Chapter 5 #2
The raw plea in his voice broke down whatever resistance she might have had. When he leaned in to kiss her, she met him halfway.
It was different from their encounters in the dream realm. This was messier, more desperate, flavored with the salt of tears she hadn't realized she was crying. His lips were warm and real and trembling slightly, as if he couldn't quite believe this was happening.
She could taste the wonder on his lips, the disbelief that this was real. His hands were everywhere—threading through her hair, tracing the line of her jaw, sliding down to her waist as if he needed to map every inch of her to convince himself she wasn't an illusion.
“Ava,” he breathed against her mouth, her name a plea. “I need…I need to feel everything. Please.”
She understood. After eighteen centuries of existing as nothing but consciousness, every sensation must be overwhelming. Every touch a revelation.
Her own hands began to explore, pushing aside the fabric of his shirt to find the warm skin beneath. He gasped at the contact, his whole body shuddering as her fingers traced the golden tattoos that spiraled across his chest.
“Is this real?” he whispered, catching her hand and pressing it flat against his racing heart. “Tell me this is real.”
“It’s real,” she assured him before kissing him again, deeper that time. When she broke away, she whispered the words she knew he needed to hear. “And it’s yours to take.”
The growl that left him was a feral, wild thing. He took the hem of her shirt and pulled it from her, tossing it aside, all decorum abandoned now that she had given him permission. His breath caught as he looked at her, his golden eyes dark with lust and wonder.
“Beautiful,” he breathed, his hands tracing the tattoos that now covered her arm and shoulder. “So beautiful…my Weaver.” His fangs dripped that strange poison of his, and he grimaced, snapping his mouth shut with a snarl, turning his face away.
“No.” She turned him back to face her, sitting up to kiss him.
She could taste the strange, citrusy-sweet tang of the poison on her tongue.
When she broke away, he was staring at her in wide-eyed awe.
“I want it, Serrik. All of it. I want you. All of you. Every part. In every form.” She ran his hand along her bare skin to her back, guiding him to the clasp of her bra. “And I’m not afraid.”
“Ava…once I begin, I do not know if—if I can stop—stop myself from changing—”
“Good.” She threaded her hand into his hair and kissed him again, tasting more of that strange and wonderful poison.
She wanted to feel it tear through her body.
She wondered how different it would be now that it was real—but also now that she was the Weaver.
So much had changed between them since last time.
If he did take his true form, she wanted to remember it.
Serrik's control shattered at her words.
The careful restraint he'd been maintaining dissolved like mist, replaced by eighteen centuries of desperate need finally given permission to surface.
His hands roamed her body with renewed urgency, mapping every curve and line as if committing them to memory.
“You do not understand what you are saying,” His voice was rough with desire and warning. “In my true form, I have no control. I am nothing more than an animal. The poison alone—”
“I can handle it,” she interrupted, her fingers working to unfasten his shirt completely. “I’m not human anymore, Serrik. Remember?”
His shirt joined hers on the grass, and she marveled at the intricate golden tattoos that covered his chest and arms. “What do these mean?”
“Binding spells I placed upon my self long ago,” he explained, his voice strained as she continued her exploration.
“Ones I created to help me maintain this form. To…keep the beast at bay. But with you touching them…” He groaned as she trailed her fingers down his abdomen. “There is little magic can do.”
Reaching for the fastenings of her remaining clothing, she helped him disrobe her until she was laying before him, completely naked.
He was kneeling between her knees, in just his britches. Looking down at her with an expression that was a mix of awe, lust, and yet…he was unsure.
“I want you as you truly are.”
“Forgive me. But I do not, Ava…” He cringed.
“Well…” She smiled, and reaching out, she hooked her fingers into the waistband of his pants. “I will be patient for the moment the beast snaps his leash. Until then…come here, Serrik.”
For a moment, he went perfectly still, his golden eyes searching her face for any sign of disappointment or regret. Finding none, he released a shuddering breath that might have been relief or surrender.
“As you wish, my Weaver.”
She drew him down to her, their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces. Every kiss, every caress, seemed to send ripples through the fabric of reality around them. The grass beneath them began to bloom with flowers that had never existed, their petals glimmering as if made of starlight.
“The whole world is responding to us,” Serrik observed with wonder, his voice rough with desire as he kissed her throat.
“Let it,” Ava gasped, arching beneath him.
Nothing else mattered in this moment. Not the merged worlds, not the chaos they'd created, not the responsibilities waiting for them.
There was only this—the passion between them, the reality of their connection, the way he made her feel alive in ways she'd never imagined.
When he moved to remove the rest of his clothing, she helped him, their movements urgent but tender once again, the beast restrained for now. When he kissed at her throat, she tilted her head away, baring it to him.
The sting of his fangs never came—but the press of his body into hers did. The perfect ache. The strange inhumanness of it. The way it strained her was exhilarating as he filled her, stretched her, fitted her body to his. She hadn’t been allowed to see it. Touch it. Really even feel it.
“Serrik—” She moaned his name, wrapping her legs around his waist as he sank himself to the hilt, the ridges of him making her see stars of pleasure as he began the dance.
“I dreamt of this,” he confessed as they finally came together, skin against skin, heartbeat against heartbeat.
“From the moment I met you, how I dreamt of you…prayed you might be the one. I can feel everything,” he whispered in wonder.
“Every nerve, every heartbeat, every breath. It is overwhelming and perfect and I never want it to end.”
Ava understood. The intensity of their connection was unlike anything she'd ever experienced.
It wasn't just physical—it was emotional, spiritual, reality-altering in the most literal sense.
She could feel his eighteen centuries of loneliness, his desperate gratitude for this moment, and his love for her.
Love.
He’d said it. It was still just so hard to believe.
Love. He loved her.
She was not used to fucking as a demigod-something-or-other.
And she could feel her own walls crumbling, her own heart opening to possibilities she'd been too scared to consider. He loved her. And she…did she love him?
Or was it more of a question of when she would finally admit it to herself?
And to him?
Their pace increased gradually, driven by need and wonder and the sheer joy of being alive together. The world around them continued to respond—stars wheeling overhead in impossible configurations, the ground beneath them warm and yielding like silk, the very air singing with their shared pleasure.
When release finally claimed them, it was with an intensity that she swore could have shaken the foundations of reality itself. Afterward, they lay entwined in the aftermath of their passion, and felt her heart return to normal.
“That was…” Serrik began, then shook his head. “I do not have the words.”
“Real,” Ava finished for him, pressing a kiss to his chest. “That was real.”
“The most real thing I suppose I have experienced in centuries.” His arms tightened around her. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For reminding me what it means to be alive. For showing me that…perhaps, companionship does not have to be a weakness.” He paused. “For choosing to trust me with this, despite everything.”
Ava looked up at him, seeing the vulnerability that he usually kept so carefully hidden. “I’m glad I did.”
They lay in comfortable silence for a while, listening to the distant sounds of the awakening city and watching the aurora lights above the treetops. But eventually, reality began to intrude—the sound of voices in the distance, the reminder that they weren't alone in this transformed world.
“We should probably get moving,” Ava said reluctantly. “And try to find the others. Who knows how far they’ve been scattered, but we’re going to need help if we’re going to try to put things right.”
“If that is your goal, then yes. We will need assistance.” Serrik made no move to let her go. “Though I have to admit, I am tempted to stay here forever. Just the two of us, reality bending around us, no responsibilities or threats or world-ending crises to deal with.”
“Tempting.” She sighed. “But hiding from our problems won't make them go away.”
“No.” He grunted. “And I have been locked away long enough.”
That was fair. She pushed up on her elbows and looked down at him. Reaching up, she toyed with a strand of his green hair. “Serrik?”
“Yes, Weaver?”
“Next time…I want to experience you. Get to…see you. I know you’re ashamed, and I—I get that. But…” She frowned. “I haven’t even touched you.”
Looking down at her, Serrik's expression shifted through several emotions—surprise, vulnerability, and something that might have been fear. “I still have difficulty believing you…want to touch me, not this illusion I maintain.”
“I do.” She traced one of the golden tattoos on his chest, watching it pulse with light at her touch.
“I know you're afraid I’ll be disgusted, or terrified, or that I'll run screaming. But Serrik—I’ve become something that reshapes reality with stray thoughts. I think I can handle my boyfriend being part spider.”
His laugh was soft but strained. “Boyfriend. Such a quaint human term.”
“Whatever you want to call it.” She leaned down and kissed him gently. “The point is, I want all of you. Not just the pretty parts you think I can handle.”
For a long moment, he was silent, his golden eyes searching her face. Then, slowly, he nodded. “Very well. But not here. Not where we might be interrupted. When we have time and privacy, when you can…adjust…without the pressure of immediate danger.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” He caught her hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to her palm. “Though you may come to regret the request.”
“I doubt that.”
They dressed equally slowly and reluctantly, if for probably very different reasons. She just really didn’t want to go back out into the world to face the bullshit she’d caused.
But for now, for just a few more minutes, she could pretend they were simply lovers in a beautiful, impossible place, watching aurora lights dance overhead while the world sang around them as the sun came up.
“Ready?” Serrik asked, offering her his hand.
Ava took it, letting him pull her to her feet. “Yeah. I guess. Let’s go find whoever’s left.”
Together, they walked toward the sounds of the awakening city, toward whatever new crisis or revelation waited for them.
Behind them, the flowers they'd created continued to bloom, spreading slowly outward in a perfect circle that she knew would encompass the entire park. It was not a bad way to start a day that would undoubtedly bring new horrifying disasters and shitty, terrible choices.
But hey.
Reaching out, she took Serrik’s hand in hers.
At least she wouldn’t have to face them alone.