The last person a champion battleboxer should love is the man who owns his contract.
Famed battleboxer Imalroc finally has a handler too inexperienced to control him. He can carve his way out of the blood-soaked arenas at last—just win a few more fights. And then put a sword to Rerdas Toriem’s lovely throat if the handler doesn’t surrender his contract once his winnings fulfill the bargain they made.
Rerdas Toriem is surrounded by danger—a leering duke who wants to keep him like a helpless trophy, a queen convinced he’s working against her, and a fierce battleboxer who will turn a blade on him at the first opportunity. His deal with Imalroc is his only hope of escape, but working with him means glimpsing the love-starved man beneath the armor. A man who might be worthy of his trust.
Rerdas and Imalroc both know they can’t give in to such a dangerous attraction. Relationships between handlers and battleboxers are utterly forbidden. But resistance crumbles with every passing day, and their tangled feelings are blooming into a perilous secret. If it’s discovered, Imalroc’s freedom and Rerdas’s life are forfeit.
A slow-burn, spicy fantasy romance for fans of enemies-to-lovers, captor / captive, hurt / comfort, political intrigue and Captive Prince.
