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.