CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR #3
Daphne felt a sudden pang of concern for the queen.
She thought about what Kronos had said—how her life was bound to Bastian’s.
It was not a fate she wished for Deltene.
She wanted to comfort the queen, to say something that would bring back her smile.
Before she could do so, Deltene trailed her fingers up Daphne’s thighs and brushed gently over her clitoris.
Daphne gasped. She had never been touched that way by a woman before.
As soon as it began, it was over. Deltene extended her hand and helped Daphne up from the bench, holding on to her until she was fully upright.
Then she turned to the guests and said, “Return to your hosts.”
There was nothing Daphne wanted more. She walked back to Kronos as quickly as she dared without looking like an overeager idiot, reaching for him the moment he was in range. He pulled her into his arms, pressing his lips to her forehead.
“You did well.”
She smiled against his chest. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“The queen talked to me.”
“Did she now?”
“Yes. She—”
Before she could tell him the details, Deltene spoke again. “Once you have shared your scents with your host, proceed to your mats.”
Daphne looked up at Kronos questioningly. “Share our scents?”
“It is a way to bind us together,” Kronos said. “As guest and host.”
Daphne was rather wary of bonds at the moment.
At her expression, Kronos said, “It is only symbolic.”
“How does it work?” she asked.
In reply, Kronos pulled her closer. He slipped his hand between her legs, sliding it up both her thighs until he reached her center.
Then he brushed over her clitoris in the same way Deltene had mere moments ago.
Daphne tried not to moan as he did it. His touch was just as brief as the queen’s had been; the moment it began, it was over.
She watched as he slid his hand between his own thighs before palming his cock. He dropped his hand.
“Now we are bonded,” Kronos whispered.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Daphne whispered back.
He smiled. “Indeed.”
There was a bustle of activity behind him.
Twelve mats were being laid out, one beneath each vial.
At the end of each mat stood corresponding stone tables with what looked like silk scarves lying on them.
Daphne squinted. Blindfolds. Kronos touched her waist, pulling her toward the mat beneath his vial.
The crowd formed a circle around the mats, standing far closer than Daphne would have liked.
The hiss was deafening now, the energy in the room undeniably high.
Whereas before there had been respectful silence for the queen, now Daphne heard moans and exclamations as the basilisks around them began to have sex.
At the sight, her throat became tight. She remembered that she was about to have twelve orgasms. In front of other people.
Bastian stood in front of the mats, his arms thrown wide, addressing the crowd.
“The Ranking will begin with the first challenge. The rules are simple: Bring your guest to climax twelve times. This is a way to exercise control, to demonstrate leadership.”
“Leadership?” Daphne whispered.
Kronos gave her hip a squeeze but didn’t respond.
The king continued: “A king must have obedient subjects. Any host who can command their guest is worthy of commanding the basilisks.”
Daphne tried to quell the squeamish feeling in her chest.
“Remove the blindfold at any time and your host’s rank will drop.”
She glanced up at Kronos. The information didn’t seem to worry him. But it worried her. What if she became panicked and needed an escape? Even with Kronos to guide her, she did not like the prospect of losing one of her senses in a room full of basilisks.
“You must trust your host to see for you,” Bastian continued. “They are in control.”
Kronos dipped his mouth to Daphne’s ear. “You are in control,” he murmured. “Always.”
She hardly believed him anymore. All around them, the basilisks in the crowd were fucking each other with unbridled enthusiasm. Daphne knew it was a preview of what was about to happen on the mats. Before she could utter a word, Kronos was already turning to her.
“We shall not do anything you are not ready for,” he said quietly, the words meant only for her.
There was only one thing she wasn’t ready for.
“Then how can we win?”
To her surprise, he smiled.
“There are many ways to make you come,” he said, “and I am quite adept at all of them.”
“Will it be enough?” she whispered.
He gave her a look. “I can do more with my fingers than most can with their cocks.”
Daphne already knew that was true. But she also wondered whether they could possibly win. “Won’t we be at a disadvantage?” she insisted.
He shook his head. “Our disadvantage is not what you think, Daphne. Our disadvantage is that I cannot read your mind. All the other basilisks are able to do so. It will make it so they are in sync in a way we are not.”
She hadn’t even thought of that. He was right; that was their true disadvantage.
“You must communicate with me,” Kronos continued. “If you do not like something, you must tell me. And if you want me to do something, you must tell me that too.”
Daphne nodded, trying very hard to process all of this information at once. “You said the crest makes me beholden to you.”
“It does.”
“So can’t you just…tell me to come?”
He shook his head. “I do not wish to give you orders.”
“Why not?”
“It would be taking advantage of you.”
“Only if you abuse the privilege.”
Kronos pursed his lips. “It is not a privilege, Daphne. It is a responsibility, and it is one I take seriously. To give you an order would be to control you. I never want to do that again.”
She noticed how he didn’t say he never would do it again, just that he didn’t want to.
“You could tell me what to do,” Kronos continued. “Everyone else will be commanded by their hosts. I would be commanded by you.”
Asking for what she wanted—or worse, telling someone to do it—wasn’t something Daphne was used to.
Although she desperately wanted to try. She’d never been in a relationship where her voice held equal sway.
She’d never been in any type of relationship at all.
She was unlearning all of her past habits right now, all at once.
It was too much for any sane person to take.
The guests were all taking their places on their mats.
With no other choice, Daphne did the same, following their lead so that she was standing on her mat facing the crowd.
Kronos stood before her, his hands at his sides.
His hair was thrown back over his shoulders, his head held high. He looked proud.
“If you wish to supplement,” Bastian said, his voice carrying over the noise of the crowd. “Do so now.”
Daphne frowned. Supplement?
There was no time to be curious. Kronos was already reaching for his cock.
She watched him as he touched himself, observing the way his veins stood out beneath his skin, his muscles flexing with each stroke.
A sheen of sweat dappled his chest. He was so beautiful—far more beautiful than anyone else.
Daphne couldn’t help but feel suddenly like they were the only people in the room.
Moments later Kronos came into his hand, his cum pouring onto his palm as he let out a satisfied groan.
For a moment, nothing else happened. Then his cum began to move, forming a claw-shaped item in his hand.
It looked like the exact same substance that had formed the lingerie; it was gleaming and pale as a pearl.
His essence. Daphne thought back to the night in her room—how the lingerie had moved around her body, ebbing and flowing like the sea.
She thought of the part that had penetrated her—the part that looked just like the claw he was holding.
A glance down the line of hosts revealed other shapes.
Some were a claw like Kronos’s, some looked more like a string of beads, some were a harness-like contraption that Daphne did not dare wonder what its use could be.
On the far end of the line she recognized Caspenon.
He was as tall and terrifying as ever, his eyes completely black.
His hands were empty; apparently he was the only basilisk who did not care to supplement.
His guest was a gorgeous woman with yellow eyes and petulant lips.
Beside him was a man who looked similar to him and also to Bastian.
Daphne wondered briefly whether that was the brother Kronos had mentioned—the one who shared the same woman.
Before she could dwell on it, Kronos stepped forward. He reached for the blindfold.
Bastian spoke again, throwing his arms wide as he delivered his final line.
“Let the first challenge begin.”