He was running from his darkest desires. She turned out the lights and took him to bed.

Margaret Davies has spent eight years as Lord Moxley's mistress—eight years of blows, threats, and learning that her body is the only currency she possesses. When he nearly kills her, she runs to the only friend she has—Moxley's wife.

The footman who finds her beaten and bruised on the doorstep has seen it all before.

Edwin Giles has spent his whole life watching men use women. He thought he'd escaped that dark, impoverished world until Margaret stumbles through the door. His heart breaks for her and he volunteers to relocate her to Canterbury, intending only to see her settled and safe.

He was never meant to stay.

But Canterbury has other plans. Misunderstanding and assumptions in a town that loves to gossip means within days they're Mr. and Mrs. Giles—a married couple with a cottage, a son, and a life that feels dangerously like happiness.

Edwin falls into work as a doctor's apprentice, saving lives instead of opening doors. Margaret learns to bake bread and find out what she's good at standing up, taking pride in being a respectable housewife. Their life is quiet. Warm. Romantic.

Margaret is passionate and eager. Edwin is generous with everything but himself.

He wants Margaret with a ferocity that terrifies him—wants her in ways that feel ugly, possessive... Every erotic thought that surfaces feels like proof he's just like the men who hurt Margaret. He's built his whole identity around being a man impervious to desire, and Margaret is wearing him down one garter at a time.

She doesn't want purity. She wants him—the lust, the kink and whatever else is lurking beneath his proper exterior. For a woman who's only ever been used, knowing Edwin truly loves her is all she needs to heal.

While they navigate the tender, awkward, breathtaking universe of intimacy, London isn't finished with them. A sensational court case against Moxley threatens to expose Margaret's identity. If she's recognized, she'll destroy Edwin's fledgling career and the respectable life they've fought to build.

Can love save them or are they doomed to their shady London pasts?

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