Matthew Bryson spends his days working quietly and wishing for a chance to explore another side of himself. When he gathers the nerve to post on a BDSM message board, Matthew meets Evan Haynes, a Dom recently removed from the scene after a messy break-up with his boyfriend/sub.
Evan and Matthew enter into a tentative D/s relationship, but only Matthew receives gratification. Still shaken from his experience, Evan refuses sexual reciprocation from Matthew, afraid he'll grow too close. While Evan is the perfect Dom to satisfy Matthew's needs, he finds it harder than he anticipated to keep Matthew at a distance, and it eventually becomes more than he can bear.