Swathing her in his protection, Kronos stepped into the ether, taking them both from the dreary, uninviting street.Things had gone even better than he’d expected.It wasn’t only the ease with which he’d discarded the so-called menaces that had pleased him, but the simplicity of entrancing his new guest.She’d come to him so quickly, hardly resisting at all when he’d bewitched her.She’d had questions, of course.They always had questions, but she’d rapidly succumbed, her heart rate slowing before her eyes closed and her body folded against him.
Her acquiescence was pleasing.Naturally, no mortal could repel him for long, but he’d known them to battle for far longer than Kristina had.Even though he acknowledged the relationship between resistance and acceptance was more complicated than his logic implied—that just because she hadn’t screamed for mercy, it didn’t mean she wanted him—her assent made him happier than he was prepared to admit.After Shelley, who’d taken months to come to heel and comply, and the struggles of the females who’d come before her, Kronos was ready for a woman who would fascinate rather than frustrate.
Maybe Kristina could be that woman.
Holding her closer to his chest, he breathed in the sweet smell of her honeyed hair.The faint scent of flowers lingered there, the refreshing aroma urging his lips to tug as he pressed them both through the atmosphere toward the place he called home.
As a deity, ‘home’ was a relative concept.Kronos had the power to make himself an abode wherever he chose.He could have selected the realm he’d snatched Kristina from, could have easily conjured a castle from the pebbles by his feet and lived as a king, but he’d found that spending time on Earth with an abundance of mortal souls soon wearied him.Humans were always so insecure and needy.They either wanted to battle for a supremacy they could never hope to wield or were weak and chose to surrender.While he enjoyed reverence from a few dedicated souls and hoped his new obsession would continue to comply, he found too much sycophancy difficult to bear.
Gods could be every bit as complicated as the mortals they liked to play with.
Kronos could equally have elected to live in the supernatural realms, but Olympia, like the other lands the gods inhabited, had restraints of its own.Having to deal with his kin, for example, was a maddening process that Kronos had long chosen to decline participation in.
Once upon a time, his reign marked an era of abundance and harmony, but all that had changed.It had been a long time ago, and he was no angel, the outcome of his choices more readily associated with destruction than expansion, but those who still welcomed the old gods recognized his authority.They celebrated him when they harvested their crops in the autumn, a veneration he appreciated, though he mostly opted to offer divine service in the shape of capturing and conditioning women like the sleeping beauty in his arms.Helping females who had been worn down by the inane fickleness of mortal men had become his life’s work.
His rules and structure gave meaning to their lives, and they, in turn, brought a rainbow of color to his long existence.
He had opted to create a home of his own within the mists of the heavens, a private sanctuary where he brought his concubines and was rarely interrupted.For who would dare disturb the mighty Kronos unless they offered devotion and libations?Even those who shared his blood chose to stay away, and he was glad of it.
Stepping foot in his realm, he glanced down at his latest acquisition.Fast asleep and with her head rolled in his direction, she was the epitome of perfection.
Like all those who had come before her, he would dedicate himself to her needs and decide if she was suitably aligned, and with Shelley still captive for the time being, he would have two beautiful mortals to keep him busy.His head rose at the promising thought.Devoting himself to their growth was worth every ounce of his vigor.
The glowing wall ahead of him slid open at his approach, revealing the room Kristina would occupy.Next to Shelley’s, the space was soundproofed and comfortable, but its main purpose was to give Kristina somewhere safe to rest when she was weary of his attention.Which, in his experience, would be frequently.Especially in those early days together.
There was so much he longed to know about her, and to teach her.So many ways in which she would learn to serve, but he had to be patient.
Humans were fragile and needed time to acclimate.Even after everything they’d been through together, Shelley was evidence of that.She still asked about the meaning of his mentorship, still grasped for understanding about what came next, and the life that awaited her after The Advancement.Vulnerable, exposed, and so palpably delicate, she proved that even his attention couldn’t completely sculpt her into someone new.
She was still, and would always prove to be, mortal.
Lowering to one knee beside the bed he had prepared for her, Kronos laid Kristina gently on top of the blanket.The room was heated to a constant temperature he’d found best suited to mortal satisfaction and would help to induce a long sleep from his new guest.It would mean she had time to recover from her run-in with the unruly street thugs, while he tended to Shelley.
It had been centuries since he’d last kept two concubines at the same time, but Kronos was aware of the challenges to come.Two women meant double the dedication, but he was committed to giving them both what they needed while ensuring they tended to his every demand.His cock stirred at the riveting thought, and staring at Kristina’s beautiful face, he envisaged all the ways she would surrender.
Not that he’d have to imagine for long.After searching for months, he finally had his prize.
With a wave of his palm, he produced a handful of soft coverings, directing them to hover and land by her side.He would insist a lot from her; the subservience of her mind, body, and soul, but he would always make sure she was comforted and comfortable, and in those early hours together, temperature was important.
Shock had the power to send the human body into fits of chills, even when the outside climate was warm.He accepted that waking up in her cell would be traumatic.While he planned to be there to coax her through those initial hours, Kronos intended to share his time between her and Shelley, and he couldn’t guarantee he would be there whenever Kristina opened her eyes.Blankets and her bed, though, would safeguard her early needs.
“You will be happy here, little human.”Smoothing her hair from her face, he smiled.
He’d personally see to it that they were both happy, but as Shelley could no doubt tell their latest guest given the chance, pleasing Kronos wasn’t always an easy task.An entity as ancient as he knew exactly what he wanted and would rarely settle for less.
Experience had taught him it took time for contentment to grow between a captor and his concubine, though.Time and trust, and the latter was more difficult to conjure than love itself.Until those most important metrics had reached the perfect equilibrium between him and his captive, Kronos accepted her ‘happiness’ might be a stretch too far.She would be fed, and rested, and learn her place, but rapture would take time.
Until then, he was content to ensure at least one of them was satisfied.He smirked, already knowing which of them it would be.
Kronos was never left wanting.
Rising to his full height, he waved his hand over her and retrieved the phone that had allowed them to communicate from her pocket.Staring at the thing, he shook his head.Humans were obsessed with the devices, but then, he supposed that his endeavors had been much harder to orchestrate in the time before them.In those days, he’d had to follow his chosen targets for weeks, and sometimes months, dropping in on their conversations to ascertain their probable alignment with his needs.Modern technology had made the entire process so much faster and smoother.With a few select messages, he could tell if the mortal, like Kristina, was worthy of his closer attention.
He’d sensed she was right from the start, finding her impudent message fascinating rather than riling.Yes, her language had been offensive and would have required punishment had she dared to offer it in his presence, but what had most intrigued him about her, though, was how triggered she’d been at the notice he’d manifested in the graduate study hall.Immediately, he’d wanted to know who had treated her so badly that she’d been prepared to take her hurt-inspired wrath out on a complete stranger, and it hadn’t taken him long to find out.
The imbecile called Shaun who’d captured her attention held no captivation for him.Just another little man in a world full of undeserving and over-promoted mortal males.Shaun had got what he’d wanted from the exchange and then abandoned her to the annals of history without so much as a goodbye.It went without saying that the blonde stretched out on the bed before him deserved so much better.
Time with Shelley meant he hadn’t responded to Kristina immediately, but by the time she had crawled out of bed after her night of inebriation, his response was on the small black device in his hand, waiting for her.She’d devoured his replies, and then, just as he’d anticipated, she’d picked up his breadcrumbs and followed.
