At an archduke's reception, a handsome young nobleman falls under the spell of a malevolent but irresistible sorceress. Two hundred years later, Belinda Seward also falls prey to sensual forces she can neither understand nor control. Stranded by a thunderstorm at a remote Gothic priory, Belinda and her boyfriend are drawn into an enclosed world of luxurious decadence and sexual alchemy. Their host is the courteous but melancholic Andre von Kastel: a beautiful aristocrat who mourns his lost love. Andre has plans for Belinda - plans which take her into the realms of obsessive love and the erotic paranormal.