Trainer Baintree was a nobleman in two worlds. A future earl to one and a warrior who couldn't fight to another. The white man listened to Trainer and the red one to Lonelord. Those things did not make his life easy. On the contrary, they made his life very difficult.

He was not prepared to fall in love. Like most things in his life, such a state was a dream. But the dowager duchess was no dream. She was, quite simply, everything he'd ever wanted in a woman and he was determined to have her. And she was determined not to be had.

It wasn't that she didn't love Trainer. She fell fast and hard. It was his life. The incredible burdens placed on his shoulders by his ancestors. He couldn't walk away from his purpose and she couldn't see herself walking toward it beside him.

Nor could she herself walking away from him.