During the bitter War Between the States, the Night Riders were an elite Confederate unit known for daring raids behind enemy lines. Now that the war is over, Captain Cade Wheeler is coming home to his grandfather's Texas ranch. But what should be a happy homecoming has a bitter purpose, for Cade and his five surviving comrades have come only to hunt Leveau diViere, the traitor who'd betrayed them to the enemy. But fate has other plans for these bold soldiers, especially Cade. For when Cade reaches the ranch he finds Pilar, Leveau's sister, keeping house for his grandfather. Once, in the carefree years before the war, there had been tenderness between Cade and Pilar -- more than a suggestion that the wild young man and the proper young lady might someday fall in love. Now Leveau's treachery casts a shadow over that future, despite the raging passion between Cade and Pilar that will not be denied.