He told himself she was someone to protect. She told herself her need could be controlled. One night proved them both liars.

CALLEN

I’ve watched Isla MacLeod from a distance for years and called it duty—protecting the estate manager’s daughter after her father’s world came crashing down. But duty doesn’t explain the way I track her movements, the way I’ve engineered myself into every corner of her life, or the way my hands ache to do things she’d never forgive me for. Now, danger is closing in, she’s under my roof, and the distance I’ve been hiding behind is gone. She thinks I’m her protector. She has no idea what I actually am.

ISLA

Callen Cavendish is the last man I should be living with—wealthy, commanding, looking at me like he already owns me. I came to his Highland estate because I had nowhere else to go, and now, I’m trapped behind ancient walls with a man who gives orders like breathing and watches me like he’s memorizing every response. He thinks he knows me. He thinks I’m the estate manager’s stubborn daughter who needs saving. He’s wrong about what I need—and if he ever finds out the truth, saving me is the last thing he’ll want to do.

The books in the Thorned Thistle series are all standalones that do not need to be read in order.