Page 107 of Split or Swallow

He chuckled. “No. Not in the least.”

She pulled him back toward her.

“Then I can try—”

“Tem,” he clasped his hand around her wrist. “No.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you.”

Caspen laughed again, pressing a kiss to her neck.

“You could never.”

“Don’t lie.”

He shook his head, his lips brushing along her jaw.

“I cannot. Remember?”

She did remember, but she didn’t believe it. Her insecurities ran far too deep for mere legend to soothe them. She knew he wanted more, and she hated her body for withholding it. Tem reached for him again, intending to pleasure him with her hand. He pushed her wrist down onto the mattress.

“Tem,” he said sharply. “Stop.”

Tem was on the verge of tears.

“Just take the pain away,” she insisted. “Then we can go on.”

Caspen shook his head. “That cannot become a habit. It would be wrong to use you that way.”

“Then how am I supposed to satisfy you?”

He smiled.

“You have already satisfied me several times tonight, Tem. Surely you noticed.”

She knew he was purposefully keeping things light. But Tem wouldn’t be persuaded.

“I’m not enough for you,” she whispered.

At her words, Caspen sighed. There was silence, and in it, they looked at each other, breathing in sync.

“You are human, Tem,” he said finally. “I do not expect anything beyond what a human can achieve.”

“And if I wasn’t human?”

Caspen frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Would a basilisk be able to match your stamina?”

He tilted his head. The motion was so distinctly reptilian that Tem only felt more justified in her question.

“It would depend on the basilisk,” he said slowly. “We are not all identical. But yes. Sex in my true form is…”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Tem found she didn’t want him to. She didn’t need to know all the ways she was inferior—she didn’t need to hear confirmation that a woman basilisk would be a far better match for him than she ever would. She already knew it.

At the look on her face, Caspen leaned in.

“I chose you to be in my bed, Tem. Do you think I make my choices lightly?”