In rescuing an innocent from unlawful arrest, Reed Caraway becomes the unwitting recipient of one man's gratitude—and of his talents between the sheets.

Reed Caraway is a brawler, gambler and all-round persona non grata in the mountainous village of Alliance. Enlisted by force into the much-detested Order, he is accustomed to being despised. Yet when an act of kindness is repaid with an invitation to a stranger's house, Reed thinks his luck may be changing.

Valentine Waters knows how men like Reed operate. He also knows that compassion doesn't come without cost. He intends to repay Reed's with his body, the only way he knows how, not anticipating that the soldier will prove a generous lover or that Valentine may want to see him again. As their carnal relationship turns into an intricate tangle of deep longing and scorching hot trysts, the most powerful man in the land recalls Valentine to the capital.

A more honourable position at court is well within Valentine's reach, if only he can turn his back on Alliance and Reed. Faced with impossible odds, the foundation of their clandestine affair begins to quake, imperilling not only Valentine's future but also his life.