Janet McKinnon has been incarcerated in the Sultan's harem for two years. Rosemary McKinnon has recently joined her. Both women were married to a handsome but dissolute Scottish missionary based in Kenya, whose sexual tastes ran contradictory to his religious calling.

Mathilde Valentine is settling into life as a medic in McKinnon's East African mission post. It's a place of mystery and danger and is warned by the rugged game warden - Olensky - to be wary of her new employer. Ignoring his advice, Mathilde is soon sent to the harem, where she has to deal with the demanding Sultan, his sadistic brother and the Sultan's spoilt and sexually rampant son. Meanwhile Olensky - her 'lion lover' - is plotting to bring about her escape. But by the time he makes it to the harem, will she even want to be rescued.