‘Your grandfather offered you to me in exchange for L’Oasis.’ Lorne would not believe that her sole relative had left her, defenceless, in the hands of this ruthless desert hawk – and a woman was not a chattel, even in the primitive east, as Lorne set out to prove. Held captive by Razul al Kebir Bey in the fortress of El Karah, Lorne’s only desire was to escape – or was it? She was torn between her hatred and desire for this arrogant lord of the East until – in the desert – she found her fate, written in the sands.