Cassie O'Brien

A girl with darkness in her past. A man who can heal her wounds. A dark night. A shortcut through the park. A nineteen-year-old girl is violently mugged. Four years later... Ness lives in London with her flatmate Jules--single, carefree but shadowed by the darkness of the violence that has created a distrust of strangers and the inability to have a sexual relationship with a man who is not first a friend. Then she meets Jason... Their attraction is powerful, their sex incredible and they are compatible in other ways, too, but Ness' insecurities come to the fore. She doesn't have the life experience to determine whether Jason feels the same--and the antics of her co-workers aren't helping. Jason--who has mysterious ties to his business and the artworld--must recognize that his attractiveness to other females is an issue before the sudden threat he encounters puts them both in danger of not being together at all or suffering a deadly fate.

'You marry a man and he owns you. I won't do it.' Will falling in love change her mind? Victorian England, 1870 Lady Henrietta escapes from a locked bedroom and her stepfather's attempt to starve her into agreeing to an arranged marriage that will only be of benefit to him. Underage, she must avoid his clutches until she turns twenty-one, and as Amelia Brown, she finds employment as a maid in the household of Damion, Marquis of Ashton. High-spirited and fiercely independent, Amelia has a chance encounter with Damion, which establishes a powerful attraction between the two. Their passion ignites, the sex between them of an unrestrained delight that is contrary to the customs of the times. But the storm clouds are gathering. Amelia will have to take desperate measures to protect herself and the man she loves.

"We play by your rules, Ellie. Not mine."