In the Spider's Web Ch. 06

Sitting on the couch, I grinned as I watched Terri and the kid we'd rescued from the vespers. His tongue was nearly fully regrown, so he could talk now, but he still didn't talk much, and no one had managed to coax him into revealing his name. When I'd tried, he'd muttered, "Kid works," and refused to say anything else.

He spent a lot of time just sitting, staring into space, but Terri had managed to egg him into playing a video game with her by saying she could beat him at any game he chose even with just her off hand. The kid's remaining hand was his right one, presumably his dominant hand. He had kicked her ass in several games by now, but they were still playing, and both looked more alive than they had since we'd brought them here.

I was tempted to join them, but I didn't want to disrupt whatever was going on between them by butting in. Besides, they could both probably kick my ass even if I used both hands. Action games weren't generally my thing.

Mattias poked his head in the door. He watched the screen for a moment, frowning. "You enjoy this?" he asked me. "All the tiny lights? The rapidly changing pictures?"

I shrugged. "I can't really see the individual lights unless I get really close to the screen. And it looks more like moving images than rapidly changing pictures. Your eyes must be set up differently."

He smiled. "Very likely. You seem to have better color vision than I do, but I pick out more fine detail." He looked thoughtful. "Do you think that, at one point, your ancestors ate a lot of fruit? That would explain the discrepancy. Fruit does not try to escape, but determining its ripeness requires fine color discernment."

I frowned, trying to remember a long ago biology class. "Probably? At least, that's one theory I've heard. But we've been growing and cooking our food for long enough that our guts are set up for that."

Mattias nodded enthusiastically. "Fascinating! Of the races in my world, only the dwarves have anything resembling an agrarian culture. For most other races, staying in an area long enough to raise crops would get them eaten."

"Why don't the dwarves get eaten?" I wanted to know.

Mattias shrugged. "They are highly toxic. My race can eat them, with the right spells, but they still taste terrible."

Terri looked over at me and Mattias. "Can we not talk about eating people?"

Mattias bowed his head. "My apologies, small one." He turned back to me. "It's time for your daily checkup."

I stood. "Sure. See you later, guys."

Terri didn't look away from the screen. "See you later, Bell." The kid just nodded.

Mattias took me to his workroom and had me lie down naked on the examination table. He waved a wand over my stomach, felt my pulse, and did some other examinations. "I have located a small group of your kind," he told me.

I stiffened. "Are you planning to kidnap them?"

He shook his head. "I was thinking I'd try a slightly different approach. If I help them, they will come to trust me, yes?"

I nodded. "Probably."

He smiled. "I thought so. I will bring them food, and other useful things. I have already marked the area they are staying in as my territory, so others from my world will leave them alone."

"Marked it as your territory?" I wanted to know. "How?"

He shrugged. "Bits of silk. Other small signs. Only one who knows nothing of my race will trespass now."

"Are arachnoids really that scary to everyone else from your world?" I wanted to know.

"We are the apex predators of our ecosystem," Mattias explained. "The most powerful hunters. Our strength, silk, magic, and healing abilities make us almost unstoppable. The only thing that we generally fear are others of our kind." He grimaced. "Particularly females."

"What makes females scarier?" I asked.

"They are only scarier to males," Mattias told me. "They are our equals in strength and magic, but they have an additional power that lets them control male arachnoids. Or so I've heard. I've never met a female." He shuddered. "Nor do I want to."

"So our baby will definitely be male, then?" I asked. Our baby. It was getting easier to say every time I said it. I was almost looking forward to seeing the little half spider now.

"This one will, as will every other that is my kind," Mattias said. "But I have considered having a few children that are your species." He smiled, and stroked my cheek. "Would that please you?"

I nodded, blinking back tears. "Yes. Yes, that would."

He nodded. "Good. We will discuss that further once this baby is born." He handed me my clothing. "I am finished."

I looked down at my clothing. Then I looked up at him. "Before I get dressed... Can we...?"

He chuckled. "We did it just this morning. You really are insatiable."

I blushed. "Do you mind?"

He shook his head. "No. No. But I don't think I will be able to become erect again so soon. It will have to be oral pleasure." He looked at me anxiously. "Is that a problem?"

I grinned. "Nope." I lay back down and spread my legs.

Mattias smiled. "I will massage you first with the aphrodisiac. Roll over."

Obediently, I rolled over. A moment later, I felt his hands, coated in warm liquid, dig into my shoulders. I moaned.

He worked my shoulders, and then my neck, and then my back. By the time he finished, I was so relaxed I would have fallen asleep if it weren't for the tingling arousal caused by the aphrodisiac.

Mattias had me roll over, and started on my front. I moaned as he rubbed the liquid into my breasts, and then my nipples.

Mattias sighed happily as he worked the stuff into my inner thighs. "You are so easily pleased," he murmured. "I am glad I can make you happy."

I whimpered as he got higher on my thighs, and then he was rubbing the aphrodisiac into my pussy, and then-

His fingers found my clit. I moaned, my eyelids fluttering. When he'd first captured me, I'd worried I might become his sex toy. Now it was more or less the other way around. I knew now that my role in the continuation of his line made me very important to him. He'd do nearly anything I asked, if it would make me happy.

I whimpered as his tongue caressed my clit, and then delved into my pussy. "Oh, Mattias..."

He froze.

I blinked. "Is- is something wrong?"

His fingers entered me. "You've never said my name quite like that before," he murmured. "It pleased me. I may be able to become erect after all."

I groaned as he massaged my insides with careful fingers. "Yes..."

Sitting up, I watched as he stroked his own slit with one hand while continuing to finger me with the other. He paused, and his hand went to my asshole. "I've wondered since we met. Does this hole give you any pleasure?"

His fingers still had a bit of the aphrodisiac on them. I whimpered. "Yes," I admitted.

He nodded. "Your reaction to my touching it when we met was so strong, I knew it likely gave some sensation. I am glad it is a pleasurable one."

He dipped his fingers in the jar again. I gasped as he worked the warm liquid into my ass, moving slowly inward towards-

His index finger slid into my asshole. I moaned. "Mattias..."

The slit in his chitinous lower body opened, and his cock popped out. "I really do like it when- when you say my name like that," Mattias said, sounding slightly out of breath.

I gasped as he began to work his finger in and out. "Can- can we do it like that? Will you stick your cock in my ass?"

He nodded. "I see no reason we shouldn't." Then he slipped in a second finger. "You just need to relax."

I slid down to the end of the table to give him easy access to my ass with his dick, whenever he was ready. He took his time in preparing us both for the act, slowly stroking himself while he fingered me. Soon he was hard, and I was panting with desire.

Fortunately, Mattias wasn't large enough to cause me discomfort when he finally stopped finger fucking me and slid his cock in. I moaned as he slid smoothly into my asshole, lubricated by the copious amounts of aphrodisiac.

I was so close to cumming. I held back so that Mattias would cum with me when I came. He wasn't anywhere near ready. As my orgasm built, as I resisted it, I whimpered.

Mattias slid a finger into my pussy and rubbed my clit with his thumb. I came, crying out. As I spasmed, Mattias waited patiently, continuing to rub my clit.

Moaning, I finished my orgasm. Mattias produced the pleasure ball and started it vibrating. "I want you to cum at least twice before I do," he said seriously. "We need to get this out of your system, in case I'm too busy to pleasure you this evening."

I whimpered as he pressed the pleasure ball to my clit. "Busy?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I want to clean out a vesper nest that's too close to the human group I found. They will not enter the area I have marked as mine, but the humans do leave their camp occasionally to search the ruins for things. I do not want the vespers to prey on them." He grimaced. "They seem to have developed quite a taste for your species. But we should focus on less unpleasant things, I think."

I gasped as he turned up the vibration. "Yes..." I moaned.

I was already close to cumming again. Mattias knew what he was doing. When we'd first met, he'd obviously never seen a pussy quite like mine before, but he learned fast. He was rolling the pleasure ball in small circles on my clitoris. The sensation was intense. I whimpered, and my pussy clenched around his fingers as I began the final climb.

I came a second time, screaming. Mattias groaned. I could tell he was close, and that the clenching of my muscles in orgasm was almost enough to set him off. But he managed to hold it in.

Panting, I came down from my orgasm. My next one built quickly, and, this time, when I came, Mattias couldn't hold back. Instead, as I came, he filled my asshole with his semen.

Mattias pulled out, releasing a gush of cum. He watched as it streamed out of my asshole. "I enjoy seeing you full of my cum," he murmured.

I managed to gasp out, "Good," as my orgasm finished.

I stared at the ceiling as Mattias cleaned us both off. This wasn't the life I'd left behind. I still missed my old job, and my old friends. But the ache of loss was healing, and I enjoyed my new life with Mattias very much.

*

It was late at night when Mattias woke me. I blinked up at him in the dim light. "What...?"

"I am sorry to wake you," said Mattias. "I know you need your sleep. But one of the humans in the group I found is in trouble, and they are refusing to accept my help. I was hoping you would be able to convince them." He shook his head, frowning. "I fear that she will be dead by morning if I do not intervene."

I blinked. "What's wrong with her?"

"She is in labor," he explained. "I do not know when it started, but it has lasted at least several hours. I was able to get a look inside their dwelling before they chased me off. There is too much blood."

I paled. "Just let me get dressed."

When I was dressed, Mattias put me on his back, strapping me in place with silk. "I would like my hands free," he explained, "In case I must fight. They were very insistent that I not return."

I nodded. "Let's go."

The area he took me to was a suburb on the edge of the island. One house had been heavily fortified. As we approached, I saw men patrolling the exterior. As we got closer, I saw they had guns.

I realized Mattias probably didn't know what a gun was. "Mattias-" I began.

A shot rang out. With a cry of pain, Mattias crumpled. "Mattias!" I yelled. The silk around me was loose enough that I could squirm free, so I did.

The wound in his stomach was enormous. "Mattias!" I cried. I grabbed his hand.

He pulled away. "I- I need..."

I wrung my hands. "Just tell me what I can do."

He grimaced. "If you can stop them from doing that again, that would be good." I saw him begin to fish in his pouch.

I heard a man's voice behind me. "What the fuck?"

I whirled, hands in the air. "Please, don't shoot!"

The man frowned. "You look human."

I nodded. "I am."

His frown deepened. "What are you doing with the spider thing?"

I fingered my ring. "He's my husband."

The man blinked. "Your husband?"

I nodded. "It's a long story. Please don't shoot him again."

The man swore. "Shit."

Another man, younger than the first, came up, frowning. "I think the, um, spider thing was serious about wanting to help earlier."

I put my hands on my hips. "Yes, he was. He wanted to help, and you shot him!" I burst into tears.

I heard a strained voice behind me. "Beloved, please do not cry. I will be fine."

I turned back to Mattias. He was rubbing some kind of liquid into the wound, which was noticeably less serious than it had been a moment before.

The men lowered their guns. "You should probably get the bullet out," the younger man said.

Mattias blinked. "What is a bullet?"

"It's the, umm, thing that made the wound," the younger man explained. "It's small and shiny, and, umm-"

Mattias held up a small object. "Is this it?" he asked.

The first man leaned closer. "Yup, that's it."

The younger man looked closer at Mattias's wound. "You're healing quickly. Is it the liquid that's doing it?"

Mattias shook his head. Returning the vial of liquid to his belt pouch, he said, "The liquid is merely an antiseptic and anesthetic. My kind naturally heal with great alacrity."

The younger man drooped. "Oh."

Mattias looked up from covering the wound with silk. "You are disappointed. Why?"

He looked away. "If the liquid caused the rapid healing, maybe you could save Melody."

Mattias cocked his head. "I do actually have a potion that can confer these regeneration abilities on others for a time."

The men both looked excited. The older one told us, "I'll go in and talk to the others. So no one else shoots you. Then I'll bring you in."

As the man left, Mattias grimaced. "Had I known those things you carry had such powers, I would not have come back."

I blinked. "You wouldn't have?"

"I can heal such a wound to the torso, limb, or abdomen, Beloved, but not to the head," Mattias explained. "And I certainly would not have risked such a wound on you." He put a hand to my stomach. "If they had hit you there, even had I been able to save you, you would have lost our child."

The young man looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. But we're used to attacks from you monsters. None of you have ever offered to help before."

Mattias cocked his head. "This is understandable. If my beloved were not of your kind, I-"

I cut him off. Telling the guy that Mattias might have eaten him under other circumstances was not a good idea. "You know, I was living alone for months before Mattias found me, and I was never able to find a gun. Did you have those before the disaster?"

The young man nodded. "My brother Ray, the guy you just saw, was into the whole apocalypse survival thing." He grinned. "I used to tease him about it. Now he teases me about saving my sorry ass. I'm Brenan, by the way."

"I'm Bell," I said. "And this is Mattias."

His eyes widened. "Your name is Bell? That's perfect!"

I blinked. "Perfect?"

"You know, because of the Beauty and the Beast movie," he explained.

Mattias snorted. "I am not a beast. But I understand how you might think so." He turned to me. "However, you are certainly a beauty." He smiled.

I blushed. "Thanks."

My hand went to his stomach. "Are you really going to be okay?"

He nodded. "I will be fine, Bell."

The older man, Brenan's brother, returned. "Okay, that should have done it. But I'd advise you to move carefully. They're already pretty tense."

Mattias nodded. "Understandable." He scuttled past them into the house.

I followed. The bedroom the woman giving birth was in was full of anxious people. Most of them looked warily at Mattias as he entered.

I heard screaming from the bed, and peered through the crowd to see. The bed was covered in blood, and the woman lying there was covered in sweat and crying.

Mattias hurried over to her and fished a vial out of his pouch. "Drink this," he said. "It will dull the pain." He frowned. "Though I doubt it will entirely eliminate it."

The people in the room watched as she drank, their expressions ranging from fearful to hostile. "Why are we trusting him?" one of them hissed to Ray.

"You got any better ideas?" Ray demanded. "Without help, she's gonna die, and he's the best we've got."

Mattias examined his patient. Then he turned to the room. "I need space to work," he announced. "Everyone must leave. Except you, Bell."

No one moved.

"You heard the spider," snapped Ray. "Everyone out!"

Everyone left, at first slowly, and then more swiftly as Ray shoved the stragglers. Soon, only Brenan was left.

Mattias turned to him. "You must leave too," he said.

Brenan shook his head. "I'm the father," he said. "I stay."

Mattias looked at him assessingly. "There will be surgery involved," he said. "Which means I must cut her. If you panic and stop me, she will die."

Brenan nodded. "I can handle it."

Mattias nodded. "Very well." He turned back to Melody.

I leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Are you sure?"

Mattias nodded. "He has left the weapon outside. If need be, I can overpower him."

"But if the others hear him-" I began.

Mattias smiled, and pulled a powder out of his bag. I recognized it. "You're stopping sound from leaving the room?" I asked.

"Yes," said Mattias. Then he tossed a pinch of powder in the air. The walls of the room and the doors shimmered.

Brenan looked around. "What was that?"

"Nothing important," Mattias replied smoothly. "Now, I will begin."

He frowned at Melody. "I do have a sedative, if you would prefer to be unconscious for the surgery."

She nodded. Already she looked to be in less pain. "Please."

Mattias had her drink some more liquid. After putting on gloves, he drew his knife.

Brenan frowned. "Do you need to sterilize that?"

"The magic on the blade keeps it clean and sterile," Mattias said distractedly as he checked Melody's pulse. "It will also keep the wound from bleeding overmuch."

He murmured something, and runes on the gloves flashed, as did some similar runes on the knife. Then he drew the blade horizontally across the unconscious woman's stomach. There was much less blood than I had expected. Frowning in concentration, Mattias pulled the wound open.

A quick glance allowed him to locate her uterus. He drew the blade horizontally across that, this time much more slowly. Reaching inside, he pulled out an infant. The baby began to cry. Mattias swiftly examined the baby, and then handed her to me. "Hold this," he instructed.

He removed the placenta next, and set it on the bed. Then he pulled a viscous liquid out of his pouch. He dipped his fingers in and began to coat the inside of the woman's womb. "This will stop the excessive bleeding," he explained. "And speed the healing process."

Melody began to stir. "She's waking up," I warned Mattias.

He swore softly in a strange language. "The sedative should have lasted longer."

He looked around, and then handed Brenan a towel. "She may panic if she sees the surgical process. You must hold this to block her view."

Face white, Brenan nodded and took the towel.

As Mattias was applying the same antiseptic he'd used on himself, Melody's eyes opened. "What...?" she murmured.

I held out the baby for her to see. "It's a girl," I told her.

She smiled woozily. "A girl..."

"Are you in any pain?" Mattias asked as he sealed the cut in her womb closed with something that looked like green glowing glue.

She shook her head. "No. I feel all funny, though."