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

After I get off the phone, I debate calling home. Not the condo again…in my mind, homewill always refer to my parents’ house, with its brick siding and the large hydrangeas blooming along the front porch like blue-purple snowballs, the kitchen and its ‘Lazy Susan’ corner cabinets, the master bedroom downstairs and upstairs, the bed- and bathroom suite I shared with Joey. I picture my brother in the living room, stretched out on the couch, cordless phone on the coffee table within easy reach. I want to hear his sleepy voice in my ear again, gruff and familiar and close. I want to wake him up, if only to tell him I’m about an hour or so away, and when he falls back to sleep I want to be the last thing on his mind.


But a quick rummage through my pockets doesn’t turn up his number, and I don’t know it by heart. No matter, I’ll be there soon enough.


Chapter 9