Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
Or maybe that wasn’t what she needed at all. Maybe what she needed was one person in particular. The only person who she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, wanted to fuck her.
It took all of thirty seconds to locate Leo. He was leaning against a column, watching the party, his head cocked back against the stone in bored indifference. At the sight of him, Tem felt the familiar cinch of stubbornness, the refusal to give in. But why shouldn’t she? Leo had made it clear he wanted to have sex with her. And he was obviously the only one. Why shouldn’t she kiss him? The night was not so young anymore. And more importantly, she was ready.
People parted for Tem like she was made of fire. By the time she got to Leo, a small circle had already cleared. He looked down at her calmly as she marched right up to him, grabbed his face, and kissed him.
It wasn’t right.
It wasn’t Caspen.
But it was a kiss, and she needed it, and Leo kissed her back without hesitation, pulling her against him as if he’d been expecting this from her all along. And maybe he had.
Leo was a good kisser. Frustratingly so. The rest of the party disappeared as his fingers tangled in her hair, arching her head back to meet his lips. His tongue dove into her mouth with expert rhythm, sliding against hers and coaxing a tiny moan from the back of her throat. She prayed he didn’t hear it. But from the way his grip tightened, she knew that he had.
Suddenly her back was against the column. Leo’s hands were moving lower. The kiss was barely appropriate anymore, and Tem had a sudden vision of Jonathan and Vera groping each other at the Horseman.
Tem pulled away. Leo let her go, but just barely. He was holding her so tightly that their lips were still touching as he whispered, “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”
People were staring; Tem felt as if she were in a fishbowl.
“Your Highness?” Lord Chamberlain’s voice floated past Tem’s heartbeat, which was pounding in her ears.
“What is it?” Leo said without looking away from Tem.
“You have now kissed every girl. It is time.”
“Very well.”
Leo finally released her, taking a step back and adjusting his cuff links. Then, to Tem’s utter surprise, he held out his hand. She took it cautiously, watching as he laced his fingers through hers. Their hands remained clasped together as they made their way toward the podiums, the entire ballroom watching them as they passed.
Leo didn’t hesitate. He walked Tem straight up to the first podium, holding on to her until she was standing facing the crowd. In a final gesture, he pressed his lips to her fingers. Then he dropped her hand and pointed at the next girl.
Leo eliminated two contestants: the blond he’d ranked first the last time and a girl with choppy, brown bangs. Tem barely registered any of it. She simply stood on her podium-the first podium-and wondered how the hell she had gotten here. She was beginning to understand Leo’s game. It was clear he was rewarding her for the kiss, that she’d used her body as currency to buy herself this position. Leo was straightforward in that way. He was a man of his word, as ridiculous as that felt to admit. At least with him, she understood the rules of his game.
When the elimination was over, Tem was immediately ushered back to the carriages along with the other remaining girls. She stared numbly out the window the entire way home, replaying what had happened.
“Miss? Did you hear me?”
They’d arrived at her cottage. The footman was talking to her.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said, someone will come for you tomorrow night. Be ready at eight.”
It took Tem a moment to register his words. Then she realized what he was saying. Leo had ranked her first: that honor came with a reward.
Tem had a date with the prince.
“I’m so proud of you, my dear.”
It was the next morning. Tem was barely awake.
“I’m only the second girl he’s taken on a date, Mother. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“That’s a good thing. It means you have a chance to make a good impression before anyone else does.”
Tem pushed her eggs around her plate. She had no idea if she even wanted to make a good impression on Leo. He hadn’t exactly made a good impression on her.
“I’m missing a night of training for this,” she grumbled.
“That doesn’t matter, Tem. A date with the prince is far more important. Your training is meant to prepare you for him. There’s no point in the training if you don’t catch the prince’s eye.”
Tem sighed. She’d caught Leo’s eye all right.
The events of last night were still a blur to her. She’d tossed and turned until dawn, replaying her kiss with Leo again and again until she’d memorized every moment of it. She remembered his tongue in her mouth and his hands on her waist. She remembered the way he’d gripped her like she was the very air he breathed. Kissing Leo was different from kissing Caspen-the prince was younger and looser and free, with none of the restrained power or deep, complicated seriousness that radiated off the basilisk. None of the depth of character either.
But at least the prince wanted to fuck her.
Tem still couldn’t believe she was the only girl who hadn’t had sex yet. It seemed like some sort of evil joke, like the universe was conspiring against her. She felt a deep, jagged anger toward Caspen for allowing this to happen. How could he withhold this from her? Especially when her very future depended on it? It was unspeakably cruel.
Regardless of how she felt about Caspen, for once in Tem’s life, she was looking forward to visiting the bakery. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Vera’s face now that Tem had a date with the prince. But to her surprise, Vera wasn’t there. Instead Geoff, Vera’s father, was standing behind the counter.
“Where’s Vera?” Tem asked. She was eager to rub her new development in her face and didn’t like the idea of leaving without doing it.
“Sick,” Geoff grunted.
“Oh.” Tem frowned. “With what?”
Geoff shrugged and began counting the eggs.
Tem’s frown deepened. It wasn’t like Vera to miss work. The bakery was her stage; it was where she held court over the entire village, gossiping and passing judgment with little to no regard for consequences. She’d once worked during a snowstorm just because there was a chance the boy she liked might come in to order his favorite pastry. Vera was a force of nature, and Tem couldn’t imagine a common cold taking her out.
“Well, do you know when she’ll be back?” Tem insisted.
Geoff shook his head. “Soon.”
He’d never been one for extended conversation.
“Fine,” Tem sighed. She’d just have to brag tomorrow.
By the time she’d done her rounds with the roosters, it was midafternoon and Tem was starting to get nervous. She had no idea what a date with the prince would entail. Would they be alone? Chaperoned? Would they go somewhere or stay at the castle? She wished the training process had prepared her for dating. She wasn’t good at talking to boys, much less a prince. Caspen should’ve given her conversation lessons. Add that to the list of things he was failing to teach her.
No dress arrived for her this time.
Tem didn’t know what to think of it. Was Caspen withholding from her because he was angry she had secured a date with the prince? Tem was secretly pleased by the thought. She was not, however, pleased that she had nothing to wear. She was halfway through tearing her room apart in search of something suitable when her mother knocked on the door.
“Dear? A man is here for you.”
Tem froze, a heap of underclothing in her arms. A man?
She poked her head into the kitchen to see the footman from the other night standing awkwardly in the doorway.
“Miss?” He brandished a package at her. “The prince requested you wear this.”
Tem sighed.
Now she understood why there had been no dress from Caspen. Of course Leo wanted to pick something for her to wear, just another way to control her-to make sure she knew he was in charge. Tem loathed the thought.
She snatched the package from the footman before slamming her door and tossing it onto the bed. Half of her was dying to see what it was. The other half had no intention of wearing it.
You will wear it.
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.