Beauty resents being labeled Gift Species. Everyone is way too overprotective, males aren’t even allowed to speak to her and so far true freedom eludes her. Then a big, sexy Species officer mistakes her for the enemy and takes her to the ground. Shadow is dumbfounded. He has a Gift pinned under him—a big no-no. But Beauty is fascinated and wants to know Shadow a lot better. She is full of newly discovered, unrequited passion and he’s just what she needs to satisfy her curiosity. For Shadow, sex means pain and revulsion. For Beauty, it was enslavement and ridicule. Two lonely souls who have never known a lover’s touch, together in a cabin in the woods. Each touch, every discovery brings them closer to a life they never thought possible…beyond even their dreams.