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July 25 - September 1, 2025
“You seriously can’t go two weeks without kissing a stable boy?” Tem said. Gabriel laughed. “I could. But why would I want to?”
I love Gabriel
“Don’t they know they’re in public?” “True love waits for no one,” Tem said bitterly. Gabriel snorted. “That’s not true love. That’s an unplanned pregnancy waiting to happen.”
She wanted to know that he breathed for her like she breathed for him.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “Then it is like you.”
“Just take what I give you,” he breathed. “And when you are ready, give it back to me.”
“Yes to one thing isn’t yes to the rest.”
Will you think of me? His reply was barely a whisper, lost in the wind. Constantly.
If you remove it, would you…give me another? The pause was longer this time. Tem could physically feel the seconds ticking by. I would give you anything you asked for, Tem.
“Protecting you is only the beginning of what I want to do.”
She was his sun. He revolved around her.
Tem felt something seal itself between them—a bond that could never be broken. They belonged to each other now; there was no going back to the way things had been before they’d shared this essential, fundamental thing.
She couldn’t believe how good they looked together—like her body was his sanctuary and he was finally coming home.
“I’m strong whether I look it or not.”
If the prince doesn’t want you in linen, he doesn’t deserve you in silk.”
“You speak as if we are at war.” “It feels as if we are.”
“You are my future. It is as simple as that.”
“This is not just a necklace,” he said softly. “Then what is it?” Caspen paused, his fingers stroking the charm. “It is…a gesture of intent.” Tem frowned. “Intent to what?” His eyes found hers. “To marry you.”
“How long have you loved me?” Caspen held her gaze as he whispered, “Far longer than you have loved me.”
“I am weak when it comes to you, Tem. I cannot control my actions. I cannot follow logic or reason. All I think about is you. I wonder what you are doing and who you are doing it with. I obsess over every moment you are with the human prince, and I want to rip his head from his shoulders every time he touches you. It is not rational. It is not acceptable. But it is my reality, and there is nothing I can do about it.”
“Temptation, salvation, heaven, hell—you are everything, Tem. You are my undoing. You are beyond comprehension. There are no sufficient words to describe you, either in my language or yours.” His hands moved to her face, cupping her jaw. “My compass points to you. I could not change direction even if I wanted to.”
“I am undone by you,” he said. “I crave your scent, your skin, your voice. I think about you all the time, to the point of destruction. You are unbearably overwhelming. I cannot resist you no matter how hard I try.”
“I’d kiss you forever if I could.”
“You’re gorgeous when you’re angry,” he purred. “I’m gorgeous all the time.
“I understand you don’t need me to take care of you,” he said quietly. “But it is my pleasure to do so.”
Caspen was in her veins. He was in her blood, in her mind, in her soul. He was the breath in her lungs; he was her tether to life. Caspen was everything.
“I proposed to you because a life without you is not a life I care to live.”
“You hold the stars in your hands,” she whispered. “Just like your father.”
“Your life seems pretty good to me, Leo.” “That’s because you’re looking at it from the outside, Tem.”
Think about someone other than yourself.” “I think about you.”
“Thank you,” she said. He arched an eyebrow. “For what?” “For being my refuge.”
“Be careful how you speak to your king.” But Tem was done being reprimanded. “Be careful how you speak to me,” she snapped.
He touched her throat again—gently this time—and concern returned to his face. It was like watching the sun slowly set.
“I’m asking you to give me your heart, Tem. I deserve to know whether it’s even yours to give.”
“He may have made you wet, but I will make you come.”
OOP
“Beg,” she whispered. “Beg me, Caspen.” “A king does not beg.” “He does for his queen.”
“Having sex with you requires your consent, Tem. And you essentially just revoked that. There would be no point in trying.
YES SIRRRR CONSENT IS SEXY
“Show me how pretty you are when you come.”
A healed wound still bears a scar.
Love demands to be felt.”
“It is not foolish to fall in love, Mother. I have been many things, but I’m not a fool. And neither were you.”
There were far worse things, Tem realized, than to be loved by two people. She had no desire to live an ordinary life—a life devoid of passion and challenge and truth. She had always been destined for more. Her path may not have been a conventional one, but it was hers, and she wouldn’t trade it for anyone else’s.
