tash was a legendary seducer, a famous Russian defector--and a star who was determined to join Mariah Heath's dance company, to partner the graceful tigress in a passionate pas de deux! From the moment the great dancer saw Mariah move onstage, Stash wanted to share her spotlight--and her bed. She felt astonished by his interest, and unnerved by his fierce insistence that they would someday be lovers, but she could no more deny his request to learn her dances than she could disguise the desire for him that she had harbored for years. Swept by ecstasy into a lovers' ballet as old as time, they soothed old hurts and awakened new hopes. But his flight to freedom had torn him from a world he could not forsake, and, though his talent inspired their work; Mariah struggled to teach Stash to reveal the deep feelings he'd hidden all his life so he might dance not only the steps but the soul of her pieces. Would the promises their bodies made someday unite their hearts?