Page 110 of Split or Swallow

When she did so, Caspen’s hands slid suddenly down her body, grabbing her hips and yanking them against him so he could thrust into her from below. She tried to sit up but he bit her lip, holding her to him as he thrust even faster. It was almost more than Tem could handle, but she shut her eyes and let him do it, feeling the raw desperation of his rigid body beneath hers, his teeth nearly tearing through her lip as he finished with a single, violent thrust.

When his head fell back on the mattress his eyes were wild—dark and bottomless—as if she were looking into the depths of a never-ending well. There was so much desire there—so much naked hunger and unrestrained strength, the depths of which were so unfathomable Tem felt momentarily afraid. She remembered without a shadow of a doubt that although he wore his human form, he was a monster. She saw the darkness fade, his chest rising and falling as he steadied his breathing, slowly returning to himself.

What had she gotten herself into?

Tem touched her finger to her lip, and it came away bloody. At the sight, Caspen sat up.

“Tem,” he said, rough traces of hunger still clinging to his voice like tar. “Forgive me.”

It was the second time he’d said that tonight. Tem didn’t know how to answer. Of course she forgave him. Part of her liked that she was so irresistible to him that he couldn’t stop. But he had hurt her—there was no denying it.

Part of her liked that too.

“I’m fine,” she said. The same thing she said after Jonathan.

Caspen raised his hand, tentatively, to her lips. When he touched them, the firelight dimmed, and she knew he had healed her. But the memory of his bite would likely never fade, and they both knew it.

“I…lost myself,” Caspen said quietly. “It will never happen again.”

Tem met his eye.

“Yes it will.”

She didn’t know how, but she knew it to be true. She was a human and he was a basilisk and they were tempting fate every time they were together. It would happen again, and she would let it. There were no greater truths in the world.

“I am…not used to this yet,” Caspen said, clearly choosing his words carefully.

“This?”

“You.”

Tem nodded. She understood this was hard for him. There was nothing more painful than trying to suppress your true feelings. For a basilisk, those feelings were surely stronger than a human’s. It must be agony to resist them.

“What can I do?” Tem whispered.

Caspen laughed softly, shaking his head.

“Nothing. You can only make it worse.”

She recoiled.

“Tem,” he said, pulling her against him. “You know what I mean. The closer we get…the harder it is for me.”

She nodded, tears forming in her eyes.

“Do not cry,” he whispered. “I cannot bear to see it.”

Tem shrugged, trying to hold it in.

“You have every effect on me,” Caspen said quietly. “But I cannot give in. Otherwise…”

He trailed off, his fingers whispering over her jaw. She leaned into his touch, savoring the warmth of his skin on hers. Tem couldn’t help it. She didn’t care about the danger. She needed him.

“Why does it happen?” she asked.

“Why does what happen?”

“The transition. Why does it happen every time we’re…together?”