Saxon Slave

Lynet's mouth opened in shock as the pain reverberated through her body. Ranulf's hands were hardened from riding and warring, so it was like being hit with a plank of wood. His palm swept down on the slave girl's clenched buttocks again, and even in the dying torchlight he could see its imprint emblazoned in scarlet against the creamy flesh of her cheeks. He bared his teeth in a ferocious grin and lifted his hand again.

This time he savoured it more slowly, deliberately lingering over her pain. When his hand dropped again the fleshy white skin turned even whiter as the force of his blow drove out the blood, then it surged back and the mark of his fingers and palm blossomed again.

Born after William the Bastard's invasion of England, Lynet Goodrich has known nothing but the peace - and boredom - of her rural village.

When news comes that they are to have a new Norman overlord, her first reaction is excitement - but excitement swiftly turns to terror as Ranulf le Ferrier exerts his right to take her on her wedding night. And when he refuses to give her back and has her rightful husband hanged before her horrified eyes, she realises she is helpless in the hands of a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to break her spirit.

Will her Saxon courage sustain her - or will she be beaten, ravished and enslaved like her own conquered country?