The beast of Lacroix House.

He was the demon every family feared might show up on their doorstep. He was a villain with a black heart and scars so deep, it was frightening to look at. Men trembled before him and women … women vanished. None were ever seen once they were taken as his bride.

Naya Blackwell had been warned from a young age that she was meant to marry and marry well. That was what a dutiful daughter did, sacrificed her own freedom and future to make an influential match.

But a tragic wrongdoing brings Thoran Lacroix into her life in the dead of night with her brother’s blood on his hands and vengeance in his eyes. He offers her a sinner’s bargain — be his new bride or watch her family get slaughtered.

The choice seems clear, except there is so much more to the man beneath the darkness. Even he is plagued by secrets he can't control, a demon of his own threatening to take her from him.

Can Thoran keep the shadows haunting him from touching her? Can Naya see past the scars and whispers to the man who sets her soul ablaze each night? Or will she be just another rose inked into his skin?