Colonel Rákosy Avar is an officer in the Imperial Forces sent to the planet Antares to negotiate an alliance. He's learned the hard way to trust no one and has only one passion -- duty. But when an Antaren kebara is sent to serve him in any way he desires, she proves too great a temptation for the battle-scarred warrior. Although he suspects a trap, he still wants her on her back. In his bed.Meraya is a woman trained to provide sexual pleasure. A woman whose duty is to serve. She has never known freedom. Or desire. She discovers both in the arms of the barbarian colonel. But Meraya is a pawn in a deadly game of interstellar politics that could cost her everything…including her heart.When Avar discovers he wants more than the paradise found between Meraya's lovely thighs, he must play for the highest stakes ever, gambling with the life of a woman he can't resist. A woman whose betrayal would destroy him.