Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
“It is not complicated,” he said quietly. “My father wanted the throne. Another basilisk was in the way. My father asked me to crest them, and I did so.”
“Who?”
His lips drew into a tight line. “Rowe’s father.”
Tem remembered the conversation in the ballroom with perfect clarity:
Say one more word, and you will join your father.
She recalled the way Rowe had looked at Caspen with complete hatred-the way he had called him a traitor. Caspen had killed his own kind. He had crested another basilisk and made enemies in the process. Tem couldn’t understand why a father would ask such a thing of his son.
“Why did you do it?”
Caspen sighed. “There is no limit to what I would do for those I love.”
Tem couldn’t help but notice the parallels of their situations. When faced with an impossible choice, Caspen had chosen the harder path-the path with consequences. Now, when faced with the prospect of the ritual, Tem felt a similar pull. She pressed her lips gently to his.
There was no limit to what she would do for those she loved either.
Morning arrived before Tem was ready.
Caspen accompanied her to the head of the trail, as always. He kissed her goodbye, as always. Only this time, it felt different. This time, she knew what it would take to be a part of his world, and the knowledge sat in her core like a stone. When Caspen pressed his lips to hers, it felt like an apology.
Tem walked home alone.
Her mother was weeding the garden, and Tem joined her wordlessly. She pulled weed after weed, pouring all her bottled-up energy into the task at hand.
Inevitably, her thoughts turned to the ritual.
It was vile. Plain and simple. Yet Tem understood it. Sex was currency to the basilisks. It made sense that the only way to join their ranks was through seduction-that the only way to earn their approval was to perform the act of sex itself. But not even Tem could deny that sleeping with Caspen’s father was at best unusual and at worst horrifying. What kind of society would allow for such a thing?
Such was the basilisk way.
Tem sighed, yanking out another weed. If she did the ritual, she could be with Caspen fully, the way they were meant to be together. But if she did not, she would never be properly accepted into his world. She was at an impasse, and she had no idea what to do.
“My dear?”
Tem jolted back to the present, where her mother was looking at her expectantly. “What?”
“You seem quiet. Are you well?”
Tem stared at the weed in her hand. Against her will, she began to cry.
Her mother immediately dropped her rake and embraced her. “Whatever is the matter, Tem?”
Tem only cried harder. She had no words for her situation, no way to express just how helpless she really felt. It was, simply put, impossible.
Her mother held her until her sobs quieted. Tem marveled at the contact; it was the second time in two days they had hugged like this. She wondered suddenly if the elimination process brought other mothers and daughters closer together. It was a shared experience after all. Her mother had gone into the caves just as Tem had-she had taken the same emotional and physical journey. For the first time, Tem considered confiding in her mother. She had been in love once. And love, if nothing else, was universal.
“Mother?” Tem asked against her shoulder.
“Yes, dear?”
“Why did you leave Father?”
Her mother stiffened.
“Please,” Tem whispered. “I need to know.”
A long moment passed. To Tem’s surprise, her mother didn’t pull away. Instead, she tucked her head against Tem’s so they were more comfortably intertwined, and Tem wondered if it was easier for her mother to speak on this topic when she wasn’t looking directly at her daughter.
“I left him because we could not be together.”
“Why not?”
“His family would not allow it.”
Tem considered this. Was it possible that this was where her mother’s pain began? Had her father’s family looked down on her, and she’d lost the love of her life because of it?
“I’m sorry, Mother.”
Now her mother pulled away. “Why, my dear?”
Tem shrugged. They held hands. “Things have never been easy for you.”
Her mother shook her head. “I only wish for things to be easy for you.” She paused, then smiled. “The prince favors you, my dear. He kissed you longer than anyone else. I think you have a real chance with him.”
Guilt twisted Tem’s stomach. She had just learned what it would take to be with Caspen, and she was seriously considering doing it. Things had escalated far beyond the scope of the competition; Leo’s favor was no longer the only thing at stake, and ultimately it didn’t matter whether she had a chance with him. If she chose Caspen, she would forsake Leo.
Her mother turned Tem’s hands over in hers, tracing the freckles on her palms.
“You hold the stars in your hands,” she whispered. “Just like your father.”
She’d said it a thousand times before. But this time, she said it sadly, as if it were not a good thing.
“Mother,” Tem said quietly. “How do you know if someone loves you?”
Her mother met her eye. “When they would sacrifice their happiness for yours.”
Tem processed her words, wondering whether Caspen or Leo would sacrifice their happiness for hers. More importantly, would she sacrifice her happiness for theirs? Caspen was already asking her to choose a side. It was only a matter of time before Leo did too. But why should Tem be the one to make such a sacrifice? Why shouldn’t they be forced to choose her?
Her mother spoke again. “We should finish our work.”
“Of course.”
They spent the rest of the day in amiable silence, and Tem used the time to think about their conversation. It was a wonder her mother had told her anything at all. But Tem was glad to learn what little detail she’d divulged, and every time she looked at her hands, she thought about her father. Did he miss her mother? Did he miss Tem? Clearly, he hadn’t been willing to sacrifice his happiness for theirs. Perhaps all men were built that way. Perhaps it was women who bore the burden of sacrifice.
At last, it was evening.
Tem collapsed onto her bed, forgoing dinner. She briefly considered inserting the claw before remembering that it was gone. Instead, she trailed her fingers between her legs, touching herself the way she had her entire life, doing what she’d done long before she met Caspen. There was something special about doing it this way, with no one else to direct her. Her eyes closed as she moaned softly, her fingers slipping into her wetness. She thought of Caspen-of the way he’d penetrated her just last night. She thought of Leo-of the way he’d pinched her clitoris until she’d cried out.
Then she thought of them both.
Was it really so wrong to picture them all together? Perhaps her mind was her last true sanctuary, the only place where she would never pick a side. She didn’t want to choose, and here she didn’t have to. It wasn’t something she’d ever fantasized about before: the three of them intertwining like silken strands of a braid. But once she began, she found she couldn’t stop.
Tem imagined herself kissing Caspen. Then Leo. Then both.
She lost herself in a vision of lips and hands and need, picturing the ways they could move with one another. It seemed a natural thing to her: to give herself to the men who loved her. Why shouldn’t they seek pleasure together? Why shouldn’t she be worshipped by the two people who wanted nothing more than to claim her as their own? She wanted to sit on one cock, then the other. She wanted to taste them both.
Her fingers worked desperately against her clitoris, rubbing until she couldn’t hold back any longer. She saw Leo before her, Caspen behind her. Their movements coalesced in a heated blur until blond became black, gray became gold. They were all one-all the same.
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.