Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
Leo laughed. “Please. Call me Leo.”
“Call me Gabriel.”
“I certainly shall.”
“What’s with the hardware?” Gabriel pointed at Leo’s mouth, where his gold teeth glinted in the dim light of the bar.
Tem elbowed Gabriel. But Leo only smiled wider, showing the full extent of the metal.
“They’re traditional,” Leo answered. “The men in my family get them when we turn twenty, among other gifts.”
“Not the women?”
He shrugged. “The women get gold in other forms. Jewelry, usually.”
“Must be nice to be able to afford gold.”
“Gabriel,” Tem said.
Leo touched her leg, halting her protest. “It is nice,” he said carefully. “But I don’t pretend to have earned it.”
“Hm.” Gabriel glanced at Tem. “I like him.”
“That makes one of us.”
Leo grinned at her. “Your opinion of me is more favorable than you let on.”
Tem rolled her eyes. “And how do you know that?”
“I’m here, aren’t I? You let me stay.”
“You were a damsel in distress. I had to.”
“You chose to, and I am very grateful.”
Tem rolled her eyes again. His hand was still on her thigh. “Don’t get used to it,” she whispered.
He smiled again, flashing those gold teeth. “I certainly won’t.”
Gabriel leaned forward. “My opinion is very favorable, if it helps.”
Tem kicked him under the table. “It doesn’t.”
Leo shot him a wink. “It does, thank you.”
Tem kicked him too.
By the time the Horseman was shutting down, Leo had paid for four more rounds, and Tem was having trouble seeing straight. Gabriel was no better off. He kept throwing his arms around Tem and Leo, declaring that he would be the best man at their wedding.
“We’d be honored,” Leo said every time.
“That would require a wedding,” Tem said every time too.
Leo only laughed.
They left the bar together, all linking arms. Gabriel extracted himself with some difficulty before saluting them with a flourish.
“It’s been a pleasure, gentlemen.”
“I’m a lady,” Tem said.
“Barely.”
She smacked his chest.
Leo held her back. “That’s our best man you’re accosting.”
“That would require a wedding,” Tem insisted.
In response, Leo pressed his lips to her cheek.
“Get a room,” Gabriel crooned, wiggling his fingers at them before disappearing into the darkness.
“I intend to,” Leo said against her ear.
Before Tem could smack him too, another voice cut through the air:
“Thelonius.”
They both turned.
There, mounted on a horse whose shiny white coat was completely at odds with the dismal grime of the street, was Maximus.
Leo immediately threw his arm in front of Tem, pushing her behind him as the king dismounted. He strode toward them with fury in his eyes, his gaze flicking first to Tem, then back to Leo.
“Running away is for children,” Maximus said. “I expected more from you.”
Leo lifted his chin in defiance.
“You remind me of my youth every day. It shouldn’t surprise you when I act my age.”
“Enough. You will return with me now.”
“I don’t think so.”
Maximus looked once again at Tem. “Is this what drew you away? The chicken girl?”
Tem opened her mouth, but Leo was already defending her.
“Her name is Temperance. You might want to learn it, considering she’s going to be my wife.”
“I will take away your title before I let you choose her.”
“And crown Lilly king? That’s rather progressive of you. I didn’t realize you’d changed your stance on women in leadership. Mother would be so proud.”
“Enough.”
But Leo wasn’t done. “I will make my own choice, Father. There’s nothing you can-“
“Enough,” the king spat out. “You will return with me now.”
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.