Page 67 of Split or Swallow

“I won’t have my son wed to a chicken farmer.”

“Then you won’t have a son.”

There were footsteps as one of them walked away.

Before she could be discovered, Tem walked away too.

CHAPTER NINE

Tem had no idea what to expect the next night in the cave.

To be fair, she never knew what to expect from Caspen—whether he would be attentive or distant, caring or cold. Would he ask her about her date with the prince? Would she have to tell him about how they had dinner on the patio—how Leo hadn’t kissed her? Or would Caspen pretend that the prince didn’t exist, like he always did? The last time they were together, Caspen had tried to taste her. Whatever was in store for her tonight, Tem was quite sure she wasn’t ready for him to do that again.

And then there was the fact that they hadn’t had sex.

Part of Tem wanted to yell at Caspen for holding out on her. She couldn’t understand his behavior, and she didn’t know how much longer she could survive without an explanation for it. The other part of her was terrified of pushing him away. Their connection was already perilous to begin with—the very last thing she wanted was to give him a reason to sever it.

Her worries followed her throughout the day—on the farm while she did chores, to the bakery where Vera was still infuriatingly absent, and all the way to the entrance of the cave. But the moment she saw Caspen standing next to the fireplace, they fell away. There was no trace of worry on his stone features, no sign that he had any troubles whatsoever. His eyes were focused on her and her alone, and she knew she wasn’t imagining the heat in them.

“Come here, Tem.”

She would’ve come whether he told her to or not.

When they were finally face to face, Caspen raised a single finger to her chin and tilted her head up to his. With that isolated motion, Tem allowed herself to forget the date with the prince. It was clear Caspen wasn’t going to ask about it anyway. She forgot her anger, her frustration, her insecurity. She remembered that these precious hours in the cave were all they had, and she didn’t want to waste them talking.

“What shall we do tonight?” Caspen murmured.

Tem couldn’t believe he would ask her that. It undermined everything the training was supposed to be. It put her in charge. She wondered if it was his way of appeasing her—if he knew, somehow, that she needed to feel in control right now.

She took a moment to think about her answer. There were a hundred things she wished to do. But only one thing made sense to do tonight. Something that, if Tem did it, she might gain the courage to receive it in return.

“I want to taste you.”

Primal hunger bloomed in Caspen’s eyes.

“As you wish,” he said quietly, his finger slipping down the expanse of her throat. “On your knees.”

Was worshipping one god really so different than worshipping another?

Tem knelt for Caspen the same way she knelt for Kora, looking up at him as he untied his trousers and slipped them down his hips.

He gave her no instructions. Instead his fingers laced into her hair, grasping the back of her neck and pulling her forward. His other hand held his cock level with her mouth.

He paused.

In what felt like slow motion, Tem’s lips parted.

Caspen let out a tortured moan as her wet tongue touched his velvet skin. Soft and hard; water and stone. Tem saw his eyes roll back as he moved her head with his hand, coaxing himself further and further down her throat. Just as he’d taught her how to touch him, Caspen taught her this too. He directed her movements, guiding her back and forth, up and down. She was taking the very core of him inside her—tasting the part of him that exemplified his formidable power.

And yet, Tem felt power too.

There could be no question of Caspen’s pleasure—he was gripping her hair like his life depended on it, and with such an important part of him in her mouth, Tem wondered if maybe it did. He pulled her closer, deepening their union, sinking into her one glorious inch at a time.

Eventually, his grip on her loosened, and the message was simple: Now you.

Tem obeyed without hesitation, continuing the motion, feeling saliva build at the corners of her mouth as she took him down her throat, trying to consume as much of him as possible.

But there was only so much she could take.