Page 14 of Black Widow's Bite

“I’d never considered one before, because I didn’t want to hurt someone accidentally,” she mused. “But I think maybe now I would, if you were the one to do it.” She smiled, and I suppressed a groan. God, I would cover her in ink if I could. I’d hold her for hours in this chair until she was trembling and dripping wet from the pleasure of it.

“Of course, I would,” I told her hoarsely. “Whatever you wanted, just name it.” Addy smiled at me and leaned back in the chair.

“Where do you think I should get one?” she asked, her eyes dancing in the light. My dick was pressing against the fly of my jeans. I stood up, the pressure from sitting becoming too unbearable. I looked over at her, considering, and tugged her shirt up, exposing her stomach and her ribs.

“Some people like a tattoo here,” I murmured, running my finger across her ribs, just underneath her breast. “It’s easy to hide under clothes. Rib tattoos are painful, though.” I breathed, letting a tiny sliver of pain slide through as I etched across her skin. Addy arched against my finger, hissing, and I replaced the pain immediately, making her hum with pleasure. A little raised line remained, the ghost of the tattoo that didn’t exist. I’d written my name, Wyatt, since rib tattoos seemed to often be names. Addy noticed it and smirked at me, cocking an eyebrow.

“You want me to get your name as my first tattoo?” she asked coyly, and I laughed and shook my head. I lifted her shirt up further, and she raised her arms to help me slide it off.

“No, not for your first,” I replied, my voice husky as I stared at her body, all the fresh un-inked skin just begging for my attention. “Maybe after I’ve covered you in ink, I can sign you like a work of art.” I set my knees on either side of her legs, climbing onto the chair so I could get closer to her. Addy settled back into the chair, her hands coming up to rest on my hips as I hovered over her. I unhooked the front clasp of her bra, letting it fall open as my eyes roved over her chest. I pressed my finger along her collarbone, her skin raising up obediently in the outline of a flower. Her eyes closed as she inhaled sharply, and I pushed out another shot of desire until her face softened.

Fuck, she was too tempting. It was sweet, delicious torture. I rolled one of her breasts in my hand, toying with her nipple until it hardened. I pinched it between my fingers, and she arched her back, whimpering. “There’s one tattoo that’s for really brave people,” I whispered, circling her nipple with my finger. Addy whimpered, her hands gripping my sides as her skin raised in a spiderweb pattern over her breast. I gave her tender nipple another pinch, then flooded the pleasure in, replacing the pain, and her fingers dug into me urgently.

Hastily, I undid the button on Addy’s jeans, and she helped me push them down her hips, her panties following quickly. I drew a line of stars along her hip, and she squirmed underneath me until a fresh wave of pleasure washed over her, leaving her breathless. I dipped my fingers down lower, and she moaned when I brushed her clit, arching into my hand. She was so wet, I groaned, my dick pulsing. I sent that desire into her instead, watching as she writhed underneath me, eyes half-closed and lips parted in pleasure.

I captured her bottom lip, sucking it into my mouth as my fingers slid inside her. Her pussy clamped around me, slick with her need, and I swallowed her moan, plunging my tongue into her mouth. I slid my fingers in and out, and she rocked against my hand, whimpering desperately. I curled my fingers in, pressing against the sensitive bundle of nerves inside of her. Addy’s nails dug into my sides, and she bit my bottom lip, sending a jolt of heat straight to my cock, nearly making me burst. I channelled it into her instead, and she cried out, her pussy clamping down on my fingers as she came apart underneath me, soaking my hand. My fingers continued to stroke as she panted, not letting up until she was good and satiated.

Her hands released their hold on my sides, as she moved to the fly of my jeans, undoing them deftly. I groaned when they slid down my hips, and my dick sprang up, now only trapped by the fabric of my boxers. Addy pulled those down too, and when her hand wrapped around my shaft, I thought I might die. The drug-like quality of her skin seemed to intensify tenfold, and I saw stars as she stroked along my length, moaning low in my throat when she squeezed. I felt her hand drop away, and my hunger for her punched into my chest, but she only dipped her fingers into herself briefly before grasping me once more, her fingers now slick on my shaft. Addy stroked my entire length,sliding her hand up and down, and my arms shook as I tried not to collapse on top of her. Her free hand gripped my tender shoulder, squeezing it tightly before dragging her nails roughly down my chest.

I came apart in her hand with a moan, spilling out in a hot stream across her stomach. Her hand continued to stroke me until I was completely spent. I kissed her again, feeling light-headed and completely at her mercy. Interestingly, I tasted a little tang of guilt on her lips, and I pressed my forehead against hers briefly before shifting off the chair. I grabbed a few wipes from one of the drawers and helped clean off her stomach, giving her a wry smile as she chewed her lip.

“You know, none of us are expecting anything from you,” I told her gently, as I pulled my pants back on. “We’re just happy if you’re happy.” She was still biting her lip, clearly not believing me. I picked her shirt up off the floor and handed it to her. “Look, none of us were ever going to have a typical relationship,” I explained. “Just the fact that you’re willing to be here is enough. If you want to do something more with any of us, no one is going to mind. I promise,” I smiled. It might feel like one of those lies people told to someone they were afraid of losing, but ours was such an unusual circumstance that it didn’t really fall within conventional rules.

I ran my hand down her neck as she processed this, my fingers catching on something rough. The skin on Addy’s left shoulder was dimpled, the scars of a burn long healed. I brushed over it gently, and her gaze dropped to the floor. “I saw a house on fire when you went inside my head,” I told her quietly, tracing the outline of her scar. “Were you inside when it happened?” She nodded, biting her lip.

“My mother went insane and burned our house down with us inside,” Addy told me, her voice barely a whisper. “A neighbour heard me crying and ran inside. He saved me, but he couldn’tsave my dad.” Her eyes lifted to mine, and I could feel the guilt radiating off of her. “I think I drove her crazy, with whatever runs in my skin, just like I’ve done with everyone else I’ve cared about.”

I pressed my hand against her, pulling some of the pain out of her heart. “You didn’t mean to hurt anyone. None of it is your fault, you know,” I told her softly. “And you won’t hurt any of us, I promise.” Her face lightened a bit, but her eyes were still a little sad.

“Just so you know, I like... whatever this is,” Addy told me, pulling her shirt over her head. I briefly glimpsed my name, just barely visible over her ribs, before her shirt fell to cover it. “You all make me feel... really fucking good.” I smiled and kissed her, glad she wasn’t overthinking anymore.

“Good. Besides, this is the happiest any of us have been for years. Including Cain, believe it or not.” I smirked, making her laugh.

Maybe someday I could sign all our names across her ribs.

Chapter 16

Piper

Time was tricky for me. For most people, it flowed one way, past to present to future. I tended to bounce around a little bit, my thoughts from the future and my thoughts from the present jumbling up into one big mess, so I had to work very hard to keep things straight. Some days were better than others, and time for the most part would stay still. On those days, I could get out of bed, I could venture outside, and maybe even make some money with the odd fortune or two. On the bad days, though, I had a hard time sorting out what was real and what wasn’t or what was going to be real at some point in the future, but didn’t apply to now.

My great-grandmother was a fortune-teller, as were most of the women in my family. It was a common way for them to make money back then, but I don’t know for sure if anyone else had a gift quite like mine. I think mine is broken, a curse more than a gift. See, in my family’s culture, only women were born with the gift, not men.

My birth was a mistake from the start. My mother got knocked up by an outsider, someone not from our community. Her mother shunned her for this and kicked her out of the house when she was only 17 years old. Her grandmother took her in and for a while, everything was okay. But even as a child, there was something not quite right with me, and I would say things and know things that frightened people.

My great-grandmother realized that I had the Sight, and she gave my mother enough money to get us to America, where she thought we’d both be safe. If the rest of the family found out about me, they would have killed us both.

We lived a dirt-poor life together for a long time, but my mother never quite recovered from the pain her family had caused her. I saw her death coming long before it happened, so by the time it came about I’d already finished grieving for her. I was on my own after that.

I travelled for a few years, letting the wind push me through different cities. Sometimes I stumbled into luck, but more often than not, I found my way into trouble. My curse only seemed to get worse as I got older, and my mind felt like it was starting to fracture when I stumbled upon Cain. My dreams had brought me to this town, that and a tugging feeling in the centre of my chest, like I was a fish being reeled in. I was drinking at a bar one night and someone caught me trying to lift their wallet. They were kicking the ever-loving shit out of me in the back alley when Cain appeared out of the darkness, grabbing them off of me and tossing them aside like they weighed nothing. I knew immediately that Cain was the person I’d come here to find.

Of course, it took two months of me following him around and refusing to leave for him to finally accept that I was here to stay. For a while after that, my mind stayed whole. It was almost a year later when I began to feel that tug again, but this time I stayed still, and the tug reeled in Austin to us. He just appeared one evening on our doorstep, broken and bloody and unable to speak. I don’t think he’d spoken to another person in a long, long time. Cain warmed up to him faster, because it was clear that he needed us desperately. We worked on teaching him how to be human, which wasn’t easy at first. Even now, he understands the basics, but societal constraints are harder for him to grasp. That’s why Cain gives him so many rules. For instance, I wouldoften wake up and find him in my bed, curled up beside me. I don’t know what had brought him there - if it was loneliness or just the cold - but we had to explain to him that some people didn’t like waking up with someone in their beds. I think in a lot of ways I’m a poor example for him, so I leave it to Wyatt and Cain to explain a lot of those things.

After the tug brought us to Wyatt, I thought that might mean our little group was complete. We were all so fucked up in so many different ways, but lumped together we could almost pass as one functional person. It wasn’t exactly perfect, but it was way better than it had been before, at least. Of course, there was one key aspect that was missing from our lives, but for the most part, we each took care of that in our own way. I know that Wyatt and Cain would sometimes go out on their own and hook up with a girl they’d meet at a club or the bar. In my travels, I’d have the occasional tryst with someone I’d meet on one of my good days. I’m not sure what Austin got up to. After he came to live with us, he’d rarely venture outside anymore, likely because of what had happened to drive him here in the first place. Occasionally, if the mood struck us, we’d fool around a bit together, and I think that was the most companionship he’d had for a long time. There was just one rule: we never brought someone back to the studio. While one of us alone might pass as somewhat normal for at least a couple of hours, we definitely stuck out as a group, so it was best to leave the outsiders, well, outside.

So when the tug came again, and our little spider found her way to us, it was like seeing the sun after living for years in darkness. It was a wonder any of us could function, even Cain, the most stoic of us all, when Addy was in the room. The moment I kissed her, I felt more clear than I’d ever had before. I was rooted in the present, and all I could see was her face, etched with the same pain as all of ours, made to fit perfectly in the little space left empty in our hearts.

I will admit that having something so tempting living under the same roof was tricky, especially given my problems with time. I’d wake up some mornings and forget she’d already arrived, or quite the opposite, I would forget we’d only spoken once before. My little spider was woven into my mind and tangled in my heart like I’d already known her for years, even though that hadn’t happened yet.

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