Page 50 of Bitten By the Basilisk

“I did agree to see him again. Maybe I’m wrong, and Silas is right. I just can’t hope to be wrong.”

Mom squeezed her arms in an effort to comfort. “You can at least enjoy his company a bit longer.”

Alice nodded in agreement, her throat suddenly tight.

“Oh, you don’t have a dress for tonight, do you?”

She swallowed to free up her voice. “No, but he’s going to send something here.”

Mom made an intrigued sort of hum, a glint in her smiling eyes. “You’ll let Gina do your hair again, right? And you’ll let me take care of your makeup? That way, you’ll have flawless lipstick all evening.”

She produced a small green leaf from thin air and held it up between two extended fingers. With her illusion magic, Mom could enchant the leaf, place it on the crown of Alice’s head, and instantly put her in full glam until Alice plucked off the leaf or until the magic faded at dawn. It was one of Mom’s best-selling beauty services.

“That would be easier than doing it myself,” she admitted.

Pleased, her mom disappeared the leaf with a flourish of her fingers, then leaned closer to speak in a conspiratorial whisper. “You don’t have to answer, but I’m dying to know something.”

“Yeah?” What could she ask that Alice might not answer?

“Is it true about male serpent-folk in their shifted forms?”

“Is what true?” Her mom had to know already what they looked like, as the town’s serpent-folk were regular clients at the spa.

Mom flapped a hand at her. “You know what I’m getting at.”

“I really don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “Anyway, I only saw his shifted form for a few minutes in the sand baths. He stayed in his human form the rest of the night.”

“Oh.” Mom’s surprise turned into awkward discomfort. “He didn’t, um…show you, then?”

“Show me what?” she asked, half laughing at her mom’s coy language. Wait, was her mom referring to— “Are you asking me about his dick?”

Mom gasped and flapped her hand again. “Alice!”

She couldn’t help laughing again. “Why? What did you hear?”

Mom’s ears and cheeks had flushed red. “That…they extrude. Two of them.”

This time, it was Alice’s turn to gasp, her amusement instantly morphing into shock. “Two? Did you say two?”

Holy shit. Obviously, she had wondered whether his serpent form had a slit, but two dicks? How had Silas not told her that?

She supposed it wasn’t the easiest thing to bring up, assuming it was even true, but wasn’t that important information when angling for a serious relationship?

Maybe he was afraid to tell me.

Based on the wave of heat flooding her core and the warmth radiating from her face, she imagined that, after the initial shock wore off, she would’ve been more than willing to find out how they might pleasure each other.

Her stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, a welcome interruption in their conversation.

“Lunch! Right,” Mom said, her voice a little higher than usual. She headed toward the hall. “Let me check in downstairs and make sure everything’s going smoothly. Then we’ll go out to eat, okay?”

“Okay,” Alice absently replied, still reeling.

“After lunch, you should come back up here and get some sleep while I take care of a couple of facial appointments,” her mom called from the hall.

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

After her mom left via the elevator, Alice moved on autopilot, her mind’s eye titillating her with panty-melting fantasies as she washed her empty cup, put away her laptop, and visited the restroom, where she discovered she needed fresh underwear. Hers were so wet that they shone under the bathroom lighting.