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November 18 - November 24, 2025
Tem had chosen Caspen. But it wasn’t because she didn’t love Leo. It was because she wanted more for Leo. And in doing so, she had accepted less for herself.
With Caspen, her desire was primal and raw, visceral, consuming her like a hungry animal. With Leo, it was slower—a glowing coal that smoldered deep within her chest.
“Be still.” She would be anything for him. “Say it. Say you want my cock.” She would say anything for him. “You were made for me.” Nothing could be more true.
But I told you, Tem, there is no one else I want.” He said the rest gently into her mind: My body and my heart belong to you.
“The heart is a curious thing, Temperance,” Kronos said carefully. “It cannot be reasoned with.” “What do you mean?” “We cannot choose who we love. Our hearts choose for us.” “I love Caspen.” “I know you do. But you also love Leo.” Tem closed her eyes. “Temperance. You must be careful. Basilisks are free with their bodies but not with their hearts. It is a dangerous thing to love two people. You need to prepare yourself.”
“And two kings?” “Yes, although not as often.” “Why not?” Adelaide gave her a small smile. “Men do not share.” Tem almost smiled too. That was certainly true. Women were raised to share their time, their attention, their love. Men kept everything for themselves.
“How can you always think the best of me?” “Because you are the best of me,” he said simply.
From the way Leo had talked about their love, Tem knew she was. And Leo deserved someone who would love him the way Caspen loved her: wholly, purely, and without competition.
Caspen. You can’t hurt her. She’s the queen. Caspen turned to her, looking straight into her eyes. You are the only queen I answer to.
Finally, Apollo whispered, “Do not come to me for comfort, Temperance. Come to me when you want me to fuck you the way my brother will not.”
What she felt for Leo was far from an infatuation. It was as real and irrefutable as her love for Caspen. It was the pillar that kept her upright—the force that ensured she was steady.
“Who’s that?” Gabriel asked, following her gaze. “He’s nobody.” Apollo grinned, and she knew he had heard her. You wound me, Temperance. Oh, please. You’re not wounded, you’re just dramatic. For good reason. He moved toward them. No, Apollo. Stay right where you are. He stopped. And who are you to give me orders? You like it when I give you orders. I do. But not this one. I want to meet your friend. Well, you can’t.
“You could’ve told me you were drinking from a cum fountain, Tem.”
“Tem.” Gabriel turned to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “You won’t let me flirt with Caspen’s hot brother. You won’t let me drink from the cum fountain. And you won’t let me come in the fountain. What am I even doing here?”
She’d missed him so much this past week. They may be at odds right now, but they always came back together for this. This was a language she understood—a poem that could be written only for Caspen.
I will not let them take you. I know. She believed him. She always believed him. You are mine. And you’re mine. Tem would not let anyone take Caspen away either. Spending time around the basilisks had changed her too. She was stronger now. Surer. Tem once thought that the ritual was the biggest gesture she could give to Caspen. But now their bond was deeper, and she knew there was no limit to what she would do for him. No height was too high, no distance too vast. Caspen was willing to cross lines for her. Tem was willing too.
She was just about to give up when Apollo’s voice bloomed suddenly in her mind: You called, Temperance?
They were staggeringly beautiful, just like the Drakons, but theirs was a different beauty: more ethereal, less harsh. Whereas Caspen’s features were sharp and severe, the Senecas seemed softer somehow, as if they were sculpted by the same artist but from a different stone.
Are you impressed? That you finished in thirty seconds? Hardly. It is not my fault you inspire such speed. Don’t blame your shortcomings on me. There is nothing short about me, and you know it, Temperance.
Hi. Hi? It’s the informal version of hello. I am aware of that. Do you consider this an informal occasion?
His soul was darker and rougher and twisted. He’d taught her how to kill. It was no small thing. Tem felt safe with him in a different way than she did with Caspen. She could tell him any secret, reveal any part of her—no matter how bad—and he would accept her. There was security in being with someone who would never turn you away. Nothing Tem could do would ever scare him off. Apollo did not hold her on the same pedestal that Caspen and Leo did; he did not expect her to be good all the time. He allowed her to indulge the parts of her that she needed to indulge. Apollo could sense both things
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Pretty girl. Beautiful, beautiful girl. You are wasted on my brother. I cannot believe he gets to wake up next to you and sink his cock into you whenever he wants. He should fuck you every minute of every day. If you were mine, I would never stop fucking you. I would worship your cunt until the day I died. I would—
Fuck, Temperance. That was the best night of my life. I will think about it every time my cock is in my hand. I picture you in front of me and it makes me fucking hard. I want you to do that again. I want your mouth on my cock the moment I wake up in the morning and I want it again every night.
Tem wanted to lose control—to submit to desire—to let herself be free. She had to be perfect for Caspen; she had to be good for Leo. But Apollo didn’t want her like that. He didn’t want her perfect or good or anything that the men she loved expected of her. There were no rules with Apollo. Tem could do whatever she wanted with him—she could let go.
It is not enough to fuck you just this once, Temperance. I want you as many times as I can have you. I will do anything you want. Anything. Just let me fuck you again. I want to fuck you in my bed. I want to bend you over and fuck you in the banquet hall for everyone to see. I want to lick your cunt. I need to taste you, Temperance. I need to come inside you. I need to come on your back and on your tits and in your mouth and on your hands. I cannot live without those hands, Temperance. I need them on me. I need them on my cock. You have no idea what it is like to look at you and not be able to
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I cannot look at you without growing hard. It was agony to watch my brother fuck you in front of me. I wanted to rip you away from him—I wanted to put you on my own cock instead. You do not understand what it is like to be around you and unable to fuck you. It is all I think about. It is all I need. I think about you every time I am with another woman. None of them satisfy me the way you do. I have lived hundreds of years, and your cunt is the best I have ever touched. I want to run my tongue over it. I want to taste you, Temperance. I want to spit in your mouth. I want to see you take my cock
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Apollo was nearly there. Just before his moment of climax, Tem placed her lips right against the shell of his ear so there was no possible way he would miss her saying, “Good boy.”
Tem would sooner stop breathing than stop loving Leo.
His roar of disapproval shattered her concentration, forcing her to hear him as he yelled, If you will not choose, then I will.
Now he fucked her like she was the last person on earth—like he was suffocating and she was the air he breathed. He held her so tightly, she thought she might break. His fingers dug valleys into her thighs. Tem welcomed it all, pulling him only closer, knowing he needed this even more than she did, knowing he needed to claim her.
Caspen filled her; Caspen fulfilled her. No one else could fuck her like this. No one else could dive so deep inside her. Tem welcomed him into every part of her body—every part of her soul. Caspen was hers, and she was his. They belonged to each other.
We will go slow next time, Tem. I just…needed you. Tem pulled him closer. I needed you too. I never want to go without touching again. We will not. You have my word. He promised it with every kiss, assured her with every caress. Caspen knew how to make everything better—knew how to turn Tem’s world back on its axis.
Tem knew. She was two things: basilisk and human. That was how she was surviving it. Each side of her loved someone else. It was unsustainable for Apollo; it was reality for her.
Then Apollo whispered, “She is in pain, Brother.” Caspen let out a bitter laugh. “She is pain, Brother.”
“Did you think about me while he was fucking you?” “Yes.” His fingers returned to her neck, arching her head. “Did you think about me?” Tem whispered. “While you were fucking her?” Leo’s hand tightened. “Every single time.” Tem was done resisting. Her inhibitions left her completely, the last thread of her morality finally fraying to nothing. She did the one thing she should have done every day since they were married. She kissed him.
They had shared so many kisses before, but this one was different. This one felt like coming home.
“Tem. Tem. Tem.” “Leo. Leo. Leo.”
“I’m sorry, Leo.” “I know.” “I thought I was doing the right thing.” “I know.” “I thought she could love you better than me, but she can’t. No one can.” “I know, Tem.” Now that she’d started she couldn’t seem to stop. “I never should have let you go. I made a mistake.” “Tem, you—” “I’ve missed you every day, Leo. Every. Day.”
“Nobody will ever love you like I do,” Tem whispered. “Nobody.” “I know.” “You’re mine, Leo. Mine.” “I know.” “I need you, Leo. I need you. I need—”
Her basilisk side wanted to hurt Leo. Her human side wanted anything but. Her human side wanted him to live a long and happy life, free of any danger or bodily harm, preferably far away from any basilisks at all. It was a dream that would only come to fruition if he lived through tonight. The guilt of killing Leo would be insurmountable. Tem knew she wouldn’t survive such loss.
Your love for him must be stronger than your desire to hurt him. It is as simple as that.
Caspen shook his head. “You will not be alone, Tem.” Tears welled in her eyes as she realized he meant Leo. “Don’t do this, Caspen, please—” “You will be happy with him, Tem. He loves you as I do.” “How do you know that?” For some reason, Caspen smiled. There was blood on his teeth. “He wrote you letters.” Tem stared down at him, her mouth open in shock. “But I—how—?” “He is your one true love, Tem.”
“I was your first love, Tem,” Caspen whispered. “He will be your last.”
As I said. Heaven.
You are perfect, Tem. I will not allow you to think otherwise.
A horrible scream tore her throat. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Nothing would ever be good again—nothing would ever be right. A great chasm was opening within her, one she knew would never close. Tem stared at her palms, unadorned by constellations of pigment. Her freckles were gone. The blood bond that had tied Caspen’s life to hers was broken. Her basilisk side was dead.
Join me when you are ready. I love you.
He was the one thing she could never be: patient. And patience, Tem knew, was required in order to be in a relationship with her. She was impossible. What could be worse for a basilisk? Caspen had never quite been able to corral her, and he hadn’t wanted to anyway. You are not meant to be tamed. He’d meant it as a compliment. Caspen had known, from the very beginning, that Tem was capable of greatness. It had taken her quite a long time to believe it herself. But here she was, finally, fully formed into the queen he had made her, and he was no longer there to be her king.
She looked at the mat in front of the fireplace. So many befores and afters had occurred on that mat. Before she’d been kissed and after, before she’d shared herself with a man, and after, before Caspen and after.
He’d shown her so much. Not just sex—that was merely the beginning. He’d shown her what it meant to stand in her power, to demand more from herself and others, to live a full and joyful life. He’d shown her how to harness her power—how to transition, how to crest. He’d shown her everything. How long have you loved me? Far longer than you have loved me.
