Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Kronos
“I wish I understood what you meant, Master.”
Kristina’s shoulders fell with exasperation, but her widening eyes suggested she was impressed with the outcome of Kronos’ magic.
All he had done was transport them from her cell to the bathroom; not a complicated feat for a being of his age and ability, but he had yet to explain his powers to her. So far, he had only intimated how potent they were, so of course, he understood her confusion.
“You will,” he vowed, elevating the temperature inside the room a few degrees as he guided her across the marble floor toward the enormous roll-top bath. There would be time to explain everything while he sculpted her to his liking. “First, let us take care of your needs.”
The white tiles created an elegant and clean space, but they could make the place feel cold for humans.
Especially ones still in shock about their predicaments, as Kristina’s pale visage and trembling limbs conveyed.
She’d seemed content enough when he’d brought her to orgasm, but since then, she’d fallen back into bewilderment, like a fawn caught in the headlights of a car.
“Master?” Her gaze found his again.
“There.” He motioned to the toilet. “You told me this was what you needed.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Her attention fell to her feet, as though she was embarrassed about the requirement, but he had no idea why. Kronos would know her in every way, and that included her business in the bathroom.
His focus raked over her curves, remembering how wonderful she had been when he’d claimed her. Keeping her naked was a must, but he would need to learn to manage his appetite if they were to get anything else accomplished. She needed to learn her place, while he needed to remember his role.
“Go ahead.” Again, he signaled to the toilet. “I assume you do not need me to help you.”
“No,” she replied a little too quickly. “I mean, no thank you, Master.”
“Then, do as you must.” He retreated in the direction of the basin, suppressing his amusement at her indecision. The way she looked at the seat conveyed how badly she needed to use the thing, yet still, she held back.
“But, Master.” Heat pooled on her cheeks as she turned his way. “I…” She hesitated, evidently unsure. “I can’t go with you here.”
Kronos recollected similar complaints from every woman who had once been in her place, those memories stemming back to a time before the toilet as she recognized it had even been invented.
In the end, Kristina, like every one of them, would have to learn to overcome her mortification. There would be no secrets between them.
“You can.” He leaned against the wall. “And, furthermore, you will.”
In some ways, the bathroom was a strange place for the next battle of wills, but he supposed he could understand her reticence.
She was mortal, after all; always clinging to concepts like independence and privacy.
It had been eons since he had needed to concern himself over such discretions.
He could have either, but he wanted neither.
Instead, Kronos chose a life of purpose, mastering each mortal woman and allowing her submission to show her how much she was truly worth.
Invariably, it was more than the message she was waiting for from the guy who didn’t even recall her name, and more than the quick fumble at the office party.
Every one of them was a unique and creative being, destined for so much better.
They just needed his dominance to illuminate their way in the world.
He realized it would take time for Kristina to accept his authority and let go of that most human need to be in control.
He recalled how desperately she had clung to her device in pursuit of affirmation from the man whose affection she’d sought before Kronos.
However quickly she’d ceded to their passion, she was still human and, despite her nudity, she would grasp for whatever dignity she could find.
“But…” Brow furrowing, her plea echoed around the vast space. “Please, Master. You can leave me. I can’t go anywhere!”
Her focus flew around her, confirming what he assumed were her suspicions. Just like her cell, the bathroom was secure, the wall a seamless, ethereal glow, broken by neither window nor door. Only one enormous looking glass offered any variety.
The only way his women entered or left a room was in his presence, when he would accompany them and provide the transition.
Windows and doors were weaknesses his guests could exploit to try to escape, so in Kronos’ realm, there was no need for either.
The only exception was the door to his cloud garden, which was sealed with its own protective charm.
He liked the security his magic provided.
“That is true.” His voice was calm, but he folded his arms across his chest, watching her responses with care. She reacted to the gesture at once, the crease in her brow deepening as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “But still, I shall stay. There shall be no barriers between us.”
He wanted her to understand. Giving in to him in the bathroom was just the same as succumbing to her spanking. She had to accept that his will was for her own good, and until she could, he would be there to steer her on the right track.
“But, please…” Her pulse elevated, conveying both her agitation and the pain she was no doubt experiencing thanks to her full bladder.
“Just do what you need to do.” He slowed his words, aiming to console her, but she stumbled toward the toilet as though he had consigned her to her execution. “It will not do your body any good to wait.”
It wasn’t doing him much good, either. Two orgasms had sufficiently softened his ire, though. He was prepared to give her a chance to work through her discomfort and comply.
Lifting the seat, she heaved in a breath before perching on the toilet. Her head fell immediately, the mane of her golden hair falling forward to conceal her glorious breasts.
“Please,” she muttered miserably. “Don’t watch me, Master.”
He swallowed down his smile. Kristina was delightful. “I am not here to watch you, little one.” Though, with her focus firmly on the floor, there was no way she would have known his intention. “I am here to ensure your safety.”
“My safety?” Her red face rose to meet his once more, her tone somewhere between anger and disbelief.
“Your wellbeing is my number one priority,” he assured her.
“You took me from the street I live on, Master.” She clutched at her belly as though the thought was painful. Or perhaps it was just the pressure building in her bladder. “You did not ask if I wanted to come here with you.”
“I protected you from those fools who sought to defile you,” he corrected, dismissing her second point entirely.
Though it was true she hadn’t agreed to go to his realm, her repeated assent since she’d arrived was more than good enough for him.
He was going to keep her, and they would both grow from the coupling.
“I do not, however, possess endless patience, so you shall do well not to keep me waiting.”
Her expression crumpled at his answer. “It’s hard to go with you here.”
Her voice was still strained, though, whether it was her embarrassed awkwardness inspiring the sound or actual pain she was feeling, he couldn’t know for sure.
There was quite a gulf between the two. Shame was an emotion he would wield against her until she came to accept there was truly nothing for her to be ashamed about.
Any disgrace she felt about her body, its natural functions, or her sexuality had been taught to her by a society obsessed with oppressing her gender.
Kronos did not approve of the objective.
Realizing that for a being hellbent on capturing and conditioning women, that might seem like a hypocritical thought, his lips twitched.
To him, though, the distinction was clear.
The world Kristina had grown up in wanted to keep her small and blinkered, whereas he intended to nurture her until she was ready to fly.
His binds and control would wane as she grew, until one day, just like Shelley, she would be ready to spread her wings.
There was an odd pride in the accomplishment.
To take a woman who was so needy for male approval and give her more than she could contend with seemed like a strange remedy, but experience had taught him that it worked.
By the time she was ready to truly surrender to him, she would also be ready to stand in her own power.
Until then, she was his.
She would swallow her pride and empty her bladder, and that was the end of it.
“You need to relax,” he told her. “Tell me something about yourself that I do not know.”
He wandered to the tub and perched on the edge of it, intentionally averting his eyes from her predicament. He hoped the gesture would ease her mortification enough to expedite the task she needed to achieve.
“Like what, Master?”
He loved her frantic tone and the way she appeared to have settled into a rhythm with his honorific, but her accelerating heart rate still concerned him. If she could not assuage her anxiety, his magic would insist she calm.
“What do you normally do to relax?” His gaze remained straight ahead, but he could see her reflection in the corner of the hefty mirror. With her eyes shut and her head lowered, however, she seemed not to have noticed.
“I…” Another pause where she consciously drew in and blew out a breath. “I see my friends, I listen to music… Sometimes, I like to drink.”
Ah, yes, alcohol.
He wanted to shake his head. He hadn’t known she’d been drinking until he’d overheard Kristina talking with the female who’d cooked her dinner.
Standing in the ether, he’d heard how she’d deflected her friend’s question about her alcohol intake, and suddenly, the way she’d insulted him in that initial message made sense.
It was the alcohol that had insisted she reach out with her drunken slurs, and alcohol that had likely lubricated the wheels in her mind and made her message in the first place.
He wasn’t sure if he should rebuke the drug or be thankful for it.
“What kind of music do you like?”
Perhaps he’d address the matter of her drinking, but that was a decision for another day. At any rate, there would be no such indulgences while she was under his protection. Her diet would be clean and created to provide all the nutrition her body needed. There would be no inebriation.
“Erm…” She shrugged, and as her shoulders fell, she was finally able to relieve the pressure on her bladder.
Watching the relief on her face in the mirror, he bit back on his smile. “Well done, little one.”
Her body straightened at his condescending praise, and all at once, her gaze met his in the mirror. She hadn’t answered his question about music, but the way shock and embarrassment were etched into her features was compensation enough.
“I can’t believe you watched me, Master.” Her tone was scathing, but rather than aggravate him, he only smirked at the spike of defiance.
“I am your divine protector, Kristina.” Pushing away from the tub, he spun to face her, realizing how much his words chimed.
He was used to taking and taming women, used to having his own way and wielding his power to further his pleasure, but in her, he sensed something more; a lingering desire to nurture as well as sculpt her into a person of his pleasing.
The burgeoning feeling was as disconcerting as it was unfamiliar.
“Whether you see me or not, little one,” he went on, “you should know I will always be watching you.”