Chapter Twenty-Five
He didn’t specify what they were taking. He didn’t have to.
Apollo’s body rippled, then went taut. Tem mimicked the motion, bracing herself for an exertion of force. Instead, his mind cradled hers.
Take, Apollo said again.
Tem felt for the man’s heart, concentrating on its erratic beat, her eyes boring into his. The predator in her recognized that she had won—that her prey was cornered and the man had already surrendered. It was time, at last, to take.
Good, Temperance. Keep going.
Tem kept going, pulling the man’s life force toward her, watching it seep out of him like water from a sponge.
Petrification was not immediate, as Tem thought it might be.
Instead, rigidity crept slowly over the farmer, hardening first his gnarled fingertips before moving to his wrists and disappearing into the sleeves of his jacket.
He didn’t seem to be in pain, and Tem remembered how Apollo didn’t know whether it hurt them. She dearly hoped it didn’t.
Blood calcified. Skin became stone.
The last thing to turn were his eyes. She watched as his white, milky pupils turned gray. The moment it was done, a great surge of power slammed into her. It was too much for one person to take; she was crushed beneath its weight.
Apollo’s voice came to her: Control it, Temperance.
But Tem could barely stay upright. She was not used to being in her true form; she had no control as a serpent.
Her skin crawled with a thousand spiders, her entire spine twisted and jerked.
Apollo was beside her instantly, pulling her back over the wall.
The moment Tem fully returned to her human form, she cried out.
Her face was flushed, her nipples peaked.
Tem knew without touching herself that she was wet between her legs.
The sensation was debilitating—pulsing currents of electricity shot through her center, turning her on to the point of pain.
“Why—” she stammered, trying to catch her breath. “Why do I feel so—?”
“Aroused?” Apollo was also returning to his human form. He was breathing just as hard as she was, a light sheen of sweat glistening over his chest.
“Yes,” Tem gasped. She was so aroused. Desire tore at her like a feral beast, clenching deep into her core.
Stars danced in her vision. Apollo’s proximity wasn’t helping; she could hear every drop of blood rushing to his cock, hardening it.
Tem’s lungs contracted rapidly, her breath coming in desperate gasps. “Apollo, what’s happening to me?”
His hands were on her waist, holding her upright. “You are feeling the effects of petrification. It requires an extraordinary amount of power to take a life. Power is an aphrodisiac to basilisks.”
“But why?”
“How should I know? It is simply the way we are built.”
We. Tem was one of them—now more than ever.
And as one of them, she was deeply affected by what had just happened.
Her entire body felt warm and pliable, as if she’d just stretched it vigorously.
She desperately wanted to have sex. Needed to have sex.
She was so turned on, she was having trouble thinking straight, and in the suffocating blur of desire, she placed her palm flat on Apollo’s chest. At the contact, his eyebrows shot straight up.
For a split second, neither of them moved.
Then he placed his hand over hers, holding them together.
Is there something on your mind, Temperance?
Tem glared up at him. He knew perfectly well what was on her mind. He was inside her mind, for Kora’s sake.
Would you prefer I was inside your cunt?
Tem blushed.
She shouldn’t prefer that. Yet she didn’t try to pull away—didn’t make a single effort to release herself from his grasp.
Instead, she studied the way the rising sunlight hit the slope of Apollo’s shoulders, bathing him in a warm orange glow.
He was looking at her calmly, his cock completely hard, pressing against her thighs.
“Shall we?” he asked.
“Shall we what?”
“Have sex. Obviously you want to.”
“Obviously not.”
Apollo only laughed. “You are a terrible liar, Temperance.”
That was not Tem’s concern right now. Right now, she was fighting to stay upright—even leaning against Apollo took too much effort.
She was so, so turned on. All her mind could think about was sex.
Sex with Apollo, sex with Leo—it didn’t matter who.
The air around her seemed to vibrate with anticipation. It was unbearable.
“It is customary, you know.” Apollo’s voice came to her through the haze.
“What is?”
“To have sex after petrification.”
She could barely hear him.
“Required, in fact.”
“Required?”
“Well, not technically. But you must climax.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, can you not feel the urge?”
Tem could feel the urge, all right. It was tearing her apart. “Yes,” she said through gritted teeth. “I feel it.”
“You must satisfy it.”
“What will happen if I don’t?”
He shrugged. “You may find it difficult to come in the future.”
“Difficult?”
“Yes.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that if you do not come now, it will cause a…barrier for all future climaxes.”
“All future climaxes?”
“Yes.”
“As in, I won’t be able to come ever again?”
“That is correct.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I thought you knew.”
“How would I know that?”
Apollo was only becoming more amused as this conversation went on. “Surely, my brother told you.”
“He didn’t even want to teach me how to petrify in the first place. You think he told me the details of what happens after you do it?”
“Clearly he did not.”
“Clearly.”
Apollo leaned in, and Tem nearly blacked out at his scent. “And here I was thinking you had propositioned our little outing because you knew what would happen after.”
“You think I asked you to teach me how to petrify because I wanted to have sex with you?”
“I had rather hoped.”
“Kora.”
It was all she could say. It took supreme effort to speak.
Tem had no idea whether what Apollo said was true.
The thought of never coming again seemed impossible, especially for a basilisk.
But at this point, it was irrelevant. The throbbing between her legs was beyond what she could bear.
She felt like water on the brink of boil.
If she didn’t come soon, she was going to cry.
“Shall I assist?” Apollo asked. She hated how happy he sounded.
“No.”
“Are you sure? I can bring you to climax.”
Tem snorted. “I can do that myself.”
“I have no doubt you can. But I can do it better. And faster.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“I see. In that case”—he stepped back, extracting his body from hers—“proceed.”
Anger joined her arousal. Apollo knew how Tem was feeling right now—he knew how cruel it was to taunt her.
“You’re going to watch?”
“Do not pretend you would not like that.”
Tem would like that. There was no way around it.
The thought of touching herself in front of Apollo was thrilling.
She’d done it before, after all, and she’d certainly liked it then.
But they’d been in the banquet hall, surrounded by people, with Caspen overseeing it all.
Anything could happen here in this field, alone.
“Don’t you need to do it too?” Tem said through gritted teeth.
“Are you asking me to join?”
“No. I’m asking you to explain why you aren’t feeling the way I am right now.”
“I am feeling the way you are right now. But I am much older than you. I have petrified a thousand times, and I know how to handle the urge.”
Tem ignored him. He was teasing her, but there was no time to be embarrassed.
All that mattered was relieving the sensation in her center.
Yet despite the all-encompassing urge to climax, she couldn’t seem to do it.
Her mind was foggy, her vision blurred. She couldn’t form a coherent thought, much less move her fingers between her legs to touch herself.
It was almost as if the more she needed it, the less her body retained the ability to accomplish it.
“Let me help, Temperance.”
“No.”
“It will only get worse if you resist.”
“I don’t care.”
“You will soon.”
“I hate you.”
“Now, now. We both know that is not true.”
Tem shook her head. She didn’t have time for Apollo’s nonsense right now. She was too turned on, too filled with need, to care any longer how it was resolved. She had to release the pressure. And she had to do it now.
“Fine,” she hissed. A paralyzing moment of silence passed. Apollo’s face was infuriatingly smug. “But I don’t want to have sex with you.”
Apollo tilted his head and smiled. “It rather seems like you do.”
“Well, I don’t. There are a hundred other ways to come.”
His smile only widened. “And which of those hundred ways would you prefer, Temperance?”
“Will you just shut up and help me?”
Apollo crossed his arms. “If I’m going to help you, I would prefer your enthusiastic consent.”
“You have it.”
“It does not sound like it.”
“What else do you want me to say?”
“Something romantic would be nice.”
Tem didn’t have the energy to argue. The sensation between her legs was crippling her, nearly pulling her to the ground. She’d had enough. “Make me come, Apollo. Right now.”
His pupils were already dilating, his eyes turning black. “Are you begging me, Temperance?”
“I’m ordering you.”
“Even better.” Finally, Apollo stepped forward.
Tem had no idea what he was going to do, and frankly she didn’t care. If it meant that the pressure between her legs would be relieved, it would be worth it. She was almost willing to have sex with him just for that. But not quite.