Shy Ana has two secret passions: she loves other women and she has always harbored an intense fascination with all things "spanking." Unfortunately, her current girlfriend, Peyton, has no interest in indulging what she refers to as "sick and deviant" fantasies.

But when their latest argument becomes one black eye too many, Ana's had enough. Finally finding the necessary courage and strength of will, she orders Peyton out of her house and out of her life. Break-ups with abusers are never easy or painless, and in the emotionally chaotic aftermath of hers, Ana turns to the only friend she has - a woman she met online more than a year before on, of all things, a plant forum.

Miranda is everything Peyton is not. She listens. She understands. She accepts. And when she unexpectedly offers Ana a plane ticket to fly out to Ohio and meet with her, face-to-face for the very first time, Ana doesn't hesitate for long. She packs a bag and goes on vacation; ten days, prepaid, at the Castle, the most infamous BDSM resort in the world.

On the surface, everything seems so perfect and magical. But Ana isn't at the Castle long before she realizes she isn't the only woman with secrets. Miranda Hardwick, the Castle's most feared and respected Mistress, has a few secrets of her own.

As the lines between fantasy and reality and friends and lovers begin to blur, both women quickly realize that if their blossoming relationship is to survive, they're going to have to put their secrets aside - Miranda, with her strange "emergencies" that keep calling her away, and Ana, with Peyton, who just won't accept a life without Ana in it.