Locked Together Tour Stop!

She would do anything for him, even throw away her freedom.

For Savannah, it was an easy choice; getting sent to the Compound meant she and Kayden could be together. But nothing is ever that simple. Caught in a system that encourages cruelty and mind games; will their love survive?

This is book two in the In Chains series and continues the story of Kayden and Savannah. I would recommend reading book one first as this is not a standalone.

Please note: this book contains strong language.

If you remember my review for the first book in this series, In Chains, I was saying how this story captured my attention and tortured me to the point I had to finish it.  I was amazed at how the author gave us such a horrific story and twisted it to make us invested in what happen, even when we wanted to turn our heads and ignore the wicked scenes.  Locked Together picks up where In Chains left off with Savannah finding Kayden in the Pound they were both locked up in. 

We watch as Savannah and Kayden try to protect each other from the torture the guards handed out to the slaves and now they have to deal with Bailey and Reece trying to break them up and make them doubt each other’s love.  What we saw instead was those tricks and lies brought Savannah and Kayden closer together, even to the point they are going to have to take a huge risk in order to keep Savannah from being seriously hurt. Savannah found help in the most unlikely places with Jack a guard at the pound who felt Savannah should be treated better since she was human.

Once the decision was made and the escape was happening, things got intense for these two.  Just when you thought they were home free, realizations would happen and people would enter the story that posed another threat to them.  As time goes on Kayden is forced to do something that will shatter his heart and sanity in order to make sure Savannah has a chance at freedom and makes it safely to her brother’s house.  After a while, Savannah begins to doubt that Kayden will come for her and she has to decide if she is willing to move on and give Nathan a chance to love her.  He is everything that she should want in life, handsome, kind, rich and a man her family could approve of and she could have a normal life with, but her heart still belonged to Kayden.

The ending wasn’t what I expected; it felt rushed and too simple for this story.  I was okay with the future of these two, but I felt like they deserved more, even if it meant adding a few extra pages to the book, they deserved more of a conclusion than what was given to them by the author.  That should have been enough for me to not give this book a five star rating but then I had to admit that she made me fall in love with these two people when there was nothing to fall in love with.  Both were strong and caring people, but the situations they had to endure and the darkness of this story, it was amazing to me that I could find any comfort while reading, but I did.  Savannah and Kayden made me feel good, they made me believe in the human spirit and I found I smiled when they were together, so for that reason I am happy to give this book a five star rating and suggest that everyone take a look at this series and author.   

I’m shoved into a room. My mouth falls open as I see Kayden sitting on the floor; he looks as shocked as I feel. As he scrambles to his feet, the guard plonks a bundle of grey cloth into my hands. “Put those on,” he says, leaning against the door frame. I glance down at the clothing; it’s the same shade of grey that Kayden is wearing. I catch movement out of the corner of my eye, the guard is lunging at me, he’s scowling and red in the face. I gasp as Kayden steps between me and the guard and pushes me into the corner of the room. He surrounds my body with his, shielding me, his arms either side of me, his palms flat against the wall.

“Put the scrubs on,” Kayden says to me, “before he blows his stack.”

“Get away from her,” the guard yells. I quickly yank off my t-shirt and pull the scrubs over my head. It’s at least two sizes too big and comes down to my knees; it’s more like a dress. As I’m tugging off my jeans Kayden cries out and his hands shoot to his neck, his body stiffens and he falls to the floor, convulsing. I scream. In a blur I see the guard’s hand coming towards my face, then I feel a burning pain on my cheek and a ringing sound in my ear. “I told you to put them on,” the guard says, pointing to the grey pants in my hand. Kayden slowly gets to his feet; he’s glaring at the guard, his fists clenched. I pull on the grey pants. “Pick those up.” The guard points to my clothes that are now on the floor. I bend to retrieve them and he snatches them from my hands. “You won’t need these anymore.” He stomps out of the room and the door slams behind him.

Kayden, pulls me close, his arms encircle me. “What you doing here? Why have they put you in level three?”

I throw my arms around him and bury my face in his neck. “Are you okay?” I ask him.

He rubs his cheek against mine. “Yeah.”

I burst out laughing, I can’t stop. “This is so funny.” I’m laughing so hard I’m shaking. “They think they’re punishing me but I’m right where I want to be, I’m finally with you.”

I feel him shaking his head and feel his warm breath on my neck as he lets out a sigh. “Baby, you’re crazy but I’m glad you’re here where I can take care of you, I’ve missed you.”

I reach up and hold his face between my palms. “I’ve missed you too.”

He gives me a beaming smile. “I love you, I love you so much.”

“Can you love each other with a bit less noise,” comes a male voice from across the room, “I’m trying to sleep.”

For the first time I notice there are two other guys in the room. The one who spoke looks about Kayden’s age, the other much younger, just out of his teens; they’re both lying on the cement floor. I glance around the room. There are no bunks, mattresses, pillows or blankets. The room is empty. There are two bright fluorescent lights but no windows. “You guys don’t have beds?” I ask.

Kayden shakes his head. “No, but you can lie on me baby, I’m not as comfortable as a mattress but more comfortable than the floor.” He takes my hand and leads me over to a corner of the room, then he lies down on his back. I climb on top of him, my legs resting on his, my head on his chest.

“I’m not crushing you am I?” I know I’ve lost weight but having a body on top of him when he’s lying on a hard floor can’t be very pleasant.

“I’ve got your gorgeous body pressed against mine, there’s only one part of me that’s uncomfortable right now.” He grins at me and we both bust up laughing. The guy across the room yells at us to shut up, which makes us laugh even more. Kayden doesn’t know it but he’s way more comfortable than my lumpy mattress, he’s warm, he smells safe and familiar and his heartbeat soothes me. He wraps his arms around me and I fall asleep within minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kayden gasps, then he closes his eyes, his face is screwed up, he looks like he’s in pain. He leaps off the bed, heads to the bathroom and slams the door closed behind him. Bailey is wearing a smug smile and I want to wipe it off but I content myself with replacing her gag and tying it tightly.

I head to the bathroom, open the door a crack and peek through. Kayden’s standing at the wash basin, scrubbing furiously at his hands. I go in and close the door behind me. I turn off the tap and place my hand on his. “Kayden, stop. Your hands aren’t dirty.”

He’s refusing to look at me; I see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. We stand in silence for a few minutes until finally, he looks at me. “Why are you with me?” he asks. “You can do better.”

“Better?” I frown. “In what way?”

He looks down at his feet. “You could have someone with money and nice clothes, a man who could take you out places and buy you things.” He wrings his hands together. “Someone who could marry you and give you kids.” He closes his eyes. “I love you but I don’t deserve you, I never have.”

I take a deep breath before I reply. I don’t bother trying to stop the tears that are now rolling down my cheeks. It breaks my heart that he thinks so little of himself, that other people have made him feel so worthless. I reach up and stroke my fingers along his cheek; he’s still staring at the floor. “Kayden, I don’t want a man for money, there are other ways to get money and it doesn’t buy you anything that’s really worth having.” I place my finger under his chin and tilt his head up so I can look into his eyes. “We can get you nice clothes but I’m going to want to take them off you most of the time.” I smile at him and he reaches across and wipes the tears from my cheeks with his thumb.

“Baby, don’t cry, I’m sorry,” he says.

I peck him on the lips. “I’m crying because when you hurt, I hurt, because I love you.” I kiss him a second time. “Marriage is just a piece of paper, it doesn’t stop us wearing each other’s rings or committing to each other.” I slide my arms around his waist and lean my head against his chest. “You’re thoughtful, loving and gentle. You’re fun to be with and hot as hell. And children, unless you’ve had surgery I don’t know about, there’s nothing to stop us having children.”

He steps out of my embrace and backs away, shaking his head vehemently. “No. They’d be slaves.”

I hear loud tapping and the bathroom door opens, Reece pokes his head around it. “I need to take a piss,” he says.

Michelle Abbott lives in the UK and hates describing herself in 3rd person. She's a self-published author of new adult romance, and likes to write about heroes who begin as the underdog and are protective of their girl. She's an avid reader of romance, is addicted to coffee and loves wine and chocolate, so yeah, not the most healthy eating and drinking habits :-) She spends way too much time online when she should be writing. She collects teddy bears and occasionally knits a couple of rows on a sweater she started years ago, which she may eventually finish in time to wear for her funeral :-)