Page 124 of Kneel Before Me

It was a valid question. They were intertwined—nearly naked. She’d already shared plenty of herself tonight. Why not share a little more?

“I’m frightened of how I’ll feel after.”

“If I do my job right, you will feel good.”

Daphne smiled. She knew he was lightening the mood. But this was a serious situation. Their circumstances were not ideal, and she saw no solution. “Kronos,” she said quietly. “I don’t know what to do.”

He pursed his lips, regarding her with suppressed emotion. “I do not know either.”

They stared at each other in the darkness. For the first time in his presence, Daphne felt sadness. Grief, almost. As if she were mourning something that would never be. Usually Kronos made everything better. But right now his presence hurt. It was a reminder of what she couldn’t have. Daphne raised her hand slowly, brushing her fingers over the slope of his shoulder.

Kronos closed his eyes and let out an exhale as she reached his face. She traced her fingertips along his jaw, skimming over chin and resting on his full lips. He was so beautiful. It seemed unfair that basilisks could possess both power and beauty.

Kronos opened his eyes. He raised his hand, his touch mirroring hers, his fingers finding her neck, then her jaw, then her lips. He brushed only his thumb over her bottom lip, pulling it ever so slightly open. Daphne breathed through it all, although she barely could. Somehow this was more intimate than what they’d done earlier—even the pearls couldn’t compare to the simple feeling of his skin on hers.

“I may not know what to do,” Kronos whispered. “But I know I want you.”

Tears filled her eyes. She wanted him too. Dearly. Perhaps more than she’d ever wanted anyone. But she was also afraid. Of being hurt, of falling in love, of being discarded by a creature who had had a much longer and fuller life than she had. Daphne was only on this earth for a short while; Kronos would be on it for much longer. How could she hope to compare to his own kind?

“Why would you want me?” she whispered back.

To her surprise, he smiled, his teeth gleaming in the dark. “That,” he said quietly, “is a ridiculous question.”

“No it isn’t.” Daphne had never needed to hear an answer more.

His smile faded. “Do you truly not know?”

Rather than dignifying that with a reply, Daphne remained silent. She would not beg for praise. He should know to give it.

“Daphne,” he breathed. “How could I not want you?” Kronos had an infuriating habit of answering questions with another question. “You are the only woman who has ever compelled me,” he continued.

“Compelled you to do what?”

He paused, clearly choosing his words carefully. “To feel.”

“That’s exactly what scares me.”

“So you are frightened of feelings.”

“Feelings are complicated.”

“That is true.” His fingers slid over the curve of her bottom lip. “But they are also what make life worth living.”

He knew quite a bit more about life than she did.

“I’m frightened of falling for you,” Daphne whispered. “But mostly I’m frightened of falling alone.”

“You would not be alone.”

Daphne didn’t dare believe it. She’d been raised to fear the basilisks. There were walls around the village and rumors whispered in the streets. Blood and pain and petrification were the tenets of the snakes. The fact that she was lying here with one was an impossibility she couldn’t even wrap her head around. It defied reason.

“Daphne,” he said quietly. “My life was empty before you. Now it is full.”

“But what if I’m not enough? You told me that being with me would cost you. We both know that’s true.”

“You are worth the price,” he said immediately.

But she shook her head. “You said basilisks don’t consider humans their equal. What kind of future would we have?”