Page 23 of Kronos’ Consort

“After your visit to Erebos’ lair, do you still doubt who I am?”

His hand rose to her hair, his fingers running through her honeyed strands. It didn’t seem to matter how much he held and played with her tresses; he never seemed to be able to get enough of the feel of those silky locks.

“I can’t.” Her voice was etched with resolve, although he still saw a tinge of disbelief in her eyes. “I don’t know how you’re able to do the things you’ve done, Master, but I no longer doubt who you are.”

He chuckled at her explanation. “You are always so concerned with the ‘how’, little one.”

“Yes.” Her smile was wistful, sadness echoing in her tone despite her curled lips. “I suppose that’s the way I’ve been trained to think, Master.”

Staring into her blue orbs, his fingers fisted her hair as he felt into her swelling melancholy. She was content to be with him. There was no resistance from her anymore, yet still, she was despondent.

“What is it?” he murmured, keen to rectify whatever her remaining concerns were.

He had her, she was safe, and she finally understood the breadth of his power. He had hoped explaining who he was would iron out whatever creases remained in their developing dynamic, but her expression suggested that hadn’t transpired.

It was still early days between them, and he knew his impatience wouldn’t help, but with Shelley dispatched and their obvious attraction to each other growing, he yearned for more than only the consistent push and pull they’d wrestled with thus far. He wanted to know her, to understand her intelligence as well as her body.

Acknowledging the turmoil still burning in her eyes, he accepted that the temptation of the life she’d left behind was ostensibly proving difficult for Kristina to ignore. Even if he could offer her more than she’d realized was possible, something there still called to her.

Snaking his thumb through her hair, he considered the quandary. There was still the matter of her punishment to be resolved, but he wouldn’t penalize her until she seemed more content with the status quo. He could keep her there against her will. That much was obvious. But he’d rather hold her with assent.

“Kristina,” he whispered. “Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing, Mast—”

Whatever lie she was about to declare was splintered by his stiffening digits.

“Rule number four, little one.” His voice lowered to an unimpressed growl. “Do not even consider lying to your master.”

She winced at the hurt, but he noticed how her hands didn’t rise to try and dissuade him. There was a new acceptance in his captive then, a recognition of his supremacy.

Her eyes flitted to his as she heaved in a trembling breath. “I used to think that this was all too much.” She blinked away the water collecting at her lashes. “That I could never escape from someone like you, but then, when I tried to leave and I nearly died—”

“You did die,” he corrected her, scowling at his need for accuracy. Seeing her lying there prone and helpless had been one of the lowest moments of his long existence, and he had no wish to revisit the traumatic memories, but he needed her to acknowledge just how close she’d come to tragedy. He couldn’t have her trying anything so reckless again.

“Yes.” She sighed. “And when you brought me back, Master… when I realized I was still alive, I think I found consolation in the thought.”

“Consolation?” He didn’t understand where her thought process was going.

“In you.” There was that sad smile again, her gaze falling to his chest as her fingers skimmed over the hair covering the area. “In us.”

He’d discarded the clothing they’d donned for Eerebos, and standing in the safety of his parlor, they were both once again bared.

“In us.” He enjoyed the sound of that, although the edge to her voice suggested there might have been something he liked less on the way.

“Yes, Master.” The embers of passion were back burning in her gaze as she replied. “I like this thing we have, but…”

Her sentence abruptly ended, replaced only by her frown and a strained silence.

“But you miss your science,” he concluded with resignation, as he guided her toward the dancing flames.

The solution to her problem presented itself to him with a sudden, disturbing clarity. She enjoyed their growing intimacy and, he suspected, had discovered important things about her own desire in his arms, but none of that had replaced her first love.

“Yes.” She swallowed back whatever fresh emotion was swelling within her, and he finally started to understand the way the diminutive blonde had looked at her situation prior to visiting Erebos.

She had, he presumed, acknowledged Kronos’ physical superiority over her, and at times, had learned to love his authority, but she’d secretly held onto the thought that, with the right opportunity, she would be able to flee. Hitting the oxygenless wall outside the door to the cloud garden, though, had changed her perception. When she’d come around, she’d had no choice but to accept there was no physical escape from him. She couldn’t go anywhere without his approval. She couldn’t even leave the room. He guessed the news from the Erebos encounter had only exacerbated her spiraling plight. After meeting the darkness, she’d realized Kronos wasn’t only stronger, but he and his kind were also infinitely more powerful.

She couldn’t outrun him, and she couldn’t overcome him.