Decorated Union Navy war hero Hal Lindsay is a riverboat captain who has built an empire around his Missouri River steamboats. Yet deep inside him lurks the pain of a dark, vicious past — one that has him determined never to marry and have children. It's far better to live alone, finding carnal comfort in the arms of women who will do anything as long as the price is right — women with nothing at stake, like the sensual innocent currently masquerading as an experienced gambler aboard his boat, the Cherokee Belle. For once, Hal wants more — much more — and that is a very dangerous thing.

Rosalind Schuyler is appalled to be unmasked by Hal - and frightened as well. The prominent New York railroad heiress is in disguise and on the run to escape marriage to a man who would kill to gain her fortune. Now it seems she's in danger of a different kind. For Hal Lindsay is like no man she's met before. One minute, he's kind as a brother, hiding her from those searching night and day for her. The next, he's a pure masculine animal, taking her to his bed and beyond what she thought were the limits of her desire. Everything he does, she wants more of, but what she wants most, she knows he can never give...