Page 10 of Kneel Before Me

“Well?” she snapped. She didn’t have all night; she was behind on her chores, and every moment she stood here was a moment that delayed her bedtime.

At her tone, the basilisk straightened, looking down his nose at her. “You are my student,” he said sharply. “And I am your teacher. If you do not wish to have sex, I cannot force you. But you will spend your sessions here.”

“I can’t spend them here. My mother needs help at home. I promised her I would—”

“Your human promises do not concern me,” the basilisk cut her off.

“But they concern me.”

The basilisk stepped closer, and Daphne’s throat tightened. The very air seemed to darken, and she understood immediately that she had gone too far. Smoke rose from the basilisk’s shoulders, curling around his impossibly beautiful body.

“You will stay here,” the basilisk said quietly. “I do not care if we sit in silence. But you will spend your sessions with me, and you will compete for the prince just the same as everyone else.”

Her mouth dropped open. “But…I don’t want to compete. There’s no way I can—”

“That is not my concern.”

“Why can’t I just—”

He stepped even closer, cutting her off mid-sentence. “I do not owe you an explanation. You will do as I say, or there will be consequences. Do you understand?”

Daphne tried to reply but couldn’t. His sudden change in tone left her breathless. What consequences could there possibly be? Surely, the punishments a basilisk could come up with were great and terrible. Daphne was once more aware of the size difference between them—of how her head barely came up to his shoulders. One flick of his wrist, and she would be on the ground.

“Do you understand?” he thundered.

“Yes,” Daphne gasped. “Yes, I understand.”

After a long moment, the basilisk nodded, and the tension was broken.

Daphne shifted. They’d been standing on the hard stone for what felt like hours.

The basilisk noticed the movement, his eyes flicking to her feet. “You should sit,” he said.

She blinked. “Where?”

The cave was empty save for a mat in front of the fireplace. Too late, Daphne realized that was exactly where he thought she should sit.

“I’m not sitting on that,” she said bluntly.

The basilisk raised one eyebrow. “And why not?”

“Two reasons.”

His eyebrows rose farther. “Which are?”

“First, it’s probably dirty.” That was her main concern. Daphne had no intention of touching a mat upon which generations of women had been taught how to have sex. She rather doubted it was regularly cleaned. There were bound to be…stains. “Second,” she continued, “if I sit there, you’re going to try to fuck me.”

The basilisk actually had the audacity to laugh. Coming from such an imposing figure, the sound was downright terrifying. “You have made your stance quite clear,” he said.

“So you’re not…going to…make me?”

To her surprise, the basilisk looked supremely offended. “Of course not. You must come to this willingly. Otherwise it is not sex.”

“What is it?”

“Assault.”

For some reason, the word chilled Daphne. She knew that the creature before her was monstrously strong. He could overpower her in the blink of an eye if he chose to. She found herself suddenly grateful he had answered with such vehemence. If he wanted to assault her, he could do so easily. It wasn’t lost on her that she was unharmed because of his decision—not hers.