Enthralled (The Spider's Mate, #2)

by Tiffany Roberts

“He will not have you,” Ketahn said. “She will not have me.” Ivy swallowed hard and lifted a hand to touch Ketahn’s arm. “Ketahn?” He stiffened for an instant; that stillness offered no warning of what came next. She was only vaguely aware of the sound of Ketahn’s spear falling as he spun around, swept Ivy into his arms, and pulled her against him in a crushing embrace. Ivy wound her arms and legs around him as though it was the most natural thing in the world, as if she’d done so a million times over a thousand lifetimes.

Catching a fistful of her hair, he tugged back on it, angling her chin up as he strengthened his embrace. “And she will never have you,” he rasped against her throat. “No one is taking me away.” Ivy closed her eyes. “I’m yours, Ketahn. No one has me but you.”

Ivy won out. He’d known it even before he’d thought about any of it, had known she would always be his first choice. He cared immensely for his sister and friends, but Ivy—sweet, fragile, compassionate Ivy—was his mate. She was his everything. She came before all else.

“I do not want to scare,” he said with gentleness in his deep voice, “only to protect. Ivy is my mate. You are her kind. So you are my kind, too.”

He purred gently and dropped a hand to cover hers. “That does not trouble me, my nyleea. I have you, and you will always be enough.” You will always be enough.

“She is my mate. My heartsthread. Her safety is all that matters to me.” There was a rawness in Ketahn’s voice that Ivy had rarely heard—one part possessive, one part protective, one part aggressive. But there was vulnerability in it too.

“Our heartsthreads, our spirits, are all that matter, and they are bound. Fate brought me to you, my heartsthread, and even if it tried to turn me away, I would defy it. Nothing will come between us. So long as the sun, moons, and stars make their treks across the sky, you will be mine, Ivy.”

Ivy tipped her forehead against Ahnset’s headcrest. “Thank you, sister.” Ahnset’s mandibles twitched as though with uncertainty, and then fell. A soft trill sounded in her chest. She closed her eyes and released a long, shallow breath. “It…has been too long since I have had a sister. I am glad to call you one now, Ay-vee.”

“I can see why you care for him. I’ve seen how protective he is of you, the way he looks at you, cares for you. I guess deep down, we’re all the same. Our souls see what our eyes can’t, and they connect no matter what’s on the outside. Our bodies…they’re just shells.” Our souls see what our eyes can’t.

“I am with Ketahn because I choose to be. He is who I want. He is my choice. And I’d never betray him in any way.” Her skin still crawled from Cole’s touch. “It doesn’t matter what he looks like, or what you think of my relationship with him, it’s what I feel here”—she struck her fist against her chest—“that matters.