Nothing is more intoxicating or dangerous than surrendering to a devil.

Beatrice Corning, the niece of the present earl, is a proper English miss. But she has a secret: no real man has ever excited her more than the handsome youth in the portrait in her uncle's home. Suddenly, that very man, thought to be murdered years ago, is here in the flesh, luring her into his bed. Half mad after seven years in hellish captivity, Reynaud St. Aubyn has burst into his ancestral home demanding his inheritance. Can this wild-looking man truly be the last earl's heir? Only Beatrice can see past Reynaud's savagery to the noble man inside. But can Beatrice's love tame a man who will stop at nothing to regain his title, even if it means sacrificing her innocence?

For his part, Reynaud is drawn to this lovely lady, even as he is suspicious of her loyalty to her uncle.