CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX #2
Daphne’s mouth fell open. It was bad enough that the woman was here in the first place.
But to hear her speaking to Kronos as if they were together—as if he belonged to her—was far more than she could bear.
They were supposed to be facing their fears together.
Now Daphne was regretting everything. Had this all been a terrible mistake?
Had she allowed herself to be vulnerable only to have her heart trampled over the moment she opened herself up?
She’d trusted Kronos. Confided in him. Shared her body with him.
It was something she took incredibly seriously, and she was horrified at the prospect of it having been for nothing.
Daphne barely heard Kronos as he said, “Leave us, Penelope. Now.”
The woman lingered for another moment, her lips turned down in a pout. But finally she turned away. Daphne stared numbly at her perfect ass as it disappeared into the passageway.
Kronos turned back to the bed but Daphne was already standing.
“Daphne.” He held out his hands in an attempt to stop her. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.”
Concern flashed over his face. “Please,” he said. “That was not what you think.”
Daphne crossed her arms, sharply aware of the fact that she was naked. She felt suddenly vulnerable.
“You didn’t tell me you were with someone.”
Kronos shook his head. “I am not with anyone. I promise you.”
“Then who was that at the door?”
“That was Penelope.”
“Your girlfriend?”
To Daphne’s surprise—and slight annoyance—Kronos actually laughed.
“Is that funny?” she snapped.
“No.” He sobered quickly. “Of course not. But Penelope is not my girlfriend.”
“She said she expected to sleep with you.”
“That does not mean she is my girlfriend.”
“Then you’d better explain who exactly she is to you.”
“She is no one to me.”
“I find that hard to believe considering she’s showing up at your door naked in the middle of the night.”
“Daphne.” Kronos placed his hands gently on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. “There is much you do not know about basilisk culture. I assure you, both her arrival and her lack of clothing are customary.”
“Customary?”
At the hint of hysteria in her voice, Kronos tightened his grip.
“Basilisks are free with our bodies. Nudity does not mean for us what it means for humans. It is simply a part of life.”
Daphne gestured at herself. “So this is simply a part of life?”
“No,” he said quickly, his eyes flicking down her body. “You are…” He trailed off, and Daphne saw a hundred emotions pass over his face. “Everything.”
Daphne let out a rather unattractive snort. She was in no mood to be placated. “Don’t patronize me. You do this all the time, don’t you? With other basilisks—with other humans, during the training.”
Now, for the first time, Kronos looked angry. “I do not do this all the time. I have never taken a human into my chambers.”
“But you take basilisks. You take Penelope.”
He pursed his lips. “Yes.”
“You promised her three orgasms.” That was more than he’d given Daphne in one night, anyway.
“I would be more than happy to promise you the same.”
“I don’t want orgasms. I want to leave.” She tried to turn away, but he caught her, holding her body against his.
“Please, Daphne. I do not wish you to leave. You are the only woman I want in my bed. I promise you.”
She pulled away again, and this time he let her.
“I mean it, Daphne. I cannot lie.”
That made her pause. “In that case, answer my questions truthfully,” she snapped. “No lies.”
He looked her straight in the eye. “You may ask me anything.”
“Are you romantically involved with Penelope?”
“No.”
“Do you love her?”
“Not even remotely.”
“Have you had sex with her?”
A pause.
Daphne glared at him. “Have you?”
“Yes,” he sighed. “I have. But it is like I said—it is different for us. To a basilisk, sex is meaningless. It—”
“I don’t want to hear about how sex is meaningless to you,” she cried, “when it means everything to me.”
Kronos fell silent, holding her gaze.
“Am I the first person you’ve touched today?” Daphne whispered.
The silence only grew heavier.
She stared deep into his eyes, seeing the apprehension in them. “Well?” she snapped.
“No,” he said finally. “You are not.”
Daphne wrenched herself away from him. “Let me go.”
“Daphne—”
“Let me go.”
This time he let her go. They stared at each other, both breathing heavily, the crackle of the fire the only sound between them.
Daphne felt nothing short of violated. She had allowed herself to open up to him—in every possible way—and now she found out that she wasn’t even the first woman he’d touched today.
“Daphne,” he whispered. There was such pain in his voice, such unrestrained longing.
But Daphne was not interested in hearing it. The last thing she wanted was to coddle Kronos. She did not care about basilisk culture. She was a human, and she was in pain.
“Don’t bother,” she said coldly. “You’re all the same.”
His eyes darkened. Then he hung his head.
Daphne knew her words would hurt him. But she didn’t regret saying them. It did not matter that he was a basilisk. He was still just a man.
“Daphne,” he began again, so quietly she could barely hear him.
“You must allow me to explain. Until last night I did not think you were truly an option. I know you do not understand basilisk culture, and I do not expect that of you considering I have never explained it. But if you only knew how significant it is that you are here. I told you that I have never taken a student to my chambers before—or any human, for that matter. Furthermore, I do not consider you my student at all. I have never taught you anything, nor have I any desire to. From the moment you showed up in my cave, you have not needed me.”
He shifted closer. She didn’t shift away.
“It is true that I touched someone today and that I touched someone every day before that too. But I promise you it did not matter to me. You are the only thing that matters to me. Last night meant more to me than you can possibly know. I am in your debt. Every moment you deign to spend with me is an honor.”
Daphne closed her eyes. It was difficult to comprehend his life.
In her world, sleeping with multiple people in one day was frowned upon.
She should know; she’d done it several times herself.
But what Kronos was describing was a cultural difference—something she couldn’t understand in her current state and had no way to know whether she would accept in the future.
The thought of him having sex with someone else was horrible.
Daphne couldn’t stop picturing Penelope at the door, arms crossed, body perfect, eyebrows raised expectantly.
How could she possibly compete with someone like that?
What in this world did Kronos see in her?
Daphne had always considered herself a reasonable person.
Her taste in men was questionable, but she was otherwise mostly normal.
Now, she wondered if normal was enough for Kronos.
It seemed like he required someone extraordinary, and Daphne certainly wasn’t that.
“If you asked me to be loyal, I would do it,” Kronos continued. “If you asked me to forsake all others, I would. I am dedicated to you and only you. I am eternally yours, Daphne. Even if you will not have me. Even if you are not mine in return.”
His final words were delivered with a breath against her lips.
“All you have to do is ask.”
Daphne didn’t know how to respond. She wouldn’t dare ask him that.
It was an absurd proposition. She’d never had a serious boyfriend before, much less had anyone be loyal to her.
She had no idea what it felt like to belong to someone in such a way.
How ironic was it that she’d wished for this and now that it was in front of her, she was too scared to claim it?
“Daphne,” Kronos continued quietly. “The only person I want to sleep with is you. If you wish for us to be exclusive, you need only say so.”
Daphne bit her lip. It seemed like too much to ask for. She wasn’t sleeping with Kronos, yet she also expected him not to sleep with anyone else at a time when his quiver needed him—at a time when he needed the power she could provide. She was being selfish.
“You would do that for me?” Daphne whispered.
“Gladly,” he said simply.
Daphne nodded. She could manage little else.
When the silence lingered, Kronos extended his hand and whispered, “May I take you somewhere? I wish to show you something.”
She placed her hand in his.
They walked together through the passageway, deeper beneath the mountain than Daphne had ever gone before.
She did not question the journey—she simply savored the fact that Kronos was beside her, his hand in hers, his lips occasionally dipping into her hair.
By the time they stopped before a set of double doors, she was ready for whatever was to come.
“Where are we?” she whispered.
Kronos stepped forward. “You shall see.”
He pushed the door open, and Daphne gasped.
Before her was a massive lake—beautiful and dark and endless, its shores trailing off into the darkness. She had never seen something so massive.
“Are we allowed to be here?” Daphne whispered. Her words echoed.
“Yes,” Kronos said. “No one is here.”
“What is this place?”
“It is where we gather. We consider it sacred.”
“What makes it sacred?”
“It is believed that Kora herself bathed there.”
Daphne’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”
Kronos smiled at her expression. “Yes, I am.”
“But that’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
But Daphne trailed off. Like everyone else in the village, she’d been raised to worship the gods.
Kora was their benevolent mother, goddess of fertility.
Yet Daphne had never really thought of her as…
real. Picturing an actual, physical person was impossible.
Kora was a goddess—an ethereal being who was beyond what mere mortals could comprehend.
To see this lake and to think that she had actually bathed here… It was unbelievable.