Page 71 of Kneel Before Me

Daphne shrugged. She hadn’t seen Maximus’s cock, but she’d seen the bulge in his trousers when she was naked in his bathtub, and there was no way he was tiny. “I just…know.”

“Maybe you’ll find out for sure tomorrow.”

“Maybe.”

Ella took a sip of her beer. Daphne merely stared at hers.

She wished she were seeing Kronos tonight. Would it be so wrong to go to the caves? They hadn’t expressly agreed to meet tonight, but Daphne couldn’t imagine he would kick her out. Surely he wanted to see her just as much as she wanted to see him.

“Daph?”

She blinked. Ella was staring at her. “What?”

“I said, do you want another round?”

“Oh. Sure.”

Ella left to retrieve a couple of beers from Steve. When she returned, Daphne said, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. Anything.”

“How did you know you loved Nathan?”

Ella tilted her head. “I don’t know. It was just a feeling.”

“Yes, but”—Daphne turned to face her—“what kind of feeling?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… Did it feel good? Or…scary?”

Ella tilted her head, thinking. “A little bit of both, probably. But mostly good.”

Daphne nodded. The way she felt about Kronos did not feel good. It wasn’t that she thought she might be in love with him—their circumstances prevented that anyway—but she couldn’t deny that she felt something for the basilisk. If she knew for a fact that she was never going to see him again, she would be devastated. The thought alone made her want to throw herself off the nearest cliff.

“Why do you ask?”

She shook her head. “No reason.”

But of course there was a reason. If Daphne loved Kronos, it would be worth it to take her clothes off for Maximus. If she loved him, she would win the competition for him.

“Are you in love with the prince?” Ella asked.

Daphne let out a snort. “He’s not looking for love.”

“That’s usually when you find it.”

Daphne said nothing and downed the rest of her beer.

The next day passed in a blur of chores and tasks, and by the time it was evening, a package had appeared at the foot of her bed. It was wrapped the same way as the first—in black paper tied with a black ribbon. The dress inside was black too, although it took Daphne a moment to realize it even was a dress. It looked more like an elaborate tangle of straps. They crisscrossed every which way, over the shoulders and along the back, trailing in overlapping patterns that exposed the skin underneath. Long slits ran up either side. The back had a long trail of buttons so tiny and numerous they were barely visible. It would be hell trying to get it on, much less off.

Daphne stared at the dress in disbelief. There was no physical way to remove such a complicated piece of clothing in less than sixty seconds, and Kronos knew it. Was it some sort of message? Most girls would be wearing simple dresses tonight, slips that could be removed with a purposeful twitch of the shoulder. Daphne would look completely out of place in this. The conversation in the cave had made her think Kronos wanted her to take off her clothes for the prince. But this dress would make that impossible. Was he trying to tell her that she shouldn’t undress for the prince? Or was she reading into it too deeply? There was no time to decide; the footman was already waiting in the carriage outside. She had to put it on. And after several difficult minutes, she managed everything but the buttons.

“Mother?” she said as she emerged into the kitchen. “Can you button me in?”

Her mother looked up from her sewing, raising her eyebrows. “Goodness, child. That dress is…”

“I know. Will you just button me up? I’m already late.”