Page 1 of Split or Swallow

CHAPTER ONE

“You’ll never guess what happened to me last night,” Vera whispered.

Tem sighed. She had come to the bakery to deliver eggs and had gotten gossip instead. It was always that way with Vera.

“What happened?” she asked.

Vera leaned over the counter so only Tem could hear:

“Jonathan took me under the bridge.”

Tem’s mouth fell open. Everyone knew what happened when a boy took you under the bridge.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Vera smirked. “I saw his—” she glanced over her shoulder, then back at Tem, “—cock.”

Tem blushed at the word.

“You’ve never seen one?” giggled Vera, tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder in haughty satisfaction.

“No,” Tem muttered. Vera knew quite well that she had never seen one, at least not in person. There were plenty depicted in the marble statues that lined the steps leading up to the church, but those were nothing to write home about. They looked like baby carrots. “What was it like?”

Vera leaned in, pursing her lips in a conspiratorial triangle.

“It was firm,” she whispered. “Like a cucumber. But warm, and it fit perfectly in my hand.”

“You held it?”

Vera laughed. Tem resisted the urge to hurl an egg at her.

“You don’t just hold it. You play with it. You stroke it up and down,” she moved her hand to mimic the motion, and Tem memorized it instantly. “Until he finishes.”

Vera giggled cruelly at the look on Tem’s face.

“Oh, Tem,” she whimpered, her condescending tone unbearable. “Don’t wor⁠ry. You’ll learn tomorrow night. That’s what the basilisk is for.”

Everyone knew what the basilisk was for.

“Of course,” Vera continued. “It doesn’t hurt to have an advantage. After all, the prince is going to pick the most skillful girl. I intend to get as much practice as possible.”

Only Tem knew the painful truth, which was that there was no one she could practice with. The boys her age didn’t talk to her, and if they did, it was only to inquire whether her mother’s farm had any spare roosters available. Gabriel was her only friend, and he wasn’t interested in girls at all. But it didn’t matter anyway. Tem had always known she wouldn’t have a chance with the prince, regardless of what the basilisk taught her. The prince was far more likely to choose an experienced girl like Vera to be his wife.

It was as if Vera knew what Tem was thinking, because she said:

“You could always practice at home.”

Tem looked up.

“How?”

“Touch yourself. If you know how to do that, you can better understand how to touch someone else.”

For once, Tem felt a small surge of victory.

She had already touched herself plenty of times, in the privacy of her own room. She’d done it for as long as she could remember, and she knew exactly how to bring herself pleasure. Those solitary moments were important to her; they made her feel sexual and alive. She loved the euphoric weakness she felt after her orgasm, and she wondered if men felt a similar way when they finished.

“I’ll try that tonight,” Tem said, keeping her secret to herself.