Stacey Kendricks had been deceived by promises seven years ago that she was the one that the Calysii prince wished to have as his true mate, his bride-the one that he would relinquish his other ceremonial mates for. She had been young and foolish to believe it, and the cost of the foolishness was high-a gilded cage she had no hope of escaping. With her dreams of romance and love long destroyed, and her days spent trying to avoid the demands of her cruel and selfish "mate," Prince Gaix's sudden plans for a romantic destination Valentines' Day with his human mates was just nothing short of a painful mockery of the love The Mate Index Distribution Program had once promised her. To add insult to injury, they were heading to Kaidava, the most romantic planet in the Intergalactic Union, and the captain of their ship was none other than Captain Otorol, the Lorgor male she had been unable to forget.

Captain Otorol was the one male who had come close to making her forget her promise to mate with Gaix all those years ago. Her attraction to him was immediate and powerful and she had tried to hide it behind disdain. But trapped once more on King's Glory with him, there was no hiding from the undeniable pull between them, even though it meant a death sentence for both of them if they were caught. With Kaidava offering the potential for escape, Stacey must find a way to choose her own fate and the love she was always meant to have.

Varik Otorol was born into duty. The son of influential Lorgor female and a fleet commander, all of his life he was expected to serve the Calysii Empire without complaint despite his own rising sympathies for the cause of the rebellion. It was a ruse that he was forced to keep up, however, unable to bear leaving behind Caysta, the planet that held the one being he somehow could not let go: a pink-haired little female that every instinct within him cried out for. It was not logical. She disdained him and belonged to another. He had no right to feel as he did, especially when Lorgor did not mate imprint like other species. Yet somehow a bond developed that he could not ignore. Being assigned to captain the flight to Kaidava was both pleasure and torture as his instincts revolted against his control. He allowed himself to taste what was forbidden and now all hell was about to break loose as the planet of lovers brought them together over and over again. She was his, but getting her safely off Kaidava and spirited away from Prince Gaix was going to take a miracle... and perhaps one criminally minded local with connections.

**content warning** Please be aware that though this novel involves an affair between the main characters, there is no cheating or sex with anyone else within this story. This novel also depicts a small amount of gore and death off-stage toward the end of the book.