Page 267 of Between Two Kings

They said it all: every unspoken confession, every desperate plea—everything they’d wanted to say to each other since the wedding.

“Nobody will ever love you like I do,” Tem whispered. “Nobody.”

“I know.”

“You’re mine, Leo. Mine.”

“I know.”

“I need you, Leo. I need you. I need—”

His lips were on hers. The time for talking had passed.

Leo handled her the way she needed to be handled—with confidence and utter surety—gripping her hips and yanking them against his. Tem saw how he’d changed, how he moved assertively now, taking what he was owed. He was no longer a prince. It was an honor to see the king he had become.

It was nothing like the last time they’d slept together. That time had been different; that time her basilisk side had been nearly dead. This time the beast within Tem ached to get out—to ravage Leo in a way that was sure to hurt him. At the thought of his pain, Tem became so turned on, she had to close her eyes. Suddenly their proximity was unbearable. She wanted to consume him, to rip him apart and crawl inside his ribs until they were not two bodies but one. No amount of him would ever be sufficient; nothing would ever be enough.

Was this how Caspen felt when he fucked her? It was so overstimulating—so excruciating. Every breath Leo took sounded like a summons just for her. Every inch of his skin was delectable. Finally, after weeks of agony, Tem could feel herself transitioning. The crest had suppressed her for so long. But now she was fulfilling the conditions—now she was consummating her love for Leo—and that came with a reward.

Keep him safe.

It was Caspen’s mantra for her, and now it was hers for Leo.

Tem would not allow herself to lose control; she would not endanger the life of someone who was precious to her. Caspen had done it for her, and she would do it for Leo.

But Caspen had not always succeeded.

Tem had been hurt many times over the course of their relationship—sustained many injuries from sex or otherwise. He’d broken her pelvis, for Kora’s sake. She’d gotten used to them, over time. Turned on by them, even. But that was because she was part basilisk. The monstrous side of her craved pain—coveted both administering and receiving it. Leo was a human. He did not like pain; he did not deserve to get hurt. He always said to torture him, but he didn’t mean it literally. Their battles were mental in nature, their weapons were emotional ones. Tem refused to let him experience even a fraction of what she knew her body was capable of. But it was not easy to hold back.

Keep him safe. Keep him safe.

She understood now how difficult this must have been for Caspen. It was as if she were looking at a delicious meal but unable to taste it. Her basilisk side was ravenous, clawing at the back of her mind with an insistence that was nearly impossible to ignore.

Her hips moved quicker.

“Fuck, Tem.” Leo barely murmured it.

But it turned Tem on so much that she pressed her palm over his mouth and said, “Don’t.”

She’d never wanted someone like this before—never craved the flesh of a human in such an instinctual way. Tem wanted to be inside him. She wanted to possess him and mark him and ruin him for anyone else so that he would only be hers, for eternity, forever. It was an irresistible urge, and yet she would have to resist.

Tem had no idea how Caspen had done this so many times with her. How had he managed not to hurt her? The effort it had taken just to be in Leo’s presence for Sunday-night dinners without touching him was nothing compared to how she felt now with him actually in her bed. The sight of his naked body made her want to explode.

“Tem,” he murmured, his lips against her hand. “You feel so fucking good.”

“Don’t speak. Please.”

“I have to, Tem. I have to tell you that I—”

But Tem didn’t want to hear it. Couldn’t hear it. She needed him to stop talking, needed him to shut up. If he said another word, she was going to rip him apart. Smoke was crawling up her back. Her vision was changing—the pink of Leo’s cheeks changed to bluish green, the warmth of his skin becoming gray. Every time she blinked, it was like she was seeing more than she should. Her eyes were turning black just as Caspen’s did. Her pupils were dilating, her body changing against her will. The call to transition was debilitating. It was too much. Far too much. Tem could not resist this—could not resist him. She was no better than any other basilisk. She was just as beholden to her people—to her instincts—as Caspen was.

Caspen.

He was her only hope.

Caspen? Are you there?

Tem. I am.