I never asked for a crown.
Or the stranger who came with it.
They shipped me across shadowed borders to seal an alliance with ancient rites, my body the price for peace. A reluctant pawn in velvet gowns, haunted by the isolation of vows I couldn't escape. Duty's cold grip was all I knew, until his hand found mine in the vault's echoing dark.
He crashed into my world like thunder over the throne room. Guarded eyes hiding jealous fire, the heir who should embody restraint but pulls me toward ruin with every glance. Strangers one breath apart, forced into intimate ceremonies that mock royal decorum. Our first touch ignites something profane, adrenaline soaking our skin as an assassin's blade whispers too close. Safety in his arms feels like surrender, and I hate how I crave it.
Raw fury twists into desperate need at the windswept shrine. He claims me there, impulsive and unyielding, heirloom light glowing on sweat-slicked skin. Every thrust of those rites blurs obligation into possession, turning political chains into addictive heat. I came defiant, cautious of the heart he could shatter. But his obsession strips my defenses, making me ache for the monster beneath the crown.
One betrayal could topple the fragile throne. My trust hangs fragile as a spider's thread in these vaults. He's salvation from ruin, yet the jealous pull that might destroy us both. How do I forge love from lust when shadows circle and every rite demands more surrender?
A full-length arranged marriage royalty fantasy erotic romance featuring a reluctant noble betrothed and a jealous crown prince.
