Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
She could only tell him the truth. “Not really.”
Leo nodded, as if her answer didn’t surprise him. “What can I do to change that?” he asked quietly.
Tem sighed. “I don’t know, Leo. I’m not sure anything you do would change that.”
There was another silence, and in it, Leo reached for her, touching the tips of his fingers to her waist. “I’d like to try.”
The place where he touched her was warm. “Then tell me the truth,” she whispered.
“About what?”
“Your intentions.”
Leo tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
Tem gestured at the carving on the tree. “Are you only pursuing me because you know it will anger your father? Or do you really want me?”
Leo didn’t answer at first. When he did, his voice was soft. “Both.”
She knew it was the truth. “I don’t like being used, Leo,” Tem said quietly.
She expected him to reply right away.
Instead, he stepped closer, raising his other hand to cup her face gently in his palm. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and she thought he might kiss her. But he brushed the tip of his thumb over her bottom lip, so gently she barely felt it, so slowly an eternity passed by the time his finger trailed from one side to the other.
When it was over, Leo whispered, “Did you like that?” He was barely an inch away.
“Yes,” Tem whispered back.
Leo smiled. “That’s a start.”
“Leo…”
But she couldn’t finish. She couldn’t possibly tell him that she still didn’t trust him-not now, not when they were standing by the bench where he had sat with the first girl he ever loved, not when he had finally chosen to be vulnerable with her. Not when Tem was keeping so many secrets herself. So instead, she took his hand in hers, intertwining her fingers with his.
They stood together, hands clasped, the graveyard silent around them.
Tem didn’t know how long they stayed there. It was bitterly cold by the time they left, and Leo took off his cloak, moving to place it over her shoulders.
Tem waved him away.
“But you’re shivering,” Leo said quietly.
“Then I’ll shiver.”
Hurt flashed across Leo’s face.
“Very well.”
With a jolt, Tem realized the gesture was genuine. She was so used to Leo’s actions as moves on a chessboard; she almost couldn’t tell when he was being real.
“Wait.” She put her hand on his arm.
Leo paused, still holding his cloak. His eyes searched hers, deep apprehension in them.
“You can give it to me.”
A shadow of Leo’s smile returned, and he stepped closer.
Tem stayed perfectly still as he draped his cloak over her shoulders. He brushed his fingers along the nape of her neck, gently lifting her hair so her curls fell loosely down her back.
He looked so content as he did it-so undeniably fulfilled-that despite the warmth of his cloak, Tem got full-body chills.
Leo looked her in the eye. “I understand you don’t need me to take care of you,” he said quietly. “But it is my pleasure to do so.”
Tem nodded, her throat suddenly tight.
She knew Leo liked to take care of her. She remembered how he’d paid for her drinks at the Horseman, how he always made sure she had enough to eat. Such gestures were how he built trust between them. But it only worked when Tem let him do it, and nothing could be more difficult.
Tem pulled his cloak tighter around her shoulders as they walked back toward the church. Did Leo wish he were giving Evelyn his cloak instead of Tem? And did Tem wish it were Caspen giving her his cloak instead of Leo? She didn’t know anymore.
When they were once again standing on the main street, Leo looked at her. “What next?”
Tem looked back at him.
She knew he didn’t want to go home. And normally, neither would Tem. But her mother was tending to the butcher’s daughter, and Tem found she didn’t want to be alone.
So she took the lead, guiding them wordlessly through the cobblestone streets, steadily approaching the edge of the village. Leo’s shiny black shoes were out of place here; Tem found herself blushing as they reached her tiny cottage. If Leo thought her accommodations were depressing, he didn’t say so. Instead, he followed Tem as she pushed through the garden gate, asking only:
“Are your parents not home?”
“I’ve never met my father,” Tem said. “And my mother is tending to a child in the village.”
Leo didn’t respond.
As soon as they were inside, Tem pulled Leo’s cloak off her shoulders and hung it on the coatrack before pointing at the kitchen table. “Sit.”
Leo’s lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. “If you insist.”
Tem knew her mother kept a stash of alcohol in the kitchen for the rare occasion when she needed a drink after a particularly long day on the farm. She searched for it while Leo sat, eventually locating the bottle in the cupboard behind the flour.
She held it up.
“Only if you’ll join me,” Leo said in reply.
Tem found two glasses and poured them full. She handed one to Leo.
“To Kora,” she said.
“To Kora.”
They clinked glasses, drinking together just as they had the first night they met. Leo downed his glass in one gulp. Tem refilled it immediately.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” he asked, his teasing tone a shadow of what it usually was.
“You’re already drunk.”
“That I am.”
Tem looked at him. His jaw was set, his body still tense. She didn’t know how to comfort him, but she found that she wanted to.
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.