Men of wealth and privilege vie to feel the kiss of Riaka Rienn's pearl bracelet on their backs as she drives them to unparalleled heights of ecstasy. But its touch is the one thing the Empire's foremost courtesan withholds from her patrons. Only the man she loves will earn a pearl kiss, and having seen what love did to her mother, Rienn is not anxious for the experience. She devotes her life to the pursuit pleasure and pays little attention to the mysteries surrounding her origins and the reason she can never fully sate her urges. The Courtesan is the first book in the Pearl Bracelet Trilogy and the first story in Melissa Leister's Tales of the Empire collection. Melissa is also the author of the Natasha Carmichael and Marked series.