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

I make it to the house without incident. In Wildwood it’s not illegal to park on what I consider to be the wrong side of the street, but it still feels funny pulling up in front of my parents’ place and parking with the driver’s side along the curb. The car door scrapes the curb as I get out, loud in the quiet night. Upstairs I’m sure Joey heard that. He has to know I’m home.


Tonight I manage to avoid knocking over the trash cans, and I don’t make half as much noise entering through the kitchen as I did previously. Around me, the house is eerily silent—maybe I’m wrong, maybe Joey isn’twaiting up for me. If I can just sneak upstairs and slide into bed without waking him…


But the stairs creak, and the pitch black hole into which they lead exhausts me. Even if Joey’s not up, he soon will be—he’s a light sleeper, always has been. I don’t want to take my chances.


Chapter 35