The duke arrives at his decision the moment Jane Fielding descends from the carriage, her curvaceous form wrapped in a faded cloak that clings to every curve. Appointed her guardian to protect the Rochester succession, Ciaran feels the weight of his isolation lift only when her eyes lower in deference, stirring the dominant hunger he refuses to name.

Yet the formal guardianship cannot contain what rises between them. The unused nursery waits in the evening light, and a rival lurks for the smallest scandal. When the study door locks and she confesses she has been waiting for his direction, the duke must decide how far he will go to make her his little.

How long can he deny the need to correct and claim her when her yielding calls him Daddy?