King Awakened (ePub)

From New York Times bestselling author Deidre Knight, writing as Cooper Davis. Simple, qualified transaction, legally binding on both parties. Damning words written by one widowed king seeking a male concubine for his royal bedroom.When King Arend Tollemach contracted Julian's services from the elite Temple Sapphor, he made one thing patently clear: as the realm's ruler, his life held no room for love or attachment. Yet two weeks into their arrangement, Arend's heart proves an unruly subject, surrendering at a maddening pace-even though his growing affection may well put his entire kingdom in jeopardy.Julian of Sapphor spent ten years training at a discreet establishment known for grooming aristocratic bed slaves, and in all that time, he longed for only one thing: love in the arms of a nobleman who would ultimately claim him as husband. Therefore, when he is made King Arend's concubine, his decade-long dreams appear near fruition-until he learns that his new master long ago swore off love. As a young man, Arend's father forced him to break an engagement to a foreign prince-his one true love-and instead marry a female.Despite his past, Arend finds himself surrendering to his concubine, a dangerous freefall that Julian answers by determining to fight for a lasting place in Arend's life and heart. But when the royal Lords Council insists that Arend once again marry a female in order to sire more heirs, Julian must war against far more than one king's shuttered heart.