I have spent years overlooked, the crescent scar on my skin a reminder of all I was denied. Then Pierce Quarles claimed me to secure this contested estate, his broad shoulders and stern gaze offering protection I never asked for.
His touch on the documents lingers too long, igniting a tension that turns my quiet defiance into something yielding and raw. Each command strips away another layer until I stand before him, ready to submit to the discipline that will prove our union.
But if the gatehouse walls do not keep our secret, the humiliation will cost us everything, and still I ache for his hand to fall.
