Page 40 of The Unseelie War
Serrik's entire body shuddered at her words. “You don't understand what you're saying. In this form, I am not…civilized. I am not the controlled creature you've known. I am base need and ancient hunger and?—”
“And you're still you.” She reached out slowly, telegraphing her movements, giving him every opportunity to retreat. “You're still the man who spent hours creating that beautiful web to keep us safe. You're still the man who's so terrified of hurting me that he's almost shaking right now.”
Her fingertips made contact with his chest, just above where human merged with spider. His skin was warm and surprisingly soft, with a texture that was neither fully human nor entirely alien. At her touch, he went rigid, a low sound escaping him that was part growl, part moan.
“Ava, please…” But he made no move to stop her, made no attempt to pull away.
“Please what?” Her hand spread flat against his chest, feeling the rapid thunder of his heartbeat beneath her palm. “Please stop? Or please don't stop?”
“I…don't know.” The confession sounded like it hurt.
She could feel the tension in his body, the careful control he was exerting to remain still under her touch. This close, she could see that his multiple eyes were dilated, could feel the heat radiating from his skin. The claspers near his hips were reaching for her with obvious intent, stopping just short of contact as if held back by sheer force of will.
“Then let me decide,” she whispered, rising up on her tiptoes to bring her face closer to his. “Let me choose what happens next.”
The kiss, when it came, was nothing like their previous encounters. There was nothing human about it, nothing civilized or controlled. It was pure need and desperate hunger, fangs and venom and a desire that had been held in check for far too long.
And Ava met it with equal fervor, her hands tangling in his wild hair as she poured all of her love and acceptance into the contact.
This was Serrik.
All of him, every part he'd tried to hide—and she wanted itall.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, his goldeneyes were wild with something between wonder and disbelief. “You…truly are not afraid.”
“Of you? Never.” She smiled up at him, noting how his various eyes tracked the movement with fascination. “Of what's coming next? Terrified. But not of you. Never of you.”
Serrik'smultiple eyes searched her face as if looking for any sign of deception, any hint that her acceptance was merely another kind lie. When he found none, something visibly seemed to break inside him. “Ava…”
“I’m here.” She gently cupped his face in her palms, stroking his cheekbones, watching the additional eyes that tracked her every movement. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The sound he made was almost broken—relief and wonder and desperate need all tangled together. His human hands came up to take hers, pressing her palms to his chest, urging her to explore him as if he needed the contact to believe this was real.
“You don't understand what you do to me,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “What you've always done to me. From the moment I pulled you into the Web, you've been…”
“What?” she prompted when he trailed off.
“Obsession.” The word was barely audible. “Everything I never knew I wanted. Everything I convinced myself I could never have.”
One of his spider legs shifted, the golden tip touching the floor near her foot—not threatening, but achingly careful, as if even that small contact was precious to him. The claspers near his hips continued their restless movement, reaching for her and pulling back in an endless cycle of want and restraint.
“Then stop holding back.” Slowly, she stroked her hands over his chest. “Stop protecting me from what you think I can't handle. I'm stronger than you give me credit for.”
“I know you are.” His laugh was shaky. “You've proven that time and again. But this…in this form, I am not gentle, Ava. I am not the controlled creature you've known. The hunger, the need—it's overwhelming.”
“Show me.” The words came out steadier than she felt. “Show me what you need. You say I ask too much of you. It’s your turn to ask too much of me in return.”
Serrik's eyes went wide, all eight of them dilating simultaneously. “You don't know what you're saying.”
“Yeah. I do.” She stepped closer, eliminating the last few inches between them. The heat radiating from his skin was almost overwhelming, and she could feel the tremor that ran through his entire form at her proximity. “I know what you want. Do you?”
“I want…” He swallowed hard, his human hands sliding to her waist, fingers splaying across her ribs. “I want to touch you. All of you. With every part of myself that you'll allow.”
“Then do it. And if the beast in you needs totake it,let him rip it from me.”
The permission seemed to shatter the last of his restraint. His hands moved to the hem of her shirt, pausing there as his multiple eyes searched her face one more time. “Are you certain? Once we begin…”
Instead of answering with words, she reached down and covered his hands with hers, helping him lift the fabric up and over her head. The cool air of the costume room hit her heated skin, making her shiver—but it was nothing compared to the way Serrik looked at her, as if she were something miraculous and impossible.
