A complete fantasy romance novella, perfect for a one-to-two-hour escape.

The Grand Duke needs an heir. Sabian needs a way out. Love is not part of the bargain, but another woman is.

Ten years after her father gambled away their title, Sabian Brighton scrubs other people’s hearths and waits to marry a merchant’s son she does not love. She knows better than to expect a fairy tale.

Then, at the Grand Duke’s ball, she throws a man into the hedges with a power stronger than she ever realized and catches the eye of the most dangerous man in Mondoria. Grand Duke Ambrose makes her an offer: marry him, give him an heir. In return, he will restore her family’s title and fortune.

But after giving his entire life to the King’s wars, the Duke lives by his own rules now. He has a mistress, and in the bedchamber, his appetites demand obedience. Sabian believes she is getting the better end of the bargain, but sharing a husband is very different in practice than in theory. Soon, her jealousy gives way to questions she never expected to ask. Desires she could not have anticipated take hold, drawing her into a connection she never would have predicted, with another woman.

Sabian learns she is wrong about the Duke and his mistress. Most of all, she is wrong about herself. And the fiancé she left behind is not finished with her.

A spicy standalone romantasy novella with an arranged marriage, an open arrangement, delicious dom/sub dynamics, and a duke who swears he does not believe in love. She expected a marriage of convenience, not a lesson in surrender.

Content warnings: open door, 18+, voyeurism, FFM scene, choking/breath play, infidelity within an open arrangement, attempted sexual assault, kidnapping, violence (including against a pregnant character), and on-page death.