Synopsis
“You should stop looking at me like that,” Cassandra whispered, her voice breathy and uneven.Draven’s dark eyes dragged down her body in a sensual caress, as if he were tracing every inch of her.“I didn't know I was doing something wrong by staring at my wife,” he finally said, voice low and rough.“You are.” She swallowed hard. “It’s like you want to devour me.”He took one more step forward, bringing their bodies closer—not enough to touch, but close enough that the heat rolling off his powerful frame made her thighs clench. The air between them crackled.His jaw flexed, the muscle jumping beneath smooth skin. “You've worn that necklace three times this week,” he murmured, gaze dropping to the delicate chain that disappeared between her breasts. “It keeps slipping lower... drawing my eyes right where I shouldn't be looking.”She blinked, heat flooding her cheeks.“It is impolite to stare at a woman's chest. You shouldn't even be noticing it at all.””But I notice everything about you. I can't help it.“ His voice dipped into a velvet growl. ”The way your nipples pebble under the muslin you wear to bed every night. The way your thighs press together even now. I noticed the men who invent excuses just to stay near you... the ones who let their hands brush your arm. The ones who make you laugh like they have any right to that sound.“A dangerous, possessive darkness flashed across his face.”I remember every single one of their names. I fantasize about breaking their fingers for daring to touch what's mine.“A hot shiver ripped through her, straight to her aching core. Her pussy throbbed, slick and needy.”Draven...“He closed his eyes briefly, as if fighting the urge to slam her against the wall and bury himself inside her. When his eyes opened again, his gentleness was cracking wide open, revealing raw, barely-leashed lust.”You have no idea,“ he said, voice gravel-rough, ”how difficult you make it to remain a gentleman. How many nights I've stroked myself raw thinking about spreading those pretty thighs and licking you until you scream my name.“She should have stepped back. Instead, she swayed toward him, lips parted. ”And if you stopped trying?“A slow, wicked smile curved his mouth. ”Then this conversation would be over and I'd have you bent over that table with my cock buried so deep you'd feel me for days.“His hand lifted. For one torturous heartbeat, she thought he'd grab her. Instead, his fingers hovered just above her flushed cheek, so close the heat of his skin teased her. His thumb brushed the corner of her lips, not quite touching and she whimpered softly at the denial.His gaze burned into hers, dark and filthy with promise.”Tell me to walk away, Cassandra or spread your legs and let me ruin you.”***She died branded as history's greatest traitor.Lady Cassandra Ashford was executed for murdering the Queen she had devoted her life to serving. Only she knew the truth. She had been framed by the man she loved and sacrificed to a conspiracy that reached the highest ranks of the Kingdom of Arden.Death should have been the end.Sent back three years before her execution, Cassandra vows to save the Queen, expose every traitor and never again mistake deception for love.But she cannot challenge the kingdom's most powerful nobles alone.To gain the influence she desperately needs, she proposes a contract marriage to the feared and enigmatic Duke of Norham, Draven Montague—the very man she once believed had abandoned her.Their marriage is simple. He needs her brilliant political mind. She needs his name, his power and the protection of House Montague. Love has no place in their deal.Yet the duke who was never meant to have her heart proves to be devoted, obsessively protective and far too irresistible with a woman determined never to love again.As conspiracies unravels, Cassandra discovers that the greatest challenge may not be the enemies hunting her. It maybe giving her heart to him.
