“Do not argue.”His words cut her off, and he was happy to see she did not require the enactment of another silence enchantment.She was learning already, then, and initial obedience inspired by fear would, he hoped, give way to a deeper yearning to comply and with her master’s needs.“This is new for you.I realize this, but do not argue with me.”
“Master, please.”She eased up to her elbows, her countenance speaking of suspicion.He watched as the top of the blanket fell from her shoulders, biting back on his smile when she caught the cover with her delicate fingers.“I don’t mean to offend you, but—”
“Then do not.”He withdrew, sitting back in his chair and enjoying the sight of her growing agitation.Kristina was utterly bewitching, but it was time she understood what happened to humans who failed to do as they were told.He could be kind.Compassionate, even.But as he had told her, her every choice would always bring consequences.When she was good, he would revere her, but oh, when she was bad, he would make her pay for her insubordination.“You are already in trouble, little one.Do not make things worse.”
“In trouble?But… I just woke up.”She pulled herself upright, grabbing the covers to her breasts.“I can’t be in trouble.”
“The offense took place before you were brought here.”He considered swiping the blanket away, or maybe compelling the fabric to vanish just as the lace that had adorned her wrists had fallen to the floor, but he held back.The blanket provided her with warmth as well as comfort, and he would have her without its solace and over his knee soon enough.
“Can I at least ask what offense?”She straightened, and he recognized it was taking every ounce of her effort to suppress her defiance.He sensed it curling inside of her, like serpents poised to strike.
“What was that?”he snapped, feigning an irritation he didn’t truly feel.
In truth, he was relishing the opportunity to see her under pressure, savoring her responses even more than he’d enjoyed her bound and writhing body, but he also accepted that the boundaries he erected would become important.He’d promised her consequences if she forgot his title a second time, yet already, she was hesitant to employ it.Maybe Kristina required a taste of Kronos’ palm to knowwhyhis repercussions needed to be avoided.
“Master!”she spat out the word.“Will you tell me what I’ve done to offend you?”
Shifting forward and lowering so they were eye to eye, he breathed in the aroma of her.Floral scents met his nostrils, mingling with her body’s natural perfumes and colliding to guarantee his interest.
“Remember when you left your house last night?”He had no reason to justify the punishment to her.He meant what he’d said;she was his, and he would spank her any time she stepped out of line, but there was something scintillating about being so close to her.Something so intimate about seeing her reactions at such intense proximity.He didn’t want to stop.
She nodded, the pink hue of her cheeks abating.“Yes, Master.”
“I messaged you with explicit instructions to return to the sanctuary of your house.”
Yet, she hadn’t listened, deciding to ignore his wisdom and carry on, regardless.Instead of going home, she’d walked straight into the grasp of those idiot boys who called themselves men.
“Do you recall?”His attention speared her.
“I…” She blanched, her paling color revealing the truth.“I didn’t know who you were.I thought you were some crazy stalker.”
A knowing light flashed in her eyes, and in that moment, Kronos sensed the true meaning of her words.That she still perceived him to be that stalker, nothing more than a mortal pursuer who lurked in the shadows, waiting to hurt her.
Nostrils flaring, he tried not to take the inference personally.She didn’t know him, after all, hadn’t realized who he was, but the conjecture smarted.He’d spent hours giving her his attention.He’d replied to her messages and been there when she needed a savior.It was foolish of him to expect her loyalty so soon, but he couldn’t deny how much he yearned for it.
“Stalker?”he hissed, battling the latent rage stirring inside of him.“As you shall discover, I have true power, little mortal.I do not need to stalk you.”
“I…” She clutched the blankets tighter around her curves as though she suddenly believed he could see through the cover.Ironically, that was one skill he did not possess.“I’m sorry.I didn’t know.”
“You did nottrust.”
“Why would I, Master?”Her voice was strained.“I didn’t know who you were.I didn’t believe in any of this…” She glanced around, the confusion flashing in the pools of her eyes suggesting that, perhaps, she still did not.
“You thought I was like the mortal you chased.”Thinking of the cretin, Shaun, who’d had the audacity to turn her down, Kronos’ voice was etched with disdain.“He is weak, lazy, and undeserving, but that is not me, little one.The power I have has ruled over this entire universe, yet right now, I have chosen to dedicate it all to you.”
“I see.”Her voice sounded tiny as she, presumably, started to put the pieces of the riddle together in her mind.Ithadbeen Kronos messaging her, although still, he could tell she had no comprehension of the influence her captor had.Maybe she was yet to believe the evidence of her own eyes and thought him merely insane.If that were the case, he would soon give her the proof she needed.“I’m sorry, Master.”
“He never deserved you, Kristina.”Waving his hand toward her feet, Kronos ensured her ankles were relieved of the lace that had bound them to the end of the bed.She wriggled her feet, drawing them closer toward her beneath the blanket.“It seems that as well as punish and guide you, it is also my role to help you see how worthy you are.”
It was a role he intended to thoroughly savor.
“P-punish me?”she stammered.
“Yes.For the offense.”His lips stretched into a smile when the realization of what he had said dawned on her.He noted that moment in the depths of her blue eyes, his balls contracting at her throaty gasp.“Those consequences I told you about begin with you face down over my lap for a spanking.”He tapped his thighs as though she wouldn’t know where he meant.“And that fate, little one, is what awaits you now.”
“No.”She gulped, shaking her head.“I don’t care who you think you are.No one is spankingme!”
Withdrawing against the wall, her breaths were coming hard and fast.That wasn’t a great sign for her overall health, but he’d come to expect initial dissent.No mortal he’d ever plucked from Earth had taken well to her first time over his lap.
