Page 163 of Kneel Before Me

A muscle in Kronos’s jaw twitched. His eyes went to her swollen lip. “Did he hurt you?”

“No.” She shook her head. Not physically.

“Do you wish to tell me what happened?”

“Not really.”

The answer came out harsh, but she’d meant it. Daphne was embarrassed about what had happened. She didn’t want Kronos to know what Maximus had said to her, and she especially didn’t want him to know how it had affected her. It was too revealing—too indicative of her shame.

“Daphne,” Kronos said. “Please, would you tell me what happened?”

He phrased it as a question instead of a command.

Rather than reply, Daphne bit her lip and immediately winced in pain. Kronos raised his hand, touching his fingertips to her mouth. A cool pulse passed from him to her, and she knew he was healing her lip. Daphne waited until he was done, then she whispered, “He got mad.”

Kronos frowned. “Why?” His voice was strained.

“Just…reasons,” she whispered.

“Daphne.” Kronos ran an exasperated hand through his wet hair, brushing it away from his face. “You show up here drunk and unannounced. You are injured. You say the prince got angry but you will not explain what happened to make him that way. Now, please. I cannot go on in suspense.”

Daphne sighed. “He read your letters.”

Shock, then comprehension passed over Kronos’s face. “I see,” he said quietly.

“He told me he has feelings for me,” she continued.

Kronos nodded but didn’t interject.

“And then I told him I didn’t feel the same.”

His jaw clenched. “I see,” he said again.

“And he didn’t like that.”

“That does not surprise me.”

Daphne sighed. It didn’t surprise her either. What did surprise her was what had happened after. She was still reeling from Maximus’s reaction—from his anger—from what he’d dared to say to her. At the end of the day, no matter how often she was proven right, somehow she still managed to be surprised when all men were the same.

Kronos stared at her in the darkness. Daphne wished he would come closer. Instead he remained a respectful distance away, his body angled toward hers, his palm still covering his cock. Daphne felt a wild urge to uncover it—to straddle him and give him what she refused to give to Maximus. But it was not the time for that. For now it was enough just to breathe the same air as him.

“What happened next?”

“Then we argued. About…everything. Our arrangement, the competition…you. He told me that he no longer required my services. He…said some other things too.”

As Daphne was talking, Kronos sat on the stone beside her. He didn’t say a word, even when she paused for long periods of time.

Finally, she finished. “I ran all the way here. Then I fell asleep. You…know the rest.”

Kronos nodded. Without a word he leaned forward, gathered Daphne in his arms, and walked into the passageway. He carried her all the way to his chambers before setting her gently on his bed and wrapping a soft blanket around her. Daphne was too tired to protest, and she didn’t care to anyway. The fire was warm, and so was Kronos as he slid onto the sheets beside her. Despite their closeness, he did not let his cock touch her. Daphne knew it was his way of showing that he respected her—that even though she was drunk and vulnerable he would not take advantage. He was always looking out for her, even when she was unwilling or unable to look out for herself.

Daphne closed her eyes, inhaling his scent. He always smelled like smoke no matter where they were or what they were doing. She could feel his heartbeat in the center of his chest. Unlike Daphne’s heartbeat, which was thrumming like a hummingbird’s, Kronos’s was calm and steady. Just like him.

“Are you warm enough?” he murmured.

“Yes,” she murmured back.

It was true; their bodies were folded together, heat seeping from his skin to hers.