The Phoenix and the Cat. Fire and Claw, #0.5

When the phoenix met the cat, sparks flew. Will they be hot enough to burn away everything keeping them apart?When the phoenix met the cat, sparks flew. Will they be hot enough to burn away everything keeping them apart?Caterina de Serpens never wanted to marry, but as the eldest daughter of Lord Osman Irontooth she had little choice in the matter. She expected to be paired off with a prince or perhaps a king.
What she got was an arranged marriage with the feared Black Duke of Dragon Ridge. Even worse, her father hired a knight from the Order of the Sun to guard her chastity until her intended husband arrived to claim her. Curran Flameborn pledged himself to the Order long ago, and he's regretted it ever since. The Order frowns upon all forms of happiness, and discourages its members forming attachments, from simple friendships all the way to marriage.
But the Order allows the knights to take a year's sabbatical after every ten assignments, and Curran's tenth assignment is an easy job guarding a spoiled princess until her wedding day. When Caterina and Curran met, two things became clear: she wasn't the vapid princess Curran had anticipated, nor was he the rigid, pious knight Caterina had dreaded. Instead, they felt a connection neither had ever hoped to find.
But with Caterina promised to another, was their love doomed before it began?The Phoenix and the Cat is a story of forbidden love, fated mates, and defying the odds.