Bound (The Spider's Mate, #3)

by Tiffany Roberts

True strength was found not in muscle and bone, but in hearts and spirit. True strength was in staring at a world so much larger than oneself, a world determined to crush you, and fighting on even when there seemed to be no hope of success.

No. If all the black space between the stars and more than a hundred years had not been able to keep Ketahn and Ivy apart, this door certainly would not prevent their reunion.

“We will rescue Ahnset”—Ketahn turned to face his friends fully and shifted his spear so the point was skyward as he slammed his lower fists against his chest—“and kill the rest. No mercy this day.” “We nourish the roots with blood,” said Rekosh. “May the Tangle devour their bones,” rumbled Urkot. “With me, brothers.” Ketahn spun about and plunged into the jungle.

“He’s talking about us, isn’t he?” Lacey asked, smirking. Lifting her spear, she braced her feet and took a fighting stance, jabbing the pointed end of the weapon in front of her. “He doesn’t trust our mad skills?” A large, dark figure stepped up behind Lacey, silhouetted by the morning light. Lacey started, but before she could turn, the figure had reached to either side of her, placing big hands over hers on the shaft of the spear. Telok leaned over Lacey, his face close to her ear, and placed his lower hands on her hips. Her breath hitched. He slid her leading hand away from the spearhead and turned her other hand slightly, correcting the angle of her arm. Then, with a foreleg, he pushed her feet farther apart to widen her stance. Lacey rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t just let me have my moment, could you?” “What did she say, Ketahn?” Telok asked. “She thanked you for the lesson,” Ketahn replied with a chitter. “That did not seem a grateful tone.” Telok turned his face toward Lacey but paused. His mandibles twitched. Hesitantly, he pressed his face into her hair and inhaled. A low trill sounded in his chest. Ivy’s eyebrows rose high. “Um… What’s he doing?” Lacey asked, standing very, very still. “He’s, uh, praising you.” Ivy covered her mouth to hide her grin. Rekosh chittered. “It seems the hunter has scented new prey.”

She smiled to herself. Her mate. Her lover. Her very own sexy, insatiable spider man.

“I am happy. I am full of pride. I am full of love. For Ivy Foster is my mate, and no one on any world can claim such fortune.”

Ketahn’s eyes widened. “No. No, you will stay with me, Ivy.” Ivy tilted her head and raised her brows. “You want the other males to see me naked?” His mandibles fell and drew together. With a growl, he placed his hands on her shoulders, spun her toward Ahnset, and pushed her forward. “Keep them safe, broodsister.”

“Say that scars were pain. She should not look upon them with shame. She does not have to feel pride, but when she sees them, she should take pride in herself. Because she survived whatever left them. Because she, like each of you, is strong.”

But as he walked in the direction the females had gone, he did hear Telok chitter and say, “That must mean it is good. Very, very good.”

“We could have landed on some ice planet. Least the weather is nice enough here for skinny dipping.”

“The nausea, the spotting, the pelvic pain, the swelling in your belly, and tender breasts are…are signs of pregnancy, Ivy.”

“I weave my word into a bond, my nyleea. Nothing in this world shall harm you or our broodling. You are the heart that beats outside my chest.”

but her illness had persisted. Diego and the other humans called it morning sickness. The name made little sense to Ketahn; Ivy could be gripped by it at any time of day or night, and nothing could stop her from emptying her stomach once it began.

Having Ivy out here…it was the same as her egg being out here too, exposed to the wind, the rain, the cold, to the mud and filth, to the teeth of every hungry predator in the Tangle. But having her near Takarahl would have been worse.

Rekosh swept her into his arms before she could fall, clutching her against his chest. “I have you, vi’keishi.” Little flower.

Ketahn grunted. “You fought well. But now you must walk instead of talk.” “Always a partee pooper, huh?” “I do not know partee, but I have not made poop on it.” A laugh burst from Ivy. She slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound, but it escaped again when Diego said, “If you don’t know what it is, how do you know you haven’t pooped on it?”

Urkot raised his upper left arm, exposing the scar on his side below it. Then he pressed the dead muckstalker’s head against the rough scar tissue and waggled his wrist again, making the eel’s body flap up and down. “Heh-lo,” he said, waving the eel-arm a little faster. “Say arm good?” Ivy was pretty sure there wasn’t anyone there who wasn’t laughing or chittering at that,

“You are mine.” She dipped a hand into the paint and pressed it over his hearts, which thumped harder beneath her touch. “Hearts.” She moved her hand down, placing it just over his slit and making his claspers stir. “Body.” Now she coated both hands in paint and lifted them, cupping each side of his face. “Spirit. You and I are as one, Ketahn.”

“Zurvashi.” Ivy’s voice, normally soft and sweet, had a hard edge in it as she uttered her words in the vrix tongue. “I, Ivy Foster, challenge you for rule of Takarahl.” Ketahn’s hearts ceased beating. His chest constricted, his throat closed, and his fine hairs stood straight up. The world around him fell apart, flooding him with cold beyond anything he’d ever felt, beyond anything Ivy had described from her Earth. A long, harsh buzz sounded from the queen, and she tilted her head. “You?” She chittered. “You mean to—” Ivy’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “I also challenge you to release my mate.” Zurvashi stiffened and went silent as she stared at Ivy. Finally, she turned and looked back at Ketahn, spreading her mandibles. “This one. This is the one you have mated.” No. Broodmother, Hunter, Protector, anyone—no.

Ivy thumped the butt of her spear on the ground. “I have claimed him. You will not have him.” “I have him already.” Zurvashi waved dismissively. “You are nothing. But I will find pleasure in your death, regardless.” “And I will find relief in yours.” The queen’s posture stiffened. “Even from something as pathetic as you, I will not tolerate threats.”

Korahla held herself tall, chin raised. Defiant. Strong. She advanced farther. “You have been challenged.” The group of warriors who had moved to obey the queen’s command halted, a few visibly confused. “This creature”—Zurvashi jabbed a long, claw-tipped finger toward Ivy—“is not vrix. It can make no challenge.” “Not the Eight nor Queen Takari proclaimed such.” Korahla stomped on the ground, making her gold adornments rattle. “You must answer the challenge.” “Collect the creature,” the queen growled.

“I will not allow you to deny the very tradition that made you queen.” Korahla took her spear in both hands, leveling its head toward Zurvashi. “And I will not allow you to harm my mate.” A soft sound, equally sorrowful and prideful, came from Ahnset.

“Your name is not even worthy to be counted amongst those of my slain challengers, worm.” Somehow, Ivy met and held the queen’s withering gaze. Somehow, she kept her voice steady. “Maybe not. But you will not need to remember it, Zurvashi, for you will not leave this place. You will not take what is mine.”

“Do you understand what you are doing?” Ahnset whispered. “You cannot defeat her as a warrior, Ivy, even with her wounds.” “So I will not defeat her as a warrior. I will defeat her any way I can as a human. As a mate. As a mother-to-be, as a friend.” Ivy turned her head and smiled at Ahnset, surprising herself with how genuine the expression was. “As a sister.”

Ivy stumbled, her aching legs giving up. She pitched forward, catching herself on hands and knees. Zurvashi’s monstrous growl was pure, cruel glee. Panting, Ivy turned her head toward the queen. A little farther, you bitch…

Ivy turned panicked eyes toward Ketahn, and in English, she whispered. “Ketahn, I don’t want this. I can’t be a queen.” He chittered, mandibles rising in a smile. “I do not want this either. I want my mate all for myself.” “Don’t just smile at me then! What do I do?” His smile only widened. “You are queen. I cannot command you.”

“Shit! Ketahn!” Diego was beside the bed, frantically shoving his feet into a pair of pants, his bare ass toward Ketahn. Will, shirtless, was standing on the opposite side, holding a blanket over his pelvis. “Ivy leaked,” Ketahn growled. “The broodling comes.” “Leaked?” “Um…sorry for intruding,” Ivy said, flicking a glance between Diego and Will, “but um, my water broke.” “It did not break, it spilled,” Ketahn said. “Like a flood.” “Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but it doesn’t matter. The—”