I have one job in this arranged marriage, and that’s to seduce my husband.

It should be easy; I’m the heiress to a transatlantic fortune, bred and raised to make a good match. I’ve spent a lifetime building up my endurance, my discipline, my dedication to my god and my church. The danger lies in falling for the devil who put his ring on my finger—a mistake I made years ago, and can’t afford to make again.

There is one more danger: Tristan Thomas, former soldier and my new husband’s bodyguard. A hero who stole my heart with salt-soaked kisses on the sea.

But Lyonesse is not like other places, and this isn’t like other marriages. Soon Tristan, Mark, and I are tangled in a knot of vicious jealousy and gorgeous wickedness, where suspicion is an aphrodisiac, and secrets and vows are one and the same.

And there is something far darker at play than my real purpose, darker even than the twisted longings of my own heart. Because my husband has secrets of his own, and the reason he’ll stop at nothing to possess me could slice my soul deeper than the honeysuckle-hilted knife he gave me once upon a time.

Because when it comes to Mark Trevena and his games, the first cut is more than the deepest—it’s the sweetest.

And he always leaves you begging for more…