I woke up in an empty bed the next morning.
Quinton, still restricted to his demon form, was bundled just outside the fence line where he slept. Ethel was snuggled against the fence to try and sleep with her father.
I left them be as I gathered up my backpack and money for the trip into town. A note was stuck to the door for Quinton when he awoke again.
Red paint was on the agenda after all. The fence could be completed when I came back.
Town was a good couple of kilometers away. I had a license but no roads lead through the forest to my home. No car would be able to wedge between the trees anyway if it did go off road.
So, the trip was made on foot, as usual.
It was quite calming. The morning was still young, so the leaves were still slick with morning dew. The leaves rustled with the gentle breeze that nipped my sunburnt skin and played with my hair.
Birds called out to the sun and flitted in the trees above me. Larger wildlife stayed protected amongst the undergrowth I snaked around on my path stamped into the ground. Somewhere amongst the thicket was the familiar babbling of a creek.
It was nice just to be alone and enjoy the scenery. I could take it as slow as I wanted too; there was no rush to get back.
Concrete soon replaced dirt and leaves, and the gentle rays that had accompanied me on my journey here had turned fierce.
Even though I had the whole town to explore, I wasn't here for sightseeing. People would always be quick to spread their gossip if they found me idling amongst civilisation instead of living like a secluded hermit.
Besides, I hated to imagine what Quinton would do if I left him too long. The thought of him stalking through town to drag me away only made me recoil.
It was exactly something he would do.
The concrete footpath still hadn't been repaired since my last trip. It's uneven slabs jutted out to try and trip me when I climbed the slanted stairs into the local DIY store.
The smell of freshly cut wood was strong here for a building so old. Scents of twined rope tangled on the wood, before sun-warmed hay danced in the stale air.
The elderly man behind the wood counter smiled when he saw me enter. He was a working man, as he had been his whole life, and had leathery skin aged by the brutal elements.
Despite his withering white hair and dark sunspots staining his brown skin, he was always happy to be surrounded by what he had loved before his body could no longer keep up anymore.
"Reg" I smiled back when I placed my backpack on his counter "good to see you again."
"And you too, Silas!" he beamed, grasping my hands to turn them over and inspect the blisters tearing through my skin "hard at work I see!"
"A fence this time" I replied, wandering over to the steel shelving loaded with tins of paint "to keep the animals out."
I heard Reg chuckle and leant over to see him doing the same.
"Not the local mischief makers?" he chortled "I see them disappearing into those woods all the time on some bizarre dare. I'm surprised they haven't paid you a little visit, with your haunted house and what not."
Haunted house.
I chuckled and shook my head at Reg. Locals came up with the most bizarre tales to explain what they refused to believe.
After the fires, to keep children from the forestry and the house that laid deep within its borders, people made up stories. They knew of demons of course; but some children themselves were a variety of demons, and that no longer scared them.
Something haunted though; that was bound to work.
It did keep them away. But for some, it only intrigued them.
Another man shuffled into the shop and I returned to the safety of the metal shelving. I heard the wooden floorboards groan as he went further into the shop, and used the chance to make my hasty retreat back to the desk with my tins of paint.
The dark maroon would cover the blood perfectly. And with its brown undertones, the blood would not show through as it aged and dried.
It was perfect.
The other tin of clear coat would protect its brilliant finish for longer. If Quinton did bleed over it again, I could blast it away without having to continuously cover the pickets.
"You've got quite the ambition there" Reg eyed the colour choice "painting with your hands too, dear boy?"
I flushed when I realised I hadn't grabbed the brushes in my desire to leave undetected. Reg smiled cheekily as he pulled down a roller and tray pack from the rack behind him and added it to the pile I was hoisting into my bag.
Two tins of paint were all it would bear. The paint pack made their way under my arm.
The floorboards creaked as the man continued to move around the back of the store. A woman with her three children entered as I paid, all of their curious eyes running over my marked skin making me nervous.
"Kids" the woman warned "it's rude to stare."
I thanked Reg and quickly slung the backpack over my shoulders before the rest of the town could decide to squeeze into the small shop.
I kept my head down as I followed the pathway back.
I heard running feet and ignored them, focusing on the path to the grocer.
Quinton enjoyed hunting for his food more than having it provided for him. Even Ethel ignored the baby food I had stocked in the cupboards, and followed his footsteps. I still needed to eat though; I was not going to be tearing through animals anytime soon.
A hand clapped down on my shoulder to turn me around. I prepared a quick excuse to let me slip away without hassle, until I realised who had stopped me.
"Long time, Spider Bait."
"Carter?" I breathed back in disbelief.
His scarred lip split into a grin at his name. His eyes traveled over me to take in my appearance while I did the same for him.
He hadn't changed since we were teens. Age had covered his chin with a small blonde beard that matched his blonde hair. He had grown taller and had a bit more muscle on him now. His blue cotton shirt was stained from the rusted wagon wheel he held to his side, the rust dusting his grey shorts as well.
"Are you going to haul all that shit back to yours?" Carter asked as he opened the boot of the white car beside us and pushed the rustic frame inside "I know for a fact you don't live close. Put your shit in here. "
I stood there, frozen, at the kind gesture.
"I... I shouldn't" I tried to laugh it off but already had Carter stripping the backpack from me that he grunted at when the weight jolted him.
"You must have such a sore back" Carter laughed at the bag, tossing my tray in with it "endurance training or something?"
"Painting" I admitted and slid into the passenger seat "then food."
Carter snorted and waited for me to strap myself in before doing the same and pulling the car into the road.
"You look like shit, to be honest" he said as be headed for the grocer "like you haven't slept in days. Are you doing OK by yourself in that run-down shit hole in the woods?"
By myself.
"Quinton is taking good care of me."
Carter flicked on the indicator and glanced at me in shock.
"Are you still with that psychopath?" he shook his head at me "I can't imagine him letting you out of his sight! He would just about attack me from even looking at you!"
"Him?" I let out a laugh "what about Reid? I would imagine he isn't much better."
Carter rolled his eyes and slowed the car so he could track down a parking spot outside the grocer.
"Reid doesn't bother me anymore. Things have been really good without him around."
Reid was gone?
Carter exited and let me walk by his side up the street. He saw my confusion and found it amusing.
"I had better things than that, you know" Carter explained "I even landed myself a decent girlfriend. Her name was Dottie. We were together for three years."
I noticed the choice of words Carter was using. Everything about him and his girlfriend was in the past. Something had happened between them.
"I was Reid's though" Carter joked "and I didn't know he started screwing Dottie behind my back until she wanted to leave me for him!"
My jaw dropped.
"The sex was better, she said" he leant in to whisper so he wasn't heard "like, obviously! He's a demon!"
I stayed silent, not knowing if smirking at the comment was appropriate.
"She left me last year for him" Carter continued with an irritated sigh "but the real funny thing is that word got out that she got pregnant to him too! And I heard she popped out a bunch of little baby spiders then freaked out and ran for the hills! It sounds like a horror story!"
Carter laughed at the misfortune of his old flame and nudged me with his shoulder to prompt me to laugh. I only managed a weak grin that showed my discomfort clearly to everyone scattered in the grocer we arrived at.
"How about you?" Carter asked as he lifted up a basket for me and began weaving between the rows of fruits and vegetables "did you ever have kids?"
"Just one" I smiled and lifted a sweet potato for the basket "her name is Ethel."
Carter snorted and tried to cover it up when I looked at him.
"Sounds like an old lady who crochets sweaters for cats; no offense."
I laughed at how ridiculous that sounded and saw Carter was pleased with himself for making me drop my guard around him.
It was nice to be so relaxed around Carter again seeing as out last time together hadn't resulted in a great outcome for either of us. I had been forced into the path of a fire, and Carter had been left beaten and bloodied on a road by Quinton.
I could see Carter wanted to bring up the subject, but was uneasy about pointing out my obvious deformities. His eyes dropped down to my prosthetic that I lifted over the rubber mats covering the concrete floor.
"It doesn't hurt, you know" I prompted when his eyes quickly darted away when I caught him staring "none of it."
He glanced at me and instantly looked guilty.
"If I knew what was going to happen, I wouldn't have said what I did to make that fight happen."
I stopped at the pile of beans and realised that Carter had never stopped blaming himself.
He had been kicking himself all these years over something he thought he could have changed by one simple action.
"It's not your fault" I rested a hand on his shoulder "seriously. Those people were going to go after Quinton and Reid anyway, no matter what you did. I was still going to end up where I did, even if the fight happened or not. "
"Yeah, but..."
"No buts" I scowled at his glistening eyes he dropped down "you could not have changed anything. They were going to start that fire anyway, and that little girl was going to be caught up in it."
Carter remained silent for a while as we kept wandering the produce with no real destination now.
"Everytime I see that little girl, I feel so guilty" he mumbled "Lottie has skin just like yours now. Her friends still play with her in that field like nothing happened."
"Carter" I placed my hands on his shoulders to get him to face me "you were not the one who threw rocks at us to make us run into the forest, were you?"
"No."
"And you weren't the one who stood there and deliberately set a field on fire, were you?"
"No."
"Then, you did not do this to me" I gestured to my body "or to Lottie."
He nodded and I saw tears roll down his cheeks that he quickly swiped away.
"Now, if you keep blaming yourself for something you didn't do, I'll make you sit on a bag of peas."
Carter tried to laugh but it came out choked.
"You could never" he wiped his face through his pained laughter.
I laughed with him at the memory and promptly added two bags of frozen peas to bring him to tears again.
Carter insisted on helping me out after I made him realise his flawed thinking was unnecessarily causing him grief.
He seemed happier when he walked beside me through the trees and out to where the unfinished fence was resting.
Quinton was nowhere to be seen. When I placed the groceries on the kitchen bench, Ethel wasn't seen either.
Carter helped pack away the groceries, playing with the bag of peas we threw cheekily at each other before they found their home in the freezer.
We both laughed until tears formed in our eyes, and told stories of our lives through the years we had forgotten about each other as we worked on finishing the boundary around the home.
Carter was hesitant to help with painting over the splattered blood until I started to. He watched from the fence until finally believing I wasn't some sort of serial killer trying to cover their tracks, and taking the roller from me while I hunted inside for a smaller brush.
With Quinton absent, Carter was relaxed. We played music from inside as we worked side by side, and even dissolved into childishly swiping paint on each other. We used the fence itself as out shield which took most of the lashings. Both of us looked like bleeding murals when we progressed on opposite sides of the fence, giggling as we did.
Carter didn't care I was already taken, and was carefree with his actions. He flirted and made suggestive comments like he used to do, tempting me and torturing himself.
He lived alone, and had since his partner left him for Reid. He had nothing to look forward to but an empty house that he was trying to liven up with rustic charm.
He had always been tempted by what he couldn't have. And with me here, sexually starved and unguarded, he was trying to make his move again.
Quinton didn't behave like this with me. He made me feel like nothing in the world could touch me, and gave me security nobody else could.
He would be so furious if he found Carter here with me. He was such a protective man that made sure I knew how much he loved me. But while Quinton had been holding off from sating me until Ethel was born, Carter was basically jumping at the chance, but was waiting for the right signal.
Would I give it to him just to get a rise out of Quinton?
Perhaps it would also fuel him to have me birth his children again? Maybe the added competition would give them the extra drive they needed to survive since their bloodline was being threatened?
I was desperate for that crib to be filled. I wanted those children to survive. Carter wouldn't understand. He just wanted to fill me and curb his horniness from being without his partner.
I was going to use him. Prey on him like Quinton liked to do to me during sex. I was going to make Carter claim me right in Quinton's territory and fuel Quinton's revenge.
If that didn't get his hormones raging, nothing would.
I saw Carter still painting the fence opposite me. With a quick glance to the forestry, I steadied the dripping brush in my hand.
Quinton had to be back at any moment. He would be feeling how badly I needed him already. I had to time it perfectly and have him catch Carter fucking me.
Carter was not one to leave something unfinished. Once I made it clear, he was going to be ready for me. I would make Quinton come running when he felt how much he was pleasuring me.
I rose, peering over at Carter who was oblivious. His head was down as he focused on slathering the bottom of the fence line.
I poked his back and saw him get to his feet with a loaded roller. We stood there, face to face, before I cheekily swiped his already coated nose.
Carter went to retaliate before I quickly kissed him. It was fleeting, but enough to stun Carter who was trying to decipher what to do now.
"I think I need some help on this side" I purred at him, running my brush along the top of the fence "you can help me fill in all these holes."
Carter gulped and took the bait. His roller clattered to the tray and he rushed over to the unfinished fence.
He wasn't even thinking when he crossed into my territory with his bulging erection. I planted my chest on the dried fence further down, spreading for him.
"I think I missed a spot over here" I teased.
He was already yanking himself out before he reached me. His hands shoved my shorts down so that he had a clear entrance that he shoved into.
I felt Carter pierce through me and moaned loudly.
The more noise I made, the more aggressive Quinton would be when he reclaimed me as his. That would give me what I wanted.
"Fuck me" I begged Carter who was already hammering my body against the fence "harder."
I felt Carter's tight balls slapping against me when he thrust harder. He was already buried at his length inside me, groaning against me between our panting.
Quinton had to be here soon. There was no way he could miss this.
I felt Carter tightening and pushed up against him.
Was he going to cum already?
"Damn it!" he snarled at himself and kept forcing me into the fence that I cried out against.
"Carter!" I shouted out when he started to pulse "Oh! Carter!"
Carter tried to call my name but couldn't get past the 'A' that was clenched through me when he released his burning lust.
He was still buried and moaning when the thundering of feet and Quinton's massive body came hulking into view, growling.
He was alone. Ethel wouldn't be able to keep up in his anger. She would not be far behind though.
I moaned again, knowing Carter was already finished and pushing away from me. He had shoved his flaccid cock back into his pants at the sight of Quinton, and was already sprinting for the fence.
Quinton had seen it all.
His body shook with anger when he powered after Carter, terrifying him into screaming. Quinton only went as far as the fence, roaring out to shake the air with his rage that echoed around me.
I felt myself wanting him already.
Quinton turned back to me in his fury and yanked me over the fence by my arm. I screamed out in the pain that shot through me before I was dropped onto the ground.
"YOU" Quinton rumbled, his breath coming out in hissing anger "YOU USED ME. YOU BELONG TO ME!"
There was no dripping erection as the quivering spider stood over me. It was only anger that radiated through him and into every leg planted around me.
"Please" I squirmed beneath him and rolled over to lift my arse towards him "Give me more. Show me I'm yours."
"You are acting like a bitch in heat" he snarled at the back of my head "If you want to be fucked so badly, I'll give it to you."
"Yes" I trembled and he dig his mandibles into my throat, keeping them pinched there to mark me before he lifted me upwards.
I dangled there, still throbbing with want and dripping with red paint. Quinton powered past Ethel who he clicked at to make her keep heading back in the direction of the house.
Where was he taking me?
Quinton kept his grip on me as he carried me further away from home and deeper into the woods. Over several kilometers, I saw webbing glistening on the leaves and claws raked through the trees here. Some were even burnt and surrounded with ashy prints.
Quinton kept going until a small clearing in the forest was found. The ground here was littered with track marks of all different species that frequented here. The thick aroma of musk coated the air and tangled with the sharp tinge of sex.
"I want your children" I panted up to Quinton who lowered me to the soft dirt.
His legs stabbed at my shirt that I lifted off for him. I pushed off my pants, keeping my prosthetic still firmly attached.
The dirt coated my back and clung to the paint. I lay there, spread and panting for him, who still wasn't showing his want for me.
"Only when you realise I'm what's best for you" he growled back then started to leave.
I laid there, confused, until the forestry around me came to life with the growls of advancing predators lingering just on the edges of the clearing; each one locked onto my scent they wanted for themselves.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
