At His Mercy
Elvira Bell

General Release Date: 2nd March 2021

Word Count: 22,321
Book Length: NOVELLA
Pages: 90
Genres: EROTIC ROMANCE, FANTASY, GAY, GLBTQI, HISTORICAL

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Book Description

A thief and his captor… A spicy demand in exchange for freedom. Will Lio give in to the lord of the manor?

Young thief Lio should have known better than to steal from the mighty Lord Callen. After he’s been locked up in a cold cell in Callen’s manor, he’s told that he’ll be set free on one condition—that he agrees to share Callen’s bed for one night. Lio refuses, but can’t help wondering what sleeping with Callen might be like. Callen, on the other hand, takes the rejection badly and thinks Lio finds him old and unattractive. He can’t stop thinking about the pretty boy with the white hair though, and they’re about to overcome their hostility toward one another when something happens that brutally cuts off their budding friendship and causes Callen to throw Lio out headfirst.

For months they are apart. Callen isolates himself in his chamber, enraged and bitter, while Lio struggles to make it through the winter. In the end, starvation forces him to seek out the last man he wants to see—Lord Callen. Callen, who resents him and does nothing to hide it. Will Lio be able to get through to him? Will they ever have what they both want—each other?

Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of violence, threats of sexual harrassment, captivity and homophobia.

Lio stared at the door Lord Callen had just walked out of. For a moment, he didn’t even feel the cold. With his heart racing, he sank down to the floor, eyes kept on the door as though Callen could return at any moment. And he could, couldn’t he? This was his house, his tower. He could do anything he fancied.

Lio let his head fall back against the stone wall. Think. There must be some way out of this, some way to rescue his father and warn his mother before it was too late. He cursed himself for how he had exposed her secret, thoughtlessly, as if he didn’t know what happened to those accused of witchcraft. But he had never thought of her knowledge like that—she was a potion-maker, not a conjurer. He had never heard her utter a spell or call any dark powers to her aid. To Lord Callen and his kind, though, potions would be as incriminating as spells. She had told Lio and the younger children many times, patiently explained that a lot of people were scared of things they couldn’t understand, and therefore they must never speak to strangers about the girls who came to her for help or the herbs she picked out in the woods on full moon nights.

“I’m sorry, Mother,” he murmured, pressing back a sob. “I failed you.”

In a flash, he saw Lord Callen in front of him—that icy stare and those cruel, vicious words. Heat rose in his cheeks at the thought of what Callen had demanded of him. That was the reason they had separated him from his father. This had been Callen’s plan the whole time. Lio let out a shivering breath, pulling the cloak tighter around him. The windows overhead were far too narrow for even a child to slip out of, but they seemed to let in every single gust of wind.

Why did Callen want a thing like that? Men weren’t supposed to lie together. Lio didn’t know a lot about the world, but he did know that. His father had told him many times, muttering about this or that king who had brought on his own downfall by keeping a string of young male bedfellows. ‘There are names for that sort of thing, you know. And they ain’t pretty.’

Lio didn’t have a lot of experience when it came to love—in fact, he had none at all. He had never been invited to the dancing on Saturday nights, where young people met and enjoyed themselves. He had never had any friends, only his family. Sometimes he’d noticed how a young girl consulting his mother would make eyes at him, maybe even smile, but that only made him uneasy. He knew he was supposed to ogle pretty girls the way the village boys did, but he’d never really met anyone who seemed interesting. It made him sad at times, because he longed to have that strong bond with someone that his parents had. Maybe he hadn’t met enough people in his life—the village was tiny, after all. If he went out into the world, he’d be sure to find someone who stirred romantic feelings in him.

Now he was stuck here instead, with no means of escaping. Not unless he accepted Callen’s awful proposition.

Lio groaned, putting his hands over his face. His fingers were like icicles against his burning cheeks. Briefly, he tried to imagine what lying with Lord Callen might be like. They’d have to be…naked, he supposed. He’d only seen another man without clothes once—a young traveler who had been bathing in one of the streams near the cottage when Lio had walked by. Lio had stopped, curious, hiding among the bushes as he’d studied those lean thighs and the toned, hairless chest. Would Callen look like that? No—he’d be hairy, probably, and maybe scarred from battles in the past. He’d be rough and strong and—

Lio pushed the images away, his eyes darting to the door as he tried to ignore the straining in his trousers. What if Callen came storming in and discovered what state he was in? What might Callen do to him then? But luckily no one came, and his erection went down. Lio shut his eyes, putting his hands back under the cloak to warm them. It was nothing. He’d rather die than meet Callen’s demand—having an erection was just an automatic response. It wasn’t as if it hadn’t happened before. When he’d watched that bathing traveler, for example, or when he was younger and had had shameful dreams. It had nothing to do with Lord Callen.

Sighing, Lio went over to the heap of blankets and snuggled up under them. He might as well try to sleep—try to forget about the cold, and the evil man who had locked him in here.

 

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Elvira Bell

Elvira Bell lives in Sweden and spends most of her time writing, reading or watching movies. Her weaknesses include, but are not limited to: vintage jazz, musicals, kittens, oversized tea cups, men in suits, the 18th century, and anything sparkly.

Elvira writes m/m romance and has a penchant for historical settings. She adores all things gothic and will put her characters through hell from time to time because she just loves watching them suffer. It makes the happy endings so much sweeter, after all.

Find out more at Elvira’s website.

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