Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
Tem. I am not angry that you have a connection with Apollo.
But you seem jealous.
I am.
I don’t understand. Do you…like being jealous?
He stroked her clitoris. Tem was finding it rather difficult to concentrate.
Occasionally.
Was this all a game to Caspen? A play for power? If his brother wanted Tem, that meant she was something worth wanting. Tem could understand that-she felt a similar stab of pride and jealousy whenever other basilisks looked at Caspen. They wanted him. But he was hers.
Tem watched him as he fingered her, his eyes never straying from between her legs.
“How many women have you been with, Caspen?”
His eyes flicked up to hers before returning to the task at hand.
“Many,” he said.
“I want a number.”
He slid his fingers deeper.
Tem tried not to gasp. She was so sore.
“I do not know the number.”
“Really?” She fought to keep her voice steady. “I thought all men kept track.”
“Who told you that?”
“Vera.”
Tem had learned nearly everything there was to know from Vera-that all men kept track of how many women they’d slept with, that it was unladylike for women to do the same. Most of her wisdom was baffling at best, sexist at worst. But Vera had been Tem’s only source of knowledge on men, and she still found herself drawing on it, even now.
“Hm.”
She could tell Caspen wasn’t listening. He was doing something new down there-something that was making Tem forget why she’d bothered asking anything in the first place. But she had to know.
“Caspen.” She grabbed his wrist, halting his motions. “Tell me.”
He sighed, looking up at her. “I do not know how many women I have been with, Tem. I do not keep track as the humans do.”
Tem narrowed her eyes. There was only one reason why he wouldn’t keep track-because he’d been with so many that it didn’t matter. Unfortunately, his answer did nothing to satisfy her. “If you had to guess?”
Another sigh, deeper this time. “Hundreds, Tem. Perhaps more.”
Tem nodded. Caspen had been with hundreds of women. Perhaps more. And he had chosen her. She released his hand. “You can keep going now.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “If you insist.”
Caspen’s tongue joined his fingers. Tem’s head fell back onto the pillow, and for a long while, she didn’t think about Apollo.
But she thought about him the entire next day. Apollo was all she saw no matter what she did to distract herself. Somehow, he’d managed to sneak his way into the deepest canals of her mind, and her basilisk side nurtured his presence. Tem thought about how she’d touched herself in front of him. She thought about the vision he’d shown her: him holding her down by her wrists, her moaning his name. It was unbearably tempting.
But the action was impossible. Tem couldn’t live like this. Between Apollo and Leo, her self-control was at an all-time low. She was drowning in desire.
Caspen was no help. He was off hunting again, and Tem no longer cared to be angry with him for it. She couldn’t blame him for putting some distance between them after what happened in the banquet hall. Seeing him was a reminder that she was out of control-that, at this moment, she was not the architect of her own life. Besides, Tem had other things to focus on.
The weeks leading up to Mother’s Night were always a big deal in the village. The celebration would begin tonight-on the night of the full moon-with a tradition wherein the villagers set up tables in the town square and ate an abundant feast together. In principle, it was similar to the feasts that occurred in the banquet hall, when all the basilisks were in attendance. But the similarities stopped there. The full moon celebration would be vastly different than the meals Tem experienced underneath the mountain. She rather doubted anyone would be naked.
Tem had planned to meet Gabriel at the Horseman, but by the time she’d scrounged up enough clothing to keep her warm in the winter air, she was woefully late. Instead, she headed straight for the town square, smiling when she saw the familiar decorations: round paper circles strung up on the buildings meant to imitate the full moon. Tem remembered making them in school. Full moon was a time of gratitude, of feast and family. The phase of the moon was symbolic of abundance, of excess
-of appetite.
Of course, this year would be different.
It only took one glance at the town square to see that the tables were nearly empty. In years past, they were covered in food-loaves of bread, baskets of meat pies. Anything they couldn’t grow in their own fields was imported; Tem was used to seeing piles of vegetables and seafood shipped in from far away. Now, with the shortage, the food on the tables was scarce. Fear turned her stomach. A childhood chant came to her suddenly: full moon, full stomach. Children used to chant it before the meal. No one was chanting it now.
She moved through the crowd, searching for Gabriel. When she passed the church, she saw that the number of guards had doubled. She also saw that the steps hadn’t been cleaned.
Feed us was still caked onto the marble, covered in a light dusting of snow. The sight made her sick. Tem couldn’t believe no one had cleaned it up. Then again, it was meant to be a message. Leaving it there was certainly one way for it to sink in.
The town square was full of villagers. All around her she heard the same whispers:
“Did you hear they’re having their wedding on Mother’s Night?”
“On Kora’s birthday? How dare they?”
“Word has it the castle is sparing no expense. Even the flowers are dipped in gold.”
“Of course the royals are feasting while we starve. It’s shameful.”
“It’s our soon-to-be queen. She’s from one village over. Our queen never would have let this happen.”
With a jolt, Tem realized she was their queen. She’d spent her entire life as an outcast-chided and ostracized by the villagers. But now that there was a common enemy in Evelyn, they considered Tem one of their own. How quickly the tides changed.
Just then, she spotted Gabriel. He was by the mead, as he always was. But the usual flush on his cheeks from drinking was not there; instead, he was pale, greeting her with a somber wave.
“Gabriel,” she said immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“Why would you assume something’s wrong?”
“Because it’s full moon, and you’re not drinking.”
A small smile twisted his lips. “Maybe I’m on a health journey.”
Tem snorted.
His smile faded. “I can’t drink tonight, Tem.”
“Why not?”
But he didn’t answer. Instead, he looked out over the square, and Tem followed his gaze. The villagers were standing in groups, whispering to each other.
Understanding crept into her like frost. “Something’s happening tonight, isn’t it?”
Gabriel still didn’t answer. She stared up at his clenched jaw, wondering just how much had happened since the last time she’d seen him. Gabriel was probably the head of the revolution by now. He’d organized the last protest, and surely he’d organized this one. He was growing into a person Tem didn’t recognize. They’d always been close-even though Gabriel was a year older-but now there was distance between them, and Tem had no idea what to do about it.