Being a bride is a state of mind, not of body. Lord Cariad's exciting journey as a cartographer working in the territory of the deadly Swarm turns to terror when his ship is boarded and he is captured. To disguise his identity, he pretends to be the captain's bed-warmer. That plan backfires when a leader of the boarding party takes him as his own. Balthazar pretends to live up to his reputation as the vicious son of the Swarm's leader. All the while, he is planning on deposing his mother and changing the course of his people's lives. He wants peaceful trading. When a pretty boy puts his plans to the test, he knows he must protect him. Cariad and Balthazar overcome their mutual suspicions and find a growing love in each other's arms. But politics and evil are stalking them. They need to trust one another out of bed if they are both to survive.