For years Courtland Becket had denied himself the only woman who stirred his blood, yet he could no longer pretend to ignore the lovely Cassandra. For gone was the girl he had once teased—replaced by a fully grown woman, adamant that they act on their long-denied feelings. It was time for the self-appointed protector of all things Becket to allow himself a taste of the forbidden. But passion's price might very well prove too high when an age-old enemy returns to wreak revenge against the entire Becket clan, leaving Courtland torn between his newfound love—and his duty to the family that means more to him than life itself.