Miss Payton Peppiwell has had enough of lords and the scrutiny of high society. After the ton's fickleness leads to her being jilted and the resulting disdain, Payton vows to marry someone as ordinary as she. Fate delivers in the form of a scandalous encounter with Mikhail Konstantinovich, an intriguing-and untitled-horse breeder.

Mikhail abhors anything to do with intimacy. Yet Miss Peppiwell stirs hunger and a need long forgotten in him. But he has a dark past-one that means his lust must be sated in a way entirely unsuitable for a lady. His biggest secret may be hardest for Payton to forgive: Mikhail is not only titled, he's a prince...