Page 28 of Split or Swallow
Tem nodded, although she wasn’t sure she believed him. Her mother’s warning was still fresh in her mind.
“I… like it when you touch me,” she said quietly.
The basilisk smiled fully, baring his teeth in the flickering firelight. It was a feral smile—one of triumph and victory.
“I know you do.”
Tem wanted to ask if he liked it when she touched him. But she was far too nervous to do so. Instead, she said:
“I suppose you can sense that too?”
He leaned back on the mat, tilting his head to look up at her.
“It would take an imbecile not to sense that.”
Tem felt herself blushing again. Was she so obvious? So predictable?
“Do you find me boring?” she asked before she could help it.
To her surprise, Caspen let out another low chuckle.
“Not in the least.”
Her heart leaped.
“But you must have met a thousand people in your lifetime.”
“Far more than a thousand.”
His words hung in the air, their meaning ambiguous. If he had met that many people in his lifetime and he didn’t find her boring, that must mean she had made some sort of impression on him—potentially a positive one. Was he saying he found her interesting?
The thought was too much to bear. Rather than ask for clarification, she reached for a chocolate. Before she could touch it, the basilisk caught her arm. Tem froze as he raised her hand to the fire, turning it so that her freckles caught the light.
“Have you always had these?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said.
To Tem’s horror, a darkness passed over his face.
“Are they—I mean—is that bad?” she stammered.
Caspen blinked. “No,” he said quickly, dropping her hand. “Just…” he hesitated for an uncharacteristically long amount of time, as if choosing his next word carefully. “...Rare.”
“Rare?”
“Eat,” he insisted, ignoring her question. “We will not be meeting tomorrow.”
Doubt shot through her. “Why not?”
“The prince wishes to see his potential future wives. You will go to the castle with the other students.”
Students.
With a single word, Caspen had reestablished distance between them. It didn’t matter that she had pressed her lips to his neck, that he had pulled her closer when she had done so. It didn’t matter that he’d given her an orgasm and squeezed her throat when she came. He was her teacher and she was his student and he was training her for a role: nothing more.
Tem ate the rest of her food in silence.
When she was done, Caspen walked her to the head of the trail. Then he turned without a word and disappeared into the darkness.
