Page 18 of Kronos’ Consort

The hand at her back shifted, lowering to the curve of her ass and drawing her body right up against his. She gasped as their bodies collided, the water rising between them before dispersing into waves around the mammoth tub.

“I don’t know who else to be.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth at the admission.

Who else was she?

The hard-working graduate was the woman she’d fought and strove to become. She’d never given much thought to who else she wanted to be.

“What will it take for me to prove my power to you?” He leaned forward, grazing a kiss on her forehead. The caress was hot and unhurried, promising more. “If your surroundings and the things you have seen are not enough, then tell me, little one, what will be?”

Chapter Ten

Kronos

Stretched out in the warm water, Kronos didn’t know why he needed to prove himself to the ravishing blonde. He was the ancient power, the being that had risen up against Uranus and left the encounter as the victor. He needed no corroboration from any mortal, let alone one as young and unworldly as Kristina, and the fact that he sought her approval grated.

He was in charge.

He should have known better than to play futile games.

He should have been cleaning her and preparing her for the punishment to come. So why, as he stared into her delectable eyes, was he so unable to put her in her place and move on?

Watching her wet, writhing form, the answer was suddenly absurdly simple.

Her lust wasn’t enough, and neither was her compliance if it was inspired only by fear.

Kronos had tasted those triumphs. He’d come to expect them, but in Kristina, he sensed the opportunity for so much more. In her, he recognized the chance for something deeper and more meaningful.

That was why he’d taken her to his parlor when no woman had ever stepped foot in the space before. That was also why she’d ended up in his bed. In the end, he couldn’t bear the thought of ever being parted from her again, because she was right, there was trauma every time they were separated, and he couldn’t permit that to happen again.

She was just too damn important.

“Are you offering to do magic tricks for me, Master?”

Allowing her impudent tone to wash over him, he forced himself not to react. “Magic tricks?”

She caught her lower lip between her white teeth, her expression conveying that she realized she was skating on thin ice.

“It just sounded that way.” She shrugged, revealing a glimpse of her tantalizing cleavage over the water line. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not used to being disbelieved by the mortals who serve me.”

He leaned back, intentionally creating space between their bodies. Much though he adored being close to her, he chose to deprive her of the succor on purpose. The beautiful blonde might have softened his sharper edges by beguiling him to, amongst other things, not leave her locked in her cell, but she hadn’t fundamentally shifted who he was. Kronos still enjoyed his power, and he relished lording it over those who were weaker than him. That moment in the tub saw him grasp back control by denying her what she wanted.

“I do not promise to expedite any feat to validate your faith in me,” he told her. “But what would you have me do to exhibit I am more than any mortal man?”

“I don’t know, Master.” Her furrowing brow was his reward for putting distance between them.

The faltering gesture wasn’t much in the grand scheme, but it offered him the short-term gratification he required, reiterating what he should surely have understood. She needed him every bit as much as he needed her.

More, his internal monologue goaded as her lips parted to speak again. She needs me more.

“I just can’t believe in fairytales about gods and magic,” she went on. “I’m sorry, I—”

“Fairytales?” he interrupted, amused and irritated by her recrimination in equal measure. “Are you saying that I am only a story, little one? That I don’t exist?” His hand rose into the air. “That none of this exists?”

“No.” Her voice had altered to that more imploring timbre he reveled in. “Of course not, Master. I’m just saying the things you claim are difficult to understand.”

He had allowed his little one to set the tone for too long in recent hours—with her escape, her health, and the way she’d wormed her way into his bed—yet the poignant pause he offered her emboldened him. She would have to wait for his answer. He was still king of the Titans.