Chapter Nine
Kris
Kris was surprised by her tears. After so many years of not having her dad around, the extent of her emotion on the subject had caught her off guard.
Something about the look in Kronos’ eyes and the sincerity in his voice, though, had ripped through her carefully erected defenses, and the levee had broken.
Wiping at her watery eyes, she shook her head.
She was being stupid. There was no way the hulk who’d held her captive and sent her nervous system into a doom spiral could have been the same person to offer her comfort.
But holding her close against his fine body, that was precisely the succor he provided.
Someone strong, someone who wanted to hear her story, someone she could rely on.
“Master?” She breathed the word against his skin, her lips skimming the top of his abdominals.
“Yes.” His tone was contemplative, and for the first time since they’d both been naked, she sensed that sex was not at the fore of either of their minds.
“You said that you’re not a man.”
She hesitated, grimacing at how ridiculous that sounded.
Even though his words and behavior had intimated the likelihood many times, and only the day before, he’d told her he had power over time itself, a part of her scientifically trained mind still refused to accept the evidence of her ears and eyes.
“I did,” he agreed.
Her fingertip trailed over the ripple of his stomach muscles, helping to distract her from the absurd conversation. “So…” Her gaze flitted to his face. “What are you, then?”
Her heart hammered as the question loitered between them, and she watched his responses carefully.
He seemed relaxed, caring even, but he was such an enigma.
She didn’t want to do anything to upset the precarious balance between them.
He’d already made it known that he hadn’t forgotten about the punishment that she’d been crazy enough to ask for, so the last thing she wanted was to vex him further.
The hand steadying her hip dipped into the bathtub, and reflexively, she followed its movement.
Scanning the massive tub, she couldn’t truly call it a bath at all.
The damn thing looked more like a small swimming pool, but the fact that he’d filled it suggested he was serious about her bathing.
She considered the idea briefly, deciding that after everything she’d been through, the notion of relaxing in the water’s warm depths did sound wonderful.
“Into the tub, and I shall tell you.” That same hand rose from the water, spilling its contents in the space between the tub and their feet.
“It’s so big.” The side of the tub he expected her to climb into was virtually as tall as she was, and she saw no obvious steps to assist her. “How do I get in, Master?”
“You let me help.” His hands moved like lightning, swooping to collect her thighs and whisking her from her feet.
She yelped as he lifted her from the tile, her hands gripping his forearms as he dangled her over the water and slowly lowered her into the pool.
“How is the temperature?” he asked when her feet were submerged.
She glanced down, waiting for her brain to register the answer as her toes splashed in the contents.
“Lovely,” she answered at length. “Thank you.”
The water was hot enough to warm, but not so hot that she’d overheat.
Her fingers clasped his arms until the water lapped past her knees, and he gestured for her to sit down.
Releasing him warily, she grasped the edge of the tub and eased herself down into its depths.
She sighed as the water rose to envelope her, unaware of how badly she wanted its luxury until she was plunged into the bath.
The only problem she could see as she sank, permitting the water to wash over the back of her long hair, was that the so-called tub was so enormous that her feet didn’t reach the end, and there were no sides available for her to hold on to.
Whenever she tried to sit upright, she just slid further into the water.
Giving into the ebb and flow, she tipped her head back, her eyes temporarily closing as she allowed all of her hair to be submerged.
It had been so long since she’d showered that the clean water felt heavenly, even if she didn’t have any of her usual products available to wash herself with.
For a split second, everything was perfect.
Cozy and refreshed, she felt secure, even though there was no rational reason to believe she was.
She was satisfied in all the right ways, and despite her weariness and the fact that she must have looked terrible, she was safe to be herself.
No hairstyle, no makeup. Hell, she’d barely even worn clothes around Kronos, yet she had rarely felt judged.
Rather, whenever she’d searched his scintillating eyes, she was sure she’d seen a genuine fondness gleaming there.
The tranquility of that moment was sublime, her body suspended in the water’s warmth, but it evaporated a moment later, when an unexpected wave rushed over her face.
Opening her eyes, she gasped, unintentionally taking in a mouthful of the tub’s contents as she grappled to find an upright position.
Kronos’ hands were under her immediately, yanking her upright to accept the air her lungs craved.
Smoothing her sodden hair back with a cough, she blinked, shocked to see he’d climbed into the tub beside her.
She took in the look of his muscular hamstrings as she pulled in a deep breath. He’d released his grip on her and risen to his full, towering height.
“Are you okay?” Concern was etched into his voice.
“I’m fine, Master.” She rubbed at her eyes, taking in the scale of his strapping body as he stood in the bath next to her.
She had a vague recollection of him mentioning that they bathe together, but when he’d run the bath, she’d assumed he’d done so solely for her. Seeing him there, his honed form only a matter of inches from hers and glistening with water, though, she realized he had something else on his mind.
“My arrival caused something of a tsunami.” He grinned, lowering his perfectly formed backside into the water.
She eyed him as he settled, stretching both of his long arms on either side of the tub. Naturally, with his enormous arm span, remaining stable and upright was much easier for him than it was for her.
“You look surprised, little one.” He smirked at her. “Did you not expect me to bathe with you?”
“No,” she admitted. “But there’s plenty of space for us both.”
“True,” he replied, peering around at the space. “Though I shall need you over here.” One of his hands moved, pointing to the water covering his lap. “Don’t be shy.”
Her heart sped up at the command. Kronos was already difficult enough to resist on dry land. Goodness only knew how she was going to concentrate on anything other than his cock if she was compelled to perch on him in the warm, lapping water.
That’s the point. The explanation flitted through her head. He doesn’t want me to resist him.
She edged closer, using her hands to draw her through the water in his direction. He smiled at her approach, the gesture confirming her suspicions.
“Here,” he reiterated, once again pointing to his thighs.
“But, Master,” she started, “I thought you were going to tell me about yourself.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to fuck him again. Being around someone as aesthetically pleasing as him meant there was a part of her that always craved the outcome, but carnality hadn’t been what she’d expected. She wanted to talk.
“I am.” He reached for her hand and drew her closer, and there was little choice but to oblige him, the arm snaking around her middle insisting that she settle over his lap. She found herself only inches from his chest, her knees straddling either side of his muscular legs.
“There.” He looked unreasonably pleased with himself. “That’s much better.”
She bit back on the retort that wanted to rise at his conceited tone, ignoring the way the excited butterflies in her tummy all stretched their wings at the same time when her thighs brushed over his.
Of course, in the new position, it wasn’t only their legs that brushed against each other, and her sex clenched at the prospect of what might be to come.
She wanted to hear what he had to say, but damn, he was distracting.
“You look even better wet.” He leaned back against the side of the enormous tub, one of his eyebrows cocking at his quip.
She pressed her lips together, once again pushing down any smart-ass comments that would have potentially landed her in trouble. She didn’t need to give him any more reasons to penalize her.
“So.” His arm around her tightened, instructing all of those butterflies to simultaneously fly in different directions. “Where were we, little one?”
The seductive, dark purple gleam in his eyes conveyed that he knew precisely where they were and that he realized the effect he was having on her.
She expected that was the point.
“You were telling me about yourself, Master.” She squirmed over him, willing herself to remain still, yet apparently incapable of enacting the simple task.
“Mmmm.” His free hand rose from the water, sending a waterfall of the bath’s contents streaming after it. “You have seen the things I have done, Kristina. You must know by now that I am no mortal man.”
She frowned, frustratingly unable to argue with his twisted logic.
“And I think perhaps that you have heard of me?” That dark eyebrow cocked again. “There were once scholars of Greek mythology who were well-versed in my legend.”
She paused, considering his words. “I haven’t studied mythology, Master, but yes, I have heard of the Kronos from those old stories.”
“The Kronos?” His lips twitched at her explanation. “Do you think there are two of us?”
“I…” She searched his face, looking for any sign that he was speaking in jest, but his expression remained passive, giving little away except his eagerness to hear her reply. “You’re saying that you’re that Kronos?”
Even after the things she’d seen him do, she struggled to believe the Goliath she was straddling was actually a Greek god. That was an utterly insane notion.
For a start, Kronos was a purely fictitious soul, penned by those Greek scholars he referred to, she assumed, to create characters for the stories they wished to tell.
He had never been a real being. Then were the pure logistics.
Such a being would have been hundreds and hundreds of years old; an achievement that no one, however mighty, could have possibly accomplished.
“Is it so difficult to believe?” His question was a sigh, one of his hands rising to tug his mop of dark hair away from his eyes. “Do I not amaze you with the things I do?”
She blinked at him, dumbfounded. It was true he’d done some incredible things since she’d been there, few so impressive as materializing out of thin air, but that didn’t mean she’d deduced he was a god.
He was an illusionist, a great performer, and a self-assured fighter. That was how he’d been able to blindside her with theatrics and keep her safe, and aside from not being able to leave the confines of her prison, she was thankful for everything he’d done for her.
“But I don’t believe in gods, Master.” Her hands gripped her thighs, attempting to steady herself as the water lapped rhythmically around them. “I don’t know exactly how you’ve done all the things you’ve done, but—”
“You don’t think it’s because I’m a god.” His tone was wry as he concluded her answer.
“Precisely.”
She didn’t want to offend him, but she also prided herself on her honesty. However persuasive the relentless chemistry simmering between them was, she wasn’t going to lie to his face.
“Still the scientist, eh?”
The hand at her back shifted, lowering to the curve of her ass and drawing her body right up against his. She gasped as their bodies collided, the water rising between them before dispersing into waves around the mammoth tub.
“I don’t know who else to be.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth at the admission.
Who else was she?
The hard-working graduate was the woman she’d fought and strove to become. She’d never given much thought to who else she wanted to be.
“What will it take for me to prove my power to you?” He leaned forward, grazing a kiss on her forehead. The caress was hot and unhurried, promising more. “If your surroundings and the things you have seen are not enough, then tell me, little one, what will be?”