Recalling how delightful she had been there, he smirked.Little ones who didn’t do as they were told would live with the consequences of their actions, and although he accepted Kristina hadn’t known his rules when she’d ventured out, he had warned her more than once, and she’d chosen to ignore him.
“So, eat up,” he concluded, employing that same shrewd timbre.“Everything on your plate must be eaten.”
“Everything?”Looking up from her plate, unease glimmered in her wonderful blue eyes.“But Master, this is a huge plate of food.”
“You’ll manage.”He arched an eyebrow at her, sending her the unspoken message that the matter of clearing her plate was a battle she wasn’t going to win.“There’s no rush.”
Although that wasn’t strictly true.Shelley would be stirring soon, and she’d wonder where her master was.Tucking into another mouthful of lentils, he decided to bring the brunette’s advancement forward.With Kristina providing such fascinating impetus, he was ready to let Shelley go.
“I’ll try, Master.”Collecting a forkful of vegetables, she pushed the food into her mouth and chewed.
“Let me be clear, little one,” he went on.“I take the job of providing you with adequate nutrition extremely seriously.Your meals will give you everything you need, and I expect you to eat them.”
“It’s so big, though,” she whined.
He had the sense she was working hard to be well-mannered.“It’s an average-sized meal with the correct number of calories, and youwilleat it.”
Her eyes rose to meet his, her brow creasing as she swallowed down the order.“Master, I’m trying to be reasonable.It’s too much for me.”
He lifted his chin at the talk of non-cooperation, fighting the urge to grin.She’d claimed to be hungry before he’d brought her there, just as she’d claimed to be sorry for thinking him a would-be murderer, yet all it had taken was one plate of salmon and lentils, and already she was reverting to the obstinate woman he remembered from her cell.
“Remember, rule one, Kristina.”He heaped the last of his fish onto his fork and turned to lock eyes with her.“I do not think you want to try me on this.”
“But Master…” she complained.
“Eat up.”Glancing at the hill of lentils and half a salmon waiting on her plate, he could see she hadn’t even tried to comply.“You do not want your master to contrive another penalty for you, but if you fail to eat, then I will.”
She sighed theatrically, slamming her cutlery against the crockery in a show of insolence, but she did continue eating, pushing another forkful of lentils past her lips.
Her eyes told another story, though, and looking into them, he was glad that he could finally decipher those depths.Kronos couldn’t read the feelings of every human’s eyes he glanced at, but the more time he spent around them, the easier the feat became.
In her deep sapphire gaze, a fire burned and, in the flames, he could see the contradiction she wrestled with.Her confusion was morphing into anger and a desire to dig her heels in, but she already knew where that path would lead her.On top of all that, though, like the rather plump cherry on top of a frosted cake, was her persistent passion for him.He sensed that she despised its intensity, but it was there, searing like scalding embers she couldn’t extinguish.
“If I eat it all, I might be ill, Master.”She glanced his way, apparently hoping the appeal might win him over.
“If you are ill, then I shall look after you,” he told her, his tone straightforward.“It is not my intention to make you unwell, but we must acclimatize your stomach to a proper-sized meal.”
Placing her fork down gently, she frowned.“You’re really going to make me finish this, aren’t you?”
“Yes, little one.”He had been nothing but transparent about his intentions.“You finish the meal, and then you rest.”
She huffed, tucking the stray strands of her hair behind her ears, and he couldn’t resist the smile that stretched across his face at the sight of her.For all her emotional pendulums, she was perfect, her sublime imperfections only proving the point.
Eyeing her forking another mouthful of food past her tempting lips, he contemplated her appeal.She blew hot and cold, lurching from passion to terror, like a living, breathing paradox.He was used to human emotion, but Kristina was something else; a vision of emotional intensity he’d never appreciated before.
He would tame her extremes with patience and practice, but he hoped he never completely smoothed over her emotional edges.In her eyes, he saw something he didn’t want to lose, a magic all of her own, and in the short time they’d spent together, he’d recognized the captivating influence she held over him.She gave him something new, something he’d never encountered with Shelley or any of the others, an energy that quieted the turmoil and noise of his endless existence.
A verve that could finally bring peace to the king of the Titans.
It wasn’t only that she brought color to the bland shades that his life had become, but something far greater; a primal need to protect her as well as punish.A need to nurture amongst his dominance.
“Let’s talk while you finish eating,” he said, considering the food still sitting on her plate.
It was that vitality that drove him to make things easier for her.He’d rarely felt the need with the others, insisting they comply or face the consequences, but with her, he seemed to need to bend his own rules, lubricating some of the friction between them.
“Talk about what, Master?”She paused between mouthfuls, appearing grateful for the reprieve.
“What made you think I was going to kill Shelley?”It was as good a time as any to inquire about her false presumption.“Is that truly what you think I’ve brought you both here for?”
