Beneath the cover of darkness, passion plays by its own rules. Lovely, poised Anne Beddington is in a desperate situation: on the run for a crime she didn’t commit. Anne understands the wicked games she must play to survive—she has perfected her silky voice, practiced her feathery caress—but has she sufficiently mastered the art of seduction to become the mistress of the notorious Duke of March, Devon Audley? War has left him a recluse, but Anne is penniless, alone, and needs a powerful gentleman’s protection. Anne has learned how to pleasure a man, yet when this sinfully handsome duke insists that intimate delights must be a two-way street, Anne cannot deny his sensual promise.Anne’s delicate hands hold a healing touch, but it’s her gentle kindness that opens the duke’s eyes to the beauty around him and to a family who need him. Still, Anne is a mystery, and Devon intends to spend endless erotic hours uncovering her secrets. When he finds out the terrible truth about the devious plot to brand her a villainess and endanger her life, saving Anne becomes his salvation. She has shown Devon how to live and love again. Now he will prove the power of his passion.