Only the white Indian could save her from the life of shame... Raised in the harsh poverty of the Tennessee hills, Emma Simms hoped that one day she would escape to the excitement of Knoxville. Then her ma died, leaving her alone with her stepfather, and her dream became a nightmare. Luke Simms planned to send her to the big city, all right - on the next river steamer and to a notorious bawdy house! But someone had been secretly watching Emma with her ripe innocence and spun silver hair: River Joe, the mysterious Cherokee-raised frontiersman whose fighting prowess made him feared, and whose brave defense of the Indians made him a hunted man. From his first glimpse of Emma Simms, he knew this beautiful girl was to be his destiny and his woman. And from her first glimpse of this handsome, buckskin-clad stranger, Emma felt a dangerous desire ignite within her lonely heart...a burning need to feel the passion of his kisses and to defy the world for his love.