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“I shouldn’t have taken this booking,” she says eventually.
I grunt. “You think, flower?”
That makes her chin snap up and she glares at me. “Well, you didn’t request one.”
I surge to my tail, clothes ripping, my human shape lost in my agitation. “I couldn’t request it. I shouldn’t be near you. It’s dangerous.”
She stands, folding her arms across her generous bosom. “For you or me?”
My mouth opens to retort, but I can’t. Eventually, I sigh. “Both. It’s one and the same.”
“Because you’re scared of turning me to stone? You won’t.”
I cut her off. “Yes. No. Not only that. I’m scared that if I hold you again—if I come inside you—I won’t ever be able to let you go and I’ll end up making you a monster like me.” The words tumble from me in a rush and my sudden clarity surprises me.
Even now, my fangs are dripping with venom, but the taste has changed. I don’t know when, certainly some time since I bit her.
No longer only sweet, now my venom is heady and rich like a strong liquor. Mating venom.
“What do you mean?” Tamsin’s brow creases in confusion.
I run a hand through my hair. “A basilisk can create enough mating venom to change another creature. To transform them. So they become like us. But only once.” I hold very still, watching her carefully. I’m not even sure how I want her to react. I should want her to be scared. To recoil.
It’s a curse; I’ve tried to show her that.
Tamsin’s lips part, but instead of withdrawing, she takes a step closer. “Only once?”
I nod, throat suddenly dry.
“And you would choose me?”
“No!”
When her expression crumples, I can’t help but slide toward her and gather her into my arms. “Not because I wouldn’t choose you to spend my life with. Not at all. Every instinct to possess and protect comes into play when I’m near you. Can’t you see that? I’ve never had a stronger reaction to anyone.”
Her voice is muffled against my chest. “To anyone?”
“No.” She’s asking about Bellus. She surpasses even him. “No one.”
She lets out a little sigh. “Then what is it?”
“I don’t want to make you like me. I don’t want that for you. That would be like picking a flower before it’s even bloomed. You’re so beautiful. So perfect. I’d only spoil that.”
“You wouldn’t. If I was like you, could I look at you?”
“Yes.”
She pulls back to look up at me, even though I’m wearing my glasses. Then her brow creases into a frown again. “But no oneelse? I wouldn’t be able to look at anyone else without killing them, would I?”
I shake my head sadly. “And you’d either destroy things you love, or you’d have to experience the world through a dark lens, like I do.”
She looks down. She stays in my arms, though. “What if I’d still say yes?”
I use my thumb to tilt up her chin so I can see her face, though of course it’s discolored through my glasses. “You’d say yes?”
She presses her cheek to my chest and I hold her for a moment. “Maybe. I’m not certain. I don’t want to say no, though.”
My heart stutters in my chest. She’d say yes? Can I really take this gift? “Don’t say anything yet, flower. Take time to think about it.” I clutch her tight and try to calm my frazzled nerves. Mating venom drips insistently from my fangs.
