Page 192 of Split or Swallow

Tem had never been so happy to hear it.

She closed her eyes. A moment later, Caspen embraced her, and she let him. Tem leaned against his chest, trying not to think about what would happen tomorrow. But there was no avoiding it. Everything culminated here.

“Tem,” Caspen’s voice was a strained whisper. “Please. Tell me what you are thinking.”

She opened her eyes.

“I’m thinking I had no idea what I was getting into when I told you to undress the first night we met.”

His arms tightened around her.

“Yes. Of that I am quite sure.”

There was nothing else to say. Tem was numb.

Caspen held her for a long time, and eventually, they climbed onto his bed, pulling off their clothes as they went. They didn’t have sex. Instead, they stared at each other in the dimly flickering firelight as Caspen traced his fingertips up and down Tem’s body. She knew he was using the motion to calm himself just as much as her.

It seemed as if they were on the verge of something significant—something that would alter their relationship forever. Tem had no idea how the ritual would affect them—whether it would change their dynamic for better or for worse. Caspen was a basilisk, so he respected his people’s customs. But he was also a man, and a possessive one at that. Tem couldn’t imagine that sleeping with his father would improve things between them.

They drifted off together, Caspen’s hand still on her waist.

She was awoken by her name:

Tem.

Caspen’s voice was clear as day, ringing through her mind like a bell. Tem sat up straight, her heart pounding like she’d just ran a mile.

“What is it?” she asked.

He didn’t answer. His eyes were closed, his body motionless except for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Tem leaned down, squinting her eyes at him. A slow smile pulled her cheeks as she realized he was asleep.

Caspen must be dreaming about her.

As soon as she thought it, she knew it was true. His mind must be interacting with hers—the barrier lowered—the corridor between them wide open.

Tem.

There it was again.

Tem shifted so she was facing him. She closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could.

Caspen.

No response. The corridor between their minds felt clogged, as if it were filled with smoke. Tem wondered if it was because Caspen was unconscious. She waited for him to call to her again, and when he didn’t, she felt sudden disappointment.

Her name was only worth saying twice? That wouldn’t do at all.

Tem touched his temple, concentrating on their connection. She pushed through the smoke, feeling her way down the corridor and toward the door to his mind. Just outside it, she stopped.

Was this a violation?

Tem didn’t want to infiltrate Caspen’s mind without his permission. But he had never told her not to do so. And he had pulled her into his mind once before, when they’d stood in front of the mirror together. Besides, did they not belong to one another? What secrets could he possibly have that weren’t hers to know?

Tem entered Caspen’s mind.

It was completely dark; there was nothing to see. Rather she felt sensations all around her, curling against her own mind like vines on a tree. First and foremost was sexual desire—it surrounded her with such intensity that Tem felt immediately turned on. She searched for something else—anything else—to focus on, finding that there was only one other clear presence in Caspen’s mind: worry. A thick thread of anxiety loomed in the background of his consciousness, casting a pall on everything around it.

What was he so worried about?