The vision is startling and evil, of a young virgin bound naked to a tree before a bonfire, given in sacrifice by those she once trusted. Drums beat, dogs lap at her feet, a horse whinnies and a lone rider emerges from the woods to claim his reward. Like a distant memory she can't quite grasp, Tarin Marshall struggles to connect this recurring nightmare to the disappearance of her sister fourteen years before. At the same time she wonders if this dream is driving her to crude acts of self-punishment and masochistic pleasure? Her quest for answers leads her to Dr. Astin - a rogue psychologist and self-described sadist. In the name of 'therapy', he uses Tarin for psychological research experiments in S&M and dehumanization. Flaunting her obsession for extreme sex before students eager to explore their sadistic urges, he leaves Tarin utterly sated, but soon wondering if this 'genius' is really just a brutal savage. And her dream? Only when she hires a detective to dig into the past, does the truth about her missing sister unravel, revealing shocking facts about Ellen Marshall's fate and the life Tarin now leads. Will knowing the truth end the madness? Is there any hope for rescue? Any hope that love can bloom with an avowed sadist in this perverse sexual wasteland?