Page 58 of The Sacrifice

“I don’t want this...” I whisper the lie because everything in me wants this, every molecule of my blood, every tense muscle in my body, every raging nerve in my cunt.

One tilt of his head. Kronos studies me. Raw, sexual power consumes his eyes. And he opens his mouth to claim, “I will take your pleasure. And you will give me your name after you scream your rapture. Or we begin again, little wisp.”

No willpower left, all my body heaves, collapses. Except for my hips which thrust forward, craving that release. The action pushes my sex right into his mouth where he wraps his wet lips around my swollen nub with the strength of suction. Kronos rips the world from me, along with my consent. Shrieking through clenched teeth, I erupt into scintillating sensations. Liquid gold surges through my blood. The orgasm is blinding, deafening, annihilating everything—everything but the rapture engulfing me, gushing into all nerve endings, and splashing my skin with a host of starry tingles.

“Stop!” I cry out the second his tongue laves harder at my clit, laps at the fluids trickling from my slit. “Fuck, no more.”

He. Doesn’t. Stop.

Not once does he betray a hint of a smirk. Or a flicker of desire in his eye. Or a ticking of his jaw. He dips his tongue into my slit, drinking, tasting me without groaning. Unwavering determination is his one emotion.

“I hate you!” I whisper because I’ve lost my voice. He doesn’t miss a beat when I desperately try to buck. Instead, he pumps three fingers so deep into me at the same time that his tongue circles my distended clit again. “Oh god!” I feel all my inner muscles spasm. And clamp down. Throwing my head back, I unleash sounds that I’ve never heard before. Not even when Thayne fucked me. Sweat pools down the sides of my face and body and cascades along my spine.

Once Kronos parts my cheeks and licks along the seam until he arrives at my forbidden hole, I hiss the longest, sharpest breath ever. And shake my head wildly, my whole body quaking. He licks a flawless circle around the ring before curving the fingers in my pussy and stabbing a thick one in my back hole. It hurls me over the edge. Too many heartbeats thundering and shattering. Seismic waves shudder through me, splitting cell matter, swelling veins, flushing flames into my blood, and rocking my whole body while my senses fire on overdrive.

“Stopstopstopstop!” I scream hoarsely when he pumps his fingers again and sends mini-tremors, aftershocks of orgasms into me. “Oh, fuck, I’ll tell you!” I gasp out, and as he rises, I squeeze my eyes shut and cry, “Quintessa.”

My eyes rocket open at his proclamation, spoken in unison with mine. Mortification wells up inside me, infecting me like poison. Of course, he already knew. It’s the first time he crooks a smile. Jaw clenched. Eyes gleaming with effervescence. And Kronos kisses me. Commands my mouth and forces my taste inside me. With his mouth crushing mine, he touches me everywhere. I whimper from grief and moan in pleasure as he palms my breasts, tweaks my erect nipples, clutches each side of my stomach, frames my hips, then finally cups my pussy. Admiring but not like Drago when he treasures me as his pet. No, Kronos devours with his eyes. Haunts me with that gaze. Rapes me with his hands.

“You gave me your submission, little wisp,” he breathes against my lips, kisses the tears upon my cheeks. “Now, all of you belongs to me. And if you’ll forgive me, your three bastard beasts have awoken and are disrupting my Hag’s process of torturing your dragon.”

“Why are you doing this? Just leave them be!” I plead, both shivering and swallowing the bile in my throat when he trails a finger along my soaked pubic lips.

“Perhaps I will share our ancient and complex history with you another time. Like when you are screaming your bliss in my bed while impaled on my cock.”

Wrinkling my nose and grimacing, I narrow my eyes to ask, “If I belong to you, then how are they mine?”

He chuckles and strokes my head, but I recoil, disgusted. “They will always belong to you, Quintessa. They consumed half your soul. But once I take you to the Capital, you will truly become their ghost. You will haunt them forever.”

Kronos leaves me. Shackled here. Naked and alone. No, not fully alone, I remember and lift my head to where Qora has remained in the shadows of the cavern—back turned to me. She turns just her head, one amber eye studying me.

So, I spit the words at her with a devilish smirk. “These chains are much stronger than any you used on me.”

43

"Do you accept?"

QUINTESSA

“Hmm, I wonder what the Emperor plans to do with your body after he gives one to you.”

Qora rolls her eyes, shifting closer to me while huffing, “Stop with your dramatics, Quinn. I’ve spent my life playing watcher to you. No form. No feeling.”

“Right...because I have no idea what that’s like,” I snort and lurch in the chains, rocking my suspended body forward. Now that Kronos has left, my body returns to numb. No more tingles, flushed cheeks, or swollen flesh. Compared to the god-eater’s torture, sexual and emotional, it’s serenity. Not even the cold wind from the dark cave inside the Veil of Souls prowls upon me.

“And yet, you begrudge me for aligning with him when you practically sold yourself to those monsters,” she spits, her voice darkening more than usual.

“They didn’t take your soul, Qora. He did.”

“How many more souls have they devoured? How many more lives have they ruined?”

I press my lips into a tight scowl, falling silent, not wanting to think about the Sacrifice. Instead, I work out the other pieces: how Kronos created the Veil of Souls and therefore the Waste, imprisoned the Kings here, transformed the Five Realms after ages of bloodshed and war. But monsters always need blood...and flesh. One night of the year, Drago, Mayce, Kyan, and Merikh take their spoils. Why? With Drago’s power, along with Thayne, they could easily pierce the Veil and leave the Waste to pursue Kronos. Is the Hag somehow keeping them here? The Hag...bitter cold fear shivers up my spine at the thought of Drago in that monster’s clutches. Drago who sacrificed himself for me. Drago. Thayne. Thiago.

“You should be grateful,” adds Qora while I thrust my head high to examine those shackles. “You know those Kings fucked over their realms in the ancient times before Emperor Kronos cast them out. He brought peace to every kingdom. And the god-eater is willing to compromise with you, to welcome you into his innermost circle and make you his blood binder. Perhaps one of his wives, considering what happened here.”

Dismissing her, I work my wrists, twisting and bending them, knowing my muscles are screaming from the effort, but I feel no pain. My pulse thunders, batters blood to my eardrums because my body still protests.

“You’re not even listening to me, are you?” Qora groans and flits toward me.

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