Jaime is the fourth son of the Prince of the Heighlands. Always an outsider in his family, Jaime seems unable to ever please his father, no matter how he tries. He longs to be a fighter, a hunter, anything other than the role his father has mapped out for him: future steward to his oldest brother.

But Jaime's set path in life is overturned when the consequences of an indiscretion on his part prove to be the final straw for his father. Infuriated, Prince Halden sends Jaime away from the Heighlands, the only home Jaime has ever known, to serve at the court of the powerful and despised king of Leilani. Alone in a much more sophisticated society than he is used to, Jaime must maneuver to find his way ... and struggle to understand his feelings about the handsome King Alder of Leilani, to whom he has sworn fealty.

Alder has much on his mind. Fighting a war he can't end and can't afford to lose, his widowed state is of far less import. Nonetheless, his Councilors are demanding he choose a Companion -- a man to please his bed -- as is expected of a widowed Leilani king with heirs. It is a choice he is in no hurry to make. The war and losses on the battlefield are of far greater concern, and the arrival of a disgraced prince from the least loyal part of his kingdom is a minor and unwanted distraction.

Until Jaime walks into his court. For the first time in his life, Alder feels a genuine surge of lust for a man. But it's a hopeless attraction. No Heighlander would admit to wanting another man, ever.

Jaime wants to fight in the war. Alder wants to make love to him. Can they both possibly get what they want?