Chapter Eighteen
Kronos
Her eyes fluttered closed as his digits worked at the tension at the back of her head. “But Master, I can’t live up to your standards.”
Kronos shook his head at her negative self-talk.
Whether it had been her childhood, the society in which she’d grown up in, or the less-than-inspiring men she’d encountered before he’d found her, he didn’t know, but something had pounded her sense of worth into the ground.
Likely, it had been the cumulative effect of all those influences that had conditioned the woman currently squirming on his lap.
Splaying his fingers in her soft tresses, he was more determined than ever to untangle the knots those pressures had formed in her.
He endeavored to help every woman he claimed, but in Kristina, he’d found someone he valued for more than only sex and submission.
He longed to see her thrive under his tutelage.
“You are delightful,” he told her as her lids flitted open. “The only woman out of all the hundreds I have seized who has captivated me.”
He sensed her alarm at his words, the racing organ in her chest skipping a beat in response.
“Captivated you, Master?” she parroted, her expression morphing from bewildered to alarmed. “But you were the one who captured me.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But you have enthralled me.”
He intentionally slowed his words, needing her to know he meant every one of them.
“And I will spend as much time as it takes to make you believe how incredible you are. Remember, unlike mortal men, I have no other distractions. There is no vocation that will take me from your side, and no other people to pull us apart. When I say I’ll dedicate myself to you, little one, I mean it. ”
She swallowed, her eyes large as she spoke again. “I don’t know what to say, Master.”
“Yes, you do.” His hand slid to her jaw again, taking her chin gently between his thumb and finger. “What do you say when I compliment you?”
She met his gaze, and in hers he saw scores of unspoken emotions. He would know her feelings, would demand that she vocalize every one of them, but for the time being, he would accept her gratitude.
“Thank you?” It was more of a question than an expression of appreciation.
“Yes,” he cooed. “Thank me, and know that for you, Kristina, I will do anything.”
A tiny smile grew at her lips. “Thank you, Master.”
That was more like it, but he could hear the emotion laced in her voice.
“I’ll try to be worthy of you.” Tears brimmed in her eyes as she pulled in a shaky breath.
“All you have to do is what you’ve already offered,” he assured her, stroking the underside of her chin. “Stay with me, study me, and choose to submit to me.”
She lifted one hand and dabbed at her eyes. “I can do that, Master.”
“Yes, you can.”
He pressed what should have been a chaste kiss to her mouth, but as their lips collided, the caress took on a life of its own, goading his intent. She mewled at the contact, leaning closer and running her fingers over his forearms as she succumbed.
“I can’t believe it’s me that you really want.” Her voice was breathy when he withdrew, but her tears had receded, and if he didn’t know better, he could have sworn the old sparkle had returned to those fabulous blue orbs. “But I would be honored to be here with you, Master.”
He pulled her tighter against him. “I can never give you up, Kristina. You’re the addiction I do not want to break.”
“I can’t imagine any sort of life without you, either,” she admitted. “I just never thought someone like you could fall for someone like me.”
She wasn’t the only one who was surprised by the intensity of his feelings, and if the look in her scintillating eyes was anything to go by, he wasn’t the only one grappling with their enormity.
“And what of you, little one?” The hand that had been on her face slid to her shoulder. “How do you feel about your master?”
He supposed she might not have been expecting such a direct question. Humans seemed content to dance around the queries they wished to express, rather than face them head-on, but as she was well aware by that point, Kronos was no mortal.
He had conveyed something of the depth of his feelings about her, and he desired to hear those emotions reciprocated. Her body had told him often enough how she felt, but it was time she did the same.
“I don’t even think there are words for what I feel.” She laughed at the absurdity of the claim.
“Try,” he commanded. “You have such a lovely way with words.”
Her mouth twisted at the praise. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, Master.” Her chest rose and fell faster at the confession. “You have come into my life and taken me over.” She shook her head with a smile. “You have consumed me.”
“I’d like to consume you,” he reminded her with a salacious wink. “I remember how good you tasted by the fire, little one.”
His cock throbbed with a fresh urgency as he recalled laying her out on the rug and devouring her. Soon, after she was fed and he’d dealt with the insatiable fervor she provoked, he would have that pleasure again.
“Yes.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth, her cheeks coloring. “I recall too, Master.”
She leaned even nearer, as though she was going to say something illicit. “Can we do that again soon?”
“Oh, yes.” He could already imagine the sordid details. The way he would bind her to ensure she kept her hands to herself and the noises that would leak from her lips once his mouth was buried between her thighs. “But first, you will tell me more. Tell me how I consume you.”
“You’re everywhere.” She glanced around as if to demonstrate the point. “You’re everything, Master. Every thought in my head, every desire, every hope for the future. Suddenly, it all depends upon you.”
“That’s right.” The way she’d depicted his authority was precisely how he wanted it to be for her, and having been open about his feelings, his supremacy was only going to intensify. “It does depend on me.”
His hands shifted to her glorious breasts, pushing them gently together.
Her flesh was warm in his palms, her nipples pebbling, and the way she moaned affirmed his impious thoughts.
Having her delectable body so close to him was driving him wild with need.
He wanted to hear what she had to say, but equally, he knew it wouldn’t be long before he had to have her again.
She completed him in a way he would never have believed was possible until their two worlds had collided.
“Remember rule three, little one.” He shifted back to create space between their bodies and traced his fingertips over her areola. “All of your pleasure is mine to command.”
“Yes, Master.” Her pupils dilated as she searched his face, but she never once tried to resist his touch. “I’m yours.”
His passion soared at her admission, and in that moment, the decision was made.
He would possess her again, and since her backside was still recovering from his recent onslaught, he would help her achieve the aim.
Willing her body into the air, he held on to her hips as she rose a few inches over his thighs.
“Master?” She reached for his biceps to steady herself, but the truth was, she seemed less disconcerted by his magical authority every time he wielded it.
“I want you.” There seemed no need for further explanation. His straining shaft had already demonstrated the point for her. “I need to show you how much you mean to me.”
“Yes, please.” Her plea was like a sigh on her lips. “I want that.”
Her assent was the frosting on his already enormous cake, and as his hand lowered to grasp the base of his cock, he angled the crown of his pulsing length at her glistening sex.
“Say it,” he growled, ensuring his gaze speared her. It was taking every ounce of his will to suspend her there over his hard shaft, and as soon as she complied with his demand, he would give them both what they needed and send her gliding down over his girth. “Say that you want me.”
Her breaths were ragged as her delicate hands settled on his shoulders. “I want your cock, Master.”
There were no inhibitions from her anymore, whatever coyness had once existed in little Kristina lost to the experiences they’d survived.
“Please fuck me,” she urged him. “Fuck me so hard that I couldn’t even tell you to stop if I wanted to.” Her grin grew. “Which I won’t.”
Releasing her from his magical command, his hands shifted to her thighs and steadied her while his shaft slid into her wet pussy.
They called out in unison, the room soon filled with the noise of their guttural cries and breathy whimpers.
Arching her back, she took control and rode him, and as his orgasm loomed, he reveled in all that they had achieved.
Chapter Nineteen
Kris
Time was a perpetual haze around Kronos, the seconds blurring into hours, and maybe even days, until Kris no longer had any idea what the metric was good for.
The ‘when’ had always seemed so important as a student.
She was always rushing from one lecture to another before dashing to meet her friends.
When Kronos had come crashing into her life, though, that had all shifted.
In his realm, time was only another thing he controlled, its significance lost to his will, just as her liberty, and more perturbingly, her desire to be free, had been lost to him.
Sitting at the vast black dining table and pushing the final piece of bread past her lips, all she knew for sure was that an amount of time had passed since he’d told her he was falling in love with her.
And that from then on, everything had been different.
Swallowing down her mouthful, she corrected that thought.
Not everything.
Kronos was still her master; the steadfast, unyielding pulse that sustained her. He still set the tone, the blossoming dynamic between them guided by his rules and the commitments they had made in his parlor.