CHAPTER TWELVE #2
Caspen had never heard him take that tone before.
The brothers did not historically confide in one another.
Their relationship was built on secrecy, hiding their dealings so that the other never got the upper hand.
It had been that way ever since Harmony had entered their lives, and Caspen did not anticipate it would change anytime soon.
Yet something about the way Apollo was looking at him now made him think otherwise.
It did not matter. This particular burden would not be easier to bear when shared.
Caspen would not condemn Apollo to the knowledge of this traitorous task.
“Leave me, Brother.” He shrugged his arm away. “I do not wish for your company.”
Apollo’s face hardened. “You never do.”
He left him.
Caspen stood alone, a stranger to the revelry around him. He could not make this choice right now. The decision to take a life would not be made under duress, at the behest of his father. He had time, and he intended to take it.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Harmony. Caspen turned toward her immediately, crossing the courtyard and pulling her into the passageway without a greeting.
“Caspenon,” she giggled. “You are rather aggressive today.”
Caspen still did not speak as he corralled her all the way to his chambers.
The moment they were on his bed, he took her face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers, pouring every bit of that aggression into a brutal kiss.
He knew Harmony liked him like this: dominating and in control.
He could be that way for her, at least for today.
Every time she tried to get on top, he held her down.
Every time she bit him, he bit her harder.
By the time Caspen was ready to come, she was weak beneath him, moaning his name with every thrust. He came inside her, feeling her come at the same time.
Harmony let out an anguished whimper as his thrusts slowed.
“Taste us, Caspenon,” she whispered. “I need your mouth on me.”
Caspen pulled out slowly before lowering himself between her legs and bowing his head to her pussy. He licked it slowly, undoing the damage he had done with his cock, slipping his tongue first inside her before working it around her clitoris.
“Gentle,” Harmony gasped. “Please be gentle.”
It was the thing she requested of him the most and the thing he knew she did not really want.
Harmony was not delicate; she did not inspire tenderness.
She arched her hips up to meet him, threading her fingers into his hair and gripping him tightly.
Already she was taking over, holding him in place as she gyrated against him.
Caspen grabbed her waist and yanked her toward him, dislodging her grip on his hair.
“Lie still,” he commanded. “Or I will stop.”
She pouted but stilled.
Caspen lowered his head once more, ready to finish what he started.
He slid three fingers inside her, stretching her, pulling a gasp from her lips.
Not gentle. Never gentle. He sucked on her clitoris until she was writhing beneath him, calling out for Kora as he drove his fingers deeper.
He was inside her mind; he felt just how powerless she was right now.
This was the only way to manage Harmony, the only language she responded to.
By the time she was coming again, she did so with a scream.
Caspen swallowed every last drop of her.
Then he sat up, wiped his lips, and lay down next to her.
They watched the fire, Harmony curled against his chest. He stroked her waist with his fingertips.
“Talk to me, Caspenon. Tell me what is on your mind.”
Caspen sighed. Was it so obvious? He dared not tell his brother his secrets, but Harmony knew everything. She always had.
“My father wants me to crest Kronos.”
She sat up, looking down at him. “Why would he want you to do that?”
“The prince favors his girl.”
Harmony frowned. “But your girls always win.”
“Perhaps not this time.”
She pushed his hand away. “You cannot give up, Caspenon.”
Caspen sat up too. “You would have me crest him?”
“I would have you be king.”
“Cresting Kronos does not guarantee that.”
“Letting him win the competition does not either.”
“My girl will catch up.”
“And if she does not?”
“Then we have a problem.”
“So win, Caspenon.” She brushed her palm down his torso, trailing her fingers around the base of his cock.
“It is not that simple.”
“It can be.”
“I cannot crest my own kind.”
“Then you are not ready to be king.”
Her words were harsh. Yet he was not surprised to hear her say them. Harmony looked down upon cowardice—she considered cruelty the only measure of strength. Her stance made Caspen uncomfortable. To Harmony, it was simply the natural order of things.
“Win,” she whispered in his ear as her hand wrapped fully around his cock.
“You know I am trying.”
Her hand had begun to stroke. “Try harder.”
Caspen’s eyes rolled back in his head. It had always been difficult for him to resist her, but when she wanted something from him it was even more so.
“Become king,” Harmony whispered. “And I will be yours.”
It was too sweet a promise. He thought about what Apollo had said—how Harmony loved him, how she showed him with her actions.
“Are you telling my brother the same thing?”
Harmony dropped her lips to his neck, sucking on the sensitive skin of his throat. “So what if I am?”
Caspen let out a groan as she squeezed his cock and began kissing down his chest, settling herself between his legs, ready to return the favor. He held her head in place, thrusting slowly into her mouth, watching as she took his cock with ease.
Power was the only thing Harmony respected, the only thing that could differentiate him from Apollo in a way that was significant enough to keep her.
His advantage was that he was older, his rank higher.
She played them against each other the way she always had.
Only this time, Caspen was willing to play along.
If becoming the Serpent King is what would sway her, then that is what he would do.
And if stopping Kronos from winning the competition was the fastest way to that end, he would do that too.
But he would not crest another basilisk.
That was too far, even for Caspen. Perhaps there was another way to hinder Kronos—a way to weaken him that would spare his life.
Whatever it was, Caspen would find it. He would find a way to win.