In sedate New Bedford mansions . . . On slave ships battling turbulent seas . . They played out a dangerous game of plunder and passion. . . Captain Nathaniel Larimore: The golden-haired Viking dared to sail a contraband human cargo to freedom and claim passion beyond price. . . . Laura Hardy: She was the fire in his blood, the woman he couldn’t forget, linked to him by naked lust, bound by destiny. . . . Melanie Hardy: The late-blooming beauty, determined to get her due, to seize the heart of the one man she desired, to possess him, body and soul . . . James Talbot: A rogue and ruthless slaver, bound to fight to the death for his lost inheritance, his stolen woman, and the sweet taste of revenge that made it all worthwhile.They sailed towards a destiny darkened by sins they could neither forgive nor forget.