After having lost the love of his life, Captain Myles Cameron has come to terms with never marrying unitl and enticing temptation, in more ways than one, is placed before him. Called to Markham House by the Duke of Markham, Myles learns he can secure the Earl of Twynforde title if he will marry the duke's granddaughter, Catherine Landsdowne, and search for the duke's missing youngest son. Those are the old man's conditions. Catherine wants to leave England to search in China for her missing uncle, the last male heir to the dukedom but her grandfather, the Duke of Markham, will not allow his unmarried granddaughter to leave without the protection of a husband. A husband he has selected for since she's never found anyone in her twenty-seven years of interest to marry. Catherine balks at the very idea of marrying this unknown man until she seeks this Captain Cameron out at an inn near the docks and watches him from afar. Myles expects a spoiled on the shelf old-maid and is greatly surprised to see the beautiful woman who'd caught his attentions the night before at a local inn, Myles decides this will not be a marriage in name only. After agreeing to a few of Catherine's conditions, the two are wed that very night and set sail on their voyage to China a few days later to search for her missing uncle. From the beginning of the voyage attraction is there between the two but someone doesn't want Catherine or Myles to reach China to learn what became of her missing uncle. And Catherine doesn't want Myles to learn any of the secrets she holds.