The year is 1883. Eduard van De Lier is a Dutchman overseeing a spice plantation on the island of Java, in the South Pacific. His obsessive attraction to dark-skinned men is just one of his many secrets. His wife Marien knows of his indiscretions, but as she's content with their Colonial lifestyle, she stays silent. Until a former lover of Eduard's shows up in their parlor with thoughts of blackmail. Reza was a crewman on the ship that brought the van De Liers to Java. During the passage, Eduard spent many a night in the younger man's arms. Two years have passed, and the last person Eduard expects to find in his drawing room is Reza, a letter in hand that could destroy the life he and Marien lead. Seeing him again ignites Eduard's lust for his first dark lover. He hopes to retrieve the letter, either through seduction or subterfuge, and the longer Reza eludes him, the more his desire grows. But they're on shaky ground, and before things can heat up between them, their world explodes -- literally -- when the unstable island of Krakatoa erupts.

All Shook Up

He sighs in my ear, a sleepy, sultry sound that I imagine many women would love to hear first thing in the morning. “Brian, hey,” he says, as if we just spoke yesterday and there aren’t years between now and the last time we talked. “I was just catching a quick nap…” He trails off and I’m about to mention that most people don’t nap at seven o’clock at night when he gasps, “Oh!” Suddenly he’s wide awake, I can see him in my mind’s eye as he scrambles to sit up—he remembers why he called me in the first place. Without further preamble, he announces, “Mom’s in the hospital.”


“What?” The world wobbles beneath me and I have to lean against the wall to keep from sinking to the floor. “When did this happen? What for?” And more importantly, why didn’t anyone tell me earlier?


Chapter 5