Caught in her Web - Chapter 15 (Patreon)

Pete rubbed at his eyes as he stared out at the vast expanse of human refuse through the large windows of the Helicarrier’s bridge. At times, it was hard to believe the pilots around him were flying the hulking ship over the Pacific Ocean - all he saw was rubbish as far as the eye could see.

Not rubbish. Vibranium!

He chuckled tiredly at the thought and looked over to the head pilot. ‘Bring her lower, I’ll start right away.’

The woman frowned at him in concern. ‘You’ve been at this for hours Doctor Parker, are you sure you don’t want a break?’

He smiled kindly at her concern. ‘As much as I’ve enjoyed all your company, I very much want to get home to my girlfriend before she drags me home...’

Several of the bridge crew smiled and chuckled at his good humour, despite the clear signs of exhaustion in his eyes.

Controlling his nanites wasn’t a physically taxing exercise per se, he thought and they did - if they were capable. It did require intense focus though, especially when he had to simultaneously direct their collection and storage.

It had been much harder when they’d first started, and Pete could have made it much easier for himself if he wore the helmet he made for Riri to do likewise, but it felt too much like a crutch.

And God knows I’ve had enough of those…


He didn’t even feel it when the massive ship started to lower itself towards the garbage patch. When they’d requisitioned her for this project - emptying the Helicarrier of all non-essential components and equipment and boosting her carrying capacity - the engineers at SI had also retrofitted her with advanced thrusters and inertial dampeners. He’d also heard them discussing upgrading to a new mobile fortress entirely once the Anti-Gravity Well was built, the propellers - a genuine marvel of technology and triumph over physics - wildly inefficient compared to what they were capable of now.


‘Alright, you guys know the drill,’ Pete called out to the bridge crew, cracking his neck and knuckles as he willed his nanites to start doing their thing. From the countless shipping containers crammed onboard the massive ship, thick, black streams of nanites started to surge out and spiral down into the garbage patch below.


From outside, he didn’t doubt that the hulking ship looked like a strange, technological eldritch horror, its biomechanical tentacles reaching down into the depths.

He’d been at this for so long at this point, he could instantly sense when he was joined on deck by four new individuals.

‘Incredible…’ Maria Hill whispered in awe as she stepped up to the window and watched the floating landfill - ocean fill? - already visibly shrinking in size, his nanites breaking down and using the materials to replicate and return to the ship.

Coulson stood by her side, his features pleasant but his eyes wide. Pete turned further and saw Fury’s tall form stood beside Coulson, his face unreadable as his one visible eye beheld the marvel happening outside. With them and picking at her nails with a knife, Natasha Romanoff looked bored and a little annoyed.

No doubt because several of her operations had been put on hiatus so that they could speed-run this necessary step in turning humanity into a space-faring species.

She’ll have to get over it.

A junior mess attendant quietly handed him a cup of coffee and he smiled thankfully at her before turning back to his task at hand. Before he’d begun this massive mining operation, such a distraction would have been, if not disastrous, certainly detrimental. He found it much easier to maintain concentration and even split his attention in several directions.

‘How do you control them?’ Fury finally spoke, his tone curious as he beheld the returning clouds of nanites. The scene outside had quickly turned visually apocalyptic, the sky darkened by the microscopic machines, thick tentacle-like streams of them both coming and going from the Helicarrier to the ocean.

Pete turned to regard the imposing man while taking a sip of his coffee. He shrugged, seeing no harm in answering - he’d probably gone through all his research on the nanites already anyway. The man was thorough like that.

‘The same way you control your limbs,’ he answered with a tap on the temple. ‘It takes some getting used to, but it’s not too difficult once you learn how to split your attention several ways. Think of it like an extreme version of patting your head and rubbing your belly.’

Fury snorted then turned to look at him with a raised brow. Natasha, upon seeing the nanites returning to the ship, looked a little pale as the swarms blocked out the sun. ‘Still unimpressed?’ Pete teased, noticing her expression.

She turned to him, her features turning stony before they morphed into a teasing countenance. Despite how undeniably beautiful the woman was, it was the brief moments of complete non-expression, where she decided what face to put on that completely unnerved him about the super spy.

‘I’d say nobody likes a smart-ass, but from what I hear, you’re a real lady killer, Parker.’

When several of the nearby bridge crew, including Coulson and Hill turned to look at him in surprise, his cheeks pinkened in embarrassment and his gaze returned to the viewing window.

‘Didn’t peg you for a voyeur, Romanoff.’

He could hear the smug smile on her face.

‘That’s literally my job, Parker.’

Fury, apparently completely uninterested by the banter, picked up where he’d left off. ‘Could you control your nanites to attack the Helicarrier right now?’

The question had come so far out of left field, he almost lost concentration as he turned to the older man, his dark, stony features regarding him impassively. Pete shrugged. ‘Sure, given enough time and material.’

Fury pressed on, apparently waiting for that very answer. ‘And what counts as material?’

Pete inhaled deeply. The nature of the questions and, especially, the person asking them, left little doubt in his mind what he was fishing for.

None of this is top-secret. If he really wanted to know, he could just pick up a phone and call Tony. He just wants to know if I know…

He shrugged again. ‘Some forms of matter provide more material, and are harder to break down than others, but, technically, literally anything counts as material - when I’m controlling the nanites, anyway.’

Apparently this wasn’t as obvious as he’d first thought, because the atmosphere in the bridge instantly grew tense at the revelation.

They hung around for another half hour, watching the garbage patch shrinking before their eyes as cargo ships carried away the excess nanites to the building site.

The tense atmosphere didn’t abate until Fury turned on his heel and stalked away, Coulson scurrying after his boss.

Hill, apparently realising she had her own work to get back to, sent one more prolonged look at the nannies before shaking her head and quickly stalking away after sending a polite nod in his direction.

Natasha sidled up to him and grinned at his perturbed expression.

‘Are they always this excitable?’ he joked, grinning at his on-again, off-again shadow. ‘I swear, Fury is like a charisma vacuum. The complete opposite of Tony.’

Natasha snorted and he turned to her with a raised brow. She shrugged. ‘I worked for Tony for a bit, back before he was fully on-board. I prefer Fury - less headaches.’


Pete chuckled and shook his head. ‘I work better when I don’t have someone constantly hovering over me. Too distracting.’


Her grin then turned predatory. ‘You’re one to talk about distractions. How many of your colleagues do you get under your desk? Or is it just Williams?’

His face flushed a beet red and he made to elbow the super spy, but she only grinned wider and danced out of his reach. Unfortunately, given the flush on the faces of the nearby bridge crew, she hadn’t been as quiet as he’d hoped.

‘Can you not take out your frustrations on me?’

‘I mean, I could, but given you’re the reason for them, why would I?’

Natasha Romanoff was an opponent unlike any he’d ever faced before. His girlfriend was generally without shame, but even she had buttons he could press to get her to back off, or even just to riposte in their verbal spars. The super spy had literally been trained to withstand the worst kinds of torture - what could he possibly say that would get her to back off?

Well, there is that…and given she’s having fun making everyone think I’m some kind of sex pest, I’d say it’s fair game.

Composing himself, he turned to the gorgeous spy with a raised brow. ‘You still don’t seem all that impressed by my nanites,’ he began conversationally, the complete non-sequitur causing their eavesdroppers to either get stun-locked, or lose interest.

Natasha shrugged, letting her opinions on the matter speak for themselves.

‘You must think they can only reform into inorganic materials then?’

Seeing the look of confusion on her face, he continued. ‘We’re running trials right now where we’re replacing hearts… livers…’ He leaned down and put his lips next to her ear - while she’d been an annoying brat and aired his dirty laundry without a care in the world, he liked to think he had more class than that. ‘Uteruses,’ he whispered, using every bit of his willpower to not smirk triumphantly when Natasha visibly froze in shock.

While he wasn’t against using said knowledge against her to stop the superspy from busting his chops, he wouldn’t gloat or hold it above her head either.

When he heard her footsteps receding, he let out a sigh of relief and got back to his work. This was the last garbage patch he’d have to oversee the extraction of himself - Tony was building a fleet of trucks and cargo ships that could do the same without him, both in the ocean and on land.

After today, he could finally go home and see Gwen.

He remembered how she’d been after only a week apart before his award ceremony.

How would she be after a month? Would she even wait, or would she find someone else to scratch that itch?

The thought didn’t fill him with dread like it used to. He subtly adjusted his slacks, the mental image causing him to harden.

She’d never do it behind his back, but if he’d given Gwen his blessing…she absolutely would.

God, stop thinking about it. They already think you’re a sex pest now, no need for them to see you with a boner…

Thinking about his girlfriend had him smiling and his guts roiling in equal measure. He had a surprise for Gwen when he returned home…he just hoped it was one she’d appreciate.

-

Fury sat behind his desk in his office on the Helicarrier, his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling. Coulson watched him with trepidation, his boss hadn’t said a word since leaving Doctor Parker on the bridge an hour ago.

Coulson was a pro though. He wouldn’t be the one breaking the silence.

Thankfully, Fury did so himself not a few minutes later.

‘I’ve studied each of the strongest heroes and villains planet Earth has to offer. I’ve seen aliens, Gods from myth and interdimensional horrors,’ Fury listed off, his face a mask of stone. Finally, he turned to Coulson and regarded him with a frown. ‘None of them scare me as much as this kid does.’

Coulson frowned, he fought down his instinctive urge to defend Doctor Parker, the young man’s affable nature and kind demeanour likely clouding his judgement.

To help him along, Fury continued. ‘Who is the strongest being on Earth?’

Coulson pondered the question. A few names sprung to mind. Jean Gray when she tapped into her inner, latent power. Magneto. Black Bolt. Thor, certainly, if he wanted to bend the parameters of the question. Wanda Maximof too, certainly. But one name stood out amongst the rest.

‘Banner,’ Coulson answered with certainty.

Fury nodded, his face set in a troubled frown. ‘I agree, it’s why he’s at the top of our threat rankings, but answer me this - what would happen if Parker set his nanites on the Hulk?’

Coulson’s instinctual answer was to shut it down. Nothing could penetrate the Hulk’s skin - many have tried, and failed.

Parker’s nanites don’t penetrate though, they break matter down on a molecular level…

He paled as his mind connected the dots.

‘I’m not even sure Parker needs to be here to pilot his nanites. Maybe he does now, but as he gets better at controlling them?’ he asked, his words pouring out as he confessed what had been troubling him all day. ‘The kid could sic his nanites on the Hulk from the other side of the world and break him down, molecule by molecule. It’s matter manipulation - tell me something more powerful than that?’

They lapsed into silence once more as Coulson digested his words, the troubled frown that had been marring his boss’ face all day now also marring his own.

‘What are you saying?’

Fury finally sat up in his chair, a determined look on his features. ‘I’m saying we need to keep a closer eye on him. We need to protect him. He’s our greatest weapon and, soon, our enemies will start to see that too.’

‘Not just the Wakandans,’ Coulson surmised. ‘When everyone sees how quickly Williams builds the Gravity Well, and discovers how…’

‘Stark is doing everything he can to keep the kid safe,’ Fury assuaged, a small smirk on his features. ‘And his girlfriend is no pushover either, especially if she keeps growing stronger and more capable…’

‘He’ll need a full-time protection detail,’ Coulson surmised and winced. ‘Barton?’ he hedged, hoping Fury wouldn’t suggest the obvious choice.

‘Romanoff,’ Fury countered, and Coulson felt his stomach sink. ‘CQC, threat assessment, intelligence gathering, counter-intelligence - we have no one more suited.’

Coulson winced internally and shook his head. ‘She…won’t be happy about this.’

‘She’ll get over it. Parker is more important than Hydra.’

Before they could discuss who would take over from Natasha in the war against Hydra, the door to Fury’s office burst open and the woman in question stormed in. Coulson started in his seat while Fury stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

‘Put me on Parker’s protection detail,’ she demanded without preamble.

Both Coulson and Fury exchanged bemused glances before the man saw his boss smirk in amusement. ‘You too? Damn, kid works fast…’

Coulson put his head in his hands to hide his blush while Natasha looked at them both in confusion.

-

It had taken a month, but Pete had converted a pretty substantial portion of the garbage from the patches in the ocean into nanites then shipped them all off to the building site in Australia.

Tony had made a deal with the Australian government to build the Anti-Gravity Well in the largely inhospitable middle of the country - there had been the expected uproar from the indigenous peoples, but substantial donations made to their communities had been enough to largely placate them. The ones that weren’t? Well…they weren’t exactly building a casino - there was very little sympathy once what the nature of the project leaked to the public courtesy of, of course, Pepper don’t fuck with me Potts.

Everything was in Riri’s hands now. Pete had built her a headset that would specifically let her control the nanites he’d shipped to Australia, she’d been practising with its use for a while now.

Surprisingly, Pete was rather zen about it. The Anti-Gravity Well’s construction would be a major event in human history, but the best minds in the world were working on it and protecting Riri while she built it.

Then why were his guts a roiling mess?

Simple. He’d bought a new apartment and the renovations on it - and the entire building - had just been completed. Penthouse ninety at thirty-five Hudson Yards. Ben had given him the scoop that the builder of the luxury high-rise had run into financial trouble and was selling off some of the apartments early at cut-prices to ameliorate that.

Cut price… Place ended up costing me thirty million, though Ben insists it would have normally gone for fifty or more if there was a bidding war.

So why was he nervous? Well, he didn’t buy such a lavish penthouse apartment as an investment property, or for himself.

He finally intended to ask Gwen to move in with him. That, combined with them having been apart for a month, had his guts doing all manner of queasy things as he waited in his office for her.

‘Doctor Parker, I think Ms Stacy just arrived?’ the voice of his nervous, mousy secretary floated out over the speaker and Pete smirked.

‘What do you mean you think?’

‘She was, err… moving very fast.’

Chuckling, Pete just about had enough time to stand and move around his desk when Gwen burst into his office and cannonballed into him like a freight train. ‘Oof!’

She’d wrapped him up in a bone-crushing hug while peppering his face with featherlight kisses.

‘You’re gonna break me woman!’ he yelped.

‘Stop being a little bitch,’ she muttered, each word punctuated with another kiss on his face.

‘I missed you too,’ he said with a laugh, returning her hug and letting her have her way with him. He barely had time to process anything as Gwen pulled him towards his desk and bent over. She was wearing her sexy Jets getup, the white sweatpants and the Jets-green super-cropped sweater with nothing underneath.

Looking over her shoulder, her smouldering baby-blues heavily-lidded with desire, she lowered her pants with one simple tug and revealed her naked behind and glistening pussy to him.

‘Fuck me,’ she hissed. ‘Now.’

Pete flushed crimson. She’d barged into his office and his door was still very much open. While no one was milling about outside, that didn’t mean that couldn’t change at the drop of the hat.

On the other hand, if he didn’t do what she asked, she was likely to rip his dick off and do it herself.

Unzipping his fly and pulling out his aching cock, he slipped into his girlfriend in one easy thrust, the both of them moaning as his front pressed into her rear. Despite his instincts screaming at him to, he didn’t start thrusting away like a frenzied monkey in heat, he instead wrapped his arms around Gwen and slipped his hands under her cropped sweater to cup her naked, perky breasts. He held himself buried inside his girlfriend and luxuriated in the feel of her pulsing and warm womanhood, his lips planting kisses on the nape of her neck.

‘Did you cheat on me?’ Gwen asked with a sultry moan, much calmer now that his dick was nestled again in her womanhood.

‘No,’ Pete answered with a chuckle. ‘Nerds on the Helicarrier are way too boring for that.’

Gwen chuckled deeply. ‘You’re calling them nerds now? Your transformation to full meathead is almost complete.’

His girl giggled when he nipped at her. ‘Natasha asked to be assigned to my personal detail.’

He groaned when he felt Gwen’s pussy tighten around him like a vice. ‘That’s so hot,’ she groaned, her head hanging down as he started to slowly gyrate his hips, his dick moving around inside her.

‘What about you?’ Pete teased and groaned again as her pussy pulsed. ‘Did you pick up a side-piece to keep you warm while I was away?’

‘I was so tempted,’ Gwen purred, grinding her ass against him. ‘But unfortunately, I was a good girl.’

‘Unfortunately, huh?’ Pete chuckled, surprised by how little the idea bothered him. He supposed his girlfriend setting him up with other women all the time made him far less uptight about the sanctity of their bed. He’d suspected that had been the plan from the beginning and had been thinking about it for a while now.

He still loved Gwen with every fibre of his being. That’s why he’d be asking her to move in with him, unconventional sex life or no.

His guts roiled again at the reminder.

‘Mhmm,’ Gwen purred. ‘MJ asked me to do another video with her,’ she admitted and Pete’s cock throbbed with desire.

‘I hope you said no,’ Pete replied in a faux angry voice. ‘I can’t have my beautiful girl’s ass recorded on a fucking phone.’

Gwen cackled before reaching around to pull his head in for a kiss.

Neither lasted long after that. Grabbing her hips, he fucked his girl until he spilled inside her with a satisfied groan, Gwen’s womanhood pulsing around him as she joined him in orgasm.

Gwen almost looked reluctant to pull her sweat pants up, but she did with a pleased sigh. ‘We going? Game starts in an hour.’

‘No,’ he denied and grabbed her hand. ‘Actually, I’ve got a bit of a surprise for you - we’ll be skipping the game.’

Her eyes brightened with delight. The Jets were having a terrible season anyway, they were only going out of habit at this point. ‘Oh? Do tell.’

He grinned and led her out the door, trying hard to avoid the gaze of his blushing secretary on the way out. ‘That would kind of defeat the purpose of the surprise,’ he teased before getting in an elevator and passing his hand over the reader. The device beeped, recognising his mental command and shot off to the basement level thirty-seven.

‘Basement level thirty-seven?’ Gwen asked with a raised brow. ‘What’s there?’

'Tony had a group of engineers build a bunch of looped tunnels under the city for easier transportation,' he explained as the elevator doors opened and they walked into a large, busy, circular hall that looked like a futuristic, almost blindingly white train station. 'Last I checked, we have over twenty thousand people working in this building alone, and that's not even mentioning other sites around the City.

Along the curved wall were dozens of tunnels leading to different loops that travelled and made stops around the five Boroughs. Pete grinned at his girlfriend's wide-eyed stare and tilted his head toward one tunnel in particular - the loop that passed through Chelsea and Hell's kitchen.

'You taking me to see a show?' She teased, elbowing him softly in the side as the tunnel led to what looked like a smaller subway platform, a circular opening on their left and right barely big enough to allow a train passage.

Pete chuckled. 'I'd like to think I know you better than that.' The cars did their loops super quick, he'd never had to wait more than a minute the few times he'd taken one.

'Ugh,' Gwen grimaced. 'So much white, it's blinding.'

'You're not the only one that feels that way. There's a company wide pole going around so everyone can vote on a new colour.'

'What's winning?'

'Galaxy,' Pete answered with a clueless shrug. 'Don't ask me, I've no idea what it means either. I voted for taupe.'

'Of course you did,' she lamented with a roll of her eyes. Her eyebrows rose when the car almost silently shot out of the tunnel on their left, only a whoosh of displaced air announcing its presence. 'The hell?'

Taking Gwen's hand, he politely waited for his colleagues to disembark, ignoring the reverent stares and Gwen's cheeky grin, before hopping on himself.

'Maglev,' Pete explained after the doors shut behind them. There were no seats in the car, just padding against the wall and handrails along the ceiling. 'It's normally hugely energy inefficient, but Tony built an Arc reactor for each car because why the hell not?'

'Why spend so much on the tech and not put in any chairs?' Gwen asked in confusion, foregoing the padded rest and instead leaning against him.

Pete wrapped his arms around Gwen's toned body and chuckled. 'I think it'll be easier to show than tell.'

The doors shut and Gwen made herself comfortable, only for Pete to pinch her sides and shove her off him when the doors opened again only ten seconds later.

'Huh?' Gwen exclaimed in surprise and Pete chuckled.

'We're here.'

'Here where? The first stop? Did we even move?'

'Here at Hudson Yards, the cars don't make stops unless someone is at the platform,' Pete explained with a grin as he pulled the wide-eyed Gwen along. 'Think of them like huge, horizontal elevators. And you didn't feel us move because of the inertial dampeners.'

He led Gwen to a nearby elevator and they emerged in, as he'd said, Hudson Yards, in between Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea. The entire area had been bought up and redeveloped relevantly recently and they were surrounded by open air shopping malls, ritzy cafes and bars and several high-rise luxury apartment buildings.

'Holy shit,' Gwen exclaimed with awe as Pete took her hand and led her to one of the nearby high-rises. 'Are we visiting someone? I didn't know you had any friends that were one-percenters,' she muttered, clear disdain on her features and Pete did his best to not laugh openly in her face. She'd picked up that Eat the Rich attitude while in college - he honestly found it adorable how much of a hypocrite she could be.

'Gwen, we're one-percenters,' he gently chided her and she flushed at the rebuke.

'Yeah, but you give back to the poor,' she countered, flustered.

Pete laughed and pulled her into a one-armed hug. 'Mmm, I've always wanted to be a sugar daddy to a filthy tankie whore.'

He yelped as she pinched his side, a sly grin on her gorgeous features as she placed his hand on her ass. 'You trying to claim this as your property too, capitalist pig?'

Pete barked out a laugh and squeezed her toned ass playfully. 'I'll be exploiting it for all its worth later. Come on.'

They strolled into the apartment building with Pete dutifully ignoring the wide-eyed stares. Gwen marvelled at the ostentatious decor, and when they got in the glass elevator, she whistled appreciatively as they ascended past several restaurants, a rooftop bar halfway up the building and a fully furnished gym.

'Jesus, it's like an all-inclusive gated community in a tower,' Gwen remarked as the glass walls of the elevator allowed them picturesque views of the Hudson.

'Pretty much,' Pete agreed with a grin. 'Wouldn't want to mingle with the peasants - yeow!'

He laughed and started battering her pinching fingers away as they kept ascending. When Gwen realised they hadn't stopped, she turned to him with a frown.

'You didn't say who we were seeing…'

'That's right.'

She narrowed her eyes at his matter-of-fact statement, but kept her peace. For now.

When the elevator opened up at the top floor, they stepped out into a small lobby with three other elevator doors. There was no hallway when exiting, the entirety of the top floor was the penthouse suite, and thus the elevators took them straight inside.

Pete led Gwen out and had her take a sharp left.

She gasped at what she saw.

The private elevator landing led to a huge, thousand square foot open space where the entire southern wall was floor to ceiling glass that provided a gorgeous view of downtown, Stark tower and even the Statue of Liberty.

In fact, the entire outer wall of the penthouse was floor-to-ceiling windows providing a full, three-sixty degree view of Manhattan. It's what made him fall in love with the ostentatious apartment in the first place.

'Jesus Christ,' Gwen marvelled as she stepped out into the wide open space and beheld the gorgeous, nighttime view of Manhattan. The room they were in housed two gigantic L-bend sofas and was bracketed by dual fireplaces. She turned and stared at him with wide eyes. 'Who lives…here?'

She hadn't noticed immediately when stepping into the room, but when Gwen spun around to interrogate him she finally noticed the wall of art that had been at her back.

A wall of art that featured several tastefully nude portraits of herself from their time in Sweden.

Her eyes were almost bugged out at this point.

Smiling sheepishly, butterflies running rampant in his guts, he scratched the back of his head and smiled shyly. 'I was hoping…us?'

To be honest, it wasn't the reaction he was hoping for. Maybe launching herself into his arms, a few tears even? Sure.

Instead, Gwen just stood there gaping at him in shock. He was worried he might have broken her when his world turned upside down. The next thing he knew he was starting at the fourteen foot ceiling while a wide-eyed and guilty looking Gwen fretted over him in worry.

'Shit! Sorry babe, I was just so excited and I really wanted to hug you but I kinda forget to hold back when I did and you kinda fell over and -'

He interrupted her cute rambling with a wheezy chuckle. 'Is that a yes?'

She just stared at him in confusion.

'Do you wanna move in with me?' He repeated, the back of his head feeling like Gwen's bass drum with her kick pedal beating a staccato beat into his skull.

'Yes!' She exclaimed, laughing with glee.

Fighting the urge to try and miserably fail about a dozen backflips, he chuckled. 'Oh? Now it's okay to live like a one percenter? Typical hypocritical tankie.'

Gwen barked out an almost hysterical laugh. The wide smile stayed affixed to her face as she leaned in close, her groin grinding against his and her hands pinning his above his head. 'You can spoil me all you want, daddy.'

He groaned, trying to lean up and kiss her but her grip was too firm. She was enjoying the power she had over him very much, biting her lip as she watched him squirm.

'When?' She asked curiously, the simple question needing no elaboration.

'When we got back from Sweden,' he admitted with a shrug, making himself as comfortable as possible and surrendering himself to her mercy.

She frowned cutely, blowing her long bang out of her face. 'Why'd you wait so long?'

He grinned and shrugged. 'It was a bit basic for my liking, I had some renovations done.'

Gwen looked around in disbelief before turning her stare on him, earning a shrug. 'I might have gone a little overboard in my excitement, come, let me show you -!'

'Wait,' she stopped him, pressing down on his chest and continuing to grind against him. 'Renovations, you said? That means, like, a bunch of guys were in here every day, working?'

Realising where this was going as his girl's eyes flickered to the art wall, he smiled innocently and nodded.

'And how long, exactly, have those pictures been hanging on the wall?'

'Oh, I don't know,' he said, scrunching his face and miming thinking. 'Pretty much since day one? I mean, the interior decorator couldn't do her work without knowing what kind of art we had on our walls.'

'Ahuh,' she agreed with an amused tone. 'And how often did the labourers take their lunches out here?'

She'd started to grind herself against him again, clearly very interested in the answer. Pete would be lying if he said he wouldn't enjoy bursting her bubble.

'Out here? Not that often, really.'

'...oh,' she said with a frown, clearly disappointed.

Pete grinned like the Cheshire Cat. 'Yeah, it was super weird. They mostly took their lunch in our master bedroom at the North West corner - said they preferred the view. I don't think they meant Central Park though…'

Gwen's eyes flashed and he assumed she was thinking about the implications. Instead, she surprised him by grinding even harder against him. 'Say that again.'

He looked at her in confusion, his back starting to ache from laying against the unforgiving, solid timber flooring.

'Where did they take their lunch?' Gwen prompted, biting her lip sexily.

His eyes widening in understanding, he mirrored his girlfriend's excited smile. 'In our bedroom.'

Gwen's eyes fluttered closed and she moaned as if he'd just slipped his cock inside her. 'Say it again, Stud.'

'Do you want to go see our bedroom?'

She moaned again, her cheeks reddening and her breaths coming in excited gasps. 'I doooo.'

'Get off me you weirdo,' Pete laughed, bucking his hips and dislodging his ridiculous girlfriend.

Cackling, she took his hand and pulled him up, allowing him to drag her along to give her the tour.

The penthouse was set up around the elevator lobby in the middle. Naturally, it took up the entire floor, so every room had its own floor-to-ceiling windows with incredible views of Manhattan.  


He started the tour by going clockwise around the open space into the western facing edge of the building. Gwen cackled with glee when he opened the door to the first room and showed off their new gaming den with couches, a huge tv and next level surround sound.

‘Every room has a dimming feature on the windows too,’ he explained with a wide smile, his happiness and excitement getting the better of him. ‘You’re already hooked into the systems with your nanites, just will it.’

Gwen squinted and clapped appreciatively as the twinkling skyline was blacked out from view. Pete quickly showed off the next room in line - his office, which earned a guffaw from his girlfriend, of course the gaming room was next to his office - before heading to the north-west corner of the penthouse suite, their bedroom. Before they entered, Gwen motioned to the art on the inside wall, more from her photoshoot in Sweden.

‘I’m thinking we need to have more photoshoots,’ she teased, motioning to the pictures of her on their favourite rock. ‘Add some variety. Or, you know, get some actual art?’

Pete snorted. ‘As if any bit of traditional art would look better than your body,’ he dismissed, blushing as Gwen giggled, wrapping her arms around him from behind and putting her lips against his ear.

‘You’re such a simp.’

He sagged into her touch and shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Are you complaining?’

‘No,’ Gwen mused after a second of silence, nibbling on his ear. She was giddy with excitement too, he could hear it in her voice, feel it in the way she was rubbing against him. ‘I think it’s cute. You’re so desperate to please your mistress.’

He hadn’t even shown her the best rooms yet, the ones he’d had the renovators spend most of their time on.

‘Hold that thought,’ he teased, opening the door to their room.

Honestly, the room was nothing special. It had a bed, a fireplace with two armchairs near it, an ensuite bathroom and a completely useless walk-in closet. What really caused Gwen to suck in a startled breath was the view of the city from their room.

Again, the master bedroom was in the north-west corner, so it had two of its walls as floor-to-ceiling windows. This corner of the tower had a stunning view of Midtown, the Upper West Side and Central Park in particular.

‘Wow, I can see why the builders took their lunches in here,’ Gwen muttered with awe, gazing out at the glittering sight in wonder. ‘Fucking hell, this is stunning…’

‘Um, I don’t think you do…’

Turning to him with confusion, her eyes widened when she saw what she’d missed when she stepped into the room, her cheeks redding and her eyes growing heavy-lidded with desire when she saw the blown up portrait above the fireplace.

Like the rest of the art in their penthouse, it was from their trip to Sweden. Unlike the others though, where it focused on the pics he’d snapped of her from the back with the stunning scenery in the background, this one was a digital portrait, cycling between their more explicit shots from that day - including one with a closeup of her beautiful pussy filled with his cum.

‘You let them take their lunch here?’ she asked, almost panting at this point. ‘With that hanging on the wall?’

‘What can I say?’ he joked with a cheeky grin. ‘I can respect guys who appreciate true fine art.’

He grunted when Gwen pushed him up against the wall and started making out with him. He gladly let her manhandle him, his hands slipping into her sweats and cupping her incredible ass.

When she pulled away, she was biting her lip and gazing deeply into his eyes. ‘I love you.’

Flushing at the intensity and depth of meaning in her words, Pete chuckled awkwardly. ‘I love you too - but you haven’t even seen the best part yet.’

‘This is our bedroom,’ Gwen reiterated, grinding her knee against his balls. ‘There’s nothing better.’

Pete shrugged, his smile mysterious. He didn’t fight her on it, partly because the sentiment was so sweet but mostly because he couldn’t wait to see her face when he showed her what he was proudest of.

The three rooms along the north side of the penthouse were more bedrooms, for guests or…for other potential occupants of their home. When he’d stumbled over that, Gwen had hugged his arm to her chest and kissed him on the cheek, clearly finding his fumbling adorable and sweet.

The north eastern room was the one they’d likely be spending the most time in other than their bedroom. The big, open area he’d shown off first was too large to hang out comfortably in, it was better suited for entertaining and parties. The family room they were in now was much more cosy, with a comfy L-bend sofa and a TV over a fireplace. The view, while less impressive than the southern facing edge or their bedroom, was still stunning, the Financial District and the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges clearly visible.


The next area which took up the remainder of the tour was the kitchen immediately next to the family room, and the dining room that was on the other side of one of the fireplaces in the initial great room, along the south edge again. While there was nothing wrong with the dining area, the table was, frankly, too large and impractical when it was just the two of them eating. Thankfully, one of his personal favourite aspects of the penthouse was the four-hundred and fifty square foot outdoor terrace with alfresco dining and lounge furniture, a luxurious and ginormous spa, and a stunning view of the Freedom Tower and Statue of Liberty.

‘Wow,’ Gwen marvelled with awe. Standing out on the terrace, her hands on the rails, she frowned as she looked around. Their building was one of the tallest in the area, which was amazing in one aspect in that no building obstructed any of their views, but…

‘Mad that people won’t be able to see us having sex up here?’ Pete teased, grinding his aching cock against her ass and kissing the nape of her neck.

Gwen arched her back and moaned. ‘You can read my mind now?’

Pete laughed. ‘You’re not as complicated as you like to think my little Spider-slut,’ he purred, putting his head on her shoulder and directing her gaze to the closest building. While it wasn’t as tall as theirs, it was close. Pete willed the lights on the terrace to switch on and they were bathed in a warm, iridescent luminescence. ‘I reckon anyone determined enough could spy on us pretty easily if they wanted.’


‘We need to invite the girls over,’ Gwen giggled, grinding her ass against him. ‘Nothing would incentivise the perverts to get telescopes more than a bunch of naked hotties partying out here in the spa.’

‘I’m not sure who the bigger pervert is, you,’ Pete teased, nibbling her ear, ‘or them.’


Gwen chuckled throatily but didn’t deny it.

‘Speaking of your friends, c’mon, we’re not done.’

‘Huh?’ Gwen asked with a puzzled frown. ‘You’ve shown me the entire floor.’

‘I told you I had renovations done,’ he reminded her in a teasing tone, taking her hand and leading her back to the elevator lobby. The exit they hadn’t taken previously out of the elevator lobby led to a hallway that bisected the penthouse. Pete quickly showed her a few storage closets and the laundry before showing her an innocuous door that led to the emergency stairs.

‘Right…’ Gwen said dubiously as Pete rolled his eyes and dragged her down one level. There were two doors on the level below, one no-doubt leading to the rest of the emergency stairs that descended all the way to the ground floor, and the other off to the side. Gwen narrowed her eyes at him as Pete’s smile widened, pushing open the door and motioning her within.

He took his time following after her, but he didn’t have to wait long for her reaction. Squeals and screams erupted from his girl’s mouth as she hopped around and gaped at her surroundings in wonder.

Originally, this room had functioned like a storage basement for the penthouse suite but, frankly, Pete had a better use for the space. While he’d yet to visit Emma Frost at the Hellfire, he had paid her a visit before jetting off on his one-man mission to empty the ocean. He knew the woman was a talented musician, and when he’d asked her to organise someone to basically build him a state of the art recording studio under his penthouse suite, she’d been happy to comply.

Strangely so, if he was being honest. He hoped she wouldn’t ask for something weird in return.

Pete followed in after Gwen, chuckling as she hopped up and down while slowly rotating to take in the room. The builders had given the space the full acoustic treatment with complete soundproofing. Aside from the full suite of instruments set up for use - including a drum set Emma had assured would make Gwen go wild - the room had all the computers and recording equipment the Mary Janes would ever need, as well as comfortable furniture for when they just wanted to kick back and relax.

Gwen, apparently done with freaking out of the room in general, was now sperging over the drum kit. She ran her hands over it like Tony would his favourite sports car, reverently fingering the sticks in the nearby holder.

‘I take it you like - OOF!’


He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before his girl teleported - or at least it looked that way - into his grasp, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist. She was peppering him with kisses, chanting that she loved him over and over again in her excited squeal-talk that girls seemed fluent in.

Pete laughed and let her get it out of her system. When she finally calmed down, he explained that the room was completely soundproofed and, while he apologised for not consulting them before buying instruments, he had it on good authority that it was the best money could buy.

‘You’ve no idea Pete,’ Gwen gushed, looking over at the other instruments she’d glossed over. Guitars, bass and even a keyboard that didn’t look all that impressive, but still cost him twenty-grand. ‘If the girls didn’t wanna to fuck you already, they’ll be lining up to suck your cock now.’

‘I didn’t do this to get laid,’ Pete laughed her off with a shake of her head. ‘I know you guys don’t get to hang out much anymore, I figured if we had a recording studio in our own home it would give you more reason to do so. Maybe you guys can take your music more seriously and, I dunno, make some albums or something.’

Her cheeky grin turned serene and loving and she pecked him on the lips. ‘That’s really sweet of you,’ she said earnestly, before the cheeky grin came back. ‘But they’re still gonna wanna fuck you.’

Shaking his head, he carried her out of the room and up the stairs as Gwen manoeuvred herself around his body like a monkey and hung off his back. He didn’t even break a sweat as he carried her up the flight of stairs, something that still blew his mind.

When they reached the landing that would take them back to the penthouse suite, he paused in front of the solid wall in front of them. ‘I’ve got one more thing to show you…’

‘Oh my God!’ Gwen exclaimed in joyous exasperation. ‘This is like an E3 conference - but wait, just one more thing!’

Pete sighed wistfully. ‘Man, why’d you have to go bum me out? I miss E3…’

Gwen laughed and kissed him on the temple. ‘We’ll pour one out for E3 later. So what’s next, Stud?’

Pete turned and grinned slyly at Gwen before stepping directly through the solid wall. Gwen yelped, but the wall distorted, revealing itself to be a perfect hologram that hid another set of stairs, this one going up.

He carried her up the stairs and through the single door. Inside was a large room filled with computers and countless monitors.

‘I’ve shown you my office, but I didn’t show you yours,’ Pete explained, putting Gwen down so she could look around with awe. ‘You’re, like, the Spider Queen, right? Think of this as your hub, the nexus for all of the Spiders running around. Through the nanites, you can track and communicate with every single one of them, see what they see, help them…or even hunt them if that ever becomes necessary.’

The computers were all running, but every screen remained blank. Gwen sat in the large office chair and ran her fingers over the armrests and keyboards, her eyes taking in her surroundings. When she turned to look back at him with wide, disbelieving eyes, he pointed up. Following his finger, Gwen saw a circular opening in the ceiling about twice the diameter of a manhole cover covered by a shimmering blue, transparent force-field.

‘Pinched that from one of the guys in R&D. It’ll keep the elements out but let you - and only you, I hasten to add - through if you ever want to make a quick exit, or don’t feel like using the elevators.’

‘Pete,’ Gwen said breathlessly, staring at him in awe. ‘I don’t know what to say… this is incredible.’

Pete blushed and smiled bashfully. ‘I want the best for you, right?’

They both started when they heard a feminine someone politely clearing their throat. Gwen started and Pete smacked his forehead, berating himself for forgetting. ‘Right, sorry! Gwen, meet Madame Web, she’s the AI that’ll help you with running everything here - don’t look at me like that, she came up with the name,’ he hastened to clarify when she saw her disbelieving stare. ‘She’s also hooked into the systems for the penthouse, but given her computing power, that’s very much an afterthought.’

‘Greetings, Ghost Spider. I’m glad to finally be meeting you.’

‘Call me Gwen when we’re alone…please,’ she corrected in a distracted tone, her eyebrows raising in confusion. ‘Not that I’m complaining, but… how much computing power are we talking exactly? Seems a bit overkill to basically run my spider-cave and the temperature of our showers…’

Madame Web answered with a refined chuckle. She had a posh English accent that sounded like it came straight out of Downton Abbey ‘Doctor Parker very much created me with future proofing in mind. He foresaw a future where, not only would he become the target for espionage and assassinations, but your identity would be revealed. In such a future, I foresee my role as not only controlling the defences for this tower, but for the entirety of Manhattan.’

Silence greeted her proclamation and Pete palmed his face in exasperation. ‘Thanks Madame Web, please read the room next time…’

‘Oh dear,’ muttered, sounding genuinely contrite. ‘Please forget everything I just said and enjoy the rest of your evening.’

Gwen, her face having gone slack with shock, leaned back in her chair and cracked-up laughing. It had a tinge of hysteria to it, and while Pete could have been concerned, he wasn’t. He’d put a lot on her today.

Gwen ran her fingers over the keyboard one more time before turning and gracing him with a beaming smile. ‘I’m…not gonna lie, I’m a bit overwhelmed. Let’s go to bed - our bed - and you can make love to me.’

Pete’s eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘I thought for sure you’d want to get a little frisky on the terrace.’

Gwen grinned as Madame Web made a few tut-tutting sounds of disapproval in the background. ‘No, our first night living together? I want my boyfriend to make love to me in our bed,’ she confirmed, her smile then widening and her gaze turning positively salacious. ‘Tomorrow, when the sun’s out, then we can fuck out on the terrace. Just make sure you make me scream.’

‘Well, I never!’