One wicked night . . . Lady Portia Ellerslie, dearest confidante to Queen Victoria and a woman of impeccable breeding, normally wouldn't dream of dallying in Aphrodite's Club, London's most exclusive and erotic bordello. But one lonely night she finds something enticing about the idea of a wild encounter in the notorious hothouse. Donning a daring, dangerously low-cut scarlet dress and a veil to mask her identity, she arrives at the club ready to succumb to the torrid desires raging inside her . . . and is shocked to find herself gazing into the eyes of Marcus Worthorne, the man she swooned over at seventeen. Could lead to a lifetime of ecstasy . . . Back then, Marcus barely knew she was alive, but now he's about to make her most wanton fantasies come true. Portia's proper life is about to change forever . . . because for Marcus one night with the lady in red could never be enough.

Desperate to save her reputation, the beautiful heiress Antoinette Dupre escapes to Wexmoor Manor, a country estate in Devon. But she gets more than she bargained for when she encounters a masked stranger who, with just one touch, awakens in her an irresistible desire. Gabriel Langley is on a mission. Antoinette has a letter he needs to take back his family's ancestral home, and he is willing to go to any lengths to claim it—even seduce her. And though aware he is playing a dangerous game, he cannot resist returning to her bed in the shadow of darkness . . . to become her secret lover. But when Gabriel's true identity is revealed, their passionate midnight interludes are threatened. And they must face a web of scandal and blackmail that could destroy their one chance for love . . .