He wasn't supposed to touch her. Yet here she was in his arms, held like she belonged there, like she had never been meant to stand anywhere else. "Put me down..." Arohi whispered, her voice trembling despite the strength she tried to hold on to. Her hands pressed lightly against his chest, a weak attempt to create distance, but his grip only tightened, not enough to hurt, just enough to remind her that he wasn't letting go. "You still think you have a choice?" His voice was calm, almost soft, but something darker lingered beneath it, something that made her breath hitch. She looked up at him, and what she saw in his eyes wasn't anger or care, it was something far more dangerous. Something that didn't ask. Something that claimed. Years ago, he had left without a word. Everyone thought it was his choice. But the truth was, he left to protect her from himself, from the way his gaze lingered too long, from the darkness inside him that whispered her name like a sin. He thought distance would bury it, that time would erase it. But obsession doesn't fade. It waits. It grows in silence. And now he was back. Standing too close, holding her too tightly, looking at her like he had already crossed a line she didn't even know existed. "I did that once," he said quietly. "Let you go." His hold tightened just slightly. "Not again." In that moment, Arohi understood something she should have realized the second he walked back into her life. He didn't come back to stay. He came back because he couldn't stay away. Because the darkness he once ran from now wanted her. Not gently. Not safely. But completely.

Book 1 of The Shattered Ties Series. A modern city girl and a prince ,two lives destined to clash. He's her best friend's brother, and from their first encounter, their every interaction has been a battle of pride, wit, and unspoken tension. Yet beneath the rivalry simmers a desire neither can deny, a pull that challenges every rule and expectation surrounding them. In a world of power, privilege, and unyielding crowns, hearts risk everything. Will they surrender to duty... or to the dangerous, consuming fire of love?