19th Century. The Hell's Eight is the only family he's ever needed, until he meets the only woman he's ever wanted... Caine Allen is a hardened Texas Ranger, definitely not the marrying kind. But when he rescues a kidnapped woman and returns her to town, the preacher calls in a favor. One Caine's honor won't let him refuse.

From the moment he beds Desi, Caine knows turmoil will follow. Desi might have the face of a temptress, but she also has a will of iron and while she needs his protection, she's determined that no man will control her again. They establish an uneasy bond, but it isn't enough for Caine. He wants all Desi has to offer. He wants her screams, her moans, her demands...everything. Yet there's still a bounty on Desi's head, and keeping her sexually satisfied is proving easier than keeping her alive.

Known for making up his own rules of right and wrong, Texas Ranger Sam "Wildcard" MacGregor takes what he wants when he wants it, especially when it comes to women. But seduction is the last thing on his mind the moment he stumbles across an Hispanic beauty crouching in fear beside a burned-out wagon. And it doesn't take long before he realizes the woman the townsfolk call "cursed" is hiding secrets too dangerous to face alone.

Isabella may look feminine and unassuming, but she's hell in a bodice with gunslinging skills to match any man's. But though she knows not to give Sam her heart as readily as she offers him her lush body, Isabella is certain she sees in Sam what he can barely glimpse in himself a virtuous man dropped deep into a hard country bent on breaking him. A man who, under it all, craves a passionate woman willing to risk everything...

Tucker McCade has known violence his whole life: orphaned in a massacre, abused as a "half-breed" child, trained as a ruthless Texas Ranger, he's learned the hard way that might makes right. So even he is shocked when he falls for Sallie Mae Reynolds, a Quaker nurse. Unable to resist Tucker's charm and chiseled body, she throws herself into their torrid affair, indulging her wildest sexual fantasies. Tucker's job, however, is the one thing she can't embrace. A staunch pacifist, Sallie Mae can't understand how his strong, caressing hand can clench in fury or pull a trigger. In this lawless land, Tucker knows you have to fight to survive. But when Sallie Mae becomes pregnant, he's willing to do anything to have his family--including hanging up his guns.

Every night they spend together binds them closer, slowly erasing their differences...until the day Tucker's past comes calling, precipitating an explosive showdown between her faith, his promise and the need for revenge....