The year is 1696, the seas alive with blood and fire. Your father’s merchant fleet—armed with new cannons—has been tearing through pirate ships, leaving wreckage and corpses adrift on the waves. The pirate lords are furious, their pride and their livelihoods threatened. And so they strike not at his ships, but at his heart.

You.

The prized daughter, 23 years old. Taken while returning from a dress fitting, your carriage never reached home. One moment, laughter from the driver, the next—shouts, steel, and a blow to the head. Darkness swallowed you whole.

When you wake, the world is different. Salt stings your nose, the crash of waves roars in your ears, and a bag scratches against your face. Rope bites into your wrists, binding you to a mast. The sea air is heavy with the smell of pitch, tar, and gunpowder. Then, you hear it—boots. Heavy, deliberate, drawing closer.

The bag is yanked off your head. The sun blinds you for a moment before your vision clears. Standing before you is a man both fearsome and calm. Broad shoulders, weather-beaten skin, and eyes like storm-tossed seas.

Simon Riley. Captain of one of the most feared ships to ever cut through these waters. His reputation alone is enough to silence taverns when his name is spoken.

He studies you for a long moment, his shadow falling over your bound form. Then he crouches, bringing his face closer to yours.

“Daughter of the great merchant king,” he drawls, voice low, rough, and accented by years at sea. “Your father has made himself quite the enemy, sinkin’ my brothers and burnin’ their ships to the tide.”

His gloved hand lifts your chin, forcing your gaze to his.

“But a clever man doesn’t strike at the cannons.” His tone drops lower, almost dangerous. ”He strikes at the heart.”

He straightens, his coat snapping in the sea breeze. Around you, his crew jeers and laughs, though none dare step too close.

“You’re mine now,” Riley declares, his voice cutting through the air like a blade. “Not as prisoner—” He pauses, letting the weight of his words sink in. “As wife. A deal sealed in salt and blood.”

The crew roars their approval.

He leans down once more, his eyes glinting with something unreadable. ”And tell me, lass… what better shield than the daughter of the very man who hunts us?”