Page 81 of Kneel Before Me

“How?”

“There are rumors that the Drakons tire of the truce—they want another war.”

“What? Why would they want that?”

“Chaos breeds opportunity. If they know it is coming, they can prepare. If they incite it, they may even gain advantage. There are two battles here, Daphne. One between quivers and one with the humans. Whichever quiver defeats the humans would be looked upon as the superior quiver. They would rule the basilisks.”

Daphne did not like all this talk of defeating the humans. She thought of the people she loved, of her mother and Ella and baby Gabriel. She didn’t want anything to happen to them. She wouldn’t let anything happen to them. If she became queen, she could protect them. But that would bind her to Maximus, and that was not the future she wanted for herself.

“Isn’t there another way for you to gain enough power?” she whispered.

“I could crest you. That might give me enough.”

She frowned. “Crest me? What does that mean?”

But Kronos only shook his head. “That is not an option. Listen to me, Daphne.” He shifted closer, taking her hands in his. “I understand I am requesting a lot of you. But please. You must win.”

“For your quiver?”

“For me.”

She looked deep into his eyes, trying to decide whether she could trust him. When the pause lingered, Kronos whispered, “You are afraid to deny me.”

It wasn’t a question. And Daphne hadn’t even realized it was true until he said it. But the moment he did so, she realized he was right. She wasn’t just afraid—she was terrified. So she said, “Yes.”

Devastation flashed across his face. “Why, Daphne?”

The answer to that was easy, even if saying it wasn’t. “Because I know what happens when you deny a man,” she whispered.

Kronos placed his finger under her chin, gently pulling her face up to his. “I am not a man.”

She stared into his golden eyes, seeing the depth in them.

“I would not ask this of you unless it was important,” he continued quietly. “My quiver is all I have. Even if they do not always want me. I…belong to them.”

“Why wouldn’t they want you?”

He held out his hands, at the freckles on his palms. “I am different.”

Without thinking, Daphne leaned forward and took his hands in hers. They were just as warm as she remembered. Kronos stiffened with surprise. Daphne did not let go. “I like different,” she said.

She had no idea where she found the courage to say such a thing. The last time she’d been vulnerable with a man, it had turned out terribly. But Kronos was not Benjamin. He was someone she was safe with. He had just confided in her; he was trying to let her in. Such a person was worth an act of courage.

“Daphne,” he said quietly. “You do not know me.”

She knew his words were meant to push her away, to create distance between them. Daphne used them to do the opposite. “Yet.”

Kronos looked her in the eye. Their fingers were intertwined, their bodies nearly so. He said nothing, and he did not need to. Instead he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

Daphne melted into the kiss, breathing in his scent, savoring his skin. He was so warm her whole body was overheating. Even so she pulled him closer, only wanting more.

Kronos pulled her closer too, his hands going to her thighs and lifting her onto his lap. If it weren’t for the slits in the dress, she wouldn’t have been able to straddle him. His cock was hard, and Daphne rubbed her center against it slowly, pivoting her hips in an intentional, luxurious rhythm. If they were naked, they would have been fucking. Instead they mimicked the motions with their clothes on, showing each other how it could be. Nothing had ever felt this good before. Daphne palmed his cock through his trousers, feeling how unbelievably ready he was for her.

Kronos let out an inhuman noise when she did so. “Daphne,” he growled, catching her wrist. “Stop.”

Not the word she wanted to hear. But she stopped anyway, leaning back to look at him. “Why?”

“Because you said you did not want to have sex again until you were in love.”