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.
“You need to see things to believe them.” His gaze drilled into hers, pinning her into place without the need for either his physical strength or his magic.
“Yes,” she replied, flushing as though admitting she was scientific was a sin.
Not that he believed in such impropriety. Immorality was a paradigm created by men to control other mortals. It had no effect on the gods, whose wants and needs would be satiated, however humans felt about the subject.
“You believe my talents are deception.” He played up the feigned disdain in his voice. “That I am some kind of trickster!”
Bewilderment glinted in her expressive eyes, as though she couldn’t believe that, despite all her best efforts, she’d still managed to offend him.
He might have laughed at her dismay had he not been so enthralled by her responses.
In truth, her accusation vexed him, but he was having too much fun to dwell on the indictment.
“Master, I…”
Her apologetic tone trailed away as if she realized her argument had run out of road.
No doubt she accepted that whatever she said next had an equal probability of landing her over the edge of the tub for an impromptu spanking, and he would make sure the matter was in addition to the penances she already faced.
She had enjoyed some of his punishments, but evidently, she wasn’t keen on provoking him and living to regret the consequences.
Clever girl.
“I don’t think you’re a charlatan, Master.” Her large eyes searched his face. “I just don’t understand the things you can do.”
He edged down the tub a few inches and rested the back of his head on the porcelain. “It seems that a vulgar display of my power is required as a demonstration.”
It should have been beneath him to offer such an illustration of his prowess, but the concern glinting in her gaze and the way she couldn’t keep still revealed how entertaining it would be to wield some of that strength over her.
He would do nothing to harm her, of course.
He stood by that vow, but the little scientist needed to know who she was really dealing with.
“Vulgar?”
The tremble in her voice was absurdly pleasing, rousing his already stimulated cock.
He wanted to worship her and to drown her in his devotion, but how he appreciated those flickers of fear whenever they bubbled to the surface.
That was what it was to be a god; to elicit the full range of feelings from a mortal, including terror, when it was necessary.
“Brash,” he offered in clarification, enjoying the feel of the word on his lips almost as much as the perturbed look in her eyes. “Overt. Obvious.”
“I…” She hesitated again, her lack of confidence etched into her beautiful features. “You don’t have to prove anything to me, Master. I know who’s in charge. This is all yours…” It was her turn to motion around her, a cascade of water falling when her hand rose. “I stay put, and I do as I’m told.”
“Oh, I am happy to hear it.” He smirked, liking the way she’d conveyed her predicament. “And you’re right, little one. I have nothing to prove, yet I suddenly find the idea of showing off to you appealing.”
His arm stiffened around her again, yanking her up against him before she could offer a defense. His shaft ached at the feel of her, the organ trapped between their bodies but frantic to slide back to the warm, wet place it desired.
“Master!” Her hands gripped his shoulders. “Please, I didn’t mean to suggest you’re less than you are. I’m—”
“Shhh.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips as he hushed her. “You have had your say, little scientist. Leave the rest to me.”