Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
“Who said anything about my room?”
Tem rolled her eyes. If Leo had his way, they’d never leave his room.
He raised his arm, offering her the crook of his elbow. “I was thinking we could take a stroll, if it pleases you.”
“Your father won’t like that.”
“Good.”
In reply, Tem laced her fingers around his arm as he guided her through the ballroom, out to the patio, and toward the maze. Her wetness dripped down her thighs, evidence of the orgasm she’d barely resisted.
The moment they entered the great green walls, Tem felt calm for the first time that evening. The din of the ball died down as they wound deeper into the maze, the air becoming so cold that Tem shivered. Leo immediately set his cloak on her shoulders. This time she didn’t protest, instead savoring the way it enveloped her in his scent. As they wound through the maze, the weight of the evening hung over her.
“Leo,” Tem said as steadily as she could. “Am I in the final three?”
He glanced down. “Do you want to be?”
A direct question. Before she could answer it, they came upon a dead end.
The world went silent as they both stood still. A statue of a robed figure loomed over them, and Tem could just make out the name etched into the plaque at its base: King Maximus III.
Leo’s father.
Tem turned to face the prince. He was looking down at her calmly, with the same practiced composure she’d come to expect from him. When she still didn’t answer, Leo leaned in. His lips brushed hers as he whispered, “I’m asking you to give me your heart, Tem. I deserve to know whether it’s even yours to give.”
Tem couldn’t handle the way he was looking at her. It was not unlike the way Caspen looked at her-as if she were something exceedingly precious. Something worth having.
“I can’t promise you my heart,” she whispered. “But I can promise it will always be mine to give.”
Leo pulled away a fraction of an inch.
Tem knew it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. But it would have to be enough for now. “Leo.” She raised her hand, cradling his narrow face in her palm. “You told me not to lie to you.”
He gave her a sad smile. “So I did.”
There was nothing else to say. Tem kissed him.
From the way Leo kissed her back, she knew he’d been waiting all night to do so. His hands went immediately to her body, roaming beneath the cloak as he pressed her back against the statue. His fingers grabbed her hair, arching her neck so he could kiss up her throat.
When his lips found hers again, Tem was done pretending she didn’t want him.
Leo was warm. And he tasted like honey. And his tongue was sheer heaven against hers, even though it wasn’t Caspen’s. The prince lifted her onto the base of the statue, pulling her legs around him. She was surrounded by hardness-Leo’s body in front of her and the cold stone behind her.
It wasn’t until he slipped his hand up her dress that Tem remembered what he’d find between her legs.
There was no time to push him away.
Tem froze as Leo’s fingers found her center, brushing against the tip of the claw. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“What…” Leo started but didn’t finish. He pressed on the claw, pushing it against her clitoris.
Despite herself, a tiny moan escaped the back of Tem’s throat.
Leo pulled away. “What the fuck is that, Tem?”
“It’s…”
But there was no good way to explain it. And even if there were, Tem could tell by the look on Leo’s face that although he might not know exactly what the claw was for, he knew it had something to do with Caspen. His next words confirmed it.
“It’s from him, isn’t it?”
Tem nodded because there was nothing else to do.
“What is its purpose?”
Tem shook her head.
“What is its purpose, Tem?”
“Leo, please-“
But Leo was already sliding his fingers inside her. He hooked them around the curve of the claw before yanking it out roughly and holding it up between them. For a moment, they both stared at Tem’s wetness glistening in the moonlight. An unfathomable anger passed over Leo’s face. He turned, throwing the claw as hard as he could down the dark passage of the maze.
“No!” Tem cried.
But he was already turning back to her, his fingers filling the space where the claw had just been, driving into her so quickly that her head arched back with a gasp.
Leo’s other hand went to her throat, his eyes narrowing as he yanked her face to his. “He may have made you wet, but I will make you come.”
Tem couldn’t have protested if she wanted to. Leo’s fingers were already sliding in and out with expert precision, persuading her body to relinquish control. A moment later, he was on his knees, and for the second time, Tem knew what it was to have a prince kneel before her.
Tem moaned as Leo’s mouth met her wetness, the words he’d written on the invitation running wildly through her mind: Next time, I get to torture you.
If this was torture, Tem was happy to die from it.
Leo knew exactly what to do. He licked her with confident, targeted strokes, his tongue diving deep into her center before rolling against her clitoris. Tem gripped his hair with both hands, holding him against her so everything he did was amplified tenfold, so she didn’t miss a single second of this ravishment.
He was consuming her, devouring her, gorging himself on her until she couldn’t form a single thought.
“Leo,” she moaned over and over again. “Leo.”
She understood he was reprimanding her-forcing her to remember how good he could make her feel. This was the dynamic between them, their endless battle. Now it was Leo’s turn to hold the power, and it was Tem’s turn to yield.
His fingers joined his tongue, and for a moment, Tem saw stars.
Leo was unrelenting, even as her grip tightened in his hair-even as she whimpered his name helplessly. Caspen had already been turning her on for hours; Tem was beyond close. But it wasn’t until Leo sucked her clitoris suddenly between his teeth that her hips bucked and she came with a yelp, finally releasing the pent-up heat that had been building in her all day long.
The second she cried out, Leo stood. He yanked her dress down without a word and stalked back into the maze.
“Leo, wait.” Tem leaped from the statue, barely catching her breath as she ran after him. “This is a maze. You can’t just leave me-“
Leo whirled around, his eyes flashing in the darkness. “I can do whatever I damn well please, Tem. That’s what you do after all.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
“You know I can’t control him, Leo. He-“
“You can control what you put in your own body, Tem.”
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.