Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
“I want you for the rest of my life, Tem. I don’t care what it takes. I want you and I need you and I love you and you’re mine.”
“You’re mine too.”
“You’re fucking mine.”
“I know.”
At last, they surrendered to each other.
Tem threw her head back in release, gasping as her orgasm took her. Leo did the same, his cry of pleasure the single most beautiful thing she had ever heard. Tem couldn’t believe her body could draw forth such a sound from him. She wanted to hear it over and over until he couldn’t make it anymore. She wanted to hear it until the day she died. They clung tightly to each other, holding on even after their climaxes ebbed away. Tem brushed the blond strands of hair from his forehead. She kissed one cheek, then the other, then she did it again. All she wanted was to cherish this perfect, exquisite boy. He was her anchor. Her beacon. Her home.
Leo looked dazed, as if he’d just awoken from a deep sleep. He blinked, focusing on Tem. “That was…”
Words seemed to fail him. Truth be told, they failed Tem too. Power was surging through her-power that, up until a moment ago, had been just out of reach. She was not the only one affected. Leo’s eyes were bright, his skin flushed. He looked utterly and completely alive.
Tem leaned in to kiss him again. Before their lips could touch, someone pounded on the door. Tem threw herself over Leo protectively, holding him against the mattress.
“Temperance,” a voice called from the passageway. “I must speak with you.”
It was Apollo.
Tem leapt up, crossing to the door and opening it.
Apollo brushed past her. His eyes flicked over Leo before returning to Tem. His mind was closed off, but Tem felt an unmistakable energy radiating off him. He was afraid.
“Apollo,” she said. “What is it? What’s happening out there?”
In the haze of sex, Tem had forgotten about the state of things. But now, with her head once more clear, she heard the screams of terror coming from the passageway.
“The Senecas are revolting,” Apollo said. “Rowe is on his way.”
Tem looked at Leo. He was not supposed to be here in the middle of a revolt. Fear gripped her spine.
“Temperance,” Apollo said urgently, pulling her attention back to him. “He seeks you.”
“Why?”
“Is it not obvious?”
It took Tem mere moments to catch up. Rowe couldn’t marry her. That left him with only one other option-the one way to take her power.
“He wants to kill me.”
Tem knew from the look on Apollo’s face that she was right. Before he could reply, Leo stood.
“Tem,” he said. “I cannot hear about one more person who wants to kill you tonight.”
“It’s fine, Leo.”
“How is it fine?”
“Because…” Tem trailed off, trying to think of something that would placate him. There was nothing. She abandoned that train of thought, turning back to Apollo to say, “Where’s Caspen?”
Apollo’s lips flattened into a tense line. “He is running, Temperance.”
Although the update was terrible, Tem felt a strange sense of comfort in the fact that Caspen had confided in Apollo in the first place. It meant that all was well between brothers. That, at least, was some good news.
“Will he come back?”
Apollo’s gaze flicked to Leo’s. “I assume you consummated the crest?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes. He will be back. He will not have a choice.”
The implication of his words hung in the air. Tem stepped closer.
“He said there was another way. Was that true?”
Apollo’s golden eyes held hers. There was nothing but torment in them. “It is true there is another way.”
“What is it?”
Before he could answer, another scream pierced the air. This one sounded closer.
“Apollo,” Tem insisted. “Tell me. What is it?”
But Apollo had gone still. “He is here.”
There was no need to specify. Tem could feel Rowe on the outskirts of her mind, reaching for her. Already, he was homing in. Already, he was hunting.
Apollo touched her waist. “You must go.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m the only one who can stop Rowe.”
The moment the words were out of her mouth, Tem realized they were true. Caspen, the Serpent King, was supposed to be the most powerful basilisk under the mountain. But Rowe had bitten him during the tournament, and he’d been siphoning that power ever since. That left only one basilisk who could face him. Her.
“No,” Apollo said.
“No?”
“He is extremely powerful, Temperance. And he is dangerous.”
“I’m extremely powerful.”
There was a pause in which both Apollo and Leo stared at her as if they were seeing her for the very first time. Tem let them look.
“I’m a Hybreed,” Tem continued. “And I have consummated the crest. That means I can transition.”
She knew without testing her theory that it was true. Power thrummed through her entire body, seeping into her fingertips. Up until now, she hadn’t realized she’d been operating at such a deficit, that such a fundamental part of her was missing. But she was whole once more, and she would not waste it.
Apollo shook his head. “You cannot stay.”
“I can, and I will.”
“You are not safe here. You must go.”
“You can’t tell me what to-“
“YOU MUST GO.”