Karissa Spencer is an up-and-coming artist who has made a name for herself sculpting cats. House cats, tigers, lions—but most of all sleek black panthers. She is driven to mold the beautiful black animal because as a teenager, she saw something horrible happen in an ancient Egyptian temple while a huge black panther watched, his tail flicking across the sand. And ever since, she can't get the image of the cat out of her mind.

Although Karissa has a photographic memory, she can't remember anything else that occurred that fateful day. Many psychiatrists have tried to draw it out, but the truth lies hidden...

...Until an elegant Egyptian man dressed entirely in black comes to her studio to ask her to help him find the long-lost temple where her father was last seen. The moment Mr. Asher appears in her life, Karissa is swept into a world of secrets, danger and love.