Page 45 of Kronos’ Consort

She tensed around his cock, aware that despite his declaration, it was still potentially perilous to make demands of the king of the Titans.

“What’s that?” he murmured.

“Well…” She ran a fingertip over his skin. “Since you know me so well, can you please just call me Kris?”

“Kris?” His eyes opened wider at her remark, the gesture just enough to spike her heart rate, even though his tone was playful.

“Yes,” she explained. “Nobody really calls me Kristina except my mum, and that’s only when she’s angry with me.”

“I don’t know about that, little one.” He leaned against the edge of his throne, his smile wry. “I think you’ll always be Kristina to me.”

Her lips curled at the simplicity of his perspective. When he put it that way, she could hardly argue.

“Fair enough, Master.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

Let him call her Kristina or his little one.

What was important wasn’t the noun he chose, but the power of the feelings swirling between them, and for those newfound emotions, she was beyond grateful.

“You’re not going to try and leave again if I call you Kristina, are you?”

His tone was teasing, but the prison of his embrace already conveyed the answer.

She wasn’t going anywhere.

“Oh, no, Master,” she reassured him. “I couldn’t leave you even if I wanted to.”

The End

Epilogue

Kris

Standing across the road from the little white house she’d grown up in, Kris frowned. It was one thing to want to say goodbye, or even to have put those harrowing thoughts into words on paper, but it was, as it turned out, quite another thing to be on the brink of delivering the sentiment to the woman who’d birthed her. Wrapping her arms around herself, she realized it wasn’t only the icy swirling atmosphere making her cold, but the reality of what she was there to achieve.

“Little one.” Kronos’ voice reverberated from behind her, and a moment later, he was there with her, his strong arms enveloping her in his warm embrace. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, Master.”

Her voice was weaker than she would have liked, but it was etched with the sense of determination she’d felt since he’d assented to her writing the message to her mother. Initially, he’d said that he would deliver the missive for her, but time and perspective had brought clarity on the matter, and glancing down at the envelope in her hand, she was glad he’d agreed to let her do the deed.

If she was going to walk away from the only life she’d ever known and leave the people she loved behind, it was only right that she be the one to deliver the news to them.

“Is this the right house?” He lowered to whisper the words into her right ear, and she shivered as they vibrated over her sensitive skin.

It wasn’t the first time she’d traveled with him through the vortex he called the ether, but the journeys never seemed to get any easier on her body. Throat drying, she realized that even though her feet had landed on the concrete below, the street ahead of her seemed to be swaying, shifting left and right, the same way the air around them had only moments before. Lifting one hand to rub her temple, she prayed the effects would soon wane.

“It’s the right house, Master.” She leaned into the heat of his body, aware that, without his support, she might have lost her balance altogether.

“I’m just…” She paused, unsure how to convey the bubbling melancholy stirring inside her. “This is harder than I thought it would be.”

“Kristina.” He planted a kiss where her fingers had rubbed. “You’ve done so well.”

“Thanks.” She swallowed back her rising emotions, sensing that, should those tears fall, they would prove difficult to quell. “But this is harder than the messages I left for Liz and Cindy, Master. This is my mother.”

And leaving the goodbyes for the best friends she’d ever had had been trying enough.

“I know.” He squeezed her gently, his wistful tone suggesting he had at least tried to understand her point of view. She assumed that he must have had a family of sorts once, although he never mentioned them. “I’m here for you, little one. I’ll take the letter if it helps.”