenes like this, that beautifully combine smut & romance.