Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
Caspen laughed, the sound echoing around the sloping stone walls. As you wish.
They did it again. And again.
At some point, words were beyond them. They were simply moving, breathing, existing together-conforming to each other with nothing but their basest instincts and rawest desires. Tem herself ceased to exist. Instead, she was one with Caspen, one with Kora, one with her people.
Caspen was right-it did get easier. Tem transitioned back and forth three times, each time quicker than the last and the final time without using Caspen’s mental connection to guide her. They had sex each time, for longer and longer, until finally neither of them could go on. For once, her stamina matched his.
Afterward, they lay panting on the shore of the lake, both of them returning slowly to their human forms. Beads of water trickled in rivulets down Caspen’s torso, and Tem watched as scales became skin once more. She reached out her hand, placing her palm against his chest. He placed his hand over hers, holding them together.
It is heaven to be with you like this, Tem.
She shifted closer, pressing a kiss to the curve of his shoulder. Then she climbed on top of him, straddling his hips and looking into his eyes.
They didn’t have sex again-Tem couldn’t have if she’d tried. She simply ran her hands gently over his body, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers. Caspen let her do this, looking up at her in return, his palms resting gently on her hips. There was peace in this moment.
There was truth.
By the time they headed back to Caspen’s chambers, Tem was so exhausted she could barely stand upright. They walked slowly, their hands clasped together, stopping only to kiss languidly in the darkness.
Eventually, they passed through the courtyard, only this time, it wasn’t empty. Several basilisks wearing their human forms were gathered in a throng, speaking in hushed tones.
With a jolt, Tem recognized one of them.
Rowe stood on the other side of the fountain, talking to another basilisk.
Tem instinctively stepped closer to Caspen, squeezing his hand for comfort. He looked down at her.
“What is it, Tem?”
She opened her mouth to tell him. But at that exact moment, they passed the fountain, and Rowe’s entire body came into view. Tem’s warning died on her tongue.
Rowe’s cock was gone.
It was not a clean cut. A warped mound of scar tissue protruded between his legs as if it had been ripped off instead of severed. Tem wondered suddenly if that was exactly what Caspen had done. The sheer force it would take to do such a thing made her feel sick. Surely, Rowe had used his power to heal himself. But the nature of the injury was so violent that Tem couldn’t imagine the pain he’d endured before his skin knit itself back together again. The amount of blood he’d lost would have been nearly fatal. His balls were gone too-there was nothing left where everything had once been. Tem tried not to stare. But she couldn’t look away.
Tem knew Caspen was angry with Rowe for trying to crest her. But it took seeing Rowe’s mangled body to truly understand the scope of his fury. Rowe had tried to take what was his. In return, Caspen had taken the part of Rowe that basilisks valued the most-the part of him that directly contributed to his status in society. A basilisk without a cock was incomprehensible. It meant he couldn’t participate in sex-the only thing that mattered to his people-in the same way everyone else could.
It meant he had nothing left to lose.
Caspen’s words ran through her mind: To crest someone else’s mate is unspeakably cruel. Tem wondered if this wasn’t somehow crueler. Caspen had done the one thing Rowe would never recover from-something just as permanent and painful as losing your mate. It would be better to be dead. Surely, this was also an unforgivable act of war.
Tem was having trouble breathing.
“How could you-” she started but couldn’t get the rest out.
Caspen simply kept walking, his head pointed straight forward. “I did what was necessary, Tem.”
Tem looked up at him and saw nothing but rage. Not for the first time, she was struck by his power. It radiated off him in waves.
“You made him angry,” she whispered. It was the same thing she’d said to him after he’d forced Rowe to finish after the council meeting. Except now, Rowe would never finish again. And it was all because of Tem.
“I know.”
Caspen said it in a way that made it clear he was well aware of the severity of his actions.
They didn’t speak the rest of the way back to his chambers. When they climbed into his bed, Tem was so exhausted from the night’s events that she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
When she woke, she felt the full effects of what they’d done at the lake.
Her human form was aching. It felt as if she had been stretched too thin, like her skin was no longer the right size. There was a sporadic pain between her legs that wouldn’t go away, and her limbs were suddenly heavy. Even her balance was off; it was as if she were a stranger in her own body. Just when she felt the urge to panic, warm, steady hands touched her.
Good morning, my love. Caspen was awake.
Good morning.
Tem turned to him, running her fingers through his hair and studying his face. It was fascinating to see the similarities between Caspen’s human form and his true form. His hair was the exact same color as his scales; the angle of his eyebrows perfectly mimicked the triangular shape of his basilisk face. It was like she was finally able to see every part of him-to understand him on his most authentic level.
She gazed at him for a long time.
Caspen didn’t try to kiss her. He merely let her look, exercising his seemingly endless patience as she traced her fingertips gently along his temple, then his cheek, then his jaw.
“Beautiful,” Tem said.
Caspen smiled. “That is what I say about you.”
“Well. It goes both ways.”
He smiled wider. “How do you feel?”
Tem shifted, letting out a groan. “Sore.”
Caspen nodded. “That is normal. Your body is not used to changing in such a way. We will practice again tonight.”
At the mention of tonight, Tem remembered what was happening tomorrow.
“Caspen,” she said quietly. “The ball.”
His eyes held hers. “When is it?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“I see.”
There was a pause as Leo’s presence loomed between them. Tem nestled closer to Caspen and asked, Will we still see each other after I move into the castle?
Caspen answered immediately. Yes.
But how?
We will find a way.
Tem didn’t say anything else because there was nothing else to say. Even if she could find a way to visit Caspen while she was living in the castle, she still had no idea what would happen if all went to plan and Leo chose her as his wife. What would happen after the wedding-after she’d crested his family? Leo wouldn’t want anything to do with her. And what of her engagement to Caspen? Surely, they were to be married at some point. But Tem had no concept of basilisk weddings-whether they were anything like what humans did, with a ceremony and rings. The little gold claw around her neck was the only token of their engagement, and it had been made from Caspen’s blood. Tem couldn’t imagine what kind of wedding would center around such an act. But these were questions for another time.
For now, she wanted every last second she could have with Caspen.
Caspen.
Yes, Tem?
Kiss me.
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.