To Love a Prince by Elizabeth Drake

What you don’t trust can’t betray you, but it can still break your heart.

Haunted by a tragedy he couldn’t prevent and hounded by a duty he never wanted, Crown Prince Eli of Tamryn is a cold shell of a man with a stone for a heart. But, whether his subjects like it or not, he will soon be their king. All he needs is to ascend the throne is the Dragon God’s blessing and the approval of the Dragon Church.
There’s only one small problem: the god is silent, and the church wants him dead. Well, there is one other problem—the slightly confusing matter of how he somehow acquired a slave girl who wheels and deals with everything and everyone, no matter what the cost, to win her freedom.

When Eli uncovers a plot to seize the throne, driven by a forbidden cult of dark worship, he must protect a church that hates him and a god he thinks has forsaken him. Duty runs headlong into the newly awakened needs of his heart, and with treachery before him and enslavement behind, no choice is good.
Old secrets reveal new lies, and betrayal will bring a man, a crown, and a kingdom to the very brink of war.