“I’m not making you do anything, Unfortunate. I’m asking my slave to kiss you. You can just stand there, if you want.”
“Elizabeth—”
“Kathryn, shut it.”
In a huff, Kathryn pushes her chair back, rises to her feet and storms off. There goes my only defence. Beside me, River places his tray of glasses on the table and angles his body to me. I take a minute step backwards, willing him not to do this with my eyes.
“Stop moving or I’ll force him to put more than just his tongue in your mouth.”
He advances on me quickly then and forcefully takes my face in his hands. My heart beats in an unsteady rhythm, threatening to hammer up my throat. I shake my head at him, as best I can, but he doesn’t care. He has an order from his Fortunate and he’ll do anything to honour it. How can he be scared of Elizabeth? How can she punish him? He’s so much bigger than she is. As my thought finishes, River crushes his mouth to mine and my eyes flutter shut on instinct. I screw my face up and grip his hands, trying desperately to get away. His tongue pries open my lips and his taste floods me—the taste of bread, stale bread. Over the heavy thrum of my heart, I hear Elizabeth and her friends cackling. The cackling goes on forever—an incessant irritation filtering through my ears and lingering at the back of my skull. Then, River’s mouth is torn from mine, and the laughing ceases. My eyes shoot open and I see Kade towering over a cowering Unfortunate. I don’t have the courage to stop him from hurting River, not when there are so many Fortunates around.
“You want to put your mouth on something that belongs to me?” he growls before punching River in the mouth. The sound of flesh slamming into flesh spikes my adrenaline. If my heart was beating fast before, now it’s off the charts, going so fast I’m sure any second now it’s going to rip a hole through time and space. When Kade lifts himself off of River, I see blood leaking out of his nose and gushing from a deep cut on his lip.
“And you!” he snaps at Elizabeth, making the whole yard fall silent. Colour drains from her face, but she holds an expression of complete confidence. “What did I tell you?”
“It wasn’t me,” she lies, flashing soothing palms to Kade. “He kissed of his own accord. He followed his own desire.”
“That’s a lie,” I tell Kade.
How dare she not take responsibility for what she did? Her Unfortunate is lying bloodied and beaten on the floor and for what? What did she achieve by forcing River to kiss me? If she wanted Kade’s rage, she got it. Elizabeth’s features darken.
“Fine. I made him kiss her, but only for dinner entertainment. That’s all.”
Kade steps closer to the table. Against his tense form, his suit looks tighter and I’d hate to be on the receiving end of an expression so fierce and frightening. “I’m going to tell you one last time, don’t touch her, don’t talk to her, don’t even look at her. Understood?”
She makes no sound.
“Do you understand?” he booms, making everyone within earshot jump.
Elizabeth slumps into herself, defeated, but I still don’t miss the dark threat in her blue eyes. “Yes.”
“Good.”
Kade’s fingers curls around my bicep. His grip is incredibly tender, his fingers barely digging into my muscle. Before he drags me away, he gives Kathryn a subtle nod of the head that she sincerely returns. That’s where she went… to get Kade? Why would she help me? I glance at her from over my shoulder as Kade pulls me away. She doesn’t smile, but the look in her eyes says more than her lips ever could. Again, I ask myself, why would she help me? And naturally, I assume she has some kind of motive. She’s a Fortunate, after all.
Kade pulls me through the house and with every step he takes, his grip tightens, growing more aggressive and violent than soft and caring.
“You’re hurting me,” I whisper harshly as I pull against him.
Ignoring my complaint he tugs me up the stairs, and when we reach the hallway, I notice immediately that we’re alone. So I dig my heels in. The balls of my feet glide over the polished wood, refusing to grip on and help me.
“Kade—”
He whips around on mention of his name. “You kissed him?” he demands, his eyes darker than dark and fear bubbles in my chest.
“No, I didn’t.”
In the next heartbeat, his hands are on my shoulders and I almost stumble over my own feet as he slams me into the wall.
“You let him put his fucking lips on you?”
I feel my face heat up as tears blur my vision. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“You could have run. I would’ve defended you.”