Miss Susan Hampton was a lady born and bred. She never imagined she would have to make her own way in the world. But that was before her feckless father gamed away the family estate. That was before her odious aunt turned her into an unpaid servant. Now Susan had fled that tyranny- only to wonder if she had leapt out of the frying pan into the fire.In a remote country manor, Susan took the post of companion to the Dowager Lady Bushnell, whose fiery temper made a dragon seem sweet. But even more dangerous was the dowager's boldly handsome bailiff, David Wiggins, whose blood was red, not blue, and who was everything a man could be except a gentleman. Desperately, Susan told herself that he was totally unsuitable as her suitor- even as this infuriatingly irresistible man awoke her as a woman and made her forget she was a lady....
Susan told herself that there really was nothing she could have done to avoid what happened. David Wiggins was too swift, too skillful for anyone as inexperienced as she to stop from doing exactly as he pleased. He did not even have to exert any force- he was so big and strong. And Susan had no time to react when he pressed he against the stable wall and brought his lips down on hers.But one thing still puzzled her.
Why had her hands gone around his neck? Why had her lips parted beneath his? And why had she returned his kiss so fervently?
The questions were disturbing, and the answers Susan was able to come up with were most disturbing still. But most troubling of all was the thought of what might well happen when this man, who knew so much about passion and cared so little about propriety, decided that a mere kiss was not enough....