CHAPTER ONE #2
It was the closest thing to an explanation he had ever gotten from her.
It had been years since he had asked her anything else concerning their circumstances.
He no longer cared to hear the answers anyway.
Whether or not Apollo sought them, he had no clue.
Perhaps his brother was content simply to fuck Harmony.
It would not have surprised Caspen if that were the case. Only Caspen wanted more.
“Shall we give him something to stare at?” Harmony’s hand was moving down his cock, beginning to stroke.
Caspen could not say no to her. His head tipped back as Harmony’s hand pumped his shaft, drawing a gasp from his lips.
Her other hand went to his balls, squeezing them exactly the way he liked.
She knew him explicitly, understood him in a way no one else did.
Her influence over him was undeniable. Caspen had no wish to deny it anyway.
Her breasts were pressed against his chest. He gripped her waist with his hands, pulling her even closer, creating friction between them with every stroke.
Her voice entered his mind: What would your father think of this?
You know what he thinks.
Should we have sex? Simply to make him angry?
No.
Disapproval traveled from her mind to his. You are getting soft in your old age, Caspenon.
There is nothing soft about me.
She laughed quietly. His cock was rigid between them. A decade ago, you would have jumped at the chance to fuck me in front of him.
A decade ago, things were different.
The unrest between the quivers was a recent development, exacerbated during his father’s prolonged reign. Caspen had no desire to make things worse. Not even for Harmony.
Apollo would not be scared to fuck me.
Caspen pulled away slightly, shooting her a glare. She was always taunting him in such a way, dangling her relationship with his brother over his head—reminding him that she was the one in control.
“Mention my brother again,” he said aloud, “and I will not fuck you even if you beg for it.” The words constricted his airway. They were a lie.
Harmony smiled. “Now, now, Caspenon. Do not pretend you could resist me.”
He wished he could resist her. He wished that more than anything.
She leaned in. “You would give me anything I begged for.”
They both knew it was true.
Caspen was about to come. Anticipation gripped him, tensing his entire body. Just as he was ready to release, Harmony dropped her hand. She was without doubt the cruelest woman alive.
Her lips brushed his ear as she whispered, “We will finish this later.”
Then she swept away, leaving him painfully hard. There was no time to relieve the pressure—his father was already walking over.
Caspen steeled himself for what was sure to be an unpleasant conversation.
“Caspenon.”
“Father.”
“She plays you for a fool.” Clearly he was wasting no time tonight.
“I do not wish to discuss this.”
“You favor her,” Bastian continued as if he had said nothing at all. “It is a waste of your time. I have seen you turn others away in the hope that she will simply look in your direction. It is pathetic, Caspenon. More importantly, it is dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“She is a Seneca. She will corrupt you. How can you not care?”
“Of course I care, Father.”
“Then you should act like it. They conspire against us. They seek to destroy us. Why do you think I called for the Ranking?”
A contentious silence fell.
The Ranking was a rare event, occurring only when the current Serpent King called for it and only in a year when the competition for the prince was already happening.
Caspen knew Bastian had only called for the Ranking because of him.
He should have ascended by now. It was drawing embarrassment to their family.
Presently, his father continued: “Are you ready for tonight?”
“Of course I am.”
“It is imperative that you perform.”
“When have I ever not performed?”
“This is not a joke.”
“Do I appear to be laughing?”
“You have a duty,” his father insisted.
“To whom?”
“To your people.”
“To my people? Or to you?”
His father bristled. “You have dallied long enough, Caspenon. It is time for you to become who you were meant to be.”
“I am not dallying, Father.”
“And yet you choose to waste your time with her?”
Caspen’s cock still throbbed at the thought of Harmony. It was difficult to think of anything else. “She does not belong to me.”
The words were true, although Caspen wished they were not.
Bastian let out a hard, cruel laugh.
Caspen turned to face him. “You are not always so selective with your own lovers, Father.”
All basilisks were free with their bodies, but the frequency of Bastian’s conquests bordered on insulting.
Caspen’s father was careless with his endeavors, taking anyone to bed no matter the time or place or potential social consequences.
His promiscuity made it seem as if he were not satisfied with his queen—a grave insult, considering Caspen’s parents were blood-bound.
“Hold your tongue,” Bastian snapped. “Or I shall remove it.”
Caspen rolled his shoulders. Harmony’s insolence had already put him in a foul mood. He felt anxious and uneasy, and his father was not helping.
“We need a Hybreed,” Bastian continued. “And soon.”
“They do not exist.”
“They do. And we need one.”
Caspen sighed. This was his father’s obsession, and he did not share it.
A half-basilisk, half-human child would do nothing to turn the tide unless it was loyal to the Drakons.
That is, if they were even real. In his centuries of life, he had never known one to exist. There was no reason why one would appear now.
“Hoping for a Hybreed is foolishness.”
“There are dangers coming,” Bastian said. “We need to be prepared.”
Caspen merely shook his head. He knew exactly what his father was referring to.
The humans were not the only threat to their livelihood.
There were whispers of creatures beyond the sea—monsters with powers that rivaled those of the basilisks.
But that was mere legend. No other creature could hope to match his power.
“You are being paranoid. It is unwarranted.”
Bastian snorted. “And you are being naive.”
Caspen was anything but. His childhood had not been an easy one.
Any solace he might have found came from his mother, who was always there to soothe the wounds his father had inflicted.
They were night and day, sunshine and rain.
Deltene was there long after Bastian had gone out to find yet another conquest, and she was always there when he returned.
The red welts on Caspen’s body were healed by her before he learned how to heal them himself.
“You must control yourself, Father.”
Bastian turned toward Caspen, narrowing his eyes. “Must you always be so reasonable?”
“It is a necessity in this family.”
“Hmph.” Bastian turned away. They stood in silence for a moment. But it was not to last.
“Apollo has been rising in rank,” his father said. “I am surprised you are letting him.”
Caspen rolled his shoulders. He knew what his father was really saying: You are weak.
It was not true; Caspen was not weak. What he was was distracted.
Any moment he was not with Harmony was a moment she was with Apollo.
His dear brother was always waiting in the wings, searching for an opportunity to swoop in and steal her away.
It was infuriating enough without the added knowledge that Harmony enjoyed it.
Caspen had always known that her heart was reserved for herself and herself alone.
She had told him on the first night they had slept together: You will not win me over, Caspenon.
And neither will your brother. You will fight forever, and I will win.
And fought they had, ever since Harmony had bedded Caspen first. It was a point of contention between them—something Apollo could never seem to let go.
Bastian clapped his hand on Caspen’s shoulder. “Do not fail me, Caspenon. Your girl must win.”
“My girls always win.”
Even Bastian could not deny that Caspen was the best at what he did. No one could possibly claim otherwise. Caspen understood that human women were pliable, moldable, obedient. And he was unparalleled in his skills, unbeatable in his methods.
“Do not fail me, Son.”
Caspen rolled his shoulders again, freeing himself from his father’s grip just as two women approached them.
Caspen recognized them as part of the group whose sole goal was to bed his father all together.
They called themselves king chasers, and as far as he knew, they had succeeded many times over. Now they were eyeing Caspen too.
The women knelt at the same time.
If his evening had gone a different way, perhaps Caspen would have refused. But Harmony had left him aching and desperate, and this was the easiest solution to his problem. Caspen grunted as he watched his cock disappear down one of the women’s throats. At last, relief.
Beside him, Bastian made a similar noise.
They did not look at each other; they did not speak.
Caspen’s father was a terrifying presence in his own right, but when he was sexually engaged, he was even more formidable.
Power emanated from him in waves, clouding Caspen’s mind and surely the minds of the two women before them.
Bastian was the Serpent King for a reason; this would not be his father’s first time receiving head tonight.
But it would be Caspen’s, and he intended to enjoy it.