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Prologue

Romania 1673 The Estate of the Voivodina of Moldavia

He couldn't take his eyes off her

She was so beautiful, with her sparkling amethyst-sapphire eyes and swirl of dark hair Her skin, so pure and perfect, alabaster and rose Her neck, graceful and slender; her curves, so lush and feminine

And her gownshe envied her the gowns, too The slide of silk that would be so blissfully erotic over one's skin The brush of fox and entle tug of a train catching along the cobbled stones beneath her slippered feet

The laces and brocades, the gemstones sewn into the fabric of layer upon layer of skirts, the e-it would ift to be unwrapped-like the little nesting blocks he used to play with-from the heavy, beaded and bejeweled overskirts, to the frothy and light ches that turned her torso into such a curved, lovely package What would it feel like to be trussed up so enticingly?

The elegant gloves, a tradition froht here to the deep, cold and dark mountains of Romania, littered gold and silver on her gloved wrist; rings sparkled Her fingers fluttered becoly near her face as she bent to smile and chatter with the crowd of men around her

He swelled with love and affection for his sister-for how could anyone resist such perfection? She was exquisite Lively A goddess of light and laughter and beauty

And of course, she knew it

She drew the men in, she coaxed with her eyes and teased with her jests Her body moved with unconscious eroticisht bit of naivete, her shoulders, bare, ivory, shadowed by the delicate curves of collarbone and throat Her raceful and smooth

The , broad shoulders strained the broadcloth of their coats, bronzed, elegant throats above white or black shirts Firhs encased in breeches that outlined every masculine attribute, and heavy, solid boots that slid and held firmly when mounted on a horse These were men

And here was Cezar Pale Slender His hands too big, his brows too heavy, his shoulders too narrow His thighs seemed like sticks when he sat on a horse, and his facespotted and a bit pasty, even for his Roe

His jaw still ached on occasion where it had been broken two years ago by a group of other young men when he enty, and it had healed inity of a faint lisp Froht limp

He was Cezar: the second son of the most trusted confidant of the voivode, overlooked or scorned by men and wo to the eldest daughter of the most powerful ruler in Romania

But even she, the wealthy, beautiful offspring of the ruler of Moldavia, couldn't hold a candle to Narcise Even on the occasion of her wedding, the bride couldn't maintain the attention that inevitably slipped to her new sister-by-law

Narcise was incomparable

And Cezar, as he had since he first set eyes on his younger sister, both loved and loathed her with deep, abiding passion

He wanted to kill herand yet, he wanted to be her

And that hy, as his fangs-still so new and unco the inside of his lips like a mouthful of potatoes, he settled into the shadows Unnoticed Watching Waiting Planning

Soon, all of this would be his All of thehed at him, who beat him, who scorned himthey would all worship him and cower before him