Under a steamy Barbados sun, Nathaniel makes an impulse purchase that will change the course of his entire life as a privateer. Pierced to the core by the sad blue eyes of the young man on the auction block, he buys Adlai, thinking to erase the slave's sorrow and protect him from a less-pleasant fate in the fields or brothels. At first, Adlai dares not trust the pirate who now owns his body, but time and proximity, need and care, change Adlai's suspicions to respect--and Nathaniel's respect to love. Together, they brave all the sea can throw at them, including Nathaniel's former captain and rival, Thomas Harrison. Harrison will stop at nothing to have Nathaniel and his ship back. And Adlai, Nathaniel's most prized treasure, becomes one more weapon in their ongoing war.