Winner of the 2008 National Leather Association's, Pauline Reage Novel Award The ideal D/s relationship for Anders and Maia is nothing less than total power exchange - no games, no negotiations, no safewords. When the two stumble on to each other in an on-line chat room, the fire of their offbeat sexual desires ignites and draws them together for an explosive sexual encounter. For Maia, Anders offers the kind of firm and unyielding dominant she has only dreamed of. For Anders, his new sub is as deliciously erotic as she is submissive to his will. During the first weeks of their relationship, Anders lays down rules for his new possession, while Maia gradually hands over her autonomy, slipping into the obedience that is basic to her nature. Anders explores, manipulates and experiments on both mind and body, introducing her to spanking, anal sex, whipping, excruciating erotic teasing, and humiliating masturbation, all of which she laps up in a continuous state of terror and joy. On a very short tether, Maia has no autonomy whatsoever inside his house. When working she wears a tightly locked harness beneath her clothes, while in the evening, she's ordered to strip down to her bondage gear, and kneel at the door in anticipation of her master's return. When Maia fails in her submissive efforts she's punished with suspension bondage and severe whipping, while other failings lead to lengthy sessions of forced orgasm and electro stimulation. In the coming months, Maia is shared with other men and forced to submit to Anders lesbian friend Val. When Anders and his kinky friends rent a farm for the summer, Maia is reduced to a beast of burden. When not harnessed or chained in the stable, she is treated like a dog, like furniture, or as a handy sexual appliance, used for erotic entertainment by the entire house. This beautifully written story depicts a master/slave relationship that is extreme, loving, creative, steeped in imagination, but embedded in the real world. In this passionate, private sexual reality, the balance of power tips only one way.