A princess and a trained assassin are ordered to kill a powerful dragon.
Thousands of years ago, the humans of the Sheltered Lands made a pact with the gods for protection. In exchange, once a century, whatever mortal king is on the throne must send his oldest child to be bound as consort to Ash, the king of the gods. Ash can take the shape of a man, but his dragon form strikes terror and enmity into the hearts of most humans. The mortal king longs to be free of the pact for his own evil reasons. He has trained his daughter, Sachielle, to become both consort and killer. Sachi will be accompanied by Zanya, a trained assassin who is also her secret lover. The king tells the two women to kill Ash; if they fail, a powerful curse will kill Sachi and consume her soul. Once Sachi and Zanya arrive at the Dragon’s Keep, they realize that Ash is extraordinarily well protected by his private guard. He might be impossible to kill, and even more troubling, they realize they don’t want to even try. Ash is intelligent and incisive, hardly the monster of myth and legend. His years of experience make it easy for him to guess at Sachi and Zanya’s true purpose, but he’s fascinated rather than angry. Eventually the three become lovers, and the intrigue of court politics takes a backseat to the steamy, sexy world they create for themselves. Zanya and Ash are powerhouse characters, completely overshadowing Sachi. Her bland, generic goodness is dull compared to them, yet the plot requires readers to believe that Zanya and Ash would do anything to save her.
The fiery breath of a dragon pales in comparison to the incendiary heat of this epic erotic fantasy.