Lord Julian Thornton, Earl of Mansfield by day and secret agent of the crown by night, has sworn never to love another woman. But then a mission goes wrong and Julian is left for dead, washed up on Scotland's rugged shore, his only hope a seductive mysterious woman names Lara. And when she marries him under gypsy law for his own protection, Julian is too entranced with the dark beauty to deny himself the benefits of their "marriage". Yet even as he longs for their idyllic interlude to last, Julian knows his presence alone puts her very life in danger. Until he discovers Lara in one place he never expected to see his wild gypsy enchantress...the one place where he isn't sure he can protect her - or his own heart. From the moment Lady Lara, half-gypsy daughter of the Earl of Stanhope, find a wonderful stranger, she knows their destinies will be forever entangled. So when a band of smugglers comes looking for the dashing stranger, Lara doesn't hesitate to claim him as her husband "Drago." But when her mysterious husband goes back on his own world - and it's dark secrets - Lara returns to her father to take her place as his heiress...never expecting to find her Drago across the Earl's crowded ballroom. And although he still enthralls her, Lara is determined that she will never truly be his wife until her surrenders his heart as well.