Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
“Can’t I just marry you?”
“Please, Tem. I’m swimming in stable boys.”
Tem sighed.
“Although,” he said musingly. “You might try fucking in a carriage sometime. Roomy.”
Tem rolled her eyes. Then she looked at Gabriel. He was drunk, and so was she, and for some reason, all she wanted was to tell him everything that was happening in her life. She wanted to tell him about the claw, about her bond with Caspen, about Jonathan and Christopher. The secrets were beginning to eat her alive.
“Gabriel,” she said slowly. “What if I told you I was responsible for something bad?”
He took a long swallow of beer. His glass was half-empty already. “I’d be intrigued.”
“What if it was really, really bad?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I’d be very, very intrigued.”
Tem took a gulp of beer. Was she really about to do this?
Before she could decide, Gabriel held up his hand. “Tem,” he said in a pseudo-serious tone. “If you’re going to tell me something important, I need hard liquor.”
She had to smile at that. Quite frankly, she needed hard liquor in order to tell him. “Fine.”
Tem stood and made her way to the bar, where Old Steve was leering at her. Before Tem could rummage in her pocket for coins, she heard:
“It’s on me.”
Tem’s blood ran cold. She’d recognize that voice anywhere.
Leo.
Leo’s lanky frame was leaning casually against the bar, his eyebrows arched in preemptive amusement.
“What are you doing here?” Tem hissed.
“Buying you a drink. I thought that was obvious.”
“You can’t be here.”
“Yet here I am.”
“Leo.” She grabbed his arm and yanked him toward the door. “Get out.”
“You know I love it when you order me around.” His hands wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her back. “But I’m afraid I’ll have to disobey.” Leo corralled Tem easily, pressing her body against the bar with his.
She tried to elbow him, but it was no use. He had her pinned.
“You look beautiful, by the way.”
“By the way? Is my beauty an afterthought?”
Leo’s cheeks cracked into a smile. “So difficult to please.”
Tem was still trying to wrestle herself away from him. “You’ve always been terrible at compliments.”
“If you say so.”
“How did you know where to find me anyway?” she snapped.
“It’s a small village, Tem. I asked the first person I saw.”
“Remind me to kill them.”
“And be an accomplice to murder? Unlikely.”
She glared up at him, but he only smiled wider. “You’re gorgeous when you’re angry,” he purred.
“I’m gorgeous all the time. Now tell me what you’re doing here.”
A pause. Leo’s smile faltered. “I’m afraid my father and I had a…disagreement.”
“What kind of disagreement?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“I’d rather you did.”
“Your friend is waiting, Tem. Shouldn’t you introduce me?”
“Shouldn’t you go somewhere else?”
“I chose to come here.”
“But why?”
Another pause. Then: “I wanted to see you.”
Tem sighed. Leo always wanted to see her. But did she want to see him? It wasn’t exactly convenient timing; she was about to confide in Gabriel. That would now have to wait. There was no doubt that her kiss with Leo had awakened something in Tem-something she was willing to explore. And from the way the prince was holding her, she knew he wouldn’t leave no matter what she said.
“Kora.” She relented finally. “But you’re paying for every round, not just the next one.”
Leo grinned. “Naturally.”
Tem rolled her eyes and, with one final shove, disentangled herself from his arms. “Whiskey,” she said simply. Then she left him at the bar and huffed into the booth next to Gabriel.
“Is that who I think it is?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes,” snapped Tem.
“What the hell is he doing here?”
“He had a fight with his father.”
“Daddy issues,” Gabriel said knowingly. “Sexy.”
“Just shut up and enjoy your free drinks.”
Gabriel was still smiling when Leo returned to the table and handed them each a whiskey.
“Thanks…Your Highness.”
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.