“I think I'd miss you even if we’d never met,” Azrael whispered as his fingers trailed the side of her face, leaving an alluring warmth.
Anna’s throat became dry, “We shouldn’t have met then―”
“No,” he said, “Even if it means losing everything, I would rather have you.”
They were destined to fall from the start. A forsaken bond. A hopeless cause. And yet, in that stolen moment, Anna didn’t care anymore, neither did he.
* * * 
Anna is a human in a world where her kind is treated like dust, while Azrael is the demon duke infamous for his ruthlessness and bewitching looks.
On a fateful night, her life gets entangled with him. Azrael takes her as his fiance, however, theirs is a relationship formed over a contract; a marriage of convenience.
In a land where the hatred between humans and demons runs deeper than blood, she can not let her guard down. 
Anna harbors no feelings for the handsome duke, nor for his kind. Though that doesn’t stop her heart from stuttering whenever he’s near, nor the ghost of a familiar fear to surge at the sound of his voice.
But he’s always near.
Telling her what to do.
Making her feel warmer, hotter than he should.
* * * 
To yearn for someone who is forbidden to you is a terrifying feeling. To burn from desire and never speak of it, to have a secret that is horrible to almost everyone, to hide something that could ruin everything.
This is a story carved in hidden desires, inked in blood, and sealed with a fatal sin. Will Anna make it out alive? Or will her heart lead to her downfall?

The Duke's Secret Sin

A yawn climbed inside her, as Anna stretched her arms over her head and let the moment shed sleep away from her mind―to have the warmth of the sun wash away her dazed thoughts. 


Her lips spread into a relaxed smile. She had not felt so calm and refreshed in a long while. 


A subtle awareness of her surroundings followed. 


Azrael and the physician looked at her as if a dead person had risen from its grave. 


Anna awkwardly lowered her arms and sat straight on the bed. Her body didn’t feel the cold anymore, nor was it as sore and dizzy as before. She was not surprised because her immunity had always been good enough to heal her quickly. 


However, she wondered what made the two men come to her room. 


The physician was the first one to break the silence and let out a nervous laugh as he glanced at the vial in his hands. 


He exchanged a glance with Azrael that made his smile fade away as soon as it had arrived. 


A Dance With Death