Page 70 of Bitten By the Basilisk

He couldn’t really fault her for staring at him with her mouth agog. In his current form, his jawbone was similar to a snake’s, and whenever his fangs emerged, the sides of his jaw separated and extended, a mechanism that allowed him plenty of leeway to latch onto his prey. With his mouth open so wide, he imagined he looked like a horror movie monster.

Before he could speak properly, he had to pull his jaw back into place. As he did so, Alice’s eyebrows shot up. Even after his jaw was reset, he had to be careful not to slice his lower lip on his fangs. “Please, allow me to explain.”

Alice lightly shook her head, as if clearing away her shock. “Una already told me about the mating bite,” she revealed, stunning him. “What I want to know is why you didn’t say anything.”

Her hurt frown tore at his heart.

“If you truly believe that I’m your mate, you wouldn’t have hidden the fact that your instincts are compelling you to bite me. I wouldn’t have had to find out about your two dicks from my mom.”

The breath he had been anxiously holding escaped as an astonished cough. Never in his entire life would he have expected to hear that last sentence.

“She wasn’t entirely sure, though,” she said, briefly glancing downward. “I assume it’s true?”

He knew he should give her a simple confirmation, but he couldn’t pass up such a perfect opportunity to tease her. “I’d be more than happy to show you.”

She pursed her lips at him, unamused and yet still so adorable. “If I had a spray bottle, I’d use it on you. Do you realize how I felt finding out these things from someone else? How I feel having shown up here tonight not knowing that someone here wants to literally fight you for territory?”

He lowered his gaze with a grimace, lacking an excuse she hadn’t already heard.

Alice sighed. “Granted, the attempt to poison you wasn’t something you could have warned me about, according to your dad. He apologized to me, by the way.”

Silas’s head snapped up. “He did?”

“Wish I could say the same about you,” she said, crossing her arms and lifting her chin.

Needing no further prompting, he hurried to lower himself before her, slinging his tail backward to make room, the sudden movement causing her to jolt. As he did, his fangs finally retracted, making it easier to speak.

“I apologize for keeping you in the dark,” he affirmed, laying his hand over his heart. “Please forgive me.”

The stern, downturned line of her mouth softened, becoming something closer to a smile, but it quickly reverted. “We’ll see. Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”

His gut clenched. He hadn’t mentioned that territorial challenges could end in more than just injury, regardless of who prevailed.

However, death was now a rare outcome—largely a thing of the past, and he was fully confident he would win should Lance make the mistake of challenging him. Alice didn’t need to worry that what had nearly happened to his father might happen to him.

“The…jewelry you’re wearing,” he said after a moment’s thought. “It’s part of the bride-dowry I’m meant to bestow upon my mate.”

“Wow. Really getting ahead of yourself, huh,” she goaded him.

The corner of his mouth quirked upward. “Not from my perspective.”

She gave a short, dry laugh. “I really should get going. I have less than an hour to get my boss off my back, and I’d like to say good night to your parents before I leave.”

Silas didn’t stop her from standing up—even helped her by offering his hand—but he remained uneasy.

“Let me take you home with me after,” he implored as she tucked her phone into her clutch. “Allow me to make it up to you.”

She considered him for a moment, squeezing her clutch shut with a snap. “Tell me, does a courtship challenge need to be issued publicly? Or can it remain between us?”

“It…can remain between us,” he said with suspicion.

“Hm. In that case, I challenge you to court me properly before we have sex again.”

He stared at her in astonishment, motionless and yet in such turmoil, the instinct to claim her warring with the instinct to fulfill her challenge and prove himself worthy. “Can I not do both?”

The cheeky smile she gave him nearly forced his cocks to extrude, his cloacal muscles barely holding them in.

As she answered him, she picked up the lockbox for the jewelry and placed it in his hands. “I think we’ve more than established that we’re sexually compatible. Prove to me in other ways that we’re an ideal fit, even without a red thread.”