“I always keep my promises.” His voice was rough, deeper than before, the words resonating somewhere primal inside me. He caught my wrists in one large hand,pinning them above my head with an effortless strength that made my breath catch in my throat. The position left me exposed to his touch, defenseless in a way that should have triggered all my alarms. I’d spent years ensuring no one could trap me, control me—yet here I was, willingly caught.
I tested his grip, a reflexive resistance that melted into acceptance when I couldn’t break free. Heat pooled low in my stomach, an unexpected thrill racing through me at the realization of how completely he had me at his mercy. This wasn’t like the Madam’s control that had left me feeling hollow and used—this was something I craved, something I was choosing despite every instinct screaming that vulnerability meant danger.
His free hand traced patterns on my skin that left trails of fire in their wake, each touch deliberate and possessive. It was as if Kronos was mapping me, learning the topography of my body through careful exploration. The gentleness behind his firm grip confused and excited me, making me arch into his touch despite myself. I was trapped between the need to protect myself and the desperate desire to surrender.
“Prove it.”
His answering smile was all teeth. His grip tightened on my wrists as he leaned down, breath hot against my ear. “Last chance to say no,” he murmured, teeth grazing my earlobe.
“Please,” I gasped. The suffocating pressure of reality closed in—recollections of hands that grabbed without permission, of gazes that focused only on what I couldprovide, of my father’s voice repeating I would never measure up. It was all right there, a tidal wave threatening to drown me, clawing at the edges of this moment.
The weight of the world bore down, suffocating me with every breath I didn’t surrender to him. My skin crawled with phantom touches from people who’d used me, my ears rang with the Madam’s laughter, my chest ached with the certainty that I was damaged beyond repair. I needed it gone, needed it silenced.
Here, pinned beneath this beautiful, dangerous creature, I could feel the darkness receding with each touch, each controlled breath. Nothing else existed in the space between us but this raw, consuming need.
“Make me forget,” I begged, the words torn from somewhere primal inside me. I needed oblivion. I needed to disappear into this feeling before I shattered.
He cupped my face, thumb brushing across my lower lip. “Let go,” his voice sounded like smoke. “Let me take control.”
I closed my eyes, surrendering to him. The room darkened around us; the paintings moving in my peripheral vision. His mouth found my throat again, alternating between sharp bites and soothing kisses until I was incoherent.
“That’s it,” he breathed against my throat, one hand sliding down my body with deliberate slowness. “I’ve got you, pet.” His hand slid under my shirt, calluses catching on my skin as he traced up my ribs. I had to bite my lip to keep from yelping.
“So sensitive,” Kronos growled, finding my nipple and twisting it between rough fingers. A sharp jolt of pleasure shot straight to my groin. He pinched harder, and I heard myself make a sound I’d never made before. My hands strained against his iron grip above my head, needing to touch him, to anchor myself as sensation rippled through me.
My body betrayed me. I’d always kept control with clients, faking the right responses. Some of them felt okay enough to finish…but never anything like this. I shook beneath him, every muscle quivering, completely at his mercy. The surrender terrified me and turned me on more than anything I’d ever felt.
“Please,” I begged, pride shattered, replaced by naked hunger. The scratch of his beard abraded my throat, his touch ghosted down my stomach, his thigh pressed hard against my aching shaft. I couldn’t focus on anything but where he touched me, everything else vanishing into meaningless darkness.
“What do you need, pet?” His voice poured like liquid sin directly into my ear. The word ‘pet’ burrowed into me, possessive and thrilling. His teeth caught my earlobe and bit down, the sharp sting yanking me back to reality for just a second before his fingers dipped beneath my waistband and dragged me under again.
His fingertips traced patterns just below my navel, skimming beneath the fabric—teasing, maddening, withholding what I needed. My hips bucked upward, chasing his touch like a starving man chased food.
“Patience,” he commanded, the word rumbling from his chest into mine. That voice compelled obedience, reaching into me and pulling out surrender I didn’t know I had to give. His mouth latched onto that secret spot behind my ear he’d discovered, sucking hard, marking me as his. The thought of wearing his mark tomorrow sent a rush flooding through me.
He finally—finally—slid his hand lower. I gasped his name, the word torn from my throat. The ruthless suction at my neck contrasted with the teasing lightness of his fingers so close to where I needed them, my mind splitting between the twin sensations.
He played my body like an instrument he’d spent years mastering, pushing me to the edge where pleasure became almost unbearable before backing off just enough to keep me desperate. When I thought I might die if he didn’t touch me properly, he’d change tactics, starting the torturous climb again. No one had ever read me so perfectly, breaking through every defense I’d built to keep people from seeing what I really wanted.
“Look at me,” Kronos commanded, and I forced my eyes open to meet that molten silver gaze. The hunger I saw there made me shudder. “I want to watch you fall apart.”
He slid his fingers from base to tip with a featherlight touch.
“Please,” the word broke on a moan as his thumb circled just right. My wrists strained against his grip, but he held me in place.
“Don’t move,” Kronos crooned into my neck. My whole body shuddered at the command in his voice. His fingers kept up that torturous rhythm, each touch precise and devastating. His kiss swallowed my whimpers, his tongue mimicking the rhythm of his hand until I couldn’t think.
Kronos’ teeth caught my lower lip as his fingers worked me higher. The ecstasy built in waves, each stroke making me arch and gasp beneath him. I couldn’t think past the feeling of his hand, his mouth, the weight of him keeping me exactly where he wanted me.
“That’s it,” he murmured against my lips. His thumb pressed harder, circling in a way that made stars explode behind my eyes. “Let me hear you.”
The sound that escaped me wasn’t even words anymore. His fingers moved faster, more demanding, the pleasure building until I thought I might break from it.
“Kronos,” I gasped, trembling on the edge. “I can’t—”
“You can,” he growled, and the command in his voice broke something loose inside me. “cum for me, bunny.”
My entire body seized as pleasure ripped through me, every nerve ending singing with bliss. Heat bloomed in my core and exploded outward until my skin felt like it was on fire. My thighs trembled, toes curling as waves of ecstasy pulsed through me again and again. Each stroke of his fingers drew out another wave until I couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began. I couldn’t remember anything except how to feel. The intensitybuilt until my mind went blank, my back arching off the leather as my body spasmed with release.
