Page 179 of Between Two Kings

Tem ignored the compliment. You could at least be discreet about it.

Is that really what you want?

Yes.

And here I was thinking you enjoyed my advances.

What could have possibly given you that impression?

Instead of answering, Apollo sent her a vision: first of her in the banquet hall, opening her legs in front of him. Then of her in the field, after he’d taught her to petrify, her head thrown back in orgasm. Apollo was right, and they both knew it. Of course Tem enjoyed his advances. If they truly bothered her, she would have left the grotto already. But she hadn’t. Her basilisk side preened every time he looked in her direction. Only her human side recoiled, and that side was awfully quiet right now.

So tell me, Temperance. What else do you know?

She stared up at him, willing herself to focus. His eyes were a slightly different shade of gold than Caspen’s, darker, as if tinted with copper. They were rapidly being overtaken with black. I know you want me.

His mouth twitched.

Tem continued. And I know you only want me because it will make Caspen angry.

Ah. That is where you are wrong.

Am I?

Yes.

And what exactly am I wrong about?

It will not make Caspen angry.

Tem remembered the possessive pleasure that had flashed in Caspen’s eye when he’d realized Apollo was watching them in the banquet hall, how he’d displayed her for his brother.

And even if it did make my brother angry, it would not be the only reason I want you.

Tem didn’t dare believe him. Don’t say things like that.

Like what?

Things you don’t mean.

And how do you know I do not mean them?

Because you don’t take anything seriously, including this.

This?

Us.

Are we an us now?

No. We’re not. I’m just saying that—

You are saying that I do not take whatever it is between us seriously. And once again, you are wrong.

Tem sighed, looking up at him. He was still smiling at her, still being infuriating. It was impossible to have a conversation with someone who was looking at her like that. Apollo was acting as if he were in on some big secret that Tem had no concept of. It was unfair, and she was tired of it.

I take us very seriously, Temperance. How could I not?

Tem didn’t know how to answer that. She didn’t know the full story of what had happened between Apollo and Caspen—didn’t know the details of who they had both been with or what had happened to her. But Tem was not a replacement for that person. She was so much more than a prize in their game, and she refused to be treated as such.