Long ago, Sebastian denied the evil queen, and she struck him with a terrible curse. His body is wracked with constant pain that grows increasingly worse the longer he goes without pleasuring a woman. The curse should have died with the queen. Except it didn't, and every attempt to remove it has failed. Now Sebastian is being sent on a long journey to the desolate north to retrieve a woman who might or might not be his last hope for a cure. But magic is a complicated thing, especially when wielded by the strange, awkward, beautiful hermit who haunts the ruins of an abandoned castle during the day and invades Sebastian's lurid dreams at night. After a lifetime of feeling nothing but pain, the powerful desire he suddenly feels for Willow defies all reason. And Sebastian can't help thinking he just traded one curse for another.