Page 40 of Spinning Out of Control

I tried not to snort with laughter. “No, of course not. But that’s just how powerful it is.”

“You are going to blend solid food?” Teracht asked curiously, and I nodded.

“Yeah. Going to try, at least. If you hate it, I won’t be offended, but it might give you some more options.”

Teracht smiled hopefully and followed me to the kitchen where I unpackaged the blender and washed it in the sink before setting it up and opening the containers of Chinese food. Fried rice, orange chicken, and, of course, egg rolls. I decided to just start with the fried rice to see if proof of concept even worked. Sure enough, it did. The concoction looked horrific, and it didn’t exactly smell as good as it had before I blended it, but watching the delight in Teracht’s face as I poured the mixture into a glass was worth it.

“How is it?” I asked after he took a swallow, curious if my little science experiment had been successful.

Ter smacked his lips thoughtfully. “It is… different,” he said. “But I think I like it.”

I grinned. “We can try other foods too. I’m sure your taste buds aren’t used to a lot of things. Wait, do spiders even have taste buds?”

Ter looked thoughtful. “I can taste this food, if that is what you’re asking.”

I nodded. “What does it taste like?”

“I don’t know,” Teracht replied, giving my words more consideration than I thought he would. “I have not tasted food like it before.”

“But, it’s good?” I prompted, and he nodded, giving me a smile that lit up his whole face and made all eight of his dark eyes shine.

“Yes, it’s good.”

I blended the chicken and the egg rolls for him. Teracht declared that once again, egg rolls tasted nothing like eggs and were very confusing, but he agreed that they were tasty. I watched him savor the orange chicken puree as I ate my own solid version. I was glad that he enjoyed it, though watching my monster boyfriend drink Chinese food from a glass had not been on my relationship bingo card.

Once we were done and had cleaned up, I settled on the couch, and Teracht perched on his web above me. “Caleb, could I make a request of you?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said, stretching out my legs a little. “What’s up?”

“I… Did you enjoy last weekend?”

“Yeah, I did,” I said. “It was a lot of fun. Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes, very much,” Teracht said, and I watched several of his spider feet fidget.

“But?” I prompted.

Teracht blinked two of his eyes, looking back at me again, cheeks dark. “Do you remember when we were outside, and I mentioned to you that I used to chase prey?”

I nodded. “Yeah, you said that’s why you didn’t have a pet.”

“Yes.” Teracht’s feet continued to shuffle. He was definitely nervous. I had a feeling in my gut of where this might be going.

“Okay. What’s your request?”

Teracht’s face grew darker still, and he pressed his hands to his cheeks, as if to hold back the blush. “I…”

“You don’t get to come until you tell me what it is,” I teased. I think I almost killed him with that comment, as he nearly lost his grip on his web, staring at me through his fingers.

“Would you let me chase you?” he blurted out.

Chapter 14

Teracht

Why, oh why, had I asked him that? He had already given me so much. He trusted in me, let me tie him up and pleasure him, he slept next to me on my web, he bought me a blender and brought Chinese food for me, and I was so ungrateful and asking too much of him. I opened my mouth to tell him to forget it, that it was just a silly thought, but he interrupted me.

“Like, I climb around your web, and you catch me?”

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