Kaya escaped famine but not her arranged marriage. Trained to fight for her future, Kaya's dreams focused on traveling beyond the four walls that were both her refuge and prison. However, when her overprotective grandfather arranges her marriage to an English soldier, Kaya refuses, despite the danger threatening her life. Marriage had never been her plan. Suddenly all her dreams of exploring the world she's only read about dissipate, as fleeing as the rains that plunged Cairo into famine. Sergeant Paul Hartley isn't a saint. When he receives a letter offering marriage and atonement for his many sins, he flees Bombay, the army, and a sometimes criminal life. In Cairo he finds famine and a reluctant bride. The beautiful, proud Kaya stirs more than his greed for the promised dowry of jewels that assure him a retirement in the south of France. A trek through the Sahara has them seeking refuge from a sandstorm. The intimacy of the cave leads to confessions and passion flaring between them. Kaya doesn't trust him even as he fights beside her for survival against slavers and secrets from their past. Trust is only the beginning as passions ignite into shared intimacies as they both question an uncertain future.