HE CLAIMED MY SHAME AS HIS PLEASURE. I was a ghost in the halls of the Thornton Estate. A nameless chambermaid. Then I was caught in the Prince’s private chambers. The Dowager Queen demanded my ruin. She wanted me cast out into the cold. But Prince John had a darker plan for my penance. He invoked the ancient laws to keep me for himself. The Great Hall was filled with the eyes of the nobility. I felt the weight of his authority and the heat of his gaze. He marked me as his exclusive territory in front of the world to prove I belong to him alone. My virginity is no longer a secret. It is a prize he intends to claim, maybe in public. I am no longer a servant. I am his consort, hidden behind the heavy curtains of his suite. He wants an heir. He wants my soul. I am the vessel for the Mitchell bloodline. I am the jewel he stole from the dirt. He is the angry prince who will burn the kingdom down to keep me on my knees.