Secrets in Her Heart

She survived by becoming someone else.

He is the first male who wants the real woman underneath the lie.

Julia was never supposed to exist.

On the generation ship, unplanned children were branded as vagrants: unwanted, illegal, and worked until they broke. Julia learned early how to keep her head down, hide the scar on her belly, and survive by being useful enough that no one looked too closely.

Then the ship crashed on Tajss.

There was no escape pod meant for someone like her, so Julia stole the flight suit of Amara Doyle, a dead fighter pilot, and became the woman everyone needed her to be. Smart. Confident. Sharp-tongued. A Council member helping hold the shattered desert settlement together beneath twin red suns.

It is a dangerous lie, but it keeps her alive.

Until Prysyah sees her.

The huge Zmaj warrior barely speaks her language, but he does not need perfect words to make his meaning clear. He brings her food. Watches over her. Calls her treasure with amber eyes that make Julia feel exposed in ways no accusation ever could.

He does not know she is a fraud.

He only knows she is his.

Julia should push him away. A fated-mate bond is the last thing she needs when one suspicious look from the wrong person could tear away everything she has built. If the Council learns she lied, she could lose her seat, her safety, and the fragile home she has fought so hard to keep.

But Prysyah is not like the men who hurt her, used her, or decided she was worth less because of how she was born. He is patient where others were cruel. Gentle where she expects force. Protective enough to shake the ship walls when he thinks she is in danger, yet careful enough to let her choose every step toward him.

When a predator erupts from the sand and the settlement's fear turns sharp, Julia's secret becomes harder to hide. Ziva already knows too much. Hal is waiting for any excuse to destroy her. And Prysyah's Zmaj brothers are beginning to worry that his need to protect Julia could unleash the dangerous battle-instinct he has fought to control.

Julia has spent her life believing she is nobody.

Prysyah is ready to stand beside her while she tells the truth.

Secrets in Her Heart is a steamy alien dragon romance featuring a secret-identity heroine, a protective Zmaj warrior, fated mates, language-barrier intimacy, desert survival, found family, healing after trauma, and a guaranteed happily ever after.