Yes, you’ve already met Lucien in Because You Are Mine…but he’s not who you might think. His mysterious presence and mission in regard to entrepreneur Ian Noble puzzles Elise Martin, who knew Lucien as a child when they were both prisoners in the gilded cage of their privileged backgrounds. He’s enigmatic, drop dead gorgeous…and the only man in the world who can ever hope to control Elise.

Restaurateur and self-exiled heir Lucien Lenault’s first look at the breathtaking young chef trainee for his trendy Chicago restaurant is a shock. She’s Elise Martin, daughter of a wealthy French fashion designer. She’s also the holder of a secret that could explode his carefully laid plans.

Notorious for her flagrant exhibitionism, and for flouting the respectable façade of her aristocratic background, the coquine’s wild streak shocked most people. Not Lucien. He was tempted by it. It was a deliriously punishable offense as far as Lucien was concerned. But taking on Elise is more than a game. She’s a catastrophe waiting to happen, an inferno that’s burned many a lover. Lucien isn’t most men, however, and he won’t allow her to manipulate him. In order to control the defiant beauty—in order to see her submit—he’s going to have to willingly walk in the flames…

When I’m With You Snippet

He pulled on her, drawing her closer, so that her body brushed against his hard length and the fullness behind his fly. He scorched her with that almost otherworldly stare. She waited on a sharp ledge of anticipation, her breath burning in her lungs, when he lowered his head until their mouths were just inches apart.

“You’ve always tested me. You’ll always be that girl I remember, foolishly poking at a sleeping snake. You’d better get out of here. You’ve been begging without words to be disciplined since you were a girl, and you have no idea how much I’d love to give you what you so richly deserve . . . what you need.”

He noticed her wide-eyed, shocked expression and smiled grimly. “Not so sure of yourself now, are you?” he asked, his voice a low, purring threat. “What do you say? Do you want to stay with me and get what you need, ma chère?”