Sir Hugh Dryden undertook his quest for a bride with a guarded heart. But two years of captivity had deadened his desire for any woman. So why, then, did the sight of a mere country girl in distress stir such tenderness in him? And why did simply carrying her from danger set his pulse pounding?

Without a proper dowry, no gentleman would ask to marry Sian Tudor. Most made less respectable offers—excepting the knight who'd rescued her from certain death. The man was strong and dangerous looking—and she'd had the most unfamiliar longing to touch him. But what sense were flights of fancy when he was surely bound for battle—and Sian about to be banished to a nunnery…?