THEIR FATE HAD BEEN SEALED YEARS AGO Nothing would stop Nicholas Zared from taking his rightful place as King of Vashmira. Not a bloodthirsty assassin--nor American spitfire Ericka Allen. Without the fiery beauty's acceptance of their long-arranged marriage, Nicholas would be denied the crown. But it wasn't duty alone that bound him to Ericka, not with desire blazing between them and the discovery that she might be the killer's real target.... Ericka tried to resist the handsome prince's skilled seduction, but their close brushes with death only intensified the passion flaring between them. Would her consent to be his queen cost her her heart--and her life...'