Page 6 of Kronos’ Consort

“I want to make it up to you, Master.” She frowned at the declaration, but she didn’t regret her words.

Whether she stayed or returned to the small house she shared with Tina and Melanie, she accepted her actions had unintentionally wounded him, and she prided herself on being a decent person. She needed to make amends for any hurt she’d caused.

“Is that right, little one?” There was the taunting tone again, but the resonance did its job, insisting her gaze rose to meet his.

“Yes, Master.”

She pushed her hands together, battling with her guilt. She had to do something to appease him, had to make him realize that while her urge to flee had been natural, she longed to make amends.

“Please, Master.” Pulling in a deep breath, she held his gaze and asked for the one thing she should have wanted to avoid. “I need to be punished.”

Chapter Four

Kronos

Kronos’ lips curled at her plea. Kristina had looked awkward and unsettled ever since he’d released his grasp on her, but even given her discomfort, an appeal for a penalty was the last thing he’d been anticipating her to say. Was the blonde with the big blue eyes truly the same wildcat who’d woken up and adamantly refused to cede to his spanking? Not much time had elapsed between those two events, yet it seemed he wasn’t the only one who’d been altered during that period.

Relaxing against his chair, he made her wait on purpose. She’d let him down by trying to flee, but he could understand the desire for liberty. He’d known it once himself when he’d been flung to the pits of Tartarus and bound there behind its bronze gates. Watching his little one, though, he was more concerned about her health than her rebellion. Not long prior, he’d found her dead on his marble floor. She needed to rest before he’d consider enacting any sort of punishment. He wouldn’t do anything to exacerbate her healing.

“You do indeed,” he concurred, delighting in the way her gaze flitted nervously from his and back to her robe-covered thighs. He’d have her out of that dress again soon, but at that moment, he was having too much fun playing to contemplate the command. “Look at me.”

She heaved out a breath, but he was pleased to see her comply, her head slowly raising so their eyes could meet again. Shards of emotions glimmered in the depths of her gaze. Leaning closer, he ignored her burning cheeks and gazed deeper into those inviting orbs. Her apprehension about what he might say next glimmered there, as well as whatever shame she felt at wanting to flee. Simmering below the surface of both was the feeling he knew would keep her rooted to his lap; her frantic desire for him to once again extinguish the flames between her legs.

“I know why you want to leave.” It pained him to admit it, but any intelligent creature pursued freedom when it was caged, and his beautiful Kristina was smarter than most.

She swallowed at his admission. “It was a reflex, Master. I woke up, you were gone, and I saw a chance to get away. I’m not proud of how I’ve made you feel.”

“You shall be punished, and then forgiven.” His matter-of-fact tone gave nothing away about how he intended to deliver the penance. “That is not the issue.”

“So…” she paused, her expression uncertain. “What is the issue, Master?”

“How we remedy the impulse going forward.” He reached for the hand nearest to him, running his fingers over hers. “I can keep you by my side, but I don’t want to be worried about you doing something stupid every time I turn my back.”

“I won’t.” She gulped, tears threatening in her alluring gaze. “You’ll keep me too busy for that, Master.”

He chuckled, the sound dark even to his own ears. “I will,” he agreed. “But that isn’t the point. Usually, I have time to break a woman down and then build her back up. In that process, she finds joy in her service and is content to stay with me until The Advancement. With you, everything has been accelerated, Kristina.” His free hand rose to her nape, and despite his initial desire to send a message with his aloofness, he found himself tugging her closer. “I need to know you can find pleasure at my feet, or there might be no other choice than to bind you.”

Her face blanched at the suggestion, but as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth, he couldn’t decide whether it was anxiety or arousal provoking the response.

“You’re right.” Her voice was scarcely even a whisper. “This has all happened so fast. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”

He smirked at her turn of phrase. “Let me help you, little one. There’ll be no one coming but me until your punishment is concluded.”

“Master.” She slapped his chest playfully. “You know what I mean.”

“I do,” he confirmed with a smile. “And I need to decide on the solution.”

“It sounds like I’m more than even you bargained for, Master.” Her fingers splayed over his ceremonial tunic.

“Something like that,” he admitted. “I have certainly never met a woman like you.”

Silence swirled between them then, but it wasn’t strained the way he might have expected. Instead, to him, it seemed as though the two of them had reached an uneasy impasse, both accepting the flaws of the situation, and, he hoped, neither prepared to give up on the other.

“Kristina.” An urgency that he hadn’t anticipated echoed in his tone, and she responded to it, her eyes widening as she leaned closer.

“Master?”

“I can tether you and overpower you.” He held her gaze, wanting her to know those were two options he was more than prepared to take if necessary. “But I’d much prefer to have your acquiescence.”