When China Clairmont met Gabriel St. Jon in the rose-scented twilight of her cousin's garden, no one could have guessed they'd known each other before, in what seemed like another lifetime. Then she had been a common serving girl, not a fine lady in silks and satin; he had been a ruthless buccaneer, not a wealthy Colonial planter; and the scene of their fiery union had been a treasure-laden pirate ship, not a gracious Virginia plantation. Like quicksilver, their lives had undergone a sea change, and like quicksilver they would change again, leaving Gabriel to face a hangman's noose and China to wed his most treacherous enemy. Yet despite the vagaries of fortune, one thing remained constant -- the throbbing passion that had joined their heated bodies and would one day unite their yearning hearts.