Nicholas Wilde is a 50-year-old painter shunned by the art elite for his unflinchingly representational depictions of the female form. Rose Selavy is the 24-year-old muse who refuses to let him own her. When they meet, their passions burn red hot, then bloody, and inspire one another. But when Rose leaves, Nicholas is left impotent, unable to seduce the other women he meets - no one can light the same flames as she had.