Beautiful Elise Laffont seems too young and alive to be a widow at the age of twenty-five. But she is not grieving the loss of her husband. The man had been a complete cad, abusing her delicate womanhood until she could not stand the sight of a man's desire. And so, despite her youth she is quite content to remain alone, managing her small Louisiana farm undisturbed.

Just when Elise has begun to eke out a small bit of independence for herself, an uprising of the fierce Natchez Indians forces her to flee the farm, which represents all the happiness she has ever known. In order to escape the massacre, she must become the mistress of a frighteningly commanding half-blood...

Reynaud Chavalier is the son of a French nobleman and a Natchez princess. His imposing stature and rugged masculine beauty prove irresistible to Elise.