Page 133 of Split or Swallow

“So control it.”

His thumb pulled at her lip, opening it.

“I cannot,” he whispered.

Her hand returned to his trousers, but he stopped her before she could pull them down.

“Tem,” he said firmly. “I do not trust myself.”

“I trust you.”

Caspen only shook his head.

“I have done nothing to earn it.”

“But you love me,” she said again.

“My love for you is my burden to bear.”

At his words, she pulled abruptly away.

“I’m a burden to you?”

“No,” he said. “Of course not. That is not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean?”

He tilted his head to the ceiling as if asking Kora for answers.

“I mean that I never should have let this happen.”

She yanked herself from his grasp.

“Then why did you let it happen?”

“Because I am weak.”

Caspen practically yelled it. Tem stepped back in shock. He stepped closer.

“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.”

Tem felt suddenly faint.

“Is loving me really so horrible?” she whispered.

“Of course not.”

“Are you saying I make you weak?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Then what are you saying? Are you angry with me?”

“No.”

“Is that the only word you know? Because—”

“Tem,” he placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. “I am not angry with you. I am angry with myself. I should have known better. I am the one who gave in to temptation. That is what I mean when I say I am weak.”