When Lady Valeria Augusta Marianus is captured by the savage Pict army, she is fearful of her treatment by their renowned and fearless commander. His enemy is the Roman Empire and she is the Cesar's niece, but Tristan Caileanach is nothing like the wild beast she imagined. Instead his ruggedly handsome face and toned body makes her long to be held in his powerful arms. And her traitorous body can only resist the heat of this fierce warrior's touch for so long... One night in Tristan's bed is all it takes for Valeria to give him her innocence and her heart. Yet she knows they have no future together - not when his hatred for all things Roman runs so deep. But when the Roman army descends on the camp and Tristan is enslaved and forced to be a Gladiator, facing death every day, suddenly their roles are reversed. Now all Valeria wants is to give him back his freedom, but Tristan's only chance is to win it in the arena...