On the planet Vanat, Kesh is the last of his kind, a male vanatahuman hybrid. All the vanatas were killed long ago when humans colonized the planet and there are no vanata women left, except for his mother. Kesh has sex with human women, but it's only a dull relief. When he's given a security detail for Locke, a senator, Kesh thinks he might have scented something impossible on the senator—a new vanata female. Hala has just turned twenty. She has lived with Locke since he became her guardian when she was a child. He never lets her off the estate, claiming her health is fragile. But now grown, Hala knows she's different, and refuses to believe what the senator tells her anymore. When she escapes to learn the truth, Locke finds her, brings her back, and punishes her cruelly. In an effort to protect her, Kesh finds a way to kidnap her from Locke's estate. But the man's a sexual sadist who is obsessed with vanatas, and will do anything to get Hala back.