Dr Jane Whitcomb, leader of a cardiac trauma team, is about to leave the medical centre for the night when an emergency is brought in - a man with a gunshot wound to the heart. As she examines him, however, she begins to suspect that her dangerously sexy new patient is not entirely human. One night, while he's still in recovery, this tattooed stranger reaches out to her. He seems soothed by her presence. And she is oddly captivated by his. She will soon learn that he is Vishous - V for short - the smartest vampire in the Black Dagger Brotherhood. But his tortured past has left him avoiding intimacy. It is against V's nature to let anyone see his vulnerable side, except Jane. He has the oddest sense that she understands...