"I NEED A MAN ... ANY MAN."

She had blood on her dress and trouble in her eyes when she walked into Cavey Davey's tavern and roused Dr. Cain D'Alessandro from his drunken stupor. The sight of Ana, "The Duchess" --- beautiful, icy, desperate --- almost sobered him. She looked like a whore and spoke like a lady ... who had just committed murder.

She had money, and they both needed to escape. So Cain D'Alessandro agreed to pose as her husband on the dangerous trip through Panama to California. But Ana hadn't reckoned on a full ship of sailors --- or the perilous trip through the Panamanian wilderness. All she had was Cain, an intimate stranger forced to abandon his liquor to save them both. Suddenly he was a threat, capable of seeing her weakness and offering his strength. And all he asked for in return was her love, something she'd never given to any man before ...

*** HISTORICAL ROMANCE ***