In the dark of night, fires flare and passions burn bright. It is Beltane, an evening of Pagan revelry and wanton sexuality. There is magic in the air. and danger.

DEEP IN THE HIGHLANDS
Caught in the spell of the sensual spectacle before her, Deidre of the Languedoc is saved from near rape by the darkly handsome Gilead MacOengus, a man of virile strength and masculine perfection. He promises her safety in his family castle, but once there Deidre is quickly thrust into the midst of familial scandal and marital strife.

COMES DESIRE
Observing the Beltane festivities from afar, Gilead MacOengus quickly comes to the aid of a young lass whose story of an attack by bandits makes him skeptical, but whose beauty leaves him spellbound. Gilead senses Deidre is hiding something from him and, with a Saxon invasion imminent, knows he must respond with reason—not passion. Yet how can he resist this bewitching temptress, the one woman whose desire matches his own?