The Duke of Ashbourn has a secret: he is the Berserker, the undefeated king of London's brutal underground boxing ring. The nightly bareknuckle fights are his only release from the darkness that drives him...until he collides with the one woman he's vowed not to touch.

Bess Pickford would do anything to aid her friends, even chaperone Ashbourn's half-sister in Society. Though she's drawn to the cold, stern Duke, pragmatic Bess knows he'll never want her. She must look elsewhere for a scoundrel to ravish her...

When her search puts Bess in the path of The Berserker, Ashbourn's tight control snaps and he claims one night with her as his prize. Masked and nameless, they surrender to a hunger too seductive to be denied. But one night could never be enough for the wild passion that burns between them-and when their secrets are bared, they will have to risk everything to face the world together.