Page 137 of Split or Swallow

The moment she finished, a change came over Caspen, and she knew he was done holding back. He grabbed her breasts so hard that she yelped. The second she did so, he released her, skimming his palms down the curve of her waist and squeezing her ass with both hands.

“I can’t keep up with you,” she gasped.

At her words, Caspen sat up straight, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly against him. For a moment, they were both perfectly still, their lips centimeters apart, their bodies intrinsically intertwined. Tem could feel Caspen’s heart beating steadily in his chest, so much slower than her own, which was galloping like a wild horse. She felt knowledge in his heartbeat—a deep, vast knowing that had been around far longer than she was alive and would exist far past her death. She wondered how long that heart had been beating.

Then Caspen arched his hips, penetrating her rhythmically from below. He held her gaze, watching her calmly as her breath hitched with every thrust.

“Please, Caspen,” she breathed.

Tem didn’t even know what she was begging for.

His grip tightened, holding her in place as he thrust into her again and again. She was on top but he was in control, setting the pace like he always did. Tem shut her eyes and moaned, surrendering to him because it felt too good not too, surrendering to him because she had no other choice.

“Tell me,” she gasped. “Tell me how you feel about me.”

She needed to hear him say it. Now, while they were joined together.

Caspen didn’t hesitate.

“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.”

To hear Caspen describe her in the exact way she felt about him was unfathomable. Tem wanted to hear more. Before she could ask for it, Caspen was already speaking, his words accentuated with every thrust:

“I am afraid of how much you mean to me. You occupy every inch of my mind. If anyone ever hurts you I will rip them apart. No one compares to you. No basilisk or human has ever captivated me the way you do. I want to fuck you all the time. I want to come inside you.”

His pace was increasing. Tem couldn’t breathe.

“You.”

Thrust.

“Are.”

Thrust.

“Perfect.”

This time when she came, he spoke a command into her mind:

Open your mouth.

Tem did so without question.

Caspen’s hand wrapped around her throat, arching her neck back so he could position his face directly over hers. He opened his mouth, but didn’t kiss her. Instead he made a guttural sound—something between a hiss and a growl—something completely and undeniably inhuman. Tem felt him come at the exact same time as a black liquid emerged from his mouth.

Tem’s eyes stayed wide open as the substance dripped down the back of her throat.

It tasted like smoke.

When the last of the liquid had slid from his mouth to hers, Caspen finally kissed her. He was soaked with sweat, and so was Tem. Their combined wetness was spreading all over their legs but neither of them bothered to clean it up. There was no point; Tem liked being covered in him. The vibrations of their union ebbed away slowly, and it wasn’t until the air began to cool that Tem finally asked:

“What was that?”

The gold was returning to Caspen’s eyes. He hooked a single finger through the chain around her neck, pulling her closer.

“My venom.”

“Your venom?”