Charlotte Arkendale knew all there was to know about men. After all, she''d made a career out of steering marriage-minded women away from untrustworthy members of the opposite sex.Yet nothing could have prepared her for Baxter St. Ives - an arresting stranger too daring, too determined, too dangerous to be her new man-of-affairs. Still, perhaps he was the perfect person to help Charlotte investigate the recent murder of one of her clients. So she gave him a chance, never realising that Baxter, a gifted scientist, would soon conduct a risky exploration into the alchemy of desire, with Charlotte as his subject. But even as he sets out to seduce Charlotte, a twisted killer lies in wait, ready to part the lovers ...or see them joined together forever - in death.