Courtney Johnston, the lively daughter of a sea captain, is swept underneath a wave of despair when a pirate forces her father overboard. Taken captive and used in a sinister plot to win an English nobleman's rare black diamond, she now lives to fulfill one burning desire: to avenge her father's death. Slayde Huntley, the earl of Pembourne, will do anything to ransom his missing sister, Aurora, even turn over the priceless gem that has been his family's treasure -- and curse -- for generations. Lured to the pirate ship, he believes the golden-red-haired beauty promised for the stone is his sister, but she is not...she is his destiny. Even as the diamond brings Courtney and Slayde together, it glitters with a malice and mystery that draws them toward a haunting evil. Soon they fear losing a treasure more precious than any jewel -- their chance for a future together!