After receiving a severe beating from her step-brothers, Lady Charis slips out of their country estate and flees for her life. Her step-brothers will stop at nothing to obtain her vast fortune. Charis hides in a horse stall at an inn, utterly exhausted and needing to rest her painfully bruised body. A stranger discovers her and comes to her rescue. Frightened to reveal her true identity, Charis tells half- truths and accepts his help.
Sir Gideon Trevithick, dubbed the Hero of Rangapindhi, accepts the accolades and hides the physical and mental damage done by his captors in India. The unwarranted hero worship threatens what remains of his sanity. He departs, desperate to obtain isolation and sanctuary at his Cornwall estate. His journey is interrupted when he finds an abused woman in the stables. Her tale has many missing parts, but Gideon abhors bullies who attack women. He offers to share his sanctuary with her.
Charis sees the torment that engulfs Gideon and she wants to comfort him. The barriers Gideon has built are high and his scars run deep. He rebukes Charis at every turn, but she is determined to break through the walls surrounding Gideon. Charis has fallen in love with Gideon and refuses to give up on him.
Ms. Campbell understands the workings and emotions of the soul and beautifully captures it with her writings. She draws readers into the characters' intense level of emotional despair and into their gradual ascent into healing, hope and love.
He pledged his honor to keep her safe . . .
Returning home to Cornwall after an unspeakable tragedy, Sir
Gideon Trevithick comes upon a defiant beauty in danger and
vows to protect her whatever the cost. He's dismayed to
discover that she's none other than Lady Charis Weston,
England's wealthiest heiress β and that the only way to save
her from the violent stepbrothers determined to steal her
fortune is to wed her himself! Now Gideon must hide the dark
secrets of his life from the bride he desires more with
every heartbeat.
She promised to show him how to loveβand desireβagain . .
.
Charis has heard all about Gideon, the dangerously handsome
hero with the mysterious past. She's grateful for his help
but utterly unwilling to endure a marriage of
convenience β especially to a man whose touch leaves her
breathless. Desperate to drive him mad with passion, she
would do anything to make Gideon lose control β and fall
captive to irresistible, undeniable sin.
βThere is one alternative.β Gideonβs tone was neutral,
artificially so, Charis thought. His eyes didnβt waver from
her face. βWe could get married.
For one radiant moment, joy flared inside her.
Marriedβ¦
She rose and took an unsteady step toward
him. βGideonβ¦β she began as wild happiness exploded in her
breast.
His troubled expression halted her in her tracks and
reminded her of his pain when sheβd told him she loved him.
She sucked in a tremulous breath and looked at him
properly.
Her glittering palace of hope disintegrated. The
hands that had risen toward him fell back to her sides and
formed fists of anguish.
βWhatβs this about?β she asked in a flinty voice.
He shifted away from the windows, back toward the
fire. He stopped before her, still too far away to touch.
Of course.
βItβs the obvious solution, Charis.β An unexpected
moment to realize heβd started to use her real name
naturally. He spread his gloved hands as if appealing to
her to see things his way. βIf weβre wed, I have a
husbandβs legal rights.β
Since sheβd met him, becoming his wife had been a
hopeless dream. Now he proposed and she wanted to run away
and cry her eyes out. Because he married her to save her,
not because he wanted her as his life companion, the woman
in his bed, the mother of his children.
βYou said youβd never marry. Never have a family.β
Her lips felt as if they were made of wood. βThatβs
changed?β
βNo.β He held himself rigid as a soldier on parade.
His voice was implacable. βIt will be a marriage in name
only.β
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