British archaeologist Alistair Lyon thinks he’s chasing a myth: a lost Andean-Amazonian garden city whispered about in missionary reports and miners’ curses. Instead, he finds Paititi Inti, a living labyrinth of terraces, orchids and forbidden pools, ruled by Inti, a beautiful, merciless king the jungle calls “He Whom All Must Obey.” Drawn into Inti’s orbit, Alistair’s obsession shifts from the ruins to the man whose touch feels like sunlight and whose law is written in fire and blood. Torn between his ex-lover and mentor Perry, who wants to get them all out alive, and Inti’s dangerous promise of belonging, Alistair must decide how much of himself he’s willing to burn to keep the city, and the man, he loves.
As illegal miners close in, rivers turn toxic and tribal alliances fray, Paititi Inti becomes a siege map where every choice has a body count. The only thing holding the valley together is a new story Alistair weaves around a sacred ring, a jaguar-haunted king, and a trial by fire that may consume them both. Inti – Whom All Must Obey is a lush, slow-burn MM romance and high-stakes lost-city adventure, perfect for readers who love obsessive kings, morally complex archaeologists, rainforest gothic atmosphere, and love stories as perilous as the ruins they uncover.