Palin leads a well-ordered life, needing peace and quiet after spending his days working as an information broker, reading minds for money. Which is why Tigre seems like such a strange choice for him as a lover. When Palin sees vala Tigre in one of his mindreading forays, he knows he has to have him, despite the fact that the man has been created for two purposes; fighting and pleasure. Together they build a new life, one of pleasure and pain, of love and discipline. When life threatens to tear them apart, they fight to keep the home they've created, even if the obstacles they must overcome are within as much as without.