Page 269 of Between Two Kings

“For what, Tem?”

“For taking this away from you.”

“We have it back now. That’s all that matters.”

Leo was right; it was all that mattered.

Tem’s basilisk side was still there—looming in the background—a quiet observer. With its retreat came clarity and calm.

Keep him safe. Keep him safe. Keep him safe.

Words. Nothing more. Not an obligation or a promise. Just a plea.

Leo’s fingers were between her legs, stimulating her clitoris as she moved her hips. They were beyond the point of no return now: two people, in love, having sex. What could be more simple than that?

Leo was talking again, and this time she let him.

“I want you for the rest of my life, Tem. I don’t care what it takes. I want you and I need you and I love you and you’re mine.”

“You’re mine too.”

“You’re fucking mine.”

“I know.”

At last, they surrendered to each other.

Tem threw her head back in release, gasping as her orgasm took her. Leo did the same, his cry of pleasure the single most beautiful thing she had ever heard. Tem couldn’t believe her body could draw forth such a sound from him. She wanted to hear it over and over until he couldn’t make it anymore. She wanted to hear it until the day she died. They clung tightly to each other, holding on even after their climaxes ebbed away. Tem brushed the blond strands of hair from his forehead. She kissed one cheek, then the other, then she did it again. All she wanted was to cherish this perfect, exquisite boy. He was her anchor. Her beacon. Her home.

Leo looked dazed, as if he’d just awoken from a deep sleep. He blinked, focusing on Tem. “That was…”

Words seemed to fail him. Truth be told, they failed Tem too. Power was surging through her—power that, up until a moment ago, had been just out of reach. She was not the only one affected. Leo’s eyes were bright, his skin flushed. He looked utterly and completely alive.

Tem leaned in to kiss him again. Before their lips could touch, someone pounded on the door. Tem threw herself over Leo protectively, holding him against the mattress.

“Temperance,” a voice called from the passageway. “I must speak with you.”

It was Apollo.

Tem leapt up, crossing to the door and opening it.

Apollo brushed past her. His eyes flicked over Leo before returning to Tem. His mind was closed off, but Tem felt an unmistakable energy radiating off him. He was afraid.

“Apollo,” she said. “What is it? What’s happening out there?”

In the haze of sex, Tem had forgotten about the state of things. But now, with her head once more clear, she heard the screams of terror coming from the passageway.

“The Senecas are revolting,” Apollo said. “Rowe is on his way.”

Tem looked at Leo. He was not supposed to be here in the middle of a revolt. Fear gripped her spine.

“Temperance,” Apollo said urgently, pulling her attention back to him. “He seeks you.”

“Why?”

“Is it not obvious?”

It took Tem mere moments to catch up. Rowe couldn’t marry her. That left him with only one other option—the one way to take her power.