Snake Eyes

Chapter 15

He hadn't expected Arackniss to come to him, especially without calling ahead, but he was so happy that he had. They'd spent the last few hours wrapped around each other with more passion than any time before, and they hadn't even said a word yet beyond the spider screaming his name. Now, he was wrapped around Arackniss' legs with his lover laying on his chest, enjoying the soft sounds of their combined breathing. The spider had seemed almost desperate to get closer to him; kissing him deeper, clawing his back, holding him in place, and just genuinely being unwilling to leave him. While it seemed borderline obsessive, he couldn't help but feel there was a good reason for the mania. Running his fingers through Arackniss' hair, he reveled in the soft locks, and the small sigh of contentment he received for it. "Are you alright?" The words came out, but he immediately regretted it. Was that even an okay thing to say after what they'd just been doing? His lover shifted enough to lay flat on his chest, resting his chin on his hands and looking up at Pentious.

"We're not gonna be able to see each other for a while after tonight." There was a hint of pain tinging his words and darkening his eyes. "And I don't know how long it'll be before we can see each other again." The shock settled in and his mind went blank. Tonight was the last night? Possibly forever? The fear and confusion, the anger and sorrow; it all hit him so fast that he barely had time to process it.

"So we just...stop?" He could hear that his hiss had intensified, showing off how upset he really was, even if he didn't quite understand it yet. Sitting up, he suddenly didn't want to be touched again. Pushing Arackniss off of him, he slid to the edge of the nest and tried to process it all. "Did I do something wrong?" Was it too fast? Did he say the wrong thing or call too much? Had Arackniss just lost interest? Was it the age difference? God, he had so many questions and yet, none of them would come out.

"No! No, no, no. We didn't do anything wrong. You didn't do anything. This isn't," His lover choked on his words and Pentious turned to find the other man struggling to breathe. The tears he could see welling up in Arackniss' eyes refused to fall, but they were there. He watched the other man force a few deep breaths before looking him directly in the eye. "This isn't wrong." It was point blank and emotional, but it felt like he was saying it more to himself than Pentious. "He's not giving me a choice, Pen. He's gonna be watching me like a hawk and he told me I can do whatever I need to, to catch the skimmer, but the one rule is that I can't see you. And if I know that selfish piece of shit he's gonna take Luca and Stefano away from me and replace them with two of his goons. I'm gonna have 24 hour surveillance to make sure I'm not breakin' his absolutely ridiculous and unfair rule, as always." His voice was shaking, his breathing was shaky, his entire body was shaking, and Pentious couldn't remember ever seeing him like this. Throughout his rant, Arackniss had referred to "he" and considering the power behind it, he couldn't only conclude that Don Henroin had gotten tired of waiting.

"Did he give you any sort of timeline?" He pulled himself back into the nest as Arackniss shook his head.

"Just that I lose all of my basic freedom until this stupid skimmer is caught. The last time he did this, they slept on my floor, Pen. I literally couldn't do anything without them knowing about it, and if I'm really unlucky," He stopped and pulled his knees to his chest, hugging his legs. "I'm sure I know who the skimmer is, but I need proof that it's him. This particular person is one of the Don's personal men. A fuckin' friend of his. And I fucked up by saying his name without the paper proof to back it up. Apparently, the leccaculo told my father I had a girlfriend and that she was getting in the way of my work." Pentious nodded slowly until he realized that he was said "girlfriend". He fought the raise of his hood and flush of his cheeks as best as he could.

"So, it ended up looking like a he said she said; both of you pointing fingers at each other for something." His lover dropped his head to his knees and Pentious sighed, scooting closer. Wrapping his tail around the spider, he leaned his head against Arackniss'. "And now you get watched, but what about the other party? Is he being watched too?" The low rumble from the spiders chest told him that either the other wasn't, or it was more complicated than that.