All Ellie has ever wanted is freedom, but that's hard to find when Earth is under Levekk rule. She'll do anything for a better life under the domes of the city-even pledge herself to work as a housemaid for a member of the same alien species she's supposed to fear.

Except her new boss isn't the clean-cut senator that he pretends to be.

His icy eyes are like daggers, and his presence is captivating, but captivity isn't what Ellie signed up for. Signing that contract was meant to free her from poverty, not snare her in an entirely new type of cage.

Helik has been trapped in a lie for so long that he's forgotten who the real him even is. Instead, he defines himself by what he tries not to be: deviant, hungry, wrong.

But Ellie is in his life, in his home, under his skin. She threatens to crack open the perfect mask that holds his self-control, and he fears the darkness that hides beneath.

Can he master his desire for her? Or will he condemn them both?

Contains mature themes.