Page 34 of Take No Prisoners
Efren
At first, Efren was angry when Vadim orderedImperial Fool'sremaining wind weavers to man the sails and push them home faster. The more he thought about it, the hotter his rage because Vadim hadn't suggested it sooner. They could have reached Aquarion in two days with the aid of the wind weavers lounging in the hold. Instead, they'd lost precious time. Now, the dark coast loomed before them with the sunrise, shaving two days off their trip.
"Fishermen on the dock preparing for their day," Vadim said as he handed Efren back his scope. "Nothing's burning and no one's been strung up on the docks. We've arrived in time."
"For all you know, the magic the seeker detected could have been something set by the elders."
"True."
Efren wanted to punch Vadim right in his smug smile, but he clasped his hands behind his back instead, his knuckles brushing against the cuffs in his back pocket.
"We'll have our say with the council soon enough. Thank you for the ride."
"The ride." Efren snorted. "You're my prisoner." He took a step closer to Vadim and reached into his pocket. He needed to time this just right, so Vadim didn't have a chance to remove one of his gloves.
"You'd need a pair of silver shackles."
The ring of silver clicked into place around Vadim's right wrist, and Efren yanked him by it, grabbing his left arm and twisting it behind his back, too.
"All right," Vadim huffed as the other cuff clicked into place. "All you had to do was ask."
Efren spun Vadim around to face him again. He couldn't meet the hurt in his former first mate's gaze. "I asked you to stay. Look how that turned out."
"You knew I couldn't."
"I didn't know shit." Efren motioned for Stan, who looked like he didn't have much to do now that there were so many wind weavers on deck.
"Aye, Captain."
"Lock him back in his crate."
"Aye."
"You never stopped being his lackey," Vadim said as Stan led him toward the stairs into the hold in the aft.
Efren didn't listen to Stan's reply. He stomped the opposite direction, toward his cabin. It took all of his control not to shove one of Vadim's old crew overboard when the man stepped into his path.
He slammed the cabin door behind him and let out a string of curses.
"Are you trying to put hair on your grandmother's chest?" Niall asked.
Efren had expected to be alone in his cabin. His cheeks burned as his gaze fell on Niall's beautiful nakedness sprawled across his bunk in the faint morning light.
"What are you doing in here?"
"I wanted to get some sleep before we reach port."
"We don't have time to sleep," Efren groused. "We're almost there."
"Some shared pleasure, then?"
Efren couldn't deny his desire, but part of him held back. "We shouldn't."
Niall swung his legs around the table, placed his feet flat on the floor and spread his legs wide, putting his hard cock on display as he stroked it. "Are you sure?"
Efren didn't want to mislead Niall. Since Vadim had left, Efren had new relationship rules, but they'd never been tested until now. A strangled noise was all he could muster when he tried to speak. He cleared his throat and tried again. "If you join my crew, you'll have a sail. You won't be bunking with me."
"Bunking is one thing," Niall said. "What about sex?"
