Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
Caspen smiled, leaning back on the bed and propping himself up to look at her. “It is more like taking off clothes. My true form is the most natural version of me. It is the way I am meant to exist, so it takes no effort at all to inhabit it.”
“So it’s not painful?”
“Not in the least.” He shook his head. “It is ecstasy.”
“Then why use your human form at all? Why not remain as a basilisk?”
“Because nobody tries to kill me when I am human.”
“Oh,” Tem said quietly, feeling immediately foolish for asking. She knew all about the war; she shouldn’t have brought it up, especially when he was being so hospitable. “I’m sorry.”
Caspen extended his hand, placing his palm on her thigh. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
It was the second time he’d said that tonight. His hand was heavy on her leg, and she tried to ignore how close his fingers were to everything she wanted him to touch.
Tem took a huge gulp of wine.
“May I ask you something?” Caspen said quietly.
“Of course.” Tem nodded, surprised by the request. She couldn’t imagine what the basilisk could possibly want to know about her.
His hand tightened on her thigh. “How did you get away from those boys?”
“Oh. Um…” Tem paused, embarrassed at having to recount the story. “Why do you ask?”
Caspen’s jaw clenched. “Because I need to picture you getting away,” he said, his voice low. “Otherwise, I only picture you getting hurt, and that I cannot bear.”
At his words, a chill ran down Tem’s spine. Once again, she was on the verge of convincing herself that he cared. Once again, she was indulging in a fantasy that would never come to fruition. But she indulged it anyway, answering his question as steadily as she could.
“I…hit Jonathan with my knee.”
To her surprise, Caspen’s face split into a sudden grin. “Did you really?”
“Yes,” Tem said, thrown off by his reaction. “It was quite effective, actually.”
“I do not doubt it,” Caspen replied, still smiling.
Tem wasn’t sure what to make of his mood. “Is that amusing to you?”
At her tone, Caspen’s expression sobered somewhat. “Not inherently. I just know how much a knee can hurt.” He tapped his finger gently on her kneecap.
Tem couldn’t help but smile. He’d probably been kneed many times during his centuries of training girls for the prince. She was happy she hadn’t contributed to that statistic.
They drank in silence again. Tem remembered something Caspen had said, and she knew she had to ask. “What are you going to do to them?”
Caspen’s eyes flicked to hers. They both knew who she was referring to. “There is no need for you to know,” he said quietly.
“I want to know.”
Caspen sighed, finally withdrawing his hand from her leg. He set his wine on the floor before reclining on his back, his gaze pointed up to the ceiling. When he spoke, his voice was a whisper. “I am going to punish them.”
“But how?”
He still didn’t look at her. Tem set her glass on the floor and reclined too, positioning her body close enough to feel his heat.
“Tell me,” she murmured. “Please.”
Caspen sighed again. He closed his eyes as if to block out her request. “Tem,” he said quietly. “Some things do not concern you.”
Tem had nothing to say to that. If he didn’t want to tell her, she couldn’t force him to do so. Still, she worried what powers he might possess. What could a basilisk do to ordinary boys like Jonathan and Christopher? Caspen could infiltrate minds; he had access to magic she could only imagine. There was no limit to the damage he could cause.
“It was nothing serious,” she said quietly. “They were just…playing around.”
Caspen’s temple tensed. “You are not to be played with.”
A memory came back to Tem with striking force-the question she had asked Caspen the first time he’d touched her: Am I to be played with?
His answer had been different then.
“They’re just boys,” she whispered.
“Boys who hurt you. They will answer for that. Now let it be.”
Tem pursed her lips. It was clear there was no arguing with him, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to anyway. It was true the boys had hurt her, and part of her did want them to answer for it. But she worried Caspen would take it too far-that he would cause irreparable harm. Tem didn’t want blood on her hands.
But clearly it was out of her control.
Tem laid her head on the mattress, studying the sharp angles of Caspen’s face.
He turned to look at her, his expression softening. “I only wish to protect you,” he said quietly.
“This isn’t protection.”
“Then what is it?”
“Retaliation.”
“Would you have me do nothing?”
“I would have you be merciful.”
Caspen snorted. “Mercy is for fools. I owe nobody my mercy.”
“Not even me?”
A pause. They studied each other in the flickering firelight.
“I owe you many things, Tem. But mercy is not one of them.”
Many things. What did he owe her?
Her heart slammed in her chest as he raised his fingers to her face, brushing gently along her cheek.
“Am I not allowed to protect you?” he murmured.
“You are,” she murmured back. “I just didn’t realize you wanted to.”
Caspen held her gaze. “Protecting you is only the beginning of what I want to do.”
Tem couldn’t begin to understand the way Caspen was looking at her. If she didn’t know better, she’d allow herself to hope. But hope was painful, and there was no room for it in her heart. So she sat up.
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.