--- Orion's POV---

Anger and annoyance flooded through my veins as I sat up in the bed, feeling the ship rock on the waves. My chains barely allowed me to sit up far enough to look out the window and only after I had twisted around so my feet were now facing the pillows.

Sighing, I glanced out through the window, seeing nothing else except the vast ocean and the waves rolling smoothly over the surface. It was excellent weather, not a cloud in sight and the pirates seemed to enjoy it.

I curled my lip in distaste at the loud belch from the deck and roaring laughter of the pirates. My throat and tongue were dry, swollen and seemingly gluing my lips together. I craved for a sip of saline water, hell, I needed it.

Already the skin around the shackles was getting irritated and due to the lack of salty water, my skin was starting to flake. The small amount of water I had drank on shore was nothing compared to the normal amounts that passed through my gills.

As such, my neck and gills were aching badly and I often winced when trying to turn my head. I shifted uncomfortably on the bed, cursing the pirates' existence once more before stilling when the door opened.

The man who entered barely shot him a glance, simply moving through the room with a mop and cleaning the floors as best as he could. He only shot me a glance when he arrived at the bed but most likely that was due to me hissing at him.

He merely raised a brow, ducking to move the mop under the bed and then left the room. I glared at the doorway as it was still open, frowning when the man ducked back in after a few minutes.

Another man stood in the doorway, his brown eyes leering at my chained body before he winked at me, causing me to snarl viciously in his direction. The cleaner looked over his shoulder and scowled.

"Piss of Gregor, Cap' Tn will be pissed off if he sees you near his cabin."

"Relax," Gregor sneered before glancing my way. "Just checking out the goods. Wonder when the Captain will share him." Gregor took a few steps inside, only to freeze when the colt steel of a blade was placed against the side of his neck.

"Unless you want to find out what it feels like to become a Eunuch, I'd suggest that you get back to work, Gregor." The man behind him calmly stated, as if he wasn't threatening Gregor's manhood and life with the blade against his throat. Gregor gulped and nodded, though shooting one last glare in my direction.

"As you command, Sire." He sneered before fleeing the room, leaving me with the cleaner and the new male. I pushed back on the bed, eying both men warily before watching as the cleaner came to my side with a bucket and rag, placing it next to the bed.

"Can you reach that?"

I blinked in confusion before looking down at the bucket, slowly reaching forward until I was able to dip my hand inside. The water smelled fresh and salt. I nearly jumped for joy as I yanked the bucket up and under the stunned gaze of the two men, proceeded to drink its contents.

My gills flared in between gulps, gasping for air before the water slowly seeped through them. Each gulp hydrated my perished throat, a thin trail of water trickling down from my gills before it soaked into my clothes.

When I finally sat back with a gasp of air, the two men shared amused looks as I looked at the nearly empty bucket, realizing that they had brought it in to refresh myself.

Probably not in the way I just did...

"Guess we'll need to let the Captain know our prisoner needs salt water to survive."

The other man nodded, motioning for the door. "Go grab another one, as I doubt Cain would like it if he wasn't able to bathe." When the cleaner nodded and left the room, the other man smirked slightly. "I wouldn't stress out too much if I were you. Cain isn't going to let anyone harass you."

I scoffed at that. "But he will."

It made the man smirk wider. "Comes with the territory of being a Captain. The name's Archer and as Cain's right hand, Quartermaster or whatever you wish to call it, I'm charged with your care, as well as making sure these mangy dogs don't get out of hand."

Pointing over his shoulder towards the door, he continued, "Bayne will be cleaning the Captain's quarters and bring you food and water. If anyone else tries to offer you food or a drink, I wouldn't accept it."

I frowned, puzzled as to why this pirate acted like he cared. "I'm a prisoner, not here of free will and yet you act as if I'm a guest." I said, pausing when Bayne entered the room again and carried the heavy bucket over, nodding at Archer before he left.

The water rippled slightly, catching my attention before I moved off the bed as best as I could, resting my aching wrists in the cool water. Archer watched as my skin slowly pulled together, repairing itself before he crossed his arms.

"Even if you are a prisoner, you were chosen by Cain to be his treasure. You are safe unless you break the trust I'm giving you right now, considering you're looking a lot better with the water provided"

I jerked before snapping to attention, realizing what he was aiming at. His eyes gave a pointed look to the shackles and the chain before motioning his chin to the bucket. "If I hear that you try and escape, I'll report it to the captain and ration your saline intake to the bare minimum."

A low growl wanted to escape me but I kept it in, trying to hatch an escape plan without being too obvious. If I were to break the chain right now, Archer would most likely attack. The water had helped a great deal but there was a huge difference between a bucket of water after spending weeks on shore and the strength I usually had when staying in water.

Archer chuckled, snapping me out of my thoughts as I looked at him. Several tattoos were visible, slipping under his neckline while he scratched at his jaw. His dark eyes flickered over my body before he smirked slightly when I bared my teeth at him.

"Trust me, we can treat you like a real prisoner if you act out, throwing you in the brig and feeding you slop." He rolled his wide shoulders before grinning. "I'm quite certain the Captain is going to stay with you for most of the time but like I said, if you're trying to escape us, you will get punished."

He gave me a mock salute before sauntering out the door, leaving it gaping wide open. Most likely to prevent me from breaking the chains and trying to crack open the window, as anyone walking by had a clear visual on me.

I sighed and dropped back in the bed, at least grateful that they offered me water to drink and wash up with. The last thing any pirate thought off was personal hygiene, as soap was very expensive and preserved for royalty.

And I doubted anyone on this ship had blue blood in their veins.

---Cain's POV---

The wide open view of the sea was something that always thrilled me, even after years of gazing out on it. The men were rowdy and loud as they did their jobs and kept an eye on the horizon in the mean while.

Footsteps resounded on the stairs and I glanced at Archer as he came up to the bridge, to stand to my side, smirking to himself. Catching my look, he rolled his eyes. "You might want to keep an eye out on your treasure. Gregor was already eyeballing him and I'm sure many others are thinking you're going to share him."

I sneered at the thought. Gregor better watch himself or he's going to get a good close up look of the ship's keel. "Bayne cleaned the room?" I verified while handing over the wheel to the helmsman, who tried to act as if he wasn't quietly listening in.

"And brought over water. Speaking of which, the lad drank a whole bucket of salt water. His skin was flaking around the shackles so you might wanna figure something out for that." I scowled, knowing that if I took those shackles off, he'd bolt out into the ocean the first chance he got.

An idea came to mind, making me smirk slightly before I nodded to myself. I needed to make sure he wouldn't get away so what better way than to stay with him all the time. Asher seemed to read my thoughts and winked, making me chuckle as I made my way to my quarters.

Orion was still sitting where I last left him, soaking his hands in the water. He instantly yanked them back out, scowling at me as he scrambled back on the bed. Letting my eyes wander over his body, I caught sight of multiple spots where his skin was red, flaking though the salt water seemed to heal him.

Then again, when he pulled back until the chains pulled tight, I heard them protest audibly while before he couldn't get free of them. Sauntering over, I sat on the edge of the bed, patting on the spot beside me.

Orion scowled, shaking his head as he refused to come to me. "Come over here, I want to see your wrists." He ignored me, tilting his nose in the air but gasped when I grabbed the chains, pulling him closer to me.

He hissed and spat, yanking back at the chains before I scowled at him. "I told you to come over here, didn't I?" I retorted, easily grabbing his hips and yanking him in my lap.

Orion froze the second he landed on my lap before glaring down at me in disdain. I couldn't help my arousal pressing against his shapely behind and smirked before grasping his chains. The wounds there didn't seem to come from chaffing, more like his skin had started flaking and the movement of the shackles had rubbed it off quicker than the rest of his body.

Taking a look at the bucket and the rest of his body, I smirked up at him. "I'm guessing this happens when you stay out of the water for too long?" Orion didn't respond as I removed one shackle and then the other, a hesitant look in his eyes as he rubbed his wrists.

"Why did you...not that I don't mind but..." Orion wondered out loud, too stunned to try and scramble out of my lap. I simple observed him, enjoying the way how he fit perfectly in my lap and how he looked straddling me.

He scowled down, most likely guessing or feeling where my thoughts were going, as my cock twitched in delight against his ass. Pushing against my chest, he tried to scramble out of my lap but I held him to me tightly.

"Now, since you're unchained, guess who's going to stay with you, twenty four hours a day?"

Orion's eyes widened before trying to push back once again, "I'd rather have the chains back!" He spat, making me chuckle as I caught his wrists in one hand before pushing myself up higher so we were pressed nose to nose.

"But those shackles cause you discomfort. I wouldn't want to blemish that perfect skin of your with any...markings." He panted in anger, the sight of his pink lips luring me in closer.

Oh, my idea just kept getting better and better!