Sands of Maeoris, book 1: To Bind A Dark Heart
Atley Wykes2019

Oh sure, I'll be your prize. Capture me, degrade me, present me in chains to the victor of your pompous gladiator games.

I wanted this from the beginning. The Beast, the immortal ruler of our desert city, desires a new girl for his harem? He can have me. I'll be lying in his bed with a knife—a viper ready to strike. It’s a simple plan. Let myself be captured and thrown into the ranks of royal concubines. Endure their magical ‘enhancements’ before I’m presented as a prize to the winner. No one ever dared best the Beast in the games, instead forfeiting to avoid having their heads join the sand-crusted skulls that adorned the city walls.

Until today. Until him.

Theron Axidor. The very sound of his name sends shivers of rage coursing through me, an echo of the devastation his army wreaked upon my home. Now, this enigmatic Marshal has claimed me, his touch igniting a fire that threatens to consume me. My fingers long to feel the cool touch of my dagger against his warm flesh, to fulfill the promise I made myself long ago.

But my carefully woven plot is coming undone. As the line between revenge and passion blurs, I'm finding myself trapped in the storm of his eyes, intoxicated by his touch, and the unspoken promise of pleasure it carries. The desire coursing through me must be some enchantment, a trap for every royal concubine. There’s no way I could feel anything but hatred for the man who personifies my darkest nightmares.

Could I?

Titre original : Sands of Maeoris, book 1: To Bind A Dark Heart (2019)