England, 1192. Lady Reina de Champeney's cerulean eyes gazed with scorn asthey fell upon the golden giant of a man before her. This was the knight Ranulf Fitz Hugh, her kidnapper, who was pledged to deliver her into theworst kind of bondage, marriage to the craven Lord Rothwell. But Reina was no acquiescent girl to accept fate's whim. To save herself from the unionforced upon her, she offered Ranulf a bargain: Become my husband yourself.In exchange for your protection, I will make you a great lord.