Page 105 of Split or Swallow

“Do I feel good?” Tem whispered.

It was the only thing she’d wanted to know since the moment she met him. From the way he gripped her, she knew his answer. But instead of saying it out loud, Caspen sent an overwhelming surge of affirmation into Tem’s mind. He was penetrating her in more ways than one, his consciousness curled around hers like vines on a tree.

Tem. Tem. Tem.

Just her name. Over and over.

He said it as if he could never say it enough—as if he were grounding himself in this moment, right here, with her. Tem had never been adored like this before. Caspen’s joy vibrated from his body to hers in an endless current. She couldn’t believe she was the source of such rapture. He wanted nothing and no one but her.

All the times he’d been teaching her how to seduce the prince, he’d also been learning how to seduce her. He knew everything about her body; he knew how and where she liked to be touched, and how long to do it for.

And she knew the same.

Weeks of lessons had made Tem fluent in the language Caspen taught her to speak. She knew if she arched her neck, his nostrils would flair as he inhaled her scent. She knew if she squeezed his throat, he’d squeeze hers in return.

Caspen. Caspen. Caspen.

She chanted his name back, showing him his joy was reciprocated—showing him they were unbreakable. Caspen kissed her as he fucked her, his tongue moving as if it were made to dance with hers. He had been holding out on her, she realized. He was so good at sex. Impossibly good. Centuries of training had turned him into some kind of intuitive beast—a beast that knew exactly how to fuck her.

He guided her into different positions, showing her all the ways they could be with each other. First he sat back on his knees, lifting her hips so he could watch her take his cock. Then he returned to her, pulling her legs over his shoulders so they were interlocked like puzzle pieces. It was intimate beyond belief; they were so close that Tem could see her reflection in his pupils. She moaned as he slid in and out of her, his cock unbelievably hard, his pace as steady as the tides.

Tem lost all track of time. There were no windows in Caspen’s chambers, and it was impossible to tell whether hours or minutes were passing. Just when she thought she couldn’t go on, Caspen sent her an insistent wave of his own desire, which was ten times the caliber of her own. She couldn’t believe she was having this effect on him. She’d always known it was difficult for him to resist her, but now that she was in his mind, she saw exactly what it was like for him to be with her in this way.

Every sound she made sent him into a furor. He sought pleasure from her pleasure. He had waited so long for this, and now she was finally here, wrapped around his cock, his for the taking. He never wanted to let her go.

Eventually Caspen slid his hands up her thighs, turning her onto her side. He was behind her now, nudging her legs open with his knee in order to give his fingers access to her clitoris. Tem gasped as he touched her and fucked her at the same time. It was everything she’d dreamed of and more. It was heaven, plain and simple.

They stayed that way for a long time—longer than Tem thought was possible. No doubt Caspen could tell how much she liked it. Her wetness was on his cock, on his fingers, on the sheets. She wasn’t embarrassed; she knew it was exactly what he wanted. Every few minutes, he raised his fingers to his mouth to taste her before touching her again.

Just when she felt her orgasm begin to build, Caspen turned her around. They faced each other on the mattress, and for a moment, he merely stared at her. He didn’t say a word—either out loud, or in her mind. But Tem saw everything he was feeling as clearly as if he had told her himself. She saw how much this entire evening had meant to Caspen—how much pleasure it brought him to see her like this: vulnerable, naked, spread out in front of him. She was all his.

Caspen reached for her.

This time, it was quicker than before. Tem could barely breathe, but it didn’t matter. She knew what was coming; she knew they were almost there.

Caspen’s skin was scalding. The smoke had returned, threading into Tem’s hair and skimming hotly up her back. She was wet with sweat, but it didn’t matter: so was he.

There was only one thing left to ask:

Together?

Caspen’s response was the perfect mirror of hers:

Together.

The threads of their consciousness joined into a single stream, rushing toward their inevitable conclusion. They had finished together before, but not like this: not while he was inside her. If Tem hadn’t had those previous experiences with Caspen, she might’ve been scared of what was about to happen—of exposing herself in such a way in front of him. Instead, she felt only an overwhelming wave of bliss as he took what he needed from her and she took what she needed from him. It was a basic truth: she was made for Caspen, and Caspen was made for her.

Tem.

Even in orgasm, her name was his beacon.

Caspen.

Finally, they came.

He held her face to his, their mouths consuming each other’s moans. It felt as if Tem were unleashing a lifetime of trying to fit into a box that was too small for her—two decades worth of trying and failing to find her place in a world that did⁠n’t care who she was and didn’t expect her to be anything more. Her place was here. With Caspen.

Extraordinary.