Three  -=!m@?on
@ths ago, at the I+.-mperial Midsumme@r Ba=l] l, semstr=ess ]?Sera Bennett* ; caug? h^_ t her .:fiancé Mi$chael [and her f=/^ake  `f*ri]-?end [ La ura cheating. Michael, s@o,on+;^+_ /to be a ,`\duke's.  g[uardsm an, sneered 
th.,at she was just a""lo_wly sewing? girl"" unworth y of hi()\s r ising- :@status. [She slapped hi
m an#d fled,*^^ o@^?%%nly to -_,cra:sh[ into$, the cold, no?$ble embrace of ^#]Duk*$e Alexander Drake, the e]mpire's guard@*;ian and Michael\$ 's ultimate patron.
Burning with rage, Sera= ?
se.duced #_`him tha=t very night. A\fter /one nigh)!;t, he __han[[ded h]) ?er not gold, %]$%but a church ‑b,les
sed marriage c=+)ont)]ract. S`\he assumed it was# a deal: she'
(d gain= a duchess' \s pow@*%er to crush *;her^ ?;betrayers, whil/,/e he$ seemed[
(^ t, o wan
t her body. On(e !ye*ar +, ;then they'd part/-.
What Sera never k@]new: Ale@!x is.] the!=* last an=
$cient bla]ck drago)!n^% , sea !led/. for
 centurie/$ s.. Her kiss*, is_ (;the only cu*)]re f$-]
or his volatile(: dragon ;pow!(+er, a!.nd the b [^lood pact .%binds their ?souls forev@ ?er. Marr?ied life reveals 
his strange fev#e,/]+rs and/ odd behavi^_;or… a:nd. their one-‑year a+\gre(#$em ent !-)b/#ecomes a:^nythin^%g bu;t simple."