Freya Mullin, an authority on ancient buildings, is to survey Daubeney Manor, which has recently been purchased by Maxwell Sinclair, an authority on cults and temples and old religions.
Baffled by Maxwell’s arrogant refusal to take her into subterranean passages, she goes there secretly, accompanied by a long-time friend. To their surprise they find an ancient, orgiastic temple that appears to have been occupied recently.
Maxwell does not want to share the temple with anyone, intending to use it for his own Hell Fire Club. Freya has no idea of the twists and turns of fate that will now involve her as she becomes ever more entangled in his ambitions.

Wrongfully accused of stealing a string of pearls, Lucy's life is turned upside down in a single day. She goes from being the smart and successful manager of a smart and successful hotel to being the lowest of the low. What's more, the boss's son is determined that every one of the staff will exact revenge on her for having sent bad reports on them back to head office.

From polishing doorknobs while holding a duster in a very unusual place to being delivered back to captivity hung up in the back of a butcher's van, Lucy's ordeal seems never-ending. From suffering correction with a gymshoe to being caned by the gardener, Lucy is passed from hand to hand. The supply of men and women whose ingenuity when it comes to devising humiliations for her also seems endless.
And just when it seems she can sink no lower, there is one final ordeal she must pass through before she can come to terms with who she really is.

Atlanta is freshly back from college and staying with her uninhibited Aunt Jessica. And it is in her aunt's house that Atlanta's education really takes off. Accidentally she finds that when her aunt brings a lover home, there is a vantage point from which she can watch what happens. At first she is content just to be a voyeur but as what she sees becomes more and more outrageous, she is inevitably drawn into joining in.

From there it is a short step to being taken to a club to witness strange, ritual punishments. But whatever she witnesses and experiences, it only seems to drive her to want to experience more. Eagerly she dives into a whole new world of pleasure and pain; earning the delights of suffering.

And finally she comes to realise that her education can only be complete when the strict Sir Grenville is pleased with her....but he is not easily pleased!