Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Kris
Kronos lowered to his haunches before her, and Kris’ heart thundered in response. His expression was stern, and she could rarely recall seeing his eyes as serious.
One hand reached for her, the same fingers that had coaxed Shelley, propping her chin in his direction.
“I must accompany Shelley on this journey.” His words were quiet. “And I expect you to be obedient while I am gone.”
Her heart skipped a beat at the news. He was going somewhere? Wait, what did that mean?
“Master?”
Apprehension swelled at the unsettling information.
If he was leaving with Shelley, what would happen to her?
Was his departure the best opportunity she’d had to finally slip from his grasp, or, as the knots tightening in her tummy suggested, was it a reason for her to panic?
How would she cope if he stuck her back in that claustrophobic white cell again?
“I want to trust you.” His voice sounded pained, as though he was the one with a dilemma. “Want to believe that you will behave the way Shelley has done in my absence, but it’s still early days between us.”
He sighed. “That’s not your responsibility; it’s mine, but I fear it means you must return to your room and rest while I’m gone.”
“No, Master.”
The same pulverizing panic flooded her system, flashes of the curve of her small white room and its never-ending glow bursting into her mind. She couldn’t go back to that place, especially knowing he wasn’t even there to hear her panicked cries.
“Please.” She met his eyes, hoping hers conveyed her crippling fear. “I can’t stay there.”
“You’ll be asleep,” he promised her, as though coercing her into rest with his drug inducement was supposed to make her feel better.
“Please,” she repeated, reaching for his wrist and clinging to his flesh. “If I must sleep, then leave me to rest here, Master.”
She waved her free hand around to confirm where she meant. “I can’t be back there again.” Her breaths sped up. “I was so claustrophobic the last time. It was awful.”
She wanted to mention that she might also get hungry in his absence, or need to use the toilet again, but trepidation held her tongue.
His hazel eyes widened a fraction. “Claustrophobic?”
“Yes.” She nodded, wishing she’d just told him about the true extent of her terror in the first place.
It had seemed like a good idea to keep the fear to herself, her panic placating quickly once he’d roused her desire again, but when she’d made that choice, she hadn’t fully considered what would happen when he chose to return her there.
“That’s how I felt the last time I was there.” The explanation left her lips in one large rush of air. “Like the walls were closing in and I couldn’t breathe.” She squeezed her eyes closed as she relived the terror. “Please don’t make me go back to that.”
There was no choice but to throw herself on his mercy and pray he wouldn’t use the information against her.
He blew out a long, exasperated breath. “Why did you not tell me about this? I asked you for the truth at the time.”
She frowned, knowing she was potentially landing herself in yet more hot water. “I know. I’m sorry. I thought you’d think less of me if you knew I was scared.”
“Less of you?” Kronos shook his head. “Kristina, what have I told you? I always want the truth.”
“I know.” The weight of her miscalculation washed over her.
If she’d only just told him about her panic.
He might have been perplexed at her fears.
Maybe he’d even have ridiculed them, but at least she’d have been honest, and he couldn’t have used the omission against her.
As it was, she’d fudged the truth, revealing she’d considered fleeing, but not revealing why, and earning herself more of his displeasure. “I got things wrong, Master.”
“Yes, you did.” The disappointment gleaming in his eyes was harder to tolerate than she’d imagined. “And now I don’t have time to deal with your error.” He motioned behind her. “Shelley is waiting, and you just proved to me that I can’t trust you.”
A pang of regret stiffened in her chest. “I’m sorry.” Tears burned in her eyes. “But please don’t put me back in there. I always wake before you return.”
His expression softened at her desperate plea. “It is true that my charms do not seem to work as well on you as they should.” Shaking her hand from his wrist, his hand rose to her face and wiped the tear from her left eye. “Do not cry, little one. This, too, shall be resolved.”
“But you’re angry with me?” She closed her eyes, feeling his fingers gently collecting more of her tears.
And you’re going to put me back in that room, on my own, with no way out.
She trembled at the thought, knowing there was nothing she could do to prevent the outcome. Although she didn’t understand its source, she was under no illusions about Kronos’ power. If he wanted her back there, he would deliver her to the suffocating white room, and she would have no choice.
“Let down, maybe,” he replied. “But not angry. We shall revisit my rules again when I return. I must do a better job of reiterating them to you.”
Her breath caught at the thinly veiled warning, but the thought of more penance was strangely warming compared to the idea of being abandoned in the hideous white room.
“Master.” She opened her eyes, appealing to him. “I’ll take whatever punishment you decide I warrant, but please don’t leave me in that room again.”
“My goodness, little one.” The dark glint gleaming in his gaze spoke of repercussions to come. “What a predicament.”
***
Kronos
Looking at Kristina, he didn’t know whether he wanted to turn her over his knee and blister her backside or kiss her.
Both were tempting propositions, but he had time for neither.
Shelley was waiting, and even though she’d been well trained, even her patience and good behavior weren’t infinite.
He needed to settle Kristina and decide her fate while he took Shelley back to Earth.
Kristina blew out a breath, her focus falling to her hands cradled in front of her. “I know, Master.”
“You should have told me you’d felt such panic in your room.”
He’d known something was wrong with her.
The way she’d been huddled in tears had given her away, but he hadn’t been able to get to the bottom of her fears until that moment.
She had thought about leaving him, but it seemed she’d done so, at least in part, because she’d been so traumatized about being in her cell.
Looking at her, he shook his head. She had an almost celestial ability to overcome his magic.
His charms worked for a while, but while other women were subdued by them for the intended quantity of time, Kristina seemed able to shake off the incantation.
He didn’t know how or why. It was something he’d need to explore, but it had meant she’d woken far earlier than he’d intended and left her vulnerable to the terror she’d experienced.
She pulled in a shaky breath. “I know that now.”
“And we will be returning to this matter when I get back,” he reminded her gently. “Rule number one, little one. Omission of the truth is still a lie.”
She nodded, her expression despondent. “Yes, Master.”
“But in the meantime, I can cede to your request.” He glanced behind her, identifying a suitable place to set up an impromptu bed. “You’ll sleep here, but be warned, I am going to intensify your sleeping charm. You will rest until I return.”
Large, grateful eyes met his. “Thank you, Master.”
He didn’t know why he’d succumbed to her entreaty.
Plenty of others had made appeals for less significant requests over the years, and he had refused them all without a flicker of guilt.
As always, though, Kristina was more challenging to rebuff.
He’d denied her pleasure because he enjoyed doing so, but the idea of leaving her sad and terrified without him did not thrill him.
On the contrary, the thought was crushing, reminding him that he was responsible for her health and happiness as well as her subservience, and that, even though he didn’t understand his growing fondness for her, her wellbeing mattered to him.
Waving a finger in the area he’d designated for her nap, he watched as the bed he had in mind manifested. A small single divan, with multiple blankets and a pillow, similar to the sort she had in her cell.
Hooking another finger under her chin, he leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “Remember how kind your master is being.”
“I will,” she gasped, her voice hoarse.
“You’ll be asleep before you know it,” he murmured. “But remember, this is your opportunity to impress me, little one. If you’re a good girl, I won’t need to keep punishing you. We can focus on pleasure.”
She swallowed at his instruction. “Yes, Master.”
“Okay.” He gestured to where the bed had materialized. “Get into bed now.”
A crease appeared in her wonderful brow, but as she twisted to look behind her, those deep blue eyes widened. Evidently, she hadn’t expected her sleeping arrangements to have already been organized. She still doubted his capability.
His magical ability was another conversation he’d need to have with her soon.
Thus far, she’d seemed overawed and bewildered by his abilities, but he had the distinct feeling she’d passed them all off as coincidental one-offs.
No doubt the scientist in her was struggling to make sense of the things that were happening.
The last thing she believed in was gods and monsters, but Kronos had news for her.
Deities and mythical beasts were all real, and she was under the dominion of one.
“Is that for me, Master?” She glanced between him and the bed as far as his digits allowed.
Punctuating the whispered words, his fingers tightened at her jaw. “I. Said. Go.”
She nodded, slipping from his hand and walking toward the bed. Perching tentatively on the edge of the covers, her gaze slid back to him.
“Under the blankets,” he directed, his attention flitting to Shelley to ensure she was still behaving. He found her waiting where he’d instructed, her focus fixed on the clouds outside.
The brunette he’d been training for so long was ready to go.
That much was obvious. Her body was still conforming to his will, but he could sense the anxiety growing within her.
Perhaps she was worried, wondering if he might change his mind and choose to keep them both, but she needn’t have fretted.
He had no intention of changing tack. Life with Shelley had been a pleasure, but their time together was over.
He had Kristina to think of, and it was clear she was going to be more than a handful.
By the time he glanced back at Kristina, she had slipped under the three scarlet blankets he’d provided.
She nibbled on her lip as he advanced on her, her eyes apprehensive, even though she had achieved the feat she requested.
She’d pleaded not to go back to her cell, and he’d succumbed to the wish.
His brow rose at how easily she’d persuaded him.
She’d asked, and he’d given in; it had really been that simple.
What had happened to the king of the Titans that one little mortal had so effortlessly wrapped him around her finger?
Gazing at her, he couldn’t figure out how she’d accomplished such a task, but in a matter of hours, she’d melded the deity of destruction into a god who cared more about her disquiet than his blessed rules and structure.
“You’re going to give in to my charm and sleep now.” He considered adding magical binds to the bed and physically restraining her but decided against the choice. The incantation he was using was so potent that she would be out for the count for the rest of the day. “I’ll see you when I’m back.”
She nodded, pulling the cover closer to her chin. “Thank you, Master.”
Crouching by her face, he cast the intention, doubling down on the intensity of the sleep charm and sending the magic flooding over the bed. The ones he’d employed previously hadn’t been adequate, but while he was taking Shelley back to the bus station, though, there was no choice.
He needed to know she was safe and doing what he asked of her.
She had to sleep.
An odd tension washed over him as he waited for the magic to work, time protracting while he watched her lids grow heavy.
He wasn’t sure why when he was still the one with all the power; the one with magic quite literally in his fingertips.
There was no reason he should have been perturbed by either the enchantment or the concept of leaving her while she slept, yet somehow, he was.
Deep in his belly, he sensed the energetic disturbance, the tiny ball of tension snaking into knots like writhing serpents.
Back where he’d come from, snakes were often associated with prophecies; divinations that offered insight into what was to come.
As her breathing finally settled into a deep, regular rhythm, he frowned at that thought.
If the nudge in his gut was really foresight, then it could have been a warning; a caution about what was to come.
But even if that was true—even if leaving Kristina alone was a mistake—he had little choice.
She was asleep, and it was time to take Shelley back to the human life he’d snatched her from all those months before.
He rose from his Sleeping Beauty, casting one more glance over her before he made his way to Shelley.
Only time would tell whether those snakes had been trying to predict portentous tidings. In the meantime, he had important work to see to.