At sixteen, high-born Lady Emily Brockton had been found alone with Leon Deveraux and was then forced to wed the wild, notoriously seductive rakehell. But it had been a marriage in name only, and soon the handsome rogue left to seek his fortune. Now, the scoundrel has returned, demanding to consummate their union, but Emily has no intention of honoring her "husband."..no matter how irresistible his caresses.When he sought asylum from the horrors of the French Revolution in England, Leon Deveraux's unruly ways earned him the contempt of the haute ton. Yet his heart belonged only to Emily, whose reputation he was forced to protect by marrying her when she was barely more than a girl. But now, Emily has blossomed into a woman who makes Leon hunger for a love he's never known...a love he'll show her if she'll let him.

Among the elegant drawing rooms of Regency London, where rumors have the power to destroy, Emily and Leon pursue a love that has been too long denied and a passion that burns too hot to ignore -- even as new dangers threaten to tear them apart forever.