Blood of the Jaguar (Sons of Kukulcán #9)

She touches his bronze scaled face and she can’t look away.
He feels her soft caress and vows he will know her name.

Mia Roberts sets out for Xithilene with the goal of perfecting a human translation implant that will help strengthen the alliance between their planets, but she soon learns her job won’t be so simple. Intrigue surrounds the production of the implant prototypes and she faces her own distraction in the form of a handsome, arresting Xithilene priest. After the death of her husband, Mia promised herself she’d never lose her heart to a man again, but being with L’xat strains her resolve. She looks at him and sees a second chance at love, if she can only be brave enough to take it.

L’xat of N’kesselth has always placed his position above all else—duty carves the path of his life. His temporary position as head priest of the temple in the capital city of Verkissat is just another role his obedience to the Lady’s will requires. He has met many humans—he has pleased many women—yet when he first encounters Mia as a guest at his temple, he’s tempted in a way he never has been before. She feels the irresistible pull between them as strongly as he does himself, but she wants something from him no woman ever has: his heart.

When L’xat whisks the latest contingent of human visitors away to his residence in Ve’aska, he finds his homecoming bittersweet. As old wounds are reopened and secrets are revealed, L’xat and Mia discover they are in the midst of something far more dangerous than they’d ever imagined: a struggle for the future of Xithilene that could end in the destruction of everything their peoples have worked so hard to build.