Imprisoned for a reason he knows not, Temple, a vampire, wants his freedom.  He is sure the beautiful and not quite mortal woman, Vivian, who guards him, is part of the nefarious plot that almost killed some of his friends. One man is behind this and with Villiers being Vivian's mentor, Temple despairs of ever getting her to believe he is not a monster.  Therefore, he is surprised when he finally escapes and his sensual captor doesn’t shoot him.

Vivian is drawn to the dark and handsome creature who is being held in a basement by the man who saved her from ridicule and possible rape when she was younger. Although she knows nothing about the reason Temple is locked in silver chains, she must do all she can to make her stand-in-father proud of her.  Something she hopes will be easy to do, since her real father sold her to a freak show.  Still, the power of Temple's gaze, the lust in his eyes, and the promise of ecstasy when he captures her wrist and drinks her blood draw her to him more and more.

After his escape she follows him to Ireland where both she and Temple learn to trust their hearts in order to foil the plot of the Order of The Silver Palm and prevent the death of Temple, his friends—vampire and mortal alike—and save Vivian's life as well.