Caged: Love and Treachery on the High Seas (Baal's Heart, #1)

Caged: Love and Treachery on the High Seas (Baal's Heart, #1) - Bey Deckard First of all, I love pirates and of course, by loving pirates I mean I adore the Romantic kind we find in a book and not the real one. The kind of pirates José de Espronceda wrote about in my favorite poem:

My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.


This is a spectacular trilogy and the first volume couldn't have been better.

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And needless to say, Bey Deckard is one my little treasures of this year.

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Honestly, I'm not fond of threesomes. But surely I'm very fond of good books, and I welcome every book that makes me feel something, or lots of somethings, like this one did. This is a tale of three untamed men and their chemistry between them and the various conflicts that are awaken. First hostility and jealousy, then attraction and awe. And before you ask, yes, it works surprisingly well.

I already went over the top with [b:Sarge|23305626|Sarge (F.I.S.T.S. #1)|Bey Deckard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412531494s/23305626.jpg|42860704] and [b:Murphy|25532767|Murphy (F.I.S.T.S. #2)|Bey Deckard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1431538826s/25532767.jpg|45321623] so I was 99% sure I'd like this one, and Bey hit the nail on the head. This threesome is like Sarge and Murphy and another one, but no one of them felt like a third wheel. Even more, when one of them was removed, you immediately missed him. Every one of them has a defined personality and the counterpoint and harmony that result from every possible mix gives the story a very fascinating sparkle.

Make a notice this is a book with kinky pirates having fun in many sorts of ways. Combinations are infinite and they haven't been totally explored yet, so of course this is quite promising before beginning the book but also after finishing it. Expect several-to-many hot sex scenes and lots of naughty time.

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But even though we have three disgusting, perfect bodies dancing together in varied positions, we can't look down on the inner development of the MCs. They all have something interesting to tell and you feel encouraged to go on and find out something new about them. Or to see them giving in to each other. My lips were grinning the whole time but my heart was inflamed almost as often.

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Baltaros is presented as the typical secretive dark hero every main character should fall for, but he is not as inscrutable as they want us to think. He is rumored to be heartless and bloodthirsty, and in a way, he is. He is considered a psycho but, in truth, hasn't learnt as a normal human being how to deal with his feelings and his urges, so his appetite and rawness are well-known and feared through-out his crew. Still, we glimpse pieces of his soul that, even though they cannot be considered romantic per se, awake a longing in both Jon and Tom I could feel identified with.

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Jon is shy and feeble at first. The only person he loved, his mother, died a long time ago, so he has been alone forever since, with no human touch or a meaningful friendship to worship, apart from his loyal dog, Brutus. But there is steel in him, a steel Baltsaros sees instantly when their glances first meet, so Baltsaros kidnaps Jon and proposes him to join his people and become free. Jon has an empathic ability that allows him to read people's minds and intentions. But somehow Baltsaros seems immune to said skill and Jon has a hard time trying to read him.

Tom... Tom is like Pete from [b:Brethren|60814|Brethren (Raised by Wolves, #1)|W.A. Hoffman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349075856s/60814.jpg|59153] having his own story. He is the secondary promoted into principal. And I can't complain. He's blond, huge, and loves pain and being used and manhandled. His blue-green eyes mirror his longing for being valued and precious to someone. A desire so profound that Baltsaros has yet to learn to appreciate but Jon soon discovers.

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We have plenty of both of Baltsaros's and Tom's POVs, but Tom's is painfully absent. He tells so much while actually saying very little, and mostly snarky comments and provocative hints. But the betraying signs he displays now and then that he with so much effort tries to hide shows his yearning and make you hopelessly ache for him. I hope I get to see more of him, because he has so much potential and he hasn't yet been properly analyzed as he willingly deserves.

I'm not sure yet who is the nexus here. At first the nexus seemed to be Baltsaros, because Tom is already Baltsaros's lover and first mate when Jon comes into scene, and consequently, jealousy and rivalry takes place between Tom and Jon. Baltsaros's hunger is covered with Tom, but something in Jon arises feelings that he had never found in his first mate. He finds himself in the middle of a storm, he wants Tom, but Tom's animosity towards Jon is not a secret, and Baltsaros can't let anything bad happen to Jon. He also wants Jon, but Jon doesn't seem willing to share.

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This precarious situation comes to an end when something unforgivable occurs and in that precise moment it seemed that only Jon could bring them all closer. Because it's here when he gets to know Tom better, and he realizes that the feelings he has towards Tom are not only those of the negative sort. They set up an unspoken truce of sorts and in those moments I really wanted to hug Tom and not let go. In truth Tom doesn't appear long, but his appearances are more memorable precisely for that. But that's also due to our over-interpretation of his actions. You try to read him all the time and you always come to your own conclusions, which often are more of acts of faith than real facts. Because the author lets very little of Tom to be known.

In the end, Tom is the one who seems necessary and becomes the dreamy key to get any sort equilibrium and, above all, a happy ending that manages to fulfill the needs of them all. At any rate, the relationship finally becomes balanced when the last piece is put in its place, something I didn't expect because it didn't even seem possible at first. But it is.

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So, all in all, this is a totally recommended book. Bey Deckard is an author worth to follow very closely. His writing is exquisite and poignant, without losing that mischievous facet I have become so addicted to. It's not that his style is overly flourished or studiously poetic but the story flows with such an ease there is no moment to consider putting down the book for a while, the thought itself is unthinkable. The characters are multi-layered and complete at every level, it's just that not very much is portrayed about them. Because the trick about seduction is showing little and left the rest to imagination, to draw you in. I liked how these characters seduced me, each one in their own particular way. I finished the book with a huge smile and good vibes and now I only rub my hands viewing myself sinking my fangs in the second and third volumes.

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******

Whole Song of the Pirate:
“The breeze fair aft, all sails on high,
Ten guns on each side mounted seen,
She does not cut the sea, but fly,
A swiftly sailing brigantine;
A pirate bark, the ‘Dreaded’ named,
For her surpassing boldness famed,
On every sea well known and shore,
From side to side their boundaries o’er.

The moon in streaks the waves illumes;
Hoarse groans the wind the rigging through;
In gentle motion raised, assumes
The sea a silvery shade with blue;
While singing gaily on the poop,
The pirate captain, in a group,
Sees Europe here, there Asia lies,
And Stamboul in the front arise.

Sail on, my swift one! nothing fear;
Nor calm, nor storm, nor foeman’s force
Shall make thee yield in thy career,
Or turn thee from thy course.
Despite the English cruisers fleet,
We have full twenty prizes made;
And see, their flags beneath my feet
A hundred nations laid.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

There blindly kings fierce wars maintain
For palms of land, when here I hold
As mine, whose power no laws restrain,
Whate’er the seas infold.
Nor is there shore around whate’er,
Or banner proud, but of my might
Is taught the valorous proofs to bear,
And made to feel my right.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

Look, when a ship our signals ring
Full sail to fly, how quick she’s veer’d!
For of the sea I am the king,
My fury’s to be feared;
But equally with all I share
Whate’er the wealth we take supplies;
I only seek the matchless fair,
My portion of the prize.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

I am condemned to die! I laugh;
For if my fates are kindly sped,
My doomer from his own ship’s staff
Perhaps I’ll hang instead.
And if I fall, why what is life?
For lost I gave it then as due,
When from slavery’s yoke in strife
A rover I withdrew.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea.

My music is the north wind’s roar,
The noise when round the cable runs,
The bellowings of the Black Sea’s shore,
And rolling of my guns.
And as the thunders loudly sound,
And furious as the tempest rave,
I calmly rest in sleep profound,
So rocked upon the wave.
My treasure is my gallant bark,
My only God is liberty;
My law is might, the wind my mark,
My country is the sea."


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