The Beast Strange, twisted carvings and hideous gargoyles adorned the palazzo of the great Scarletti family. But a still more fearful secret lurked within its storm-tossed turrets. For every bride who entered its forbidding walls was doomed to leave in a casket. The Bride Mystical and unfettered, Nicoletta had no terror of ancient curses and no fear of marriage...until she looked into the dark, mesmerizing eyes of Don Scarletti. She had sworn no man would command her, had thought her gift of healing set her apart, but his was the right to choose a bride from among his people. And he had chosen her. The Bargain Compelled by duty, drawn by desire, she gave her body into his keeping, and prayed the powerful, tormented don would be her heart's destiny, and not her soul's demise.

Blinded and scarred in a terrible accident, Antonietta Scarletti made music that thrilled the world with its beauty and passion. Descended from a long line of psychics, Antoinetta has learned to rely on her other senses to “see” the world around her, but nothing could have prepared her for Byron. He came to her, drawn by her music, and became her secret obsession. Others fear him, sensing that he is dangerous—a predator—but for Antonietta he is her ultimate fantasy, her dream lover. He woos her with kisses full of erotic allure, whispering that she is his light, his salvation. Byron has waited an eternity for her, and he will let nothing stand between him and the woman born to be his lifemate...