Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
Tem looked at it in wonder. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Two shimmering swirls combined to make a single claw. The best parts of them, joined together in one object. When Caspen held it out to her, she shook her head.
“I want you to do it.”
His mouth twitched.
Then he pulled her onto his lap so she was straddling him. Slowly, keeping his eyes on her the entire time, he slid the thicker end of the claw inside her. She stayed steady, holding on to his shoulders as he worked it all the way in. When it was fully inserted, Caspen wrapped his arms around her, burying his head against her neck and breathing in her scent.
“Stay with me today,” he murmured into her hair.
Tem smiled against his skin. “I can’t. I have to get back to the farm. The festival begins tonight.”
At her words, Caspen stiffened.
Too late, Tem realized what she had said. The festival was a way to commemorate the basilisks’ defeat. It was not a topic she should have brought up around him. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t think-“
Stop.
He said the word in her mind, and Tem immediately stopped.
I do not hold you responsible for the sins of your ancestors.
Tem wasn’t sure how to respond. Caspen may not hold her responsible, but it was impossible to extricate her from the past. She was only here because the basilisks were meant to train the prince’s future wife. Their relationship was a product of the sins of her ancestors.
“The festival is stupid anyway,” she murmured.
Caspen pressed a kiss to her collarbone. “That it is.”
He accompanied her to the head of the trail, as always. When he kissed her goodbye, his hands slid over her body one last time, as if he wanted to memorize it.
Then he was gone.
Tem walked the rest of the way home in a daze. She was so sore that she had to move exceedingly slowly, and by the time she reached her cottage, the sun was directly above her.
“Out again, Tem?” her mother said as soon as she walked in. “I told you that boy is bad news.”
It took Tem a good long moment to realize she was referring to Gabriel. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
There was no point in explaining where she’d really been. If her mother thought she was out drinking with Gabriel, that was indisputably better than the truth.
“You look a mess. Wash up, then I want you in the garden.”
Tem barely had the energy to nod.
She washed up. Then she spent a long, brutal afternoon in the garden. The late-autumn sun beat down on her in a relentless haze, and if it weren’t for the pulses Caspen sent her using the claw, she doubted she would’ve made it through the day. All she could think about was having sex with him. If she could’ve run back to the cave to fuck him all over again, she would’ve.
Patience, Tem.
He was amused. She was restless.
Night finally fell, and it was time for the festival.
Tem and her mother made their way toward the village, where everyone was gathered in the square, as expected. But instead of the raucous sounds of the festival, there was only silence, broken by the occasional hushed whisper.
Tem frowned, turning to her mother. “Why is everyone so quiet?”
Her mother shrugged.
Tem spotted Vera’s pink ribbon near the front of the crowd and pushed her way toward it.
“What’s going on?” Tem asked when she reached her.
But Vera only shook her head. One hand was clamped tightly over her mouth, and the other was pointing straight ahead.
Finally, Tem saw what everyone was looking at.
There, in the middle of the square, were two stone statues. They were hunched on the cobblestones, cowering with their hands above their heads, as if in an attempt to protect themselves. Flayed ribbons of dried blood spattered the ground around them.
Tem’s stomach turned to ice as she immediately recognized their faces.
Jonathan and Christopher.
The murmurs of the crowd were growing louder now, one question, repeated over and over: How did this happen?
Only Tem knew the truth.
“We were meant to meet up tonight,” Vera whispered. “I think he wanted to get back together.”
It was just like Vera to find a way to make such a horrific moment about her. But Tem had far more pressing things to worry about.
I only wish to protect you, Caspen had said.
Now it was Tem who wished to protect Caspen. The villagers would not forgive such an act of violence against one of their own. The royals wouldn’t either. The consequences of Caspen’s actions would reverberate far beyond simply settling a score in Tem’s honor. It was a violation of the truce struck centuries ago, and it would not go unpunished.
Caspen had been inside her mind all day. When did he have time to do this? Tem replayed the day hour by hour, thinking about their connection. There hadn’t been a moment when he wasn’t with her. The only time they hadn’t been communicating was when they were asleep last night in his chambers.
Tem paused. She’d been asleep.
There was no way to know whether Caspen had stayed with her the entire night. She’d been so exhausted from the sex that she hadn’t woken up once. He could have easily slipped out under the cover of darkness to kill Jonathan and Christopher before returning to her. Tem thought about the fleck of blood on his temple. She’d assumed it was hers.
“What do you think will happen tonight?” Vera’s whisper broke Tem from her thoughts.
The first night of the festival was always a wild one; the villagers usually drank mead and danced in the town square until dawn. But there would be no dancing tonight. People were already retreating to their homes and locking the doors behind them.
Tem shook her head. “I don’t know.”
All she knew was that she needed to talk to Caspen. She reached for their connection, feeling for the door that joined the corridor between their minds.
But it was shut.
Tem shouldn’t have been surprised. Surely Caspen was deep beneath the mountain, surrounded by his own kind. She wondered if the other basilisks knew what he’d done. Or worse, if they’d sanctioned it.
“Tem.” Her mother was suddenly beside her. “We’re going home.”
Before Tem could protest, her mother was already steering her away.
They walked in silence. Her mother stared purposefully ahead, her hands clasped at her sides. She didn’t seem afraid. Rather, it was as if she was preparing herself for something imminent, something she’d expected for a long time.
“Mother?” Tem asked quietly.
“Yes?”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.