Whatever It Takes 3: Love in Chains - EXCERPT

Chapter 7

Lamar waited. And waited. Patiently, nervously, furiously. Nothing happened. Hours passed and she wasn’t back. Just when he was about to call on the guard outside and start finding out what happened to her, the door opened. His relief was quickly replaced by fear. Not only they didn’t bring Laina back, but suddenly, a lot of the pirates swarmed the room. They began picking up prisoners one by one, detaching their chains from the loops on the floor but still keeping them on.

They kept Lamar as the last. Once all the other men were escorted outside, three of the pirates stood above him with blades in their hands, and one leaned closer to unlock his chains. Lamar gritted his teeth. This was a moment he was waiting for, but he couldn’t do anything because they would just slice his throat right away. That wouldn’t help anyone, the least of all Laina. And he had to stay alive for her because she was lost without him. A single woman in a dangerous world full of dangerous men. There was no way she could survive on her own.

He had no choice but to play along, for now, letting them pull him up and drag him on the deck. The chain between his ankles was so short he could barely use the stairs and only allowed him to make the tiniest steps. The light outside was blinding, Lamar hadn’t seen the sun in almost two weeks and now it felt like the rays were piercing holes into his brain.

While he was squinting and groaning in pain, he noticed that the ship had docked. Somewhere. A big city from the little glimpses he could see. The other prisoners were on the deck as well, all in the same situation. A lot of armed men around. Not a trace of Laina. He did, however, catch sight of Ersey. The captain was smirking, no doubt happy about the fat paycheck he was about to receive for the human livestock gathered aboard his ship.

“Where is she?!” Lamar yelled at him, not really caring about causing trouble anymore. If she wasn’t here, Ersey couldn’t take it out on her. “What did you do to her, you sick bastard?!” Forgetting about the chain between his ankles, Lamar stumbled down when he tried to take a step toward the captain.

The men immediately rushed in to beat Lamar up but, to his surprise, Ersey stopped them. The polished leather boots appeared in Lamar’s field of vision and he braced himself for getting his teeth kicked in. But the hit never came. The captain crouched next to Lamar, a sly smirk on his face. “A friend,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Sure.”

Lamar had no idea what he was talking about. “Where is she?!” he repeated, glaring at the man in front of him.

Not deeming him worthy of a response, Ersey stood up and turned to his men. “Bring this one to my cabin. We’re gonna have a private chat first. Take the rest of them to the market and make sure you get the best price.”

Strong hands pulled him back up to his feet and Lamar didn’t try to fight them when they led him to the captain’s cabin. If that bastard had done something to her, Lamar was going to strangle him with the stupid chain between his wrists, even if it was the last thing he was going to do in this world.

They pushed him in and left him and Ersey alone. Lamar tried to judge his chances of killing the bastard at that moment but they were too slim, so he decided to wait.

“Hmm, so you aren’t completely stupid,” Ersey smirked upon noticing Lamar’s body relax. “Still, what the girl sees in you is beyond me.”

What did Laina see in him? Lamar shook his head, trying to focus on what was important. “Stop with these damn mind games! Where is she?”

“I can understand what you see in her,” completely ignoring him, Ersey continued. “She is such an amazing f**k. I’ve had lots of women and… Well, I can’t say she was the best but she would definitely make it into the top five.” Lamar had to clench his fists, his jaw hardening as he fought the urge to beat the s**t out of the wretched pirate. “Amusing,” Ersey smirked. “You wanna know where she is? Fine. I will make you the same offer I made her when she came to beg for your pathetic life. Make it worth my while and I will grant you your wish.”

Lamar blinked in confusion. “You w-”

“Didn’t she tell you,” the captain interrupted him, “that I am used to people being on their knees in front of me when they are begging me for something?”

What a jerk. Lamar wanted nothing more than to punch his stupid face. Repeatedly. Until it would turn into a bloody mush. But this was about Laina, he needed to find her, to help her, and he was willing to do whatever it takes. Even if it meant kneeling in front of his bastard. He settled himself on the wooden planks and looked up into the captain’s smug face. “Better? Sir?”

“Much.” There was a wide grin on Ersey’s face. “Now, we may continue.”

Laina told him what the captain asked her to do in exchange for saving Lamar’s life. The Orellian could not believe that he would be forced to do the same thing. “You seriously want me to suck your d**k?”

“Why so surprised?” Ersey raised an eyebrow. “I like men as well as women. I don’t discriminate. Sometimes men are even better because they know what feels good. I told you to make it worth my while. It has been a while and still nothing.”

Fuck him. Lamar rolled his eyes but reached to pull his d**k out, the chains on his wrists jingling quietly. He tried to think about Laina and not how incredibly weird this whole situation was. Of course he had seen other men naked. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe. He was a soldier and the army didn’t exactly offer too much privacy. But it never occurred to him to actually touch someone else’s p***s.

The thing was hot and strange and generally disgusting but Lamar clenched his teeth and wrapped his fingers around it, moving his palm up and down. He certainly didn’t plan to have it in his mouth for any longer than absolutely necessary.

A quiet chuckle made him stop moving and look up. “You really don’t back off from a fight, do you?” An amused look on his face, the captain shook his head and took a step back, tucking his now fully erect p***s back into his breeches.

“You…” Lamar had to clear his throat before speaking. “You were just messing with me? What kind of a sick f**k are you?!” It took every tiny bit of his self-control not to just jump on that guy and start strangling him.

“I wanted to see how motivated you were and whether you would actually do it. And, by the way, I wasn’t lying. The best blowjob I ever received was from a young man at the Naughty Siren. I’m actually about to head back there right when I’m done with you. And you still haven’t made this worth my while.”

Deep breaths. A long, slow inhale. Even longer exhale. That’s what he was always telling Hayden when the king was fighting against his rage fits. Damn, Lamar never realized how extremely hard it must have been for his friend. “What do you want?” He managed to say, not even trying to sound polite anymore.

“I want to know what’s going on.” Ersey leaned back against the table, his expression shifting from amusement to a very serious one within a moment. “I know who you are, captain Lamar,” he scoffed, “and I want to know why you are here. What is the Burning Fury planning?”

Well, s**t. This man was smarter than he looked. “Didn’t you hear the news? I’m not a captain anymore. My dear king kicked me out.” That was the lie they agreed on. “I wanted to come here to start a new life. With the girl. So where the hell is she?”

“Oh, sure.” It didn’t seem like the pirate was buying Lamar’s story. “You just happened to leave his services while he was unearthing a huge conspiracy against him. When there were dozens of barrels of the black powder around Ebris set to explode but, mysteriously, only one did. When the main man behind it all ended up in dungeons beneath the palace, no doubt telling Hayden’s people everything he knew at the mere sight of a hot iron. What a huge coincidence!”

How did he know all that? Most of that information was never made public. Unless… “You smuggled the barrels!”

“Look at that. Determined and not completely stupid.” Ersey’s mouth curled into a smirk but his eyes remained cold and emotionless. “It wasn’t just me, but yes. A dangerous job, but it made me rich. Now, tell me what is the mad king going to do or you will never see the little cunt again!”

On second thought, Lamar would actually prefer to suck the man’s d**k than being forced to choose between staying loyal to his king and country and finding Laina. “Did you even know what you were smuggling? That hundreds of innocent people were going to die because of you?”

“Of course I knew what it was. Do I look like the type of person who gives a s**t about innocent people? Start. Talking.” Ersey’s patience was clearly running out.

“I don’t know anything.” Hearing Ersey scoff contemptuously, Lamar quickly continued, “I don’t! I’m not lying to you.” He wasn’t. But he had no idea how to convince the captain that he was telling the truth. Staring straight into the man’s dark eyes, Lamar made sure to speak in a calm, level voice. “I don’t know anything about Hayden’s plans. He didn’t exactly share his battle strategies with the captain of his guards, you know, most of the time I just stood by the door and made sure nobody put a dagger through him. I barely even listened in on their tedious debates.” Plus, if he got caught by Odi’s people, he couldn’t tell them anything if he didn’t know anything. Everyone talked while being tortured. Everyone. Some sooner, some later, but everyone had a breaking point.

The pirate studied Lamar’s expression for long moments before snorting. “Which means you are useless to me. I could ask you what the Burning Fury sent you to do here but the truth is that I don’t really care. It’s probably something boring as snooping around and gathering information. I could sell you to the Emperor’s people, bet they would pay well for an Orellian spy.”

Lamar shuddered. Cchen-Lian was renowned for its cruel and extreme torture methods. What was he supposed to say? Damn, he was so bad at these stupid word games, dancing around the important topics, finding three different meanings in every sentence. Lamar was a straightforward man. When somebody ordered him to go somewhere and do something, he went there and did it. He fought with a sword, not with his tongue, fancy words were not his thing. And now he couldn’t even think of something smart to say to save his own life.

“Not completely stupid but not a genius either,” Ersey chuckled after realizing he was not going to get an answer to his threat. “But if I gave you to Odi, then sooner or later you would mention the girl and get her into trouble as well. Now, call me soft-hearted,” Ersey paused for a moment and Lamar had to fight the urge to laugh. Nobody in their right mind would call this sociopath soft-hearted. “But I actually liked that little b***h. That tight cunt of hers, always so wet… And her tongue! Man, don’t even get me started on that. You could say that she has f****d her way into my heart.”

Lamar was fairly certain that the man didn’t have a heart at all. “What did you do with her?” It was hard not to sound desperate.

“You are a man of honor, right?” Completely ignoring Lamar’s question, Ersey quirked an eyebrow at him, as if even the mere thought of honor amused him. “One of those dummies that never break a promise? Not even to an enemy?”

“What do you want?”

The captain moved behind the table and sat down, placing his elbows at the armrests of his chair and connecting his fingers together. “I don’t like being on the losing side. So you are going to promise me the same thing Odi’s people did. A full pardon, a title, a mansion, lots of money, s**t like that.”

“You’re gonna play on both sides,” Lamar scoffed, disgusted. “No matter who wins, you will have made a deal with them. But I can’t guarantee you any of those things. I’m nobody.” It wasn’t entirely true, Hayden would probably listen to such a demand from Lamar but the Orellian didn’t want this bastard to be rewarded for all the evil he has done.

“You are the best friend of the Burning Fury. Surely you can pull some strings. Here is what is going to happen.” His eyes got even colder, if such a thing was even possible, something cruel sparkling in them. “I’m gonna sell you into an underground fighting arena. A brutal place where you will fight for your bare life every single day. And when you lose, they will beat you to death. You give me your sacred, honorable f*****g warrior oath that I will get what I want and I will not only tell you where your little cunt is but I will get you close to her. Oh, and, naturally, I also want your promise that you won't come after me, ever. Do we have a deal?”

More and more Lamar wished that he could just suck the bastard’s d**k. It would certainly make him feel less dirty than agreeing to his terms. But what else was he supposed to do? It was not like he had a choice. “Yes,” he breathed out, defeated. “You have my word. I’ll get you your pardon and title and everything.”

“Great!” Once again, Ersey’s expression changed in a split moment and he grinned happily. “Now bend over so I can f**k your ass. Haha. Just kidding. Or am I?”

***

Next update: Sunday