Marcus had been born into nobility.   From the moment he could walk, servants had done everything for him. He had never known hunger, cold, or genuine hardship. He had never needed to work for anything he possessed. He was titled, wealthy, and utterly convinced that everyone beneath him existed for his convenience. To Marcus, commoners were little more than dirt beneath his boots. One afternoon, while riding through the woods with his band of men, he spotted a young woman gathering berries and herbs. She was poor, alone, and completely unable to defend herself against a group of armed riders. Marcus wanted her. And Marcus had never learned to accept the word no. What followed was an act of cruelty that would haunt her—and ultimately Marcus—for the rest of their lives. When the men were finished, they abandoned her in the place where they had found her, leaving her frightened, humiliated, and pregnant. That night, beneath a ragged blanket in the forest's cold darkness, she pray...