Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
And Caspen.
She loved them both.
It shouldn’t have come as a shock to her-too many things had brought her gradually to this conclusion to make it any sort of a surprise. Still, she marveled at how she could feel such a draw to them both, how she could want two people in the same way-a way that was guttural and raw and real.
She was engaged to Caspen. Or nearly so. And one day-depending on factors well outside her control-she might be engaged to Leo too. Tem could imagine it now: walking down the aisle in a white dress, pledging herself to the human prince for the rest of their lives. It wouldn’t be difficult. It was merely an extension of everything she’d felt for him up until this point, a way to solidify their connection into something real-something tangible.
And yet.
Caspen was in her veins. He was in her blood, in her mind, in her soul. He was the breath in her lungs; he was her tether to life. Caspen was everything.
So why did he make her feel so empty?
Tem performed her morning chores dutifully before taking the usual basket of eggs to the bakery. By the time she got there, she was dreading what came next.
There was Vera, dressed in pink.
“So, Tem?” she sneered, her heart-shaped face positively glowing with anticipation. Clearly, she was no longer grieving Jonathan. “Who do you think the prince will take to the castle?”
Tem remembered the way the crowd had roared for Vera and the way they had stood in silence for her. She knew Vera had savored every moment of Tem’s humiliation.
“I don’t know,” she said stiffly. “Whoever he wants, I suppose.”
“Yes, but”-Vera leaned forward, and Tem nearly choked on her perfume-“who do you think he wants?”
Considering the way Leo had touched her last night, Tem had a fairly good idea who he wanted. But she couldn’t tell that to Vera.
“I’m sure he’ll consider what’s best for the kingdom,” she said carefully. “Not just what’s best for him.”
Vera’s smile widened. “And who do you think is best for the kingdom?” she sneered.
Tem stared resolutely at the eggs.
Not even a second passed before Vera barreled onward. “His father spoke to me, you know.”
Tem’s eyes snapped up to hers. “What?”
“The king”-Vera savored the word as if it were chocolate-“told me that I was his first choice.”
“That choice,” Tem said with equal emphasis, “is for the prince to make. Not the king.”
“Perhaps.” Vera shrugged. “But surely the prince will take his father’s opinion into account.”
Maximus’s words came back to Tem suddenly: I will take away your title before I let you choose her. Tem hadn’t considered he might truly be serious. It would be a scandal of the utmost caliber if Maximus were to interfere with the elimination process. It would undermine the facade of control he fought so hard to preserve.
Vera was still talking: “After all, a father knows what’s best for his children.” Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth twisted cruelly. “Not that you would understand, Tem.”
Her words were a white-hot knife in Tem’s gut. It was a low blow, even for Vera.
But Tem understood that Vera was angry. She had seen how Leo had kissed her, and despite the crowd’s-and apparently the king’s-approval, Vera felt threatened.
The thought was oddly empowering.
“I’ll take these now,” Vera said cheerfully, snatching the eggs from Tem’s hands. She flounced off in a wave of perfume, leaving Tem to stew over what had just happened. When she returned with payment, Tem took it and left without another word. Their conversation played over and over in her mind on the way home.
What if Vera was right? What if Maximus had a say in who Leo chose? If that were true, Tem had no chance with the prince at all-a prospect she had no idea how to process. No matter what happened during the competition, Tem had always assumed Leo would be the one to make his own choice. But what if this decision-the most important one of his life-was made by his father? It didn’t seem remotely fair.
Tem worried for the rest of the day until finally, the night came.
By the time she reached the base of the mountain, her skin was covered in a cold sweat. Tem was just as nervous as the very first time she’d gone to the caves, if not more so. It felt as if her entire body were on edge-like every cell was pricked with bated anticipation.
When she reached Caspen’s cave, she paused.
Beyond the all-encompassing darkness was her future-her husband if his quiver allowed it. That was no small thing to Tem. There was no part of this that she took lightly, no part of this that didn’t sway her to her very core. She touched her fingertips to the cold, rough stone, wondering what awaited within it. Would Caspen be angry with her for letting Leo stay the night? He had seen them together-naked and intertwined-in her bed. Would they talk about the pain Caspen had inflicted on her-the torture he had wrought in her mind? There was only one way to find out.
Tem stepped into the darkness.
Caspen was waiting for her, as he always was. He stood silently in the middle of the cave, and even now, his beauty took her breath away. The basilisk didn’t say a word. Instead, he turned, and Tem followed him in silence to his chambers. It wasn’t until they were facing each other before the fire that Caspen finally spoke.
“I am sorry, Tem.”
Tem blinked. She hadn’t been expecting that. “For what?”
Caspen let out a long breath. He stepped forward so they were mere inches apart. “First and foremost, for hurting you last night. I am aware of your perception of our power dynamic, and I do not wish to reinforce that.”
Tem turned his words over in her mind. She noticed how he’d specified her perception of their power dynamic, as if her perception wasn’t correct. But it was. Caspen held the power. He always had. Before she could press the issue, he continued.
“I also wish to apologize for any confusion regarding my intentions.”
“Your…intentions?”
“I thought I had made my feelings for you clear. Apparently, I had not.”
“Oh,” Tem said, because she had no idea what else to say.
Despite what he’d just said, Caspen didn’t actually proceed to make his feelings for her clear. He was always talking like this, saying things in a vague way, avoiding straightforward declarations. No doubt a habit honed from centuries of finding ways not to lie.
Tem would wait no longer. “What are your feelings for me?”
Caspen sighed as if this was very difficult for him. “I love you.”
His words should have been a soothing balm. Instead, they were a cage-a trap that Tem would not fall for once again.
“I know you do,” she said firmly. “And it does not help me.”
She meant it. Nothing about Caspen’s feelings helped her. His love for her did not remedy her family’s reputation, his love for her did not solve her infatuation with Leo, his love for her did not ensure her future. Caspen’s love for her fixed exactly nothing, and Tem was utterly tired of that fact. She wanted to yell at him.
Instead, she said, “Things cannot go on as they have been.”
“I agree,” Caspen said quietly.
He raised his hand, brushing a single finger along her jaw. Despite herself, Tem leaned into his touch. Already, she could feel herself softening toward him. That was all it ever took with Caspen-a single touch, and she was his again.
But she would not be so easily seduced this time.
Too much had happened in the last twenty-four hours; too much had changed. Tem was no longer the girl she used to be. There was no coming back from what had occurred between her and Leo, no undoing what had already been done. She was done taking no for an answer, done playing by the rules of Caspen’s game.
Tem looked straight at him. “I almost fucked Leo last night,” she said bluntly.
Caspen’s eyes narrowed. “I am well aware of that, 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.