May 10, 2021
Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
The basics
Title: Slave to Sensation
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #1
- Slave to Sensation (2006) - Visions of Heat (2007) - Caressed by Ice (2008) - Mine to Possess (2008) - Hostage to Pleasure (2008) - Branded by Fire (2009) - Blaze of Memory (2009) - Bonds of Justice (2010) - Play of Passion (2010) - Kiss of Snow (2011) - Tangle of Need (2012) - Heart of Obsidian (2013) - Shield of Winter (2014) - Shards of Hope (2015) - Allegiance of Honour (2016)
Add it: Goodreads
Goodreads Summary:
In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”— the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was…. Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…
Read a full summary of Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh below. If you can’t remember what happened in Slave to Sensation and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place.
What happened in Slave to Sensation?
- Sascha Duncan and her mother, Nikita, are meeting with Lucas Hunter. Sascha and her mother are Psy, and Lucas is a Changeling. He’s the alpha of the leopard pack.
- They’re planning on doing a joint project to build homes for Changelings, and Sascha will be overseeing the project. Sascha isn’t sure why Lucas wants to do this joint project as the Psy and the Changelings typically don’t get along.
- Lucas has been trying to get through to the Psy Council, and that’s his main motivation behind this joint project. He wants to know who killed one of his pack mates, and he’s certain it was a Psy.
- Sascha returns home after the meeting and she feels all jittery.
- Lucas speaks to Dorian, the alpha of another pack. A Psy killed Dorian’s sister, Kylie, as well as a bunch of others.
- Lucas invites Sascha to breakfast and they talk about the construction project. They also manage to slip in a conversation about mating and conception.
- Sascha, Nikita, and Lucas agree to buy the land for the project, and the SnowDancer pack will also join in.
- Lucas takes Sascha to his packmate, Tamsyn’s, house for lunch. Sascha is curious about the pair’s relationship as they’re very touchy, but that’s just a Changeling thing. Sascha would like to be able to touch people like that.
- Sascha takes a cookie from Sascha and the taste is a bit much for her. Two cubs enter the room and Sascha witnesses them playing and interacting with Lucas. Sascha picks one of the cubs up for a bit before they fall asleep on the floor while the adults eat.
- Sascha speaks to another Psy mentally and she has to explain how it all works to Tamsyn. Sascha is able to speak to one of the cubs telepathically too.
- Sascha tells Lucas a bit about the council and how the Psy are in family groups, whereas the Changelings are in separate packs with no council or leaders. They also talk a bit about marriage and mating and the PsyNet.
- Lucas and Sascha meet with Kit and Zara. Zara is on edge and asks what Sascha’s problem is, assuming that Sascha doesn’t like her skin colour. Sascha says she’s actually curious because Zara isn’t a leopard. Zara is actually a wildcat.
- They all get to work on the designs for the construction project, and talk about how it’s going to hopefully include all sorts of species. Sascha is surprised that they already have people lined up to buy the houses once they are built.
- Sascha speaks to her mother, who is already in a meeting with Enrique (who we don’t particularly like). Sascha thinks it’s weird that Enrique was there at all, but Nikita won’t tell her what was going on. Nikita asks about Lucas and how the project is likely to develop. Nikita warns Sascha about the packs.
- Nate tells Lucas there are now seven confirmed kills but no new leads. The pack is hesitant to go up against Nikita because she’s a very powerful telepath who can transmit viruses telepathically. Lucas thinks Sascha is the way around this and their way in.
- Sascha and Lucas share a dream.
- Sascha and Lucas go to meet Clay. Lucas asks a bunch of questions about the Council and Sascha gets a little suspicious. Lucas isn’t very subtle.
- Lucas tells Sascha about Hunters, who hunt down rogue Changelings.
- Enrique asks to meet Sascha via the PsyNet. He wants to know about the project, and insists that Sascha passes on any information about the Changelings to him. Sascha asks her mother and Nikita says that she allowed this meeting.
- Lucas lays flowers on his parents graves.
- Lucas and Sascha share a couple more dreams. Sascha tells Lucas that the Psy aren’t ok with “broken” people and will get rid of anyone who is mentally incapable.
- There’s another meeting about the project and Dorian keeps watching Sascha. Lucas asks what’s wrong, and Dorian says another female has been taken. Dorian wants revenge.
- Lucas finally tells Sascha that the Council is covering up for a serial killer, and someone is killing pack members. Sascha doesn’t believe it at first.
- Sascha draws Dorian’s pain from him.
- Hawke, another pack leader, wants to move in on the Psy. Lucas asks him to wait a week so they can try to find the missing changeling.
- Sascha wakes up after passing out for several hours. She goes over to see her mother, and they talk about politics. Enrique will likely have Nikita killed if things don’t go his way.
- Sascha researches the murders but finds little information about them. She heads over to DarkRiver
- Sascha goes home with Lucas and she gets offended when he mentions Rina, who was there the night before. It was completely innocent though. They chat about the murders and Lucas reveals there have been eight over the past three years.
- Sascha thinks that Lucas is exploiting her and wants to tell her mother what’s been going on. She gives Lucas the cold shoulder the next day.
- Lucas realises that Sascha is his mate.
- Kit goes missing and Lucas goes to look for him. It turns out he’s ok.
- Tamsyn tells Sascha that kisses do mean something different outside of the pack.
- Sascha searches the PsyNet for Brenna. She can’t find anything.
- Sascha meets with Enrique and Nikita. She shares a bit of info with them but it’s nothing substantial or secretive.
- Hawke goes to find Lucas and tells him there’s someone on his land that smells like him. Hawke takes Lucas to Sascha, who passed out in her car on her way to the pack. Lucas takes Sascha to the safehouse.
- Sascha wakes up and she and Lucas talk. She tells Lucas she’s going insane but he disagrees.
- Lucas drops Sascha home and she bumps into Enrique again. He offers to train her but Sascha has no interest in it.
- Lucas calls Sascha to tell her the killer was in the Duncan building. Sascha decides to follow a Councillor, Henry Scott, around the PsyNet to see what’s going on. Sascha is able to listen into a council meeting, which clarifies that the council knows the wolves and leopards are hunting for the killer. They’re set on finding the killer themselves.
- Sascha fills Lucas and the pack in.
- Vaughn and Mercy say they’ll protect Sascha and Lucas gets all territorial.
- Sascha tells everyone about Ai, who was an E-Psy. Tamsyn speculates that Sascha is one too.
- Hawke asks to speak to Sascha and he’s on board all of a sudden. Hawke invites them over to his place and introduces them to the Lauren family, who are Psy who have been missing for ages. They left the PsyNet and created their own little family Net to protect themselves.
- Sascha isn’t able to join their family Net, unfortunately, as it could harm the kids.
- Sascha enters the PsyNet. She thinks she senses the killer but Enrique arrives and scares him away…. so she thinks.
- Sascha talks to Enrique and he starts trying to trap her. Sascha gets him talking and Enrique reveals he’s been studying Changelings in order to find out why they’re so emotionally strong. Enrique tries to kill Sascha.
- Sascha leaves the PsyNet and tells Lucas who the killer is. Sascha starts to die without the mental link.
- Hawke and co go to find Enrique and put him down.
- Lucas bonds with Sascha, and when she wakes up she realises she’s safe. She’s now bonded to Lucas and through him, the whole pack.
- Nikita disowns Sascha.
- Sascha saves Brenna by speaking to her telepathically.
- Sascha realises she’s going to be okay because she’s linked to the pack. She fills everyone in and she’s accepted.
That was our recap of what happened in Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh. Check out our recap list for more plot summaries, and if you can’t find what you need you can request a recap here!
