“Is she…” Kris glanced along the length of the preposterously long table, as though she half-expected Shelley to appear in one of the other seats.In light of the things that were manifesting and vanishing in front of her eyes, she would no longer have been surprised.“Is she all right, Master?”
“Shelley is fine.”His knitting brows suggested that was one question he hadn’t been expecting.“She has been where you are now.”
“In this seat?”Kris tried to envision another scared woman sitting in the same place.She wondered whether Shelley had been as keen to ride her captor as soon as she’d woken up.
A wave of shame washed over her at the query.Surely, only she was silly enough to not only consent to sex with him, but to have so obviously relished it.
“Yes, in that seat.”He seemed amused by her question.“She has had to learn to obey, and she has done well.Soon, she’ll be ready to advance.”
“To advance, Master?”
What did that mean?Was it a fancy way of saying he was going to end her?
“You shall learn about The Advancement,” he told her.“It is too soon for us to talk of such things.”
“But…” She paused, not wanting to anger him again.She sensed she’d only just gotten away with asking to go to the window, but before she’d had time to halt the word, the ‘but’ was out of her lips.Her focus flew to the huge panes of glass instinctively, every fiber of her yearning for the chance to get beyond the window and find her way home, but she forced her attention back to his face.She had to concentrate on the fate of poor Shelley and appeal to him while she had the chance.
“Little one.”Exasperation echoed in his reply.“Enough questions now.We must eat.”
Eat?Had she missed a magical plate of food appearing while she’d been gazing out at the sunlight?She gazed down at her place out of curiosity, finding only her empty white placemat.
No food, then.She pulled in a breath.So, his request that they eat had only been a deflection.
“Master, please don’t hurt Shelley.”She made the plea quietly, unable to meet his eyes as she spoke.
Kris had no idea who Shelley was, but if he was telling the truth, and there was genuinely another woman confined there somewhere, Kris wouldn’t be able to live with herself unless she tried to help her.She still planned to escape and to try to take Shelley with her, but Kronos’ tone made it sound as though she’d beleavingsoon.Perhaps Shelley’s time had run out.
“Hurt Shelley?”Kronos cocked one of those tempting brows at her, as though he didn’t understand her appeal.
“Harm her,” she clarified.
Kill her.
The final explanation pinballed in her mind, but she couldn’t force the words out.He was in a reasonably buoyant mood since he’d poured the water, and she was loath to say anything that might rock the boat.
The balance between them was so precarious, and she was well aware that she was the weaker of the two.Kronos hadn’t yet made her feel unsafe, and aside from taking and spanking her, he hadn’t done anything she’d opposed, but she had to face facts.
He was still the man who’d snatched her and admitted to taking Shelley.
She didn’t know how far she could truly trust him.
“I’ve never harmed Shelley, Kristina.”He shifted on his chair to face her, his expression suddenly serious.Tension twisted in her tummy as she eyed his face.She hoped she hadn’t pissed him off again, but sometimes, he was damn near impossible to read.“I will never harm either of you.”
“Okay.”She considered stopping there and eating the meal he kept talking about, but she’d come that far and expressed her concerns.She figured she might as well continue and try to get some clarity about Shelley’s situation.“But you said that she was leaving, and I thought that meant you were going to…”
Her voice trailed away as the final part of the sentence eluded her.
“You thought I was going towhat?”His voice was brusque, its timbre doing little to assuage her anxiety.
She pulled in a deep breath, trying to recall what she’d learned about calming her breathing in the meditation workshop she’d attended with Liz.
All the same, anxiety knotted in her stomach.The expression on his face was so damn ominous, as though he was daring her to say the words out loud, but she couldn’t look him in the eyes and accuse him of preparing to kill someone.
If she did that, if she pushed him too far, what would that mean for her?Would he be angry?Would he focus his wrath in her direction?
Fear contracted inside her, making it difficult to catch her breath.Why had she spoken out at all?She could have stayed quiet and played safe, but oh no, not Kristina!She had to speak, had to always do theright thing.
Risking a glance his way, she realized she had to say something, and given what she’d said so far, how could she not conclude her sentence?