This was getting dangerous. Kade had wanted Nine from the moment he laid eyes on her, but never this bad. He leaned against the door and shut his eyes. Kade had never felt jealousy before in his life… and he thought back to the kiss Elizabeth’s Unfortunate gave Nine. The recollection stirred the green-eyed monster that’d been cleverly hiding inside of him this whole time, going unbothered. He punched the Unfortunate repeatedly even though it wasn’t his fault. He was enraged, no, jealous—no—disgusted that someone like River would put his unworthy lips on a girl like Nine. Sure, they were both the same class, the same kind of people to everyone else, but to Kade she was greater than the rest. She was his… something. He didn’t know yet, but for now, she was his something. What was it about Nine that he needed in his life? What was it that possessed him whenever she was around? It wasn’t love, that he knew for sure. And that dress! Fucking Vince. He’s out of his mind if he thinks I’m going to let her out of the house in a dress like that, Kade thought. Granted, it didn’t expose any important pieces of flesh, but Kade knew how Vince worked and he was not going to have the pleasure of seeing Nine in that purple dress. Downstairs, Kade had a full wardrobe dedicated to his personal Unfortunate. During the two weeks Kade left Nine alone, he went into town and bought as many appealing dresses as he could find. To have his Unfortunate look perfect at every party was a must. He wanted his Unfortunate to look better than any slave any of the other Fortunates had. He was certain he could find something for her.
Kade pushed off of the door and sauntered over to his computer. He had to sort his priorities. The mine came first, then Albert, then his father, and then Nine. The base line was, Nine was just a pawn in his plan. Nothing more, nothing less. He’d keep his end of the bargain, sure, but not for her. For his mother. Although she wouldn’t approve of what he was going to do, at least she could see that he was compromising, that he wasn’t completely lost to the new world.
He turned on his computer screen and ran his fingers smoothly over the surface, touching all of the appropriate buttons. He lost all communication with his team the minute they went down into the mine. If they weren’t back in a week, Kade would assume them dead and have to go through with the plan and have Nine get Albert to sign the contract. With a sigh, he leaned back into his chair. Suddenly, the idea of using Nine didn’t sound as appealing. Last night, Kade spoke to Albert. They spoke about the mines and how Albert was looking sell a few of his off, anyway. Of course, the asking price was way out of Kade’s range, but when Kade pointed out Nine, Albert was willing to negotiate a lower price. He lowered his price dramatically for one night with Nine and Kade remembered the way it felt when he saw Albert’s face light up as his seedy stare graced her skin… like a knife. It felt like a knife had been slammed into his stomach and twisted until his organs blended together.
Because Kade wanted Nine.
He knew exactly how it felt to have her lips feather across his skin. He knew exactly how it felt to have her supple skin against his and the feelings it stirred when her skin pebbled with the bare graze of his mouth. He didn’t want to share that with anyone else. He didn’t want anyone else to discover her the way he had. There was also the fear of her safety. Nine didn’t have the greatest control over her tongue. His lips twitched. He liked that she kept him on his toes. It exhilarated him, made him feel alive for the first time in years.
Then it hit him… that’s why he made her come because he knew no one else could or would. He knew he would be the only one who could bring her that kind of happiness and he was being selfish, knowing that for the rest of her life, she’d think of him when anything aroused her. She’ll think about his fingers between her legs and his voice in her ear. Or, maybe, it was just wishful thinking. Originally, blindfolding her was never meant to be a pleasure exercise. Kade was meant to touch her strategically and get her to memorise where he put his hands, how he moved his fingers and used his breath all to his advantage. Then it got out of hand. Way out of hand. Regardless of the growing ball of possession in Kade’s body, he knew giving Nine up was for the greater good. Giving her up meant that he could take his family name higher than ever before. It meant he could get out of this hell hole once and for all. With his father gone, Kade could move into the city, into the Sario skyscraper, and he could get revenge on his father and be happy with everything he would gain from his death.
That was the plan… and he would stick to it. No matter what.