Kiss of the Basilisk (Split or Swallow, #1)

by Lindsay Straube

When she finally slept, she dreamed of fire. It didn’t burn her. Rather, it warmed her gently, from the tips of her toes to the base of her skull. The fire felt familiar somehow, as if it were sent by someone she had known a long time ago. Flames licked her fingers, her palms, her arms. A single breath brushed her cheek. Then it was over.

“Has anyone ever left the training?” she asked. “Once,” Caspen said. For some reason, it looked like it pained him to say it. A second later, the discomfort vanished. “But she was not my student.”

Her mom.

“Like I said, it will connect us. I can make it…pulse.” “Pulse?” He smiled, and she melted. “When it pulses, you will know I am thinking of you.”

“Just take what I give you,” he breathed. “And when you are ready, give it back to me.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. His next words were barely a whisper. “You are not meant to be tamed, Tem.”

“I hate that you have this much power over me.” To her surprise, he laughed. “What’s so funny?” His grin only widened. “Of the two of us, I am not the one with the power, Tem.”

“Am I not allowed to protect you?” he murmured. “You are,” she murmured back. “I just didn’t realize you wanted to.” Caspen held her gaze. “Protecting you is only the beginning of what I want to do.”

Caspen traced his thumb under her chin, pulling her gaze up to his. “I find you extraordinary, Tem.”

“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.”

“I understand you don’t need me to take care of you,” he said quietly. “But it is my pleasure to do so.”

her body was an instrument only he could play.

Tem gasped with relief as he filled her completely, and Caspen did the same. He was her home, and she was his.

What were the chances that the two princes in her life were motherless?

You carry the balance of nature within you. It is an extremely powerful thing.”

Tem relaxed beneath his thrusts, knowing they would find their way together. She felt the hardness of his body, how perfectly it moved within hers. Their song had taken a long time to write, but now it was all Tem wanted to hear. Leo wasn’t perfect, and neither was she. Tem didn’t know what their future held, didn’t even know if she would survive the week. But she knew she wanted to try. For him.

Leo rolled his shoulders. A pervasive ache was steadily penetrating his chest. The farther they traveled from the castle, the deeper the ache became. It was a physical pain, one that gripped his ribs and compressed his lungs, calling him back to Tem.

He couldn’t help it; there was something inescapable about his first love.