Page 21 of Black Widow's Bite

“You study spiders, right?” Cain asked suddenly, and I opened my eyes in surprise.

“Yes, black widows specifically,” I replied, smiling. He chewed on that information for a few minutes, and I waited patiently to see if there would be a follow-up question, or if that was all the information he’d wanted.

“So what exactly do you study? Are you just watching them?” Cain asked, and I bit my cheek to keep from laughing. It was true, a lot of my job was just watching spiders in their tanks.

“I’m studying sexual cannibalism,” I told him, and his eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline. “It’s the idea that female black widows will copulate with the males and then immediately kill and eat them for the nutrients,” I explained. “I’m trying to show that the original reports that show black widows doing this were because of the lab conditions of the study and that femalespiders in the wild, or a less confined environment, don’t always kill their mate after copulating. Just when the male doesn’t have enough room to escape.”

“That’s... wow.” Cain let out a long breath. “That sounds really complicated. So then, all day you’re just...”

“Trying to get spiders to have sex,” I finished for him, smiling coyly. He laughed again, and I enjoyed seeing a look other than annoyance on his face.

“So why black widow spiders?” he asked with a sidelong glance.

“You can imagine how I might feel a bit of kinship towards them, given their reputation,” I replied softly, fiddling with my sleeve. “I learned about them in High School, and the interest just... stuck I guess” he nodded quietly. “But if my hypothesis is correct, they’re being unfairly judged,” I told him. “It’s not the female’s fault. The males just need to learn when to get the hell out of the way,” I smirked, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

When we arrived back at the studio, Cain once again passed me my bag from the back seat. A smile played on my lips as I followed him out of the car and up toward the building. I noticed something strange on the wall just inside the alley, and I veered off the path, moving closer to see it. The paint was still drying, and the bright yellow smudged my fingers as I touched the graffiti. I felt Cain come up behind me, observing it as well.

“Does this happen a lot?” I asked, studying the creepy-looking smiley face. The paint had been hastily applied, so the eyes were bleeding paint down the wall, giving it the macabre appearance of tears.

“We’ve had people tag our building before. It’s nothing to worry about. Looks like bad paint anyway. I’m sure it’ll come off the next time it rains.” he shrugged and tugged on my elbow, motioning for me to head inside. I stared at the face once morebefore turning to head back inside, Cain close at my heels. For some reason, that smiley face gave me the creeps.

As soon as I opened the door, we heard screaming, and Cain stepped in front of me as we looked around, searching for the source of the noise. An older woman stumbled out of one of the studio rooms, screaming bloody murder as she barrelled towards us. Cain pushed me out of the way and we watched as she ran out the door, nearly throwing herself down the steps in her haste.

Cain and I ran to the recently vacated room, and I nearly started screaming too when I saw Piper sprawled out on the floor. The chair had been moved and replaced with a little round table, and it appeared as though he’d been in the middle of seeing a client when... well... something had happened.

Blood was pooling out from underneath his head, and his eyes were rolled back so far they looked completely white. He was conscious - sort of. He had a large, unnatural grin on his face, as if he was frozen in a terrifying mask of laughter.

“Holy fucking mother of god...” Cain muttered, kneeling beside him and carefully rolling him over to check for wounds. I knelt opposite him, in front of Piper’s face, touching my hands to his face.

“Piper?” I murmured, stroking his cheek. His eyelids flickered, and his eyes relaxed, rolling back down as he blinked rapidly. “What happened?” I asked.

“He wouldn’t stop...” he whispered, sitting up so fast Cain nearly toppled over behind him. “He took us, and he made me do things... horrible things...” he groaned, pushing his palms into his eyes. “I’m dead, aren’t I?”

“Piper, you’re not dead,” Cain snapped. “Although it fucking looks like it, that’ll be hell to clean up.” he muttered, looking at the blood smeared over the floor.

“You’re alive. I’m right here with you,” I added, more gently than Cain. I stroked Piper’s cheek, trying to draw him back into the present. “Come back to me.” His eyes met mine, and I watched the cloudy film slowly begin to dissipate as he focused on my face.

“Little spider,” he moaned, grabbing me and pulling me flush against him, hugging so tightly his bracelets dug into my skin. “You’re okay, you’re alive” He let go of me just as abruptly and tugged my blouse up over my stomach, his fingers tracing over the smooth skin of my abdomen. “It hasn’t happened yet...” he mumbled.

“What hasn’t happened? Piper, is this about my brother again?” Cain demanded. I grabbed Piper’s hand, stilling his examination of my stomach, and used Cain’s distraction to tug Piper to his feet and away from the blood covering the floor. He was still coated in it, so I pulled his shirt up and over his head, using it to sop up some of the mess in his hair since it was already ruined, anyway.

“Who is your brother?” Piper asked. “Is he the smiling man?”

I paused halfway to the sink with his bloody shirt, turning back at those words. “Smiling man?” I asked.

“He’s smiling, but it’s not a proper smile. It never reaches his eyes,” Piper explained, and Cain sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“I need a smoke. I’ll go and grab the mop so we can clean this mess up.” he told us as I dropped the shirt in the sink and filled it with water so it could soak. It was probably a lost cause, but it didn’t hurt to try. I swear these men went through clothes faster than any other person I’d ever met.

“Don’t leave,” Piper whispered, making me jump. I hadn’t heard him approach, and now he was right behind me, his hands moving up and under my shirt again, fixated with my stomach.

“I’m not going to leave Piper, don’t worry,” I replied, turning to face him. He looked so broken and so tired, his hair sticking up and matted with blood. His lips found mine, and I gasped against his mouth as his tongue slipped past my parted lips, kissing me with a desperate intensity.

“I can’t lose you Addy,” he groaned, guiding me backwards until I bumped against the wall. His hips shoved against mine, and I felt his erection rub against my core. His hands fumbled around my waist until he got my pants undone, pushing them down until they landed on the floor, my panties following soon after. He undid his own with a quick efficiency, and all at once I felt him sliding inside of me, shocking me with his urgency.

“I can’t lose you,” he repeated, and I moaned as he thrust into me, wrapping my legs around his hips as he pinned me against the wall, his hands moving to grip my ass. There was none of the gentleness that I was used to with Piper. This was all raw desperation, as if he would cease to exist as soon as we parted. My fingers dug into his back as I moaned, and I’m sure there would be bruises on my hips tomorrow from where he was gripping me. His teeth scraped against my neck as he kissed me roughly, and I felt myself clench around him as my orgasm tore through me, leaving me breathless and limp as he continued to thrust, his own release arriving soon after.

I slid my legs down off his hips, my feet coming back to the floor as he loosened his grip on me. Piper’s knees buckled, and he dropped to kneel in front of me, his head resting against my stomach as he murmured words I couldn’t understand. I smoothed his hair down with my fingers, ignoring the tacky blood that stuck to my skin. He took a few shuddered breaths, and I dragged my pants back up, trying not to jostle him as I did up the buttons. Gingerly, I pulled him to his feet, getting him tucked back into his pants just in time. Cain and Wyatt burst through the door, startling me, and Piper slumped in myarms, pushing me back into the wall as I struggled to support his weight.

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