Chapter Eighteen #2
He had agreed to let her start learning more about him, and she’d been thrilled by his apparent enthusiasm.
The sessions had begun tentatively, with him conjuring the basic equipment she required.
A pen and a piece of paper, and a small folder that she could lean on while he answered her questions.
Even more mind-blowing had been the fact that he’d allowed the sessions to take place in his cloud garden—the same place she’d attempted to flee into when she’d run out of oxygen.
Ever since she’d paid the price for that failed escape attempt, the space had held an obvious negative association for them both, but setting the impromptu lessons there had offered solace and atonement.
Not only could she start to exorcise the lingering ghost of that day by acknowledging what a turning point it had been in their relationship, but she marveled at how he’d used the incredible cloud surroundings to begin sharing more about who he truly was.
Sitting inside the bubble of breathable air he’d created for her with only the wave of his long fingers, they seemingly floated on top of the expansive cumulus cloud outside his palatial home.
There, he’d started to impart his knowledge.
He’d told her how he’d contrived the atmosphere especially for mortals, that he didn’t require the same mixture of air to thrive, and that the oxygen rushing through her bloodstream wasn’t really O2 at all, but an incantation that sustained her life, regardless.
All the while, she’d sat there on the cloud’s surface and listened; a feat that should have been impossible.
Clouds, to a scientist like her, were visible masses of miniature liquid droplets, ice crystals, and possibly other particles suspended in the atmosphere.
They were not places for sitting and learning.
Until Kronos had come along. Then, as implausible as it all sounded, she’d found that the vapors were solid under her feet, and when he gestured for her to sit down, the wispy-looking ground gladly accepted her weight.
The transformation was, he assured her, another product of his magic, and that had she attempted to go there alone again, the same terrible fate would have befallen her, and she believed him.
How could she not? She remembered the gasping pain of running out of air, and she never wanted to experience that again.
Yet, at his side, she was able to venture onto the clouds and stare out at the boundless sky.
Sitting there with him, that realization washed over her like freezing water.
With him, all things were possible. He wasn’t a carnival magician pulling handkerchiefs from a bowler hat, but an ancient power who deserved to be revered and respected.
And somehow, in the mists of her destiny, he’d chosen her as his mate.
Finishing the bread, she smiled at the thought.
He had put his faith in her, and in return, she’d concentrated on keeping her end of the bargain they’d struck, by quelling her willful side and attempting to see the honor in the things he insisted she do.
There was an odd comfort in kneeling for him, and a strange solace in her compliance, and the more time that passed, the easier it became to cede to her dominant god.
“Well done, little one.”
Kronos’ dulcet tone snapped her from her reverie, and glancing up, she saw his lips curl in her direction.
Sitting at the head of the ebony dining table, he had long finished the sandwich he’d manifested for their lunch, but he’d waited with her while she worked on the doorstep-sized hunks of whole wheat bread.
“Thank you, Master.”
She peered down at her plate, an unexpected sense of pride swelling in the pit of her chest as she acknowledged she had finished. It was as though it was an achievement to have cleared her plate, but then, for a woman who’d previously skipped so many meals, she supposed it was an accomplishment.
But then, she guessed, since he’d construed that not eating to his satisfaction constituted a breach of ‘rule one’, the threat of his punishments had also been a motivator to eat more. Much though she relished his intimate spankings, she wasn’t keen to provoke unnecessary penalties.
“You are doing much better with your food now.” One sweep of his long digits saw the breadcrumb-laden dish vanish before her eyes. “I’m impressed.”
“I’m hungrier than I used to be,” she admitted, considering both the intellectual and physical exertions Kronos had made her endure.
Learning about a metaphysical reality she’d previously thought to have been only mythological had consumed a lot of mental bandwidth, and then there had been the sexual marathons she’d enjoyed with him in between.
Ancient, Kronos might have been, but it seemed to have had no impact on his carnal prowess.
“You’re getting healthier,” he observed smugly. “A little time with my guidance and your well-being has improved.”
She pressed her lips together, considering his words.
Consuming his meals and completing the exercise program he’d contrived for her each day had already made a difference to her fitness, and when she glanced down at her body, she could tell the difference.
Her thighs were shapelier than she remembered, and her arms and shoulders felt stronger.
No doubt being on all fours so often is starting to pay dividends.
She suppressed the snort that threatened to rise at the rush of hot, sordid memories, knowing her assessment was likely accurate.
Life before Kronos had been a gauntlet of rushed schedules, late nights, and stressful deadlines.
There had never seemed to be any time for taking care of herself, and in all the years she’d been at the university, she’d never once made it to the on-site gym.
Kronos’ dedication to her welfare had shone a light on all the things she’d been doing wrong; the bad eating habits, the missed meals, and all-too-regular gin and tonics.
Being with him had helped to rejuvenate her.
Pressing her palms against the cool wood, she dwelled on that. Being with him wasn’t only a pleasure, but it was also good for her. She must have woken up under a lucky star the day she’d responded to his bait and replied to his leaflet.
That wasn’t to say she didn’t miss her friends or anything else about her old life.
Scanning his face, she acknowledged the pang of hurt that resounded at that loss.
Not being able to communicate with Liz and Cindy was particularly difficult.
Worse still was the thought that those same people were missing her, messaging her phone and going around to the house she shared with Tina and Melanie to see where she was.
She didn’t claim to completely understand the workings of time, and she still didn’t know how Kronos seemed able to compel the clock at his command, but if there was any logic to the fact that her old life was still playing out while she was enraptured by her new lover, then that reality troubled her.
The people she’d known and loved would be wondering where she was.
They’d be worried, probably calling the police and losing sleep over her.
She’d tried not to ruminate on the outcome, but shifting on the hard seat, she couldn’t help but envision their distress.
The police would find nothing to help her loved ones, and all anyone would have been able to tell them was that Tina had left her at home that night in front of the television.
No one, save for the sods who’d assaulted her, would have been witness to Kronos, or even able to place her on that cold street, and somehow, she doubted that those guys had come forward for a potential police appeal.
It was the thought of Liz and Cindy’s concern, as well as her distraught mum, that really furled the tension inside her. She could willingly succumb to her darkest desires and build a life with her master, but in doing so, she would never be able to heal the wounds of the people she loved the most.
“What is it?” Slicing through her internal woe, his voice was pointed. “What is my little one thinking about now?”
Her focus flitted to his face once more, finding his gaze as shrewd as his tone had sounded.
Apparently, being around him so much meant that she’d become entirely transparent, and he was able to read her every emotion, but in the surge of her sorrow, she wasn’t sorry.
As it turned out, it was a relief to have someone so attuned to her moods that she didn’t even need to convey how she was feeling.
Kronos could sense her melancholy just by being around her.
“I was thinking about my friends and my mum, Master.”
She’d learned there was no benefit to telling him half-truths.
In the same awe-inspiring way he was able to glean her disposition from her expression, he had ways of knowing when she was being even partially dishonest, and then more potentially painful consequences would await her.
She tensed at the prospect. It was just as well she preferred the truth.
“You miss them.” His tone was matter-of-fact.
“Yes.” She nodded. “Although mostly, I worry about them missing me.” Her brow creased, an image of her mother appearing in her mind’s eye.
It had only been the two of them for so long; she couldn’t imagine how badly her mum would be taking her daughter’s disappearance.
They rarely went more than a day or two without communicating with each other.
“It must be dreadful for them, not knowing where I am or whether I’m okay. ”
Her voice broke on the final words, hot tears burning in her eyes.
She’d been battling with her conscience for a while, but it was only then that she gave in to the weight of her guilty misery.
She might have found succor and contentment in Kronos’ arms, but in choosing to succumb, she’d created terrible despair for those she’d left behind.