Page 231 of Split or Swallow
Tem rolled her eyes.
Then she pulled on her dress. Instead of kissing the prince goodbye, she simply exited the carriage, leaving Leo with his cock still out. The footman whistled at her as she walked down the garden path, but Tem ignored him; she was far too happy to be embarrassed.
The late afternoon air contrasted starkly with the heat they’d generated in the carriage, and Tem paused at her front door, her fingers on the handle. Was it even worth going inside? She was in no mood to return to the conversation from that morning. Tem had nothing new to say, and she doubted her mother did either.
Seconds ticked by.
Her only other option was to go to the caves to attend the council meeting. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to do that either. Caspen had lied to her. He’d concealed his knowledge of a deeply important, vital part of Tem’s identity that would affect every aspect of her future. That wasn’t something she could easily forgive. And yet, now that she knew she was a Hybreed, she wanted nothing more than to explore that side of her. Tem had always known there was no future for her in the village. Perhaps her future was in the caves.
But what kind of future would it be? One that began in violence—with the crest? It was unfathomable to Tem that Bastian would expect her to do something so pivotal. The magnitude of her role in his plan was not lost on her. He thought of Tem as nothing more than a pawn: a game piece in his reckless play for power. But Tem was so much more than that. She would not be manipulated; she would not be used. Whether she performed the crest or not, it would be on her own terms, not Bastian’s. Nobody would choose Tem’s future but her.
She dropped the door handle. It was time for her first council meeting.
Caspen wasn’t waiting for her in the cave this time, and she wondered whether that was because he hadn’t expected her to come. Either way, Tem traversed the passageway alone. When she reached his chambers, she paused.
Would Caspen be angry that she had cut off their connection so abruptly earlier? Would he know she had pleasured Leo in the carriage? In Tem’s eyes, Caspen did not have a right to be angry about that. Not when he’d kept her in the dark for so long. Why shouldn’t she have secrets of her own? Tem opened the door.
Caspen was by the fire, and when he saw her, obvious relief flashed over his face.
“Tem,” he said quietly. “You came.”
“Yes,” she closed the door. “I did.”
Tem joined him by the fire. Caspen was naked, and without a word, Tem undressed too. She was no longer shocked by his customs, and had no desire to rail against them. They were her customs now. Caspen’s eyes went instantly to her body, and a moment later, he was hard.
He touched his finger to her bottom lip.
“I can smell him on you, Tem.”
She didn’t reply. It should have occurred to her that there was no way to keep her dalliance with Leo a secret. Caspen was too intuitive—too much of a predator—not to sense where his prey had been.
“Are you angry?” she whispered.
He pulled her bottom lip with his thumb, opening her mouth.
“You are mine, Tem,” he said simply. “Whether you give your body to another does not change that.”
Tem thought about how basilisks were so very different from humans—and how she carried both traits within her. Adelaide’s beautiful blonde face flashed through her mind.
“Are you…giving your body to another?”
His mouth twitched.
“There is no one else I want. My body and my heart belong to you.”
That was all it took to soften her.
It was just so easy with Caspen—so right. Tem felt their connection even when her mind was closed off to him—even when she was so angry she couldn’t think straight. He was her other half. He was hers.
Caspen’s hands cradled her face before brushing down her neck. He cupped her breasts—not unlike the way Tem had just cupped them for Leo—holding them in both palms.
His thumbs teased her nipples, hardening them.
Don’t we have a council meeting to get to?
The basilisk smiled.
That we do.
