I nod again. “But you told me that when you didn’t have to. You could’ve thrown me in the deep end and had me figure it out for myself.” I pause and drag in a subtle inhale. Am I trying to rationalise something that is completely insane? Am I trying to find redeemable qualities in him in order to make this easier on me? Fuck. I’m so confused I have no idea where my imagination ends and my reality starts. “I don’t know what you are yet… but I think I’m slowly working it out.”
“There’s nothing to figure out, Nine. I’m no different than the others, I was going to force you to suck my—”
He stops and purses his lips together with a small shake of his head.
“I wanted to,” I add, shifting closer to him. Heat stings my cheeks as I recall the night I brushed my lip against his warm flesh. I pray he can’t see it. This is the only chance I’m going to get to show him that I’m not an enemy—that we can work together. If he is truly going to let me be free when this is over, then it’s a cause I want to work towards. If he keeps his end of the deal, then I owe him everything. I survey Kade, taking in all of his darkened features. He doesn’t like himself… recalling his actions kills him. I can see his turmoil displayed so plainly on his face.
“I wrote my name across your flesh.”
“And you rubbed it off.”
His brows furrow, and frustrated lines carve their way through his face. Regardless of them, he’s still the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. “I was going to lock you in a fireplace.”
“But you didn’t.” I turn my body, ignoring the way twigs and dry leaves stabbed into the soft flesh on my calf. “If I was assigned to another Fortunate, where would I be?”
An expression flashes briefly across Kade’s face—an expression he doesn’t want me to see. A cringe? Pain? Whatever it was, it spoke volumes.
“You’d be hurt,” he mutters, avoiding my eyes. “Someone else would’ve hurt you by now.”
I nod, feeling my compassion for this man doubling—no—tripling in my chest. “Am I hurt? Do bruises and cuts paint my body?”
He shakes his head.
“Am I still a virgin?”
He arches a questioning brow and I roll my eyes at him. The nerve of him.
“The answer is yes, yes I am. I’m trying to make a point here.”
“And what’s your point?”
My fingers twitch against my thigh. I want to touch him, to caress him into trusting me. He’s safe with me, just like I’m safe with him. “I’m saying you’re different. I know you are.”
I’m barely able to flinch backwards before his hands shoots out and grips my jaw. His thick, long fingers squeeze me until I wince, but I don’t let my eyes drop from his. “You’re wrong.”
I shake my head as much as I can in his iron grip. “No. I’m not.”
He’s breathing deeply through his nose, in a desperate attempt to calm himself. A week ago, I’d be terrified, but right now (and as insane as it sounds) I feel like I know Kade. At least, I know he’s not capable of causing me pain… because I’m innocent. I’ve never done anything to hurt him—to hurt anyone—and if he hurts me, I’m almost certain he’d destroy himself from the inside out. It’s called humanity. Some would claim he has a soul, but that’s not enough. Anyone can have a soul, but that doesn’t mean it functions properly. Having a soul doesn’t mean someone isn’t evil. I believe only humanity is pure. You can’t falsify humanity.
I expect him to give me a warning and let me go… what I don’t expect are his lips. I gasp as he eagerly presses them against mine. His hand falls from my face, but catches in my hair and my heart races as he grips the back of my head, urging my lips harder against his. I open my mouth to him and his tongue slips inside. He tastes like strawberry and mint—a flavour that’s surprisingly arousing as it tickles the surface of my tongue. As my mind begins to numb and all my rational thoughts start to blow away with the breeze, I’m harshly tugged back into reality by Kade’s fist as it bunches up my hair.
“You’re wrong,” he growls against my lips. “You don’t know shit about me.”
I hiss as his fist tightens. Our breath clashes in heavy pants; our lips are still moist from the kiss as they barely graze. “If I agree with you out of force will you let go of my hair?”
The very corner of his lips twitch. It’s a twitch I want to slap right off of his face. “Yes.”
“Fine,” I state through gritted teeth. “I’m wrong. You’re an asshole just like the rest of them.”
He smiles, happy with my statement, but he doesn’t let me go. I keep my eyes on his until they disappear into my neck as he leans in. I hold my breath while my skin tingles like a million and one ants are rushing over the surface… not a second later, his warm lips touch my flesh. And damn him, it feels really good. I feel his tongue flick out and taste me, ever so gently, and I shiver, feeling him smile against my skin.
“I know my mouth drives you crazy,” he says, “But don’t let it make you forget who I am and where you are, Unfortunate.”
The word sends anger spearing into my chest and I ball my fists. “Oh goodie, we’re back to that now.”
He laughs, a rare treat for me, and brings his face inches from mine. “You know, you’re very sarcastic for someone who was born into a life like yours. You’d make a good Fortunate.”
I fake my own smile, a smile to rival his. “No thanks, I’ve suffered enough.”
All humour drains from his face. His stare holds me in place and it’s dark and threatening, but it’s not enough to chase the smile from my lips. I like bantering with him and I like pushing him. It pumps blood through my veins, feeding me the adrenaline I feel only when I’m in control. I’ve never thought about it before, but now I know. I want control and I want control of my life, my body, and Kade. I want to control him for no other reason than my own pleasure. He releases his hold on my hair and I slump away from him.
“Albert Knowle. He’s the guy I want you to be with.”
I cringe. Suddenly, the deal doesn’t sound so great. Kade pulls a sheet of paper from the pocket inside his jacket and opens it. I let my eyes flick over the paper, but it’s too dark for the writing to be legible.
“One of my mines is collapsing—and not in the usual way. I’ve sent a team down to check it out, but I need you to secure a contract just in case they don’t find anything and the mine is faulty.”
“You don’t need me for that. Offer him money.”
“For a mine large enough to replace the one I’m losing? No. I don’t have enough. I need him to sign this at a drastically lowered price. That’s where you come in. Seduce him, get him to sign it and then—”
“Have sex with him,” I finish, my voice coming off a hell of a lot more offended than I intend. Kade smirks—actually fucking smirks and it sends a pang of hurt through my chest.
“No, that’s the good part. Albert would never betray his wife like that.”
An invisible balloon in my chest inflates and I exhale. “Oh, good.”
“I want you to blow him. That’s all.”
The balloon deflates. Did I hear him correctly? “Excuse me? You said he would never betray his wife.”
Kade folds the contract and stuffs it back into his jacket. “He wouldn’t, not with sex, anyway.”
Only sex is betraying? That doesn’t make any sense, then again, Fortunates rarely did. If I loved someone enough to spend the rest of my life with them I’d never entertain the idea of bedding someone else, and the thought of coming between a man and his lady makes me extremely uncomfortable.
“At the end of the day, this is business, Nine, and whether or not Albert and his wife share a strong bond is none of your concern.”
“How do you know he’ll do it? How do you know he’s not faithful to his wife?”
Kade shrugs and pinches at a lock of my hair. I watch as he twirls it around his finger and brings it to his lips. As it unravels, he drags it gingerly between his full lips. “I see him in the Black Ho
use a lot and the girls there like to talk.”
The Black House. I’ve heard it mentioned in conversations many times, but have yet to understand what it is. I quirk an eyebrow at Kade and he sighs.
“It’s a fancy name for whore house.”
I flinch. Whore. The word sounds dirty and hurtful. How can you call someone a whore when you forced them into the situation? They’re victims, not whores. In my head, I’m shouting the words at him, but they lack the strength to roll off my tongue.
“You go to the Black House?”
He shrugs again. “Occasionally, when I’m tired of Elizabeth’s voice.”
“And is she your girlfriend?”
He smiles. “Does your curiosity ever sleep?”
“I just want to know what I’m dealing with. She was very mad at breakfast.”
“Elizabeth means well, she just forgets her place.” Kade looks out over the lake. “And no, she’s not my girlfriend.”
Silence falls. It’s not a threatening silence. It’s peaceful… almost tranquil. I let my stare flick over the luminous shapes the moon cast over the surface of the still water. If I was a Fortunate, I’d spend the majority of my days here. I’d sleep here, under the shade of the tall trees and away from the corrupted souls.
“In the camp,” Kade begins, after an eternity of silence. “Was there ever… a boy?”
His tone is almost frustrated and I smirk at his not so subtle way of asking if I’ve ever had a boyfriend.
“No. Everyone was too afraid to talk to each other and the moderators stepped in the second anyone got too close.” I tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “In the camp you’re surrounded by so many people, but you’re always alone.”
A harsh, familiar emptiness settles inside me. It comes and goes in waves. When I’m with Kade, I barely feel it, but when I’m alone in my room, isolation seeps back in. I hate that I want to make him happy, but I can’t help it. It’s the way I’ve been conditioned… or maybe I’m just desperate for any kind of companionship and I’ll do anything Kade wants just to get it.
“Get up,” he orders, pushing himself to his feet. “Let’s head back.”
I rise to my feet and immediately pins and needles shoot down my leg, another painfully familiar sensation. In the camp, our beds were so hard pins and needles were almost a guarantee when you wake up in the morning.
As we leave, I scoop up an oak leaf and gently place it against my breast, underneath the fabric of my dress. I want to keep it… I want a reminder of tonight. Although it was nothing ground-breaking, I feel like I made progress. I feel like Kade and I understand each other a little better now, even if he never acknowledges it. Every time I look at the leaf, I want to feel my stomach flip and my blood burn. I want to feel the same tranquillity I felt sitting by the lake tonight.
As we approach a rogue vine, Kade reaches for it and holds it to the side for me to pass by unhindered. A friendly gesture? I never thought I’d see the day. Before I step past, I glance up at him and he smiles faintly down at me. It causes every organ in my body to malfunction for a brief second. The exchange is nothing revolutionary, and yet, I can’t help but feeling it’s the start of a new chapter in our relationship, one that leads directly to my freedom.
∞ Kade ∞
He walked behind her, cringing every time the bottom of her bare feet pressed against twigs and cracked under her weight. It looked painful, but she never made a noise as she soldiered on. He guessed her body was weathered to the harshness of the Earth just like her soul tolerated the people that inhabited it. Kade heard stories about the Unfortunate camp, but could never gather the courage to see it for himself. He was a coward compared to Nine. She had to live in the camp. For eighteen years she was stripped of all hope, told that she didn’t matter and felt alone, waiting for the day she’d be sold to a Fortunate and destroyed. For her to come out of a place so dark and still find the nerve to be curious and sarcastic is courage beyond anything Kade had ever witnessed. He loved it. It made him feel like he was given Nine for a reason, as if she was made for him. Everything Nine did was tailor made to suit Kade’s preferences. From her bright, violet eyes to her plump lower lip, from her long auburn hair to her generous, perky breasts. Add her killer smile, kind heart, and unpredictable nature, and Kade was sold. He wanted her. If this evening taught him anything, it was that Nine was perfect… but she could never be his. Even if Kade decided to keep her after this was all over, he couldn’t. Someone like her would only be worth it to him if his hands were the only ones to touch her porcelain skin.
“Ah, Master Kade.” A female voice pulled Kade from thoughts that go against everything he was setting out to accomplish and he glanced around the open field at the back of his house. It seemed his father decided on yet another spectacle. Whenever his father came in from the city, people flooded the Sario residence to eat almost every meal. He flicked his stare in the direction of the woman who spoke his name. Kathryn Milano, head of the Milano house and wife to John Milano. Like Nine, she also had long, auburn hair and bright eyes—they weren’t violet, but they were bright nonetheless. If she wasn’t forty-something years old, he’d have thought them sisters.
“Kathryn,” he greeted her, with a slight bow of his head.
Immediately, her sights jumped to Nine. “She’s yours?” she asked, her smile widening. Now that Kade recalled it, Kathryn and her husband weren’t at the branding ceremony.
“Yes, she is.”
Nine kept her own gaze on the grass, clasping her hands behind her back. Kade knew she hated it when other Fortunates spoke about her or treated her as if she was some kind of show dog. Unfortunately, she’d never be able to get away from that.
“Can I talk to her?”
Kade stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. A strange request, but not an invasive one. “I don’t see why not.”
Nine lifted her head, her gaze zeroing in on Kathryn’s flowing, golden gown. Kade noticed Nine was always looking at dresses, admiring them.
“Hi, Nine,” Kathryn said, her beaming smile widening further.
Nine smiled politely. “Good evening.”
No conversation followed the brief exchange and Kade frowned, watching the way Kathryn admired Nine. Her eyes glistened and not once did her cherry-red lips cover her teeth.
“She looks healthy, much healthier than the others.”
He nodded. “She’s a prized possession, to say the least.”
Kathryn’s smile faltered for the briefest moment and Kade managed to hide his frown underneath a neutral expression. What’s her deal?
“Yes, well, I hope so.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I best be getting back to dinner. It was nice talking to you.”
Kathryn turned and just over her shoulder, Kade spotted Albert, sitting alone at a table with a glass of wine.
“Wait,” Kade said, deciding to seize the opportunity to tell Albert about Nine. “Do you mind if Nine walks with you? I have something I need to take care of and I’d hate for her to walk alone with my brother sniffing around.”
Kathryn grinned over her shoulder, elated by the offer. “I don’t mind at all.”
Nine glanced at Kade and he flicked his head in Kathryn’s direction. “Go. I’ll have Portia bring you dinner shortly.”
With a not so certain nod, Nine parted ways with a polite ‘Yes, Master Kade’ and left with Kathryn. He exhaled and brushed his hands over his grey suit, hoping he didn’t have any dirty patches. Had he known he was going to run into Albert tonight, he wouldn’t have sat with Nine on the grass. Even in his head, it sounded wrong… as if he was betraying his own people. Oh well, there was no time to think about that now. Kade pushed forward, preparing his speech in his head. He didn’t have much material to work with. He figured he was going to lead with a casual conversation, then dip into some mine talk in hopes that Albert would bring up the situation with Sario mine number two all on his own. From there, all he has to do is drop Nine’s name. If it didn’t
work, Kade was going to have to feed Albert alcohol and get it done tonight. There was no other way.
∞ Nine ∞
The woman I walk with, Kathryn, she’s yet to talk, but every now and then, she’ll stare at the side of my face, smiling. I’ve never been creeped out before—not in this way—and the feeling is unsettling. Every tenth step I take, I inch away from her.
“How are you liking Freeport so far, Nine?” she asks, finally breaking the silence.
“I like it very much,” I reply. It isn’t a total lie. I prefer being out here than behind the walls of the camp. It’s just a shame such earthly beauty is ruined by overcompensating manors and the tall skyscrapers in the distance.
“And your Fortunate, Master Kade, is he good to you?”
I eye her sideways. Her invasive question doesn’t sit well with me. Why would she care if he treats me well or not?
“I’d rather not say,” I tell her. “If that’s okay with you?”
I don’t think Master Kade will appreciate me telling people he treats me very well for a Fortunate. I don’t think he’d appreciate me sharing unwarranted horror stories, either.
“Fair enough. I shouldn’t pry into another Fortunate’s life.”
With a polite smile, she drops the conversation. In a few long strides, we reach her table and, as luck would have it, Elizabeth is sitting pretty at the head of it. Where I stand, I’m three tables away from the side door that leads into the kitchen and I don’t hesitate in my steps towards it.
“You’re going to walk away without being dismissed?” Elizabeth snarls, stopping me in my tracks.
I turn around and open my mouth to explain that I already have orders from my Fortunate to go to my room, but Kathryn cuts me off.
“She’s under current order by Kade Sario to go straight to the house.”
Elizabeth, wearing a pretty violet gown with glistening silver straps, narrows her irritatingly perfect eyebrows.
“He’s not coming to dinner?” She taps her red fingernails on the table in the vacant space next to her. I assume it’s for Kade.