Page 57 of Kneel Before Me

She hoped he didn’t notice how high her voice was, how clearly desperate she was to hear his answer. Daphne expected Kronos to push her away. Instead he shook his head. “I am not hurt.”

“Then what happened to you?”

“The blood is not mine. I was hunting.”

Daphne dropped her hand. “Oh.”

There was a pause. She dared to ask, “Is…that why you weren’t in the cave earlier? Because you were hunting?”

Kronos squared his shoulders. “No.”

Daphne suppressed a wave of fear. The way he was looking at her made her feel uneasy. She took a deep breath before asking, “Then why weren’t you there?”

The pause went on for what felt like forever. Kronos seemed to be mulling something over, and Daphne wished she knew what it was. Finally, he said, “You are the prince’s first choice.”

Daphne frowned. “You already know that.”

Kronos didn’t answer. She didn’t know what to say, whether she should bring up what happened last time or not. It seemed safest to stick with the topic at hand.

“Aren’t you…happy I’m his first choice?”

Kronos let out a harsh laugh. “Happy is the last thing I am.”

“But why? You’re the one who told me to find another way to win.”

“I am well aware of what I told you.”

“Did you change your mind?”

“No,” he gritted out. “I did not change my mind.”

In that case, Daphne was going to force him to say it. “So you still want me to win?”

Kronos sighed, and the motion seemed to ripple through his entire body. “Yes. I still want you to win.”

“Then why are you—”

“Why did you come here, Daphne? To my private chambers.” He cut her off, taking a step closer. The air seemed to crackle between them. “It is dangerous. You should have just gone home.”

Tears pricked her eyes. He was rejecting her. “I wanted to see you, and you weren’t in the cave,” she whispered.

She expected him to scoff or at the very least admonish her. He did neither. Instead, Kronos closed his eyes. Daphne studied his face in the glowing firelight, tracing the sharp angles of his cheekbones. The Y-shaped mark on his chest stood out against his smooth skin. She wanted to kiss it.

“Daphne,” he said quietly.

She waited for the rest of his sentence, but it never came. His eyes remained closed, his hand still cupping his cock. Daphne wished he would release it.

“Kronos,” she said back, because she wasn’t sure what else to say. The only sound was the snap of the fire. Everything that had happened at their last meeting ran through her head: the way she’d touched him, the way he’d placed his hand over hers, the way they’d almost kissed. Was he thinking of it too?

He opened his eyes, looking straight into hers. “I have never had a student like you.”

Slow, delicate hope bloomed in her chest. “To be fair, you haven’t really taught me anything. So I’m hardly your student.”

The slightest smile pulled at his lips.

Daphne smiled back, encouraging his with hers.

“As I recall, you said I had nothing to teach you.”