“Is that for me, Master?”She glanced between him and the bed as far as his digits allowed.
Punctuating the whispered words, his fingers tightened at her jaw.“I.Said.Go.”
She nodded, slipping from his hand and walking toward the bed.Perching tentatively on the edge of the covers, her gaze slid back to him.
“Under the blankets,” he directed, his attention flitting to Shelley to ensure she was still behaving.He found her waiting where he’d instructed, her focus fixed on the clouds outside.
The brunette he’d been training for so long was ready to go.That much was obvious.Her body was still conforming to his will, but he could sense the anxiety growing within her.Perhaps she was worried, wondering if he might change his mind and choose to keep them both, but she needn’t have fretted.He had no intention of changing tack.Life with Shelley had been a pleasure, but their time together was over.He had Kristina to think of, and it was clear she was going to be more than a handful.
By the time he glanced back at Kristina, she had slipped under the three scarlet blankets he’d provided.She nibbled on her lip as he advanced on her, her eyes apprehensive, even though she had achieved the feat she requested.She’d pleaded not to go back to her cell, and he’d succumbed to the wish.His brow rose at how easily she’d persuaded him.She’d asked, and he’d given in; it had really been that simple.
What had happened to the king of the Titans that one little mortal had so effortlessly wrapped him around her finger?Gazing at her, he couldn’t figure out how she’d accomplished such a task, but in a matter of hours, she’d melded the deity of destruction into a god who cared more about her disquiet than his blessed rules and structure.
“You’re going to give in to my charm and sleep now.”He considered adding magical binds to the bed and physically restraining her but decided against the choice.The incantation he was using was so potent that she would be out for the count for the rest of the day.“I’ll see you when I’m back.”
She nodded, pulling the cover closer to her chin.“Thank you, Master.”
Crouching by her face, he cast the intention, doubling down on the intensity of the sleep charm and sending the magic flooding over the bed.The ones he’d employed previously hadn’t been adequate, but while he was taking Shelley back to the bus station, though, there was no choice.
He needed to know she was safe and doing what he asked of her.
Shehadto sleep.
An odd tension washed over him as he waited for the magic to work, time protracting while he watched her lids grow heavy.He wasn’t sure why when he was still the one with all the power; the one with magic quite literally in his fingertips.There was no reason he should have been perturbed by either the enchantment or the concept of leaving her while she slept, yet somehow, he was.Deep in his belly, he sensed the energetic disturbance, the tiny ball of tension snaking into knots like writhing serpents.
Back where he’d come from, snakes were often associated with prophecies; divinations that offered insight into what was to come.As her breathing finally settled into a deep, regular rhythm, he frowned at that thought.If the nudge in his gut was really foresight, then it could have been a warning; a caution about what was to come.But even if that was true—even if leaving Kristina alone was a mistake—he had little choice.She was asleep, and it was time to take Shelley back to the human life he’d snatched her from all those months before.
He rose from his Sleeping Beauty, casting one more glance over her before he made his way to Shelley.
Only time would tell whether those snakes had been trying to predict portentous tidings.In the meantime, he had important work to see to.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kris
A stream of golden warmth wrapped around her, enveloping Kris the way Kronos’ body had once done.She squirmed at the memory of him, her sex clenching as she remembered how unnervingly good his touch was.
Kronos was the stern, muscular giant who had well and truly mastered her, but he had also shown her another aspect to him, a gentler side that appeared to respond to her pleas.Both versions of the Goliath had become the center of her whole world; her captor and her companion, and even as she stirred from what felt like an exceptionally deep and nourishing sleep, she realized it was him she looked for.
Where was he?
She didn’t know for certain, but she sensed he was no longer with her, yet when she thought to turn her head and see for herself, she couldn’t muster the energy.
He’d talked about going somewhere, hadn’t he?She strained her mind to think, but in the haze of her semi-consciousness, there were no immediate answers.Despite the rest she’d enjoyed, her body was still tired.Reallytired.It was the type of weariness that seeped into her bones and insisted on stillness.There would be no moving or looking for him in the short term.In that moment, there was only the consolation of the golden light and its ability to cradle her.
Breathing in its energy, she mused on why she was so tired.
She’d been working hard recently, and she supposed she’d been partying hard, too.Hours spent in lectures and the library were coupled with the need to drown out her Shaun-related blues.Burning the candle at both ends had seemed like a good idea at the time, but perhaps with reflection, she accepted she was ill-equipped to deal with the consequences.
That realization hung over her like an intense cloud, its weight threatening some indiscernible emotional response from her.
She hadn’t been ready for the consequences.
The thought echoed in her mind, surprisingly resonant, although sprawled there, she couldn’t decide why.Its significance lingered as she leaned into the welcome heat that the golden light appeared to emanate.She wasn’t clear where the source of that warmth was coming from, but she sensed its protection encompassing her, as though she’d been draped in a celestial veil of comforting light.
She inhaled deeply, satisfied, yet aware that deep down, something wasn’t right.Superficially, everything seemed well.She was exhausted, yes, but it was nothing several more hours’ sleep couldn’t resolve, but butterflies fluttered their wings in her tummy, giving her the unsettling sense that there was something she was missing.
“Kronos.”
