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

“Hey there,” I say, raising my voice over the noise and the music. He smiles and moves closer, hips thrust out to rub his crotch against my thigh. The hardness I feel there quickens my pulse. That hand on my backside slips negligently into the back pocket of my jeans. “Can I buy you a drink?”


He shrugs, settling himself against my side. I drape an arm around his shoulders just for somewhere to put it, and he fits there nicely. His other hand has found the front pocket of my jeans, the fingers already dipping in to stroke me through the thin material that separates my briefs from my change. “What’ll you have?” I ask as I signal for the bartender.


Propping his chin on my chest, he grins up at me and purrs, “You.”


With a laugh, I hug him to me. I like this kid. “I meant to drink.”


Chapter 32