Publisher · Crossroads Fiction Release Date · June 22, 2026 eBook ISBN · 979-8-235689-24-4 Genre · Romance Length · 337 pages Torc has been hired to retrieve a Delicant a prized pleasure slave and return her to her birth family. Rescuing the beautiful slave is easy for the hardened mercenary. Being able to harness his lust as she constantly offers herself to him is another story. Enslaved as a small child, Ailyea has no concept of life without a Master ordering her every move. She's completely selfless and knows only how to give pleasure. When she comes into the hands of the terrifying but strikingly handsome Torc, she's beside herself not only does he not abuse her, but he doesn't even want to use her for sex. What's more, she finds herself wishing he would. Torc is determined to teach Ailyea to become her own person before he leaves her alone in a dangerous, often bloodthirsty universe where females are scarce and in high demand. Ailyea has a few lessons for him, too. Each must confront their reservations, hers about making her own choices and his about taking a woman who can't give herself freely, as they struggle to understand a new concept for both of them falling in love.

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"Fuck me." He closed his eyes, only to have them snap open at the sound of her safety belts being unfastened. "Oh no, you don't, lady." He raised a hand.

Confusion entered her eyes and her mouth trembled slightly.

Torc blew out a breath. Okay. He had to be the biggest dumbass of all time for not taking her, but dammit! He couldn't. Well, he could, but he wouldn't. She had to be frightened and confused. And she wasn't his to take. She never would be. Women like her were not wasted on men like him. Ever.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, lady, I have about a hundred-word vocabulary. 'Fuck me' comes out of my mouth every time shit happens. It doesn't mean I want to, uh, have sex. It means I'm pissed."

She blinked.

"I've got some rules for you. One, there will be no fucking and two, no sucking. Got it?" Her eyes had brightened at the word "rules", which made him curse under his breath.

"Yes, Master," she whispered so softly his chest ached. What in Hades was happening to him? He didn't have a soft spot in his body. But something about Ailyea made him want to...to want impossible things.