Major Helen Prescott had always played by the rules. That was why Rafe Santiago had nicknamed her "Prissy" at the military academy years before. Rafe's teasing had made her life miserable back then, and, with his irresistible good looks, he was the man responsible for her one momentary lapse of self-control. So when a stint in the National Guard brought him under her command, Helen laid down the law -- she would stand for no macho moves or bedroom looks in HER platoon. But then a routine sky dive went awry, and all bets were off as they parachuted straight into the 1850 California Gold Rush.

Mistaken for a notorious bandit and his infamously sensuous mistress, they found themselves on the wrong side of the law. In a time and place where rules had no meaning, Helen found Rafe's hard, bronzed body strangely comforting, and his piercing blue eyes left her all too willing to share his bedroll. Suddenly, his teasing remarks made her feel all woman, and she was ready to throw caution to the wind if she could spend every night in the arms of her very own... Desperado.