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

So soft, his mouth. So warm, so damp. I pressed against him, no longer settling for a practice kiss—I wanted to taste him, fill him completely, take his breath away. My tongue parted his lips with no resistance, licking into him. He tasted boyish and young, like grape Kool-Aid with a hint of bubble-gum. I was aware of his hands on my thighs, his fingers digging into my jeans and kneading the skin beneath. I felt his breath hot on my face and massaged the inside of his cheek with my tongue, kissed him longer and harder and worlds more earnestly than I’d ever kissed another boy before or since. When we finally broke apart, his hands were clenched tightly in my lap, his lips parted again and wet this time, wet from me. His breath came harsh and quick, and when he first looked at me, it wasn’t as a brother but as something so much more.


“See?” I asked, my voice brusque. I stood up and his hands fell away. “It’s not that hard.”


Chapter 46