To protect her orphaned niece, Brigid Carlisle enters the torch-lit stone courtyard of the Knights of Malta at dusk, ready to strike a bargain with the holy order. Lachlan Thatcher and his brothers demand her complete submission in return for their guardianship, their dominant presence promising both discipline and the breeding that will bind her to them forever.

Her defiance falters under the promise of their hands on her bare skin in the archive chamber, even as the pull of their authority stirs a dangerous craving inside her. Lachlan holds her to the bargain while the rival circles, waiting to take everything from her. Will she yield to the spanking and claiming that could save her niece or risk losing it all?