Tarifa - beguiling child, bewitching temptress, swept from the bustling streets of Old Seville to the gilded splendor of the New World, there to live in shame among aristocratic Californios - scorned, seduced, betrayed.

Tarifa - Her pagan heart cried out to conquer those who shamed her, to one day rule as mistress of the glorious riches of the magnificent rancho Loma de Oro.

Her flashing dark eyes possessed the ancient secrets of a proud, defiant breed; her quicksilver wiles, her bold bravado, set men aflame. Many men tried to tame her. Only one man saw past her dark desires to the burning need within - the daring sea captain Bart Kinkaid, whose will was as indomitable as her own whose soul would forever entwine with hers in a rapturous love a love that soared beyond the boundaries of time itself.