CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Daphne
Are you certain?” Kronos whispered.
She’d never been more certain. “Yes.”
“The risk to you is…great. You are putting your life in my hands.”
There were no better hands to put it in. “I understand.”
Still, Kronos hesitated. Even after the siphoning he’d just experienced, he only looked at her with concern and care.
“We’re wasting time,” Daphne insisted. “What if he siphons from you again?”
She knew he agreed by the way his jaw tightened. Still, she waited for him to finally do the math and realize that her life—no matter how important it was to him personally—was no more important than his.
She placed her hand gently on his cheek. “If it helps,” she whispered, “it’s enough that you don’t want to do it.”
His eyes met hers. “I will never forgive myself if this ends badly for you. If I hurt you…”
“You won’t.”
She had no way of knowing. And yet, somehow, deep in her bones, Daphne knew. She knew it would work out; she could feel it in her entire body, in the energy that thrummed through her as she positioned herself above Kronos. His hand found her waist, pulling her closer.
“What do you need me to do?” she whispered.
“Nothing.” His other hand was rising, wrapping around her throat. “Just stay still.”
“Will it hurt?” she asked, her lips an inch away from his. The sharp scent of his blood was making her dizzy.
“It should not,” he said. Was it her imagination, or was his voice becoming weaker? “It should feel…good.”
Daphne nodded, staring down into his eyes. His grip tightened on her waist.
“Are you ready?” Kronos whispered.
“Are you?”
He stared up at her. Daphne couldn’t believe where this evening had gone—that somehow it had begun at the castle and ended with Kronos bleeding out in her bedroom.
Ever since the basilisks had entered her life, things had been unpredictable.
Yet somehow, Daphne preferred it that way.
She felt alive now in a way she never had before.
Kronos shifted beneath her, pulling her even closer.
Their bodies were pressed together; she was completely straddling him. His hand tightened on her throat.
“Daphne,” he said. Then he closed his eyes.
Out of instinct, Daphne did the same. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then something slammed into her. She gasped but not in pain.
Instead, pleasure like she’d never known surged through her body, overtaking everything in its path.
The sensation was too much; she was drowning in it.
She was at once alive and dead, powerful and helpless.
Beneath her, Kronos was tense. Without thinking, Daphne ground herself against his cock, which was mercilessly hard.
A moan escaped her lips. A similar one escaped Kronos’s.
Then he was kissing her.
Kronos was warm—far warmer than a human would be.
It was like pressing her mouth against the hot brick of a fireplace.
She jerked her hips, wishing she wasn’t still wearing the velvet dress.
The pearls were burning her skin, singeing her everywhere.
Daphne knew without touching herself that she was wet.
It was more than a simple physical response—there was something intoxicating about Kronos.
Everything about him was turning her on: the smell of his skin, the taste of his lips, the hardness of his body beneath hers.
There was so much unresolved energy between them—so many things they had yet to do—and they were all coming to the surface right now.
Daphne knew she wasn’t the only one affected.
Kronos’s grip on her was so tight it was almost painful.
He was holding her throat with brutal strength.
Wave after wave of rapture filled her—a euphoria so great she wondered whether she would ever feel anything like this again.
Her breasts were tender; her center was soaking.
Only when her heartbeat was on the brink of a sprint did Kronos’s hold on her finally loosen.
Pleasure still coursed through her, but it was softer now, caressing her in a gentle rhythm, receding into the background and leaving nothing but infinite lightness behind.
Daphne broke their kiss, pressing her lips instead to his chest. All she could taste was blood.
Her name came to her through a haze of pleasure.
“Daphne.”
She was buried against him, her lips against his skin, his blood in her mouth.
“It is over,” Kronos said.
But it felt too good to be over. Every inch of his skin called to her; she wanted to suffocate against him.
“Daphne.” He lifted her with his extraordinary strength. “Enough.”
Daphne stopped. She opened her eyes, staring down at Kronos. They had never been in this position before, her on top, him on the bottom. The implications were so tempting that it took all her self-control not to lean down and kiss him again.
Kronos was staring up at her with a startling combination of fear and reverence. “Daphne,” he said quietly. “How do you feel?”
She felt incredible, soft and buoyant, as if she were floating. She knew without a doubt that she’d just had the greatest orgasm of her life. “How do you feel?”
One glance at his neck told her the bite was closing. Immediate relief swept through her as she watched the two holes steadily shrink into nothing. Kronos raised his fingers to his neck. By the time he touched it, his skin was smooth once more.
“Alive,” he said.
Daphne felt alive too. “What happens now?”
Kronos looked her in the eye. He was so beautiful—even more so than usual. His skin was glowing again, his eyes bright. Unimaginable joy swept through her.
“Anything you wish,” he whispered.
After what had just happened, Daphne didn’t know what to say.
Kronos sat up, bringing their faces close together. Daphne’s breath caught in her throat. “Daphne.” He brushed his fingertips along her cheek, tucking a curl behind her ear. “You saved my life. That is not something basilisks take lightly. I am indebted to you.”
She shook her head. “Please don’t talk like that.”
“Why not? It is the truth.”
Daphne looked sharply at him. “Is it?”
He frowned.
She leaned in. “You broke my trust tonight, Kronos. You lied to me. That is not something I take lightly.” She glared at him for a long moment.
To his credit, he didn’t look away. “It was a mistake,” he said quietly. “It will not happen again.”
Daphne held his gaze for another moment. She believed him.
“Good,” she said finally, releasing the tension in her body with a sigh.
The silence lingered. Daphne was painfully aware of how close they were, how she was still straddling him, how he was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
She couldn’t see his cock, but she could certainly feel it, stiffer than stone between her legs.
Daphne straightened, creating some distance between them.
“I will leave,” Kronos said softly. “If that is what you wish.”
Daphne shook her head. The last thing she wanted was for him to walk back to the caves with Caspenon still out there, possibly looking to finish the job. Her cottage could provide no real protection, but at least it was nowhere near the basilisks.
“I want you to stay.”
There was a beat of silence, and Daphne looked down at herself. She was still in her dress, which was now covered in his blood. “I just…need to change.”
But there was nowhere to change. Daphne’s room was not connected to a bathroom, and she did not want to risk waking her mother by crossing the hall.
Kronos smiled. “Shall I turn over?” He was collapsed on her bed; making him turn over would be silly.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said sternly. “Just… Close your eyes.”
His smile widened. He didn’t need to say a word; both of them knew there was nothing under her dress that he hadn’t seen before.
Privacy was not something the basilisks understood or coveted.
Yet somehow this felt significant. Daphne was a human, and Kronos was in her space. He had to follow her rules.
“As you wish,” Kronos said, still smiling.
How easily he acquiesced her demands. Daphne couldn’t imagine Maximus would grant her the same courtesy.
Kronos closed his eyes slowly, and Daphne took the opportunity to assess him as she stood.
He looked peaceful lying there, despite the blood all over his torso.
She couldn’t deny that he looked good in her bed.
Then again, he would look good anywhere.
Before her thoughts could run away from her, she busied herself with her dress, unfastening it and letting it fall to the floor.
Once only the lingerie remained, Daphne stared down at the shimmering piece, still in awe of its intricacy.
Somehow, now that Kronos had his eyes closed, she felt a courage she’d never felt before.
She might as well take advantage of the moment.
“Kronos?”
His eyes remained closed as he answered. “Daphne?”
“Why did you give me this?” She didn’t specify, and she knew she didn’t need to.
Kronos shifted on the bed but didn’t open his eyes. He took a deep breath before saying, “I thought you would look beautiful in it.”
Daphne’s breath caught in her chest. She’d expected him to remain guarded, to say something neutral like I thought the prince would like it or I thought it would fit you.
Instead he’d spoken with what she suspected was complete honesty.
With a response like that, it stood to reason that he wanted to see her in it.
Before she could stop herself, Daphne said, “Well… Do I?”
A deep silence fell. Then, in what felt like slow motion, Kronos opened his eyes and looked straight into hers. They held eye contact for a small eternity before he allowed his gaze to drop to her body.