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

The rest of the walls are lined with bookcases that overflow with toys and magazines and children’s books. At the end of each bed is a dresser, and two large wardrobes face each other on opposite sides of the room. When we were younger, we used to climb up on top of those dressers and stand at the edge like divers. Joey would wait for my signal and I, all too aware of his gaze on my body, I would wait an eternity before jumping to my bed below. With boyish giggles, Joey would follow suit, if he could wait that long. Sometimes he just fell off the end of the dresser to his mattress, unable to hold on any longer. We’d bounce on the beds, the springs squeaking beneath us, and then one look at the other would send us both scrambling to do it again.


Chapter 18