A Dark Champion (Brotherhood of the Sword, Book 1)

A Dark Champion (Brotherhood of the Sword, Book 1) by MacGregor, Kinley. mass_market edition. ISBN: 9780060565411.

Fearless men, their allegiance is to one another, to the oppressed, and to the secret society known as the Brotherhood of the Sword—and they must never surrender to the passionate yearnings of their noble hearts. A Lady of Love Beautiful, peace-loving Rowena knows that Stryder of Blackmoor is a warrior, and is therefore a man to be shunned. But something burns in the eyes of this powerful knight that she has never seen in others of his kind: a tenderness, and a need to love and be loved. Yet to enter his world would be madness—against every principle by which she has lived her life—so she must resist the yearning that would draw her into his arms. A Man of War Duty bound to battle for right, Stryder has never desired the comforts of home and hearth—until he gazed upon the exquisite face and form of the incomparable Rowena. He dares not succumb to her sensuous charms, for Stryder is a man sworn to know no love. But when treachery and danger threaten, the noble knight must stand as the unsuspecting ladys champion—though his actions could cost him his honor, his heart. . . and his forbidden dream of happiness.