Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
I just came from the Passing of the Crown. The villagers are angry. They speak of revolt.
Silence.
Tem continued: You violated the truce. They won’t forgive it.
She felt Caspen bristle.
I am not the only one with unforgiven sins.
Tem shook her head. More people will get hurt if you don’t make things right.
Caspen let out a humorless laugh. We do not concern ourselves with their kind.
You mean my kind.
A pause. Caspen’s reply was merciless. I told you there would come a time when you would have to choose.
And if I can’t?
Again, silence. Their connection was still open, but Caspen wasn’t speaking. Tem waited him out, resisting the urge to break the standoff. She would not allow him to avoid this conversation; she would not give in.
Finally, Caspen responded. Then you may find that your choice is made for you.
Now Tem bristled. And who will make my choice? You?
I will never control you, Tem.
For the first time, Tem wondered if that was true.
Do you really want war, Caspen?
It does not matter what I want. War has already begun.
Not a yes or a no. Another half-truth. Another lie.
Tem thought of the tension between the quivers-of the way Caspen’s father had come to power. The villagers may be angry now, but the basilisks had been angry for centuries. Peace teetered on a knife’s edge.
Suddenly, a knock came at the door. She set down the towel and opened it.
There stood Leo.
Tem immediately cut off her connection with Caspen. Whatever came next, she was certain he didn’t need to hear it.
“Leo,” she breathed, deeply aware of her mother watching them. “What are you doing here?”
“I had to see you.” He was still wearing the crown.
“Well, that’s…” Unexpected was what it was. But there was no point in saying that. Instead, she said, “Why?”
Leo leaned slightly closer, and Tem’s heart broke into a gallop as she saw a small cut on his cheek. A single drop of blood seeped onto his skin. “I wanted to make sure you were safe. The crowd…”
Leo didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. The crowd’s behavior went beyond mere rowdiness; it bordered on rebellion. Tem understood why he wouldn’t want to voice such a thought, especially in front of her. She was touched by his presence; it showed he cared.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I was more worried about you.”
Something close to joy flitted across Leo’s face. Then he shrugged. “My father put me in a carriage. I had it come here.”
There was a pause, and she realized how close they were standing. It was entirely improper; her mother was right there. Yet Leo’s eyes traveled over her body, and she wondered if he was thinking about the last time he’d been here. Tem remembered the way they’d touched each other on her bed, how his cock had been hard against her palm.
“Tem,” he said quietly, and she snapped back to the present. “The ball is soon.”
“I know.”
He shifted closer. “Will you be there?”
It was an odd question. Tem was one of the final five girls; her attendance was required. She wondered if this was the real reason he’d come-if he needed reassurance that he still had her favor.
“Why would you ask me that?”
Leo raised his hand to touch the bottom of her hair, tracing a strand with his fingertips. He pulled gently on the loose curl before releasing it. “Because I never know what to expect with you.”
“Well. You can expect me to be there.”
He nodded. “And what else can I expect?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean.” He tilted his head toward her, and she smelled his cologne. “Will he be there too?”
Tem noticed how Leo didn’t say Caspen’s name, as if saying his name would invite him in.
“The basilisks don’t attend the ball,” she said stiffly.
“That’s not what I meant.”
Tem knew what he meant. He was asking if Caspen was in her mind-if she would bring him, even subconsciously, with her. Tem didn’t know how to answer him.
“He might be,” she said honestly.
Leo’s jaw twitched. “Very well.”
There was a long moment of silence in which Tem could hear her mother pretending to bustle around the kitchen. It didn’t matter that they weren’t alone. All that mattered was letting Leo know he still had a chance. So she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
Tem knew she didn’t imagine the sound of surprise her mother made. But she ignored it-and everything else-concentrating only on showing Leo how much he meant to her. He kissed her back without hesitation, his hands shooting forward to yank her against him. His urgency only made her want him more. She clung to him shamelessly, holding his body as tightly as she could against hers. Tem had no idea how long the kiss lasted, but the prince was the one to pull away.
She looked up into his gray eyes, wondering what he was thinking. Tem was so used to her mental connection with Caspen that she wished she could connect in the same way with Leo. But unlike Caspen, Leo never hesitated to be vulnerable with her.
So she simply asked, “What are you thinking about?”
To her relief, he smiled. “I am thinking about how I wish your mother wasn’t home.”
Tem blushed. She hoped dearly that her mother hadn’t heard that. Leo touched his fingertips to her cheek, as if to wipe away the color. In return, Tem did the same, wiping away the single drop of blood.
“And you, Tem?” he whispered. “What are you thinking about?”
Tem was thinking about all the things that were on the verge of going terribly wrong. But there was no point in voicing any of them. When it came down to it, there was really only one thing she was thinking about: “You.”
He smiled, baring his golden fangs. “Finally an answer I like.”
At the sight of his teeth, she grit hers.
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.