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

“Can you…” Another sigh—here it comes. “Maybe you can come up here for a few days, if possible? I know it’s sudden but she just went into the hospital this morning.”


I wait—that’s not exactly what I wanted. Pleading, Joey adds, “Do you think you can come up here for me? I’d love to see you again, Brian. It’s been way too long and I need…I really need my big brother just about now, you know what I mean?”


There it is. How can I possibly refuse when he puts it like that? 2


I sleep in the guest room so I won’t have to talk to Timothy. In the morning, he wakes before I do and lets me sleep, a little thing that would normally piss me off because then I’m late for work, but I’m not going into the office today. When I stumble into the kitchen, wiping the sleep from my eyes, I upend the empty coffee pot and grumble, “Where’s the coffee?”


From the dining room table, looking out over the balcony at the river and the clear day beyond, Timothy tells me, “I didn’t know you wanted any.”


Chapter 6