Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
Tem had never been fucked against a tree before.
They were alone in the forest, but it didn’t matter-Tem would’ve let Caspen fuck her with a crowd present. His hands gripped her hips, her legs wrapped around his torso. The stars above them, the grass below them-it was all the same. Basilisk and human, predator and prey. The soft lines of Tem’s body blended with Caspen’s until they were one being rather than two. She was immeasurably full: of desire, of want, of cock. They were almost there, climbing the perennial slope of pleasure she’d come to know so well. Caspen’s mind intertwined with hers. Smoke rose from his shoulders.
Let me see it, Tem.
She wanted him to see it.
Show me.
She would show him.
Caspen’s entire body was pressed against hers, the great expanse of his chest anchoring her to the tree. There was no escape, and Tem didn’t want to anyway. Her orgasm slammed into her so sharply that her vision went black. By the time it returned, Caspen had finished too.
They lay on the forest floor afterward, panting, their bodies soaked with sweat. Despite the frigid night air, Tem felt as if she were burning up inside.
“What’s happening to me?” She gasped when they finally drew apart.
“You are adjusting.” Caspen was equally out of breath. Tem had never seen him so winded.
“But why now? It was never like this before.”
“Now that you have transitioned, your basilisk side has awoken.”
“Awoken?”
He shrugged, and a drop of sweat rolled down his shoulder. “I do not know another word to describe it.”
After a moment of thought, Tem found the word actually worked quite well. But she found herself wondering if she would ever feel fully adjusted. It had been a week since they’d gotten married, and she felt no closer to mastering her basilisk side than she’d been when she first transitioned at the lake. Instead she felt completely out of control, her body an open flame.
“If that’s the case, why can’t I transition the way you can?” Tem asked as they walked back to the caves. They’d been hunting in the forest for hours, and she hadn’t been able to turn at all; she’d only managed to transition once since her first time, and even then, she’d only been able to do so with Caspen’s guidance in her mind. He’d practically pulled her into her true form, his assistance barely enough. Transitioning felt just out of reach.
“You are new to this, Tem. It will take time.”
“But I’ve done it before. And you do it so easily.”
“I have been doing it for a very, very long time. You will get there.”
“I hate being weak.”
“Weak is the last thing you are.”
Tem tried to believe him. But it was difficult when there was evidence indicating otherwise. She was a Hybreed. She was supposed to be a powerful creature, and instead she could barely transition. The flow she’d found just a week ago was now nowhere to be found, and she was beginning to think that the first few times were flukes. Now she was relegated to the sidelines, like a child who had played too hard and needed to rest. It was pathetic.
“I should be getting better, not worse.”
“You will get better, Tem. You will master it. You need only learn how.”
By the time they returned to their chambers, Tem was almost convinced. But any thought of transitioning disappeared the moment she saw the letter on their bed. Caspen read it first, his expression indecipherable as he handed it to Tem. Her throat went dry at the three neat lines of script:
Temperance Verus,
The king requests your presence at the castle this evening.
A carriage will be sent for you. Come alone.
Tem turned the paper over, half expecting to see an additional note. There was none.
“Come alone,” she whispered.
Caspen took the letter and tossed it into the fire. She knew he was merely disposing of it, but somehow the act felt significant.
“It should not surprise you,” he said.
“What shouldn’t?”
“That he wants you to come alone.”
“Oh,” Tem said again. “Right.”
It didn’t surprise her, exactly. But it made her nervous. Tem hadn’t seen Leo since the wedding. Surely, he had found Evelyn by now. Surely, they were together. The thought made her sick. She looked up at Caspen.
“Doesn’t it bother you that I’m going to see him?”
Caspen raised an eyebrow. “No. It does not.”
She couldn’t understand his apathy. How could this pivotal event be of no concern to him? “But how?”
Caspen shrugged. “You chose me,” he said simply.
She stared at him. That was technically true; Tem had chosen Caspen. But it wasn’t because she didn’t love Leo. It was because she wanted more for Leo. And in doing so, she had accepted less for herself.
“Tem,” Caspen murmured. “You do not have to go.”
Of course he would say that-closure with Leo was of no importance to Caspen. What was her love for the human prince-now king-in comparison to her blood bond with the basilisk? To Caspen, his marriage to Tem was the only legitimate union. But not to her. Besides, Tem wanted to go. She needed to see that she’d made the right choice-that Leo had found Evelyn, that he was happy now.
“I have to go,” she said carefully. “He and I are technically still married.”
Tem did not voice the rest of her thought, which was that Leo could not marry Evelyn if he was still married to Tem.
Caspen shrugged again. “Then you shall go.”
This entire affair was of little interest to Caspen. Basilisks didn’t have paperwork; they didn’t concern themselves with human legalities. But Caspen understood human customs, and if there was anything he supported, it was Tem closing this chapter of her life.
Tem looked down at her naked body. “And just what am I supposed to wear?”
The corner of Caspen’s mouth twitched. “We will find you something.”
“Something” turned out to be rather difficult to find. The dresses Caspen had given her during the training were custom made, Tem learned, and it would take days to make another. Basilisks were always naked. Hours of searching led them to a single floor-length silk robe. When tied with a braided tassel, it marginally resembled a dress. Its plunging neckline was hardly appropriate, but Tem didn’t care. The outfit was the least of her worries.
Caspen walked her to the cave entrance but didn’t follow her to the path. Instead he kissed her, and Tem felt the tendrils of his mind brush against hers. His grip tightened. Perhaps his earlier nonchalance had been feigned; perhaps he wasn’t as unbothered by this process as he led her to believe. But Tem could do nothing about that now. The only way for Caspen to have her all to himself was to let her go to Leo and end their relationship.
A moment later, he released her. Then he disappeared back into the caves.
Tem waited alone for the carriage, which arrived just as darkness fell. She didn’t recognize the stable boy; it wasn’t Henry or Peter, which disappointed her. It would have been nice to see a familiar face. Instead, she resigned herself to staring out the window. It was nearly winter; autumn had flown by in a heartbeat, and there was a sharpness to the air that made her shudder with anticipation. Winters were long and dark in the village. She wondered whether they would feel different beneath the mountain. It would be her first winter away from the farm, away from the chickens, away from her mother.
But Tem didn’t mind. She wanted nothing more than to assimilate into basilisk society, to finally feel like she was truly home. Caspen wanted that too. She could sense it every time his eyes met hers. He was always watching her, gauging how well she was adjusting, checking to make sure she still belonged to him. Sometimes Tem wasn’t sure if she did.
Her thoughts turned to what was to come. She had no idea what to expect tonight, but it was imperative that the evening go well. There was far more than just her marriage with Caspen at stake. In the aftermath of the violence at her and Leo’s wedding, tensions between the humans and the basilisks had never been higher. If they couldn’t find a peaceful way to coexist, things would only get worse.
But the thought of just coexisting with Leo was impossible. One week ago they’d been in love. They were still in love-at least, Tem was. The ache in her chest was evidence enough of that. But was Leo? He had agreed to share her.