The Sword & the Sheath — Bonnie Vanak

From a young age, Fatima knew she must do battle. She knew this, her destiny, because every fiber of her body cried out for it--just as every fiber cries out for Tarik, the impossibly handsome "White Falcon," her friend and next in line to lead her tribe. She has been trained by her father to be the future sheikh's bodyguard. Yet, women of the Khamsin are not warriors, and the sons of sheikhs do not wish to have their lives saved by women any more than they wish to fall in love with childhood friends. Tradition be damned; she will fulfill her destiny. And Tarik will love her forever.