The Unfortunates (Unfortunate #1) (3 page)

Chapter Three

Kade

He’d finally slipped into the solitude of his own room, away from his insisting father. ‘
It’s your birthday in a couple of days.
’ His father’s voice rang through his mind.
‘It's Sario tradition to receive an Unfortunate on your twenty-fifth birthday.’’

Kade dropped into his large leather chair behind his wide oak desk with a hea
vy exhale. He didn’t want a gift from his ‘father.’ He didn’t want anything from him, let alone an Unfortunate—a whore. He had no problem getting sex whenever he wanted, and he received it willingly from both Fortunates and Unfortunates alike. Kade was a good looking man. He knew it and he was told enough. He believed it was because of his attractiveness that he never had to forcefully take sex from anyone. Even the Unfortunates willing gave themselves to him. He’d barely lift a finger and they’d agreeably bend themselves over his desk, ready to be fucked. Kade had always thought of himself as commanding and it was actions like that that confirmed his belief. He had an undeniable presence and he used it to his advantage whenever he could.

Kade sat forward in his chair and glanced down at the mining documents he’d been prying through for the last two weeks. Something wasn’t right. His mines were collapsing, closing off important tunnels and barricading his slaves inside. Something w
as happening. He studied the map laid out before him on a large screen, trying to find a pattern.

Nothing.

A creak crept through the room as his door opened, but Kade didn’t bother dragging his gaze toward his father, keeping it fixated on the map.

“Well, h
ere she is.”

He stared at his map for a few
seconds more. In his head, he tried to imagine what she looked like—dispassionate eyes, sickly thin, and no doubt shaking like a leaf, too. With a sigh, he lifted his gaze. He felt his pants tighten as his sight travelled up her purple gown, over her wide hips and narrow waist before settling on a very nice pair of voluptuous breasts. He’d never seen an Unfortunate so well-endowed in that department. He dragged his eyes the last stretch—over her milky chest and onto her face. Her eyes were a light shade of violet and her hair, long and auburn. She stood so fiercely and she’d look unafraid if he ignored the uneasy tremble in her fingers. Kade immediately furrowed his brow. She was beautiful—a goddess—too pure for his dark, sinful gaze to rest on, and he wanted to destroy it. The glimmer of relief in her eyes as she realised she was his and not his over-fed father’s intrigued Kade. Why? Why did she prefer him over a harmless old man who probably couldn’t get it up? Kade could get it up, easily, and could inflict a lot more damage to her sweet opening than his father would.

Her wet, pink tongue qu
ickly slipped out to moisten her lip. The small movement snapped something inside Kade and he wanted nothing more than to control her, to wipe the look of hope off her face.
Michael has good taste and this poor Unfortunate drew the short straw, being as pretty as she is
.

She was
his now and the thought excited Kade. It travelled down to his stomach, wrapped around his semi-hard cock and settled in his balls. He wanted to fuck her now, to show her exactly how things were going to go. Lucky for her, he’d already had sex today, an hour ago to be exact, so Kade forced indifference and dropped his attention back to his map. “I don’t want her.”

He
lied. He liked to play games and he liked to be difficult. There was no excuse short of ‘that’s just how he was raised.
’
He also didn’t want to give Michael the satisfaction of making him happy. Besides, he knew he couldn’t dive into his Unfortunate right off the bat—mostly because rape did nothing for him—and if he had to get her to want it, he had to break her down. It wouldn’t be hard. All Unfortunates were the same—they craved love and attention. She would, too. She had no parents. No siblings. She had no friends, not even a name. She was a blank canvas and he could paint whatever he wanted on her, turning her into the whore he suddenly wanted her to be. But before he could do that, he had to make her willing to bend for his love. He had to make her desperate for his discipline, his attention, and his demands… and she would be eventually.

“She’
s a gift. You have to have her, and since I’m hosting the Selection in the backyard, you might as well participate.” With one sly, overt look at the Unfortunate, he turned to leave. “Oh, by the way,” he added, glancing over his shoulder at Kade. “Her name is Nine.”

∞ Nine ∞

Fortunates are the reason for my nightmares—the scariest things I can think of. Screw ghosts and demons, they have nothing on the people that run our society. Unfortunately, my nightmares don’t disappear when I wake. They seep over into my reality, crushing any positive emotion in their wake. As sick as it sounds, Fortunates also star in my pleasant dreams too, the naughty ones. My body could never deny that there’s a certain beauty in the power they possess and the control they demand… in my dreams I take the control from them, making them feel as powerless as I do, and the man sitting in front of me, ignoring me like the Unfortunate that I am, reminds me of every single naughty dream I’ve ever had. I swallow.
I can do this.

I can
’t believe how healthy he looks—glowing olive skin and healthy dark hair—
oh my
. In the Unfortunate camp, everyone is skinny, but him… I’ve never seen someone so in shape. I keep my head angled down as he signs papers on his desk, but I let my eyes flicker to his frame. He has wide, broad shoulders and the fabric of his formal button up shirt exposes the clothed rises and depressions of his torso muscles. The rest of his body is hidden behind the huge table, so my gaze takes a detour, roaming up his strong neck and onto his countenance. He has a well-structured face, not a trace of anything that would suggest he’s malnourished. I’ve never seen anyone so alluring. In my mind, I pictured my master to be fat and old… everything Master Kade isn’t. He’s strong and beautiful… which also makes him absolutely terrifying. His intense, volcanic glass irises flick to me and I instantly drop my stare.
Shit
. My stomach rolls and threatens to upturn what little sludge I ate this morning. I shouldn’t have looked at him, not without his permission, but I couldn’t help myself.

My palms begin to sweat and I want to rub them over my dress, but I keep them poised behind my back in fear of my own life.
I’ve yet to learn his temperament. My heart kicks in rapid pulses, threatening to shake me to my foundations as I feel his dark eyes rake me in a way that makes my throat run dry. He drops a pen and the sound of it crashing to the desk sends a jolt of fear through me. Oh, no.

Master Kade pushes out from behind the desk and I hear his large, heavy footsteps close the distance between us. Involuntarily, my muscles tense and I flex my fingers, bracing for his next move. This is it, my first punish
ment for looking when I shouldn’t have. How could I have been so stupid? A long silence passes and I watch his nice leather shoes until he finally speaks.

“Nine,
” he states, testing my name on the tip of his tongue.

I look up at him, trying my hardest to fight back the anxiety th
at has my chest feeling like it’s ready to explode. Slowly, he reaches for me and flicks my hair over my shoulder before running his hands over my skin. My body jolts to fearful attention at the feel of his smooth skin on mine. I hate it. He pokes and prods me, touching and gripping parts of me that have remained untouched by any other hands besides my own. I’m shaken with a gasp as he turns my back to him. ‘
An Unfortunate must never have their back to their Fortunate.’
I attempt to turn around, but his hands grip my shoulders, preventing me from moving.

“Stay
,” he demands, dropping his hands to my wrists and pulling my own hands apart, forcing them to rest idly at my sides.

I comply as the tips of his fingers run down my spine before he grasps my hips and squeezes
briefly. I feel his fingers twitch in hesitation, before his hands slide over my backside and down the back of my thighs.

“Do you eat?”
he inquires, his voice husky and gruff.

I gulp, trembling
at the hands that glide up my calves and onto my inner thighs. “Yes, sir.”

“When?”

“Once in the morning and once before bed.”

The food we’
re given as Unfortunates is the same thing it’s always been since day one, a small bowl of weird grey porridge, a slice of stale bread and a cup of water. I’ve never had the pleasure of tasting something different—something of varying colours.

He steps away and I turn around, clasping my hands behind my back again. He inches
forward, this time with purpose. I keep my body steady as he reaches out and pulls at the knot on the shoulder of my dress. My stomach drops into my intestines as my dress falls from my body and pools in a mess of fabric at my feet. Instinctively, I reach up to cover my breasts but he abruptly smacks my hands away, making the surface of the back of my hand prickle.

“Ouc—”

His fingers catch my lips, forcing them closed and he tsks at me. I take note of the way his irises darken like the earth does when a large cloud blocks the moon.

“You’re not very good at this, are you?”

My chest rises and falls rapidly and I fight the urge to gather the fabric and run.
So much for confidence.
He releases my lips but the way he stares at them doesn’t pass me by. Maybe I should be worrying about my virtue a hell of a lot sooner than I originally planned. I swallow hard. “I can do better.”

I take in his beautiful dark eyes, framed by
thick, dark lashes. “I know you can, and you will. My Unfortunate needs to be perfect to appropriately represent my house.”

Electricity jolts through me as he trails an index finger under my breast, heating my flesh. I don’t know why my body is acting this way. I’m not aroused
… I feel panicked and yet my nipple strains hard against the tip of his thumb as he flicks it over my sensitive tip. Biology. My body reacts the way nature intended it to. It knows there’s a man touching me and it knows what’s supposed to happen when a man gently strokes all of its sensitive spots. It doesn’t know this man doesn’t see me as his equal. It doesn’t know this man only wants one thing from my body. If it did, I’m sure my nipples would miraculously grow teeth and defend themselves. I’d rather die than willingly let a Fortunate have sex with me, and if Kade forces himself on me, I want my body to reject him, not embrace him. I subtly grit my teeth against his caress.

“
In my house you will eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you have any hope of keeping up with me”—his eyes flare when I visibly flinch—“you’ll need to be healthy and well nourished. You are a gift and I intend to keep you as long as possible.”

I intend to keep you as long as possible.
My chest constricts.

“You’re scared?”
he bites out, seemingly frustrated.

“No, sir.”

“Why are you scared?”