Randall Avenel the Earl of Hazelmere’s plans for a liaison with the
talented courtesan known as ‘The Eternal Virgin’ go awry when impoverished
heiress Isolde Drake appears on his doorstep to apply for the job of paid
companion to his aging mother.

Having refused to support her family by compromising her virtue with
Chauncey Howell, to whom Isolde had been engaged before her family lost
all their money, Howell decides to take revenge on her by sending Isolde unescorted
to the home of the Earl, the most prominent rake of the Ton. The
scandal is sure to ruin her, provoke a duel with his enemy Randall, and
drive Isolde into his own bed.

Chauncey doesn’t forsee Isolde’s overwhelming desire for Randall, or
the fascination the beautiful and spirited young woman begins to exert
upon the world-weary rake tormented by his own sins.

Who has seduced whom? Has the jaded young Earl met his match at last?
Only by coming to terms with his shadowy past and the crimes he is sure
he is guilty of, can Randall ever be free to love again.

Only through learning about the enigmatic woman whom his enemy has
bestowed upon him, can Randall face the future, and allow his experience
to be tempered by innocence. Only though trusting to love can the vanquish
the enemies who will stop at nothing to destroy Randall and his family….

“I am mad, darling Isolde,” he said, taking her hand to kiss it once
more.� “Mad for you to be my wife, to give yourself to me in every
way. And to let me give myself to you the way I’ve never given myself to
any woman.”

Randall reached for her waist now, but she suddenly grew fearful of
the raving passion that tore through her with his slightest touch.

“This is too much,” she said, cowering away from his questing hands.
“Please. Just let me go. I want to go home to Surrey.”

His face fell. “I can’t be responsible for your ruin like this.”

“You aren’t. Howell will be if he bruits it about. But you cannot be
given a life sentence for a crime you did not commit.”

“What if I want to be prisoner to your charms, Isolde, without any
hope of parole?”

“Please, Randall, this is no laughing matter, and I would not want
you condemned to a life of misery.”

“But what if that’s all I deserve?” he said under his breath.

She stared at him now, stunned. “You want to punish yourself by marrying
me? What on earth-”

He reached for her with desperate eagerness, desire shining in his
lapis blue eyes. “No! No, not at all. I want and need you. I would be lost
if you walked out that door now without giving me a chance to redeem myself.”