She was born a lady. He was raised a Viking. They weren't supposed to fall in love. Wounded when fleeing pirates who attacked her ship, Lady Elizabeth Conroy finds herself recovering in a Viking village, tended by strangers who don't speak English. Unable to return to England with her baby son because of approaching winter, Elizabeth is determined to learn the language, and Beren, the man who saved her life, is her patient—and attractive—teacher. But as autumn turns to winter and Elizabeth's love for Beren grows, she knows she will have to leave him in the spring when she takes her son back home to England. When Beren Torsson's quick reactions save Elizabeth from certain death, he is instantly drawn to the red-haired beauty's courage and protective fierceness. He admires her persistence in learning a new language, and his admiration increases when, faced with the dangers present in his land, she joins the other women of the village in learning self-defence. He has found the one woman who makes his life complete, but hasn't the heart to tell her his secret: that Elizabeth is thousands of years from her own time, and Beren destroyed her only way home.